June 17, 2006
Regina Leader Post

Where is the most advanced real estate software developed? Not in hot real estate markets like Calgary or Vancouver. Not in high tech hotbeds like Ottawa or Toronto. Each month, a Saskatoon-based technology company signs up thousands of new customers to its real estate software, constantly sending to new heights a monster client base that today stands at 76,000 Realtors® from 77 countries around the world. From their start in e-commerce software for the heavy equipment industry, to their current rise in the real estate market, Point2 Technologies Inc. is becoming known as a leader in technology solutions that enable buying and selling over the Internet.

Point2 started in 1996, when current CEO Wendell Willick, his brother Barry and three friends saw an opportunity. The group knew the expanding Internet was an ideal venue to enable buying and selling of used mining equipment around the world. Steady positive growth enabled the company to constantly improve its services and technology. In 2001, Point2 licensed its software to Caterpillar Inc. The agreement granted the world’s largest heavy equipment manufacturer the rights to use Point2’s technology to power its global used equipment dealer network. This partnership facilitated the development of more innovative technology, including techniques for compressing and storing data and pictures required to describe the products for sale online.

In 2001, Point2 recognized an opportunity to apply its technology in the real estate market. “People shopping for equipment online need pictures and descriptions. We saw the parallels in real estate, a huge market with substantial growth potential for our business,” explains Willick. Point2 did their homework. They learned how buyers and sellers interact, as well as the role of the broker and the agent. They tested their products in the field and incorporated their lessons before taking the product to market. The company created Point2 Agent, a product supported by leading edge technology, but is extremely simple to use — a winning combination.

Where has this led? First, what started out in spare rooms in Ottawa and Saskatoon has grown into an organization that employs over 80 people in its Saskatoon headquarters, and a regional office based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Each year, the company enables the management and sale of several billion dollars worth of used equipment, through over 300 dealerships worldwide. Point2’s real estate software empowers tens of thousands of Realtors® around the world every day with leading edge tools to effectively market their services on the Internet.

Wendell Willick is confident about the future of the company: “We’re working on new projects all the time.” Most of the financing for development and expansion has, to date, come from Point2’s existing revenue and profits. To help fund growth, Point2’s management has also taken advantage of technology development programs such as those offered by the National Research Council Canada — Industrial Research Assistance Program. Point2 involves all its staff members in its growth, with 15% of the company owned by employees. With a bright future ahead, Point2 management’s vision and investments already seem to be paying off.