After a banner year highlighted by a successful IPO on the Toronto Stock Exchange, Lightspeed Founder and CEO Dax Dasilva has been named Innovator of the Year by The Globe and Mail’s Report on Business as part of its annual CEO of the Year award feature. Each of the five nominated CEOs represents the best of Canadian corporate leadership, innovation, vision and responsibility.
This comes after a whirlwind of recent activity from Lightspeed.
In December 2018, Lightspeed acquired ReUp, a Toronto-based loyalty customer loyalty solution, and integrated it into their product portfolio as Lightspeed Loyalty.
Fresh off the heels of introducing Lightspeed Loyalty, Lightspeed introduced their point-of-sale-integrated payment processing service, Lightspeed Payments, effectively removing any friction between merchants and third-party payment processors.
In March 2019, Lightspeed POS Inc. went public on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE: LSPD) with a valuation of $1.4 billion—the biggest initial public offering (IPO) by a Canadian technology company in nearly nine years.
Following their IPO, Lightspeed acquired its strategic business partner, Chronogolf, which uses Lightspeed’s retail and restaurant platform to offer a golf course management solution for over 500 golf course operators, primarily in North America.
And just this past July, Lightspeed acquired Switzerland-based POS solutions provider iKentoo, which serves merchants in over 14 countries across Europe and Africa. This strategic acquisition further strengthened Lightspeed’s position as the de-facto global point-of-sale provider.
Today, Lightspeed operates in more than 100 countries with 51,000 customer locations on the platform. What was once an on-premise point of sale (POS) has grown into a complete suite of cloud-based solutions including its POS, loyalty platform, integrated payments, analytics and eCommerce.
The future of Canadian business looks bright, indeed.
Other nominees for The Globe and Mail’s Report on Business CEO of the Year award:
One of these five nominated Canadian leaders will be named CEO of the Year during The Globe and Mail’s Report on Business gala event on November 25, 2019.
Corporate Citizen of the Year: George Cope, CEO, Bell Canada
Awarded to a CEO whose personal leadership exemplifies the idea that businesses can do well by doing good. This leader’s decisions have made his/her company an excellent corporate citizen via its environmental, social, advocacy, community and/or other corporate social responsibility initiatives.
Global Visionary of the Year: Dani Reiss, President and CEO, Canada Goose
Awarded to a CEO who has successfully expanded the scope of his or her organization beyond Canada’s borders. The winner demonstrates an exceptional understanding of international commerce and a shrewd eye for choosing markets, establishing timelines and forging the connections needed to build a global brand.
Innovator of the Year: Dax Dasilva, Founder and CEO, Lightspeed
Awarded to a CEO who’s vision and guidance have been instrumental in the successful creation and commercialization of a truly disruptive product or service, and/or who has pioneered a groundbreaking way of doing business.
New CEO of the Year: Susan Senecal, CEO, A&W Food Services of Canada
Recognizing a CEO with less than three years of tenure in his or her current role, who has had a significant impact on the company and its strategy
Strategist of the Year: Calin Rovinescu, President and CEO, Air Canada
Awarded to a CEO whose bold decisions have materially changed and improved the strategic position of his or her business.
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