Recently arrived at the Technoparc Montreal, Orthogone Technologies, a specialist in software development and design of innovative products, is growing rapidly. With nearly 40 clients per year, more than 75 employees and a solid business model, it is now leading the industry.
A unique model from the start
Orthogone was founded in 2007, following the closure of the Montreal site of an American telecom company, which, like most of the industry, was hit hard by the burst of the telecom bubble in 2002.
Luc Leblanc (now President and CEO of Orthogone) and Alexandre Raymond (CTO) seized the opportunity and joined forces to create a company unique at the time in the country: a high-end provider of technology product development and consulting services in the field of embedded systems, custom sensor design and electronic boards.
From the beginning, the co-founders wanted to stand out through their vision of partnering with their clients at different stages of the technology projects they were entrusted with, offering cutting-edge products and services, including the development of high-value-added software (connectivity, performance, security, vision, redundancy, etc.), that have a significant and positive impact. This vision has enabled the company to build long-term relationships with its customers and today, some of its first customers are still collaborating with them. This is the case of Ultra TCS, its very first client.
The culture of innovation, rooted in a spirit of collaboration and communication, as well as its passion for new technological challenges have led Orthogone, for the past 15 years, to creative problem solving and have given it a unique place in Quebec.
Innovations made possible thanks to Orthogone
In this context, Orthogone has positioned itself as a growth partner for its customers, mostly large companies (OEMs), and has been helping them to transform their ideas into innovative products, to complete their projects, and to improve them in terms of security, quality and functionality. In some cases, it even acts as a springboard for younger companies and is behind some of the innovations of now well-established companies, such as Quebec-based LeddarTech.
Working in partnership with clients means being highly involved with client teams and being present at every stage of the process, from design to development to manufacturing. Smaller teams – and even larger ones in a context of labor shortage – do not necessarily have the technical resources to develop their projects themselves, nor the capacity to invest in-house. With Orthogone, companies can then easily accelerate their product development cycle and ultimately create new innovations.
“Some of our clients would certainly not have been able to bring their project to life without the support of Orthogone’s teams. Not only they don’t always have the skills in-house, but it is also often difficult to hire them. This is where we come in. It is clear that, in this context, our added value is also the know-how and expertise of our employees”.
A vision and employees at the heart of its success
One of the main strengths of Orthogone are its employees. The company rigorously selects its rare pearls, which they call “champions”. A champion for Orthogone is someone who is a natural leader, willing to learn, enjoys challenges and understands technology. Soft skills make all the difference.
Because the company is looking for people with a specific profile, Orthogone is doing well in a context of labor shortage and these “champions” are naturally attracted by what the company can offer them: a dynamic environment, the possibility to learn on a daily basis, challenging and, above all, extremely diversified projects.
Employees benefit from this multidisciplinarity as Orthogone works in numerous industries, ranging from medical to automotive, from telecommunications to financial sector, and from defense to aerospace. By being involved in several industries, employees can continuously learn and develop their skills, while bringing their expertise on a specific technology.
“Today, everything is connected. We talk about connected health, connected transportation… Whether in the medical, automotive or other industries, the technologies are similar. This is the case for sensors and cameras, for example. Our teams’ mastery of technologies is therefore essential, but it is also their ability to adapt, their flexibility, and their ability to have a broader vision of technologies by working in different industries that ultimately allows them to solve problems creatively and develop innovative products. And that’s what represents their – and our – added value.”
Thanks to this vision, to the added that the company can bring to technological innovation projects, but also thanks to the trust of its customers, Orthogone is now experiencing a significant growth and has established itself as a leading provider of technological product development and engineering consulting services worldwide.