Photo by Keoni Cabral Flickr CC
Despite reports this past year citing Toronto as a hotbed of wearable technology — with roughly 15 companies producing products — several entrepreneurs and investors in Montreal insist their city is primed to take over within two to three years, particularly in clothing.
In an interview, Tom Emrich, a Toronto-based consultant and founder of We Are Wearables, an organization and blog devoted to wearable technology, called Montreal the smartwear capital of the world.
Several experts attribute Montreal’s rising stronghold on smartwear to the city’s historical strength in manufacturing. Both Mr. Fournier of Hexoskin and Mr. Marceau of OMsignal point to the city’s former dominance in the textile and clothing industries as an influence.
While Mr. Marceau cited the city’s rich history of textile and clothing production as having an influence on his startup, he also said the city offered a great pool of talent with its high number of university graduates ready to enter the work force as engineers, developers and scientists.
“It’s a very reasonable scenario that smart clothing explodes and it becomes a huge industry, and Montreal establishes itself as the epicentre,” Mr. Marceau said.
(Via Financial Post)
Richelle Sibolboro 