When it comes to improving rural access to high-speed Internet, local Chatham-Kent company MPVwifi is growing.
Since 2017, MPVwifi has been installing radio technology on farming elevators as a means to provide Wi-Fi Internet services to underserved rural communities across the region.
Over the past year, the business has grown to include towers that span rural areas from Shetland, to Grande Point, and down to Rondeau.
“While our coverage area is not yet across all of rural Chatham-Kent, we are hoping to continue to expand reliable high-speed Internet access to reach more homes and businesses,” said Matthew Vanheule, owner of MPVwifi, in a media release.
One way they are working on to expand their business is participating in the WEtech Alliance ScaleUP Tech Accelerator program, which provides financial and mentoring support to tech entrepreneurs in Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent looking to scale their business.
During the past four months, MPVwifi has been working with both one-on-one mentors and group sessions to learn how to scale up their tech company. As a final stage to this program, MPVwifi has been selected as one of five graduates to pitch to a group of seasoned investors and judges to compete for a top prize of $10,000.
“Chatham-Kent Economic Development has helped us in several ways, including connecting us with local grain elevator owners so we can add more access points,” said Greg Cameron, owner of MPVwifi. “We hope to win top prize so that we can continue to build on the success of the past year and reach even more people.”
C-K economic development officer Kim Cooper said they are happy to help.
“We are thrilled to have been able to help out MPVwifi,” said Cooper. “This is also a great example of the partnership between economic development, WEtech Alliance, and Chatham-Kent Small Business Centre and how it can help accelerate the growth of new tech companies across our region.”
This competition represents the first time that the WEtech Alliance has had the opportunity to offer the ScaleUP Tech Accelerator program.
“It’s very exciting for us to be able to work so closely with five outstanding local tech companies,” said Yvonne Pilon, CEO of the WEtech Alliance. “Each company, including MPVwifi, have built a very strong business story and will be successful no matter the outcome of the evening.”
