Develop. Share. Prosper. These are the objectives of the District Central’s Connector of Opportunities project.  After a few years of going out in the community to identify opportunities for local businesses, the SDC would like to present a portrait of the successful connections made, all of which promote the development of the District Central and facilitate the economic growth of its members.

Mia van der Heyden (SDC), Noor Rahman and Nuzhat Laila (Ananke), Marie-France Richard (SDC)

Ananké Inc. is a software development firm headquartered on Louvain Street. “We create custom software and manage websites and e-commerce systems,” explains Noor Rahman, founder and technical director. The company moved to the District Central three years ago to be closer to a major client, Cardboard Box Project, designs, prints and sells music artists’ merchandise online.

In its free time, Ananké Inc. also develops its own software. “However, sales is not our strength,” Noor Rahman maintains. “We prefer to find partners who can sell our software or find a partnership where we provide the technical apect and they oversee the sales and customer service.” That is also what the SDC team thought, following a meeting with Noor Rahman and his team. “They helped us get the ball rolling. They really are a great resource for us,” adds the technical director.

The SDC put Ananké Inc. in touch with Sébastien Boirié at PME MTL Centre-Ouest so that Ananké’s vision can unfold smoothly with all the requisite resources. “We have met with a few local businesses to initiate projects. And other companies in the sector contact us from time to time,” explains Noor Rahman. An e-commerce company recently reached out to them to create a component they needed for their Shopify website. “They want us to develop it for them. Given that we are here, in the same sector, a lot of exchanges like this can happen.”

The Connector of Opportunities project has even managed to surprise its own users and has allowed them to rediscover the territory. “We meet certain companies that are in fields we didn’t even know existed! We were contacted by a company that makes reusable bags. They wanted a system to manage the maintenance of these bags, because they can use them up to 400 times. A manufacturer of reusable bags made with materials from boat containers! It is very interesting, first of all, to discover them and secondly, to see how IT can be used in just about any field,” explains Noor Rahman. Highly experienced in health and human resources, Ananké Inc. can just as easily help companies selling clothing online as those having trouble with Shopify. This small tech firm on Louvain Street has undoubtedly grown from its experience with the Connector of Opportunities initiative. “We don’t do any marketing at the moment, we rely only on word of mouth,” concludes Noor Rahman.

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Translated from an article written by  Elizabeth Pouliot