THUNDER BAY — An Indigenous majority-owned aviation software developer has cornered six per cent of the Canadian market after less than two years in business.
AirSuite Inc., based at Thunder Bay Airport, was started in 2016 and has already sold its automated flight management software to more than 30 companies across Canada.and the U.S. Most of the clients are small or medium-sized helicopter companies.
Spokesperson Kim Latimer says the company hopes to double its market share in the near future.
Its Cirro software program can be used to manage most aspects of flight management operations ranging from crew scheduling to aircraft weight calculations to invoicing.
"The goal is to eliminate paperwork from the beginning of scheduling and setting up a flight, all the way through to Transport Canada coming in to do an audit on the company," said Latimer.
AirSuite has received $380,000 from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC).
Latimer told Tbnewswatch the company would have progressed at a much slower pace without NOHFC's support.
"They've helped us with internal technical labour costs which have been critical as we develop the software and scale up as a start-up company," she said.
The Heritage Fund has also helped with marketing, including the development of a website, which is how the firm has obtained most of its sales leads.
In addition, it has supported advertising and showcasing the company's software at the Canadian Helicopter Association conference where AirSuite landed its first few clients.
The firm currently employs eight people, including six at the Thunder Bay headquarters.
