As it turned out, the best use case for the company’s technology was in areas like photovoltaic research and aerospace. In doing so he landed over $1 million in business from NASA, including a contract to provide solar simulators for spacecraft testing. And that’s what’s fueled the company’s rapid and continued growth, growing its workforce by about 50% in the past year. “The beautiful thing … is that when you get to that point of traction, your customers start to be your main source of funding. So that’s been a real dramatic change for us over the last 18 months,” said CEO Ryan Tucker in Episode 21 of Bloom. Taproot’s podcast about innovation in Edmonton. “We’re actually in a really awesome position right now … where we don’t have to go and raise capital right away.” That doesn’t mean the company won’t seek investment to help it take advantage of the opportunities that come its way now that it has found the right market. “That’s the most compelling reason to go and raise more capital,” Tucker said. Tucker is proud to grow this company in Edmonton and has no intention of leaving. But G2V Optics is very much an international company. “For us, we have almost no customers in Edmonton,” he said. “So it was really an exercise in how to get to the world from here?” Learn more about what G2V Optics sells to the world and helps send out of that world in the July 7th episode. In our sponsor slot, you’ll hear Darrell Petras, director of business and community development at Innovate Edmonton, in conversation with Taproot co-founder Mack Male. Bloom is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and wherever else you get your podcasts. Photo: This light array from G2V Optics will allow researchers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center to test a spacecraft under the light conditions it will encounter in orbit. (Is provided)
