Gregory John, the Lead Executive Officer (more on that title later) of Calgary-based Unimaize Technologies Inc., is a proud gay Métis man whose company is not only helping change the hospitality industry, but is ensuring Indigenous-owned and operated hotels, event centres, and casinos across Canada have the opportunity to adopt its technology along with the rest of the industry.

With over a decade’s experience in Indigenous and stakeholder relations, he has had the opportunity to connect and work with over 200 First Nations, Métis governing authorities, and non-Status communities. This has led to a unique competitive advantage for Unimaize: a deep understanding of how to navigate the complexities of the Indigenous economy, which has opened a market for Unimaize unavailable to most other tech companies.

The Unimaize team took over the @LiveTech_LoveLife Instagram page in November 2021.

John began his career in energy, after completing an undergraduate degree in finance at the University of Calgary, where he is currently enrolled in the Executive MBA program. Instability in the oilpatch coupled with his own sense of ambition inspired John to reinvent himself; after a layoff in 2014, he moved to Los Angeles and consulted as a financial modeler for tech startups in Silicon Valley.

When he returned to Calgary in 2017, John encountered a brand new city – more resilient and innovative – that had been born out of its challenges. Seeing how the city had grown and changed, John knew the time was right to begin his entrepreneurial journey here.

That year, he launched his first business, Four Peaks Business Development Ltd., which now focuses on connecting Indigenous communities with opportunities in the energy sector, with a history in fund development for non-profits and LGBTQ2+ advocacy. It was also in 2017 that he chanced upon the idea for a technology that could transform how people interact with and within the hospitality industry.

BARKODE HOSPITALITY SUITE

The BarKode Hospitality Suite (BHS) idea was born at the 2017 Calgary Pride Festival as John experienced something many of us have had to endure: standing in line for a beer for an entire hour because the transaction was based on a cash-for-ticket-for drink system and numerous line ups. He promptly decided that he would digitize the process to speed it up. From the client-bartender perspective, BHS digitizes beverage management and ensures that all drink-related transactions are done via smartphone app, reducing the approximate 10 hand-to-hand transactions of the past to just one.

But BHS doesn’t just save customers’ time; it saves the bartenders’ time by allowing them to queue up orders on a POS tablet and automate ticket tracking and auditing. It also saves the event manager’s time and money in labour costs, while raising customer throughput and overall satisfaction.

Large-scale events are major contributors to the economies of cities across the globe and BHS can be applied to all of these events. Currently, event staff can often stay an extra two to three hours counting tickets, which is taxing for staff and expensive for the company.

The BarKode solution offers a labour savings of 30 per cent to 40 per cent by automating this process and serves as a partial solution to the labour shortage the industry is facing as we emerge from COVID-19. BarKode also helps manage liquor inventory in real time and streamline resupply, replacing an outdated system of hand-written carbon copies. With BarKode, event managers can create better-budgeted events, with just-in-time inventory management and automated auditing and compliance tracking.

Unimaize and BarKode launched in early 2020.

If you’re thinking that launching a solution for live events during a pandemic sounds like madness, you’re not alone. John in fact heard this concern from many stakeholders – but he’s not one to back down from a challenge.

“I’m stubborn. I had already started building my team. Upon launching, we were introduced to three problems: no venture capital, no hospitality industry to speak of, and a collapsing economy full of uncertainty. So we did some evaluating.” John explained. “To solve our own problems, we had to take a step back and look into the problems that were facing the hospitality and live events industry as a whole.”

Pictured: Unimaize President, Tracey Spence; Legal Counsel, Jenna Kirk; Leading Operations Officer, Lindsay Herringer; Gregory John, Founder and Leading Executive Officer.

John realized that what the hospitality industry actually needed was a comprehensive solution that would make it safer for people to attend and enjoy events. Something that would bring a sense of security to people gathering in large numbers. Something that would serve the community and affirm Unimaize’s company values.

And so, Unimaize pivoted to provide COVID-mitigation and contact tracing SaaS and hardware not just to the hospitality industry, but to all commercial industries concerned about staff and guest safety. Introducing BarKode Location Services (BLS).

Although the BarKode technology started as a beverage management game-changer, adding BLS to its initial product offering has given Unimaize the opportunity to build relationships with its target market and potentially self-fund portions of the cost to build and sell the proprietary solution. BLS is a simple system consisting of beacons, wearable IoT tags, and a cloud-based platform that is quick and easy to install. BLS can keep track of every single interaction and cumulative duration between tags where the six-foot physical distancing guideline is broken.

Tags can vibrate, buzz, flash or be put on silent, depending on the environment where they are being used. The platform mitigates privacy concerns by separating data from individual names, so that a person cannot be identified by the data shared within the app. Beyond COVID solutions, BLS can also help enforce health and hygiene standards; for example, the platform can monitor whether a tag is near or at a designated hand hygiene location for a certain duration based on specified requirements. This technology has value as the pandemic ends and businesses focus on the long road to recovery. Unimaize offers this precision technology platform through Nesa Solutions Inc., its Canadian B2B reseller.

DECOLONIZING THE WORKPLACE

John’s title at Unimaize is Lead Executive Officer – not Chief Executive Officer. John understands “chief” to be a title of respect that should be bestowed sparingly and only where most appropriate.

“Leading is an action, not an entitlement,” he noted. The Unimaize team is made entirely of Indigenous, LGBTQ2+, and women professionals, all of whom, notes John, are resilient critics of what he calls “systemic oppression in corporate Canada.”

Unimaize is dedicated to making space in the technology industry in Canada for diverse voices and groups by ensuring their technology makes it to the far corners of the economy, not just to traditional markets.

“We’re putting them first, not last,” said John. “We’re responsive to the communities that have raised us and through that we’ve created a competitive advantage.” The company has strong relationships with all levels of government, Indigenous Gaming Authorities, hotels across Western Canada, and many First Nations governments.

“The relationships we’ve invested in let others steward our innovation. We establish relationships of trust that are community-based.”

— Gregory John, Founder and Leading Executive Officer, Unimaize

At this point, you’re probably wondering what Unimaize means. “Maize” comes to us from the Spanish, who heard it first from the Indigenous Taino people of the Caribbean (who called it “mahiz”). It means “corn.” Unimaize = Unicorn.

“Unimaize Technologies has billion-dollar aspirations but is also a business that is both magical and unique – just like the mythical creature itself,” says John.

GROWING CONNECTIONS

The Unimaize company colours are hot pink and electric orange.

While pitching the BarKode technology as a contact tracing solution, Unimaize made connections with as many governmental organizations, advocacy groups, and technology circles as possible to build its presence in Alberta’s tech space. “Relationship management is my superpower,” said John. “I seek people who can tell me what I don’t know, and now my network has allowed me to be connected with all the right people to give Unimaize the best shot at success.”

Unimaize is a founding SME member of Canadian Business for Social Responsibility and a Certified Aboriginal Business with the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business, through which the company is also pursuing the Progressive Aboriginal Relations Certification. Unimaize is also an inaugural participant in the Alberta IoT Fast Track program, which helps Calgary-area businesses scale up, collaborate, and access resources. John is on the Leadership Council for the IOT North Conference that will be held in Calgary, March 30 and March 31, 2022.

Unimaize recently built a critical relationship with The Calgary Hotel Association. “This has really helped us understand the industry and how our event-focused technologies can make a difference. It has been imperative to have this insight as this industry has been the most affected by each COVID wave, restrictive government policies, and the vaccine passports,” said John.

To round out community participation, Unimaize’s Lead Executive Officer is one of the University of Calgary's youngest elected Senators, a member of the Calgary Police Chief's Indigenous Advisory Board, and serves on the Global Energy Show’s executive advisory board.

WHAT’S NEXT

Unimaize continues to seek funding to develop its digital beverage management technology while providing contact tracing solutions. It is in a good position to continue growing to become the go-to solution for large-scale events.

Hailed as one of Calgary’s – and Canada’s – up-and-coming companies, Unimaize is making inroads in the Asia Pacific region. “A global presence is very possible for local businesses, if they seize opportunities neglected by others,” said John. “And we’ve seized every one.”

John is unabashedly ambitious when it comes to Unimaize.

“My big audacious goal is one day to install a huge glowing unicorn horn on the top of the Calgary skyscraper where our world headquarters will be. I know that the more you say it and work towards it, the closer it gets to becoming reality – just watch us!”

Learn more about Unimaize at www.barkode.ca. For more on opportunities at innovative companies that are embracing technology to solve global challenges in Calgary, visit the careers page on Live Tech, Love Life.

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Unimaize: Providing an Indigenous solution to a global problem