‘Our mission and goals are aligned’

A Winnipeg advertising technology company is one step closer to launching its product in Canada after acquiring a startup based in Kingston, Ont.

Taiv Inc. purchased Local Reach in a deal that closed last month. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Local Reach co-founders Evan Ferreira and Joseph Liao, who created the startup while studying at Queen’s University in Kingston, will move to Winnipeg and join Taiv’s staff. Taiv acquired some of the startup’s tech as part of the cash-and-stock transaction.

It’s Taiv’s first acquisition and a big milestone for the six-year-old company, according to co-founder and CEO Noah Palansky.

“Making an acquisition is sort of a signal to the broader market that we’re going to stick around and do this and scale it up to a pretty meaningful size, which has always been our goal,” he said.

Ferreira added he is excited about the deal.

“It truly does feel that our mission and goals are aligned and we’re accelerating this tech to help every restaurant and bar in the world,” he said.

Founded in 2018 by Palansky, chief technology officer Jordan Davis and chief business officer Avi Stoller, Taiv wants to rebuild the way TV is shown in businesses.

The company aims to show the best content and ads for any environment by offering a small box that connects to clients’ TVs and automatically switches between cable, streaming channels, digital signage and trivia.

The box uses artificial intelligence to analyze the live video feed and switch sources during commercial breaks or based on the time of day. (The founders came up with the name Taiv by inserting AI — artificial intelligence — into the middle of TV.)

Taiv provides the box and installation to businesses free of charge. The company makes money by selling ads and shares a portion of the revenue with these businesses.

The idea for Taiv was sparked when Palansky and his wife were watching a hockey game at a local bar. When the game cut to commercials, the first ad promoted a competing national chain.

He, Davis and Stoller figured ads for in-house drink specials, upcoming events and amenities customers might not be aware of would be more appropriate.

“That was kind of the core idea for us: just giving these business owners control over the ads that get shown within their four walls,” Palansky said.

Ferreira and Liao stumbled onto the same idea last year, also while watching a hockey game in a bar. During the commercial break, an ad for a funeral home came on TV.

“I wouldn’t say it killed the vibe of the bar, but it certainly didn’t add to it,” Ferreira recalled.

Within a couple weeks, the duo created a device to optimize TV content and found their first customer, a bar in Mississauga, Ont. With that, Local Reach was born. Soon, the company had installed devices in additional bars across Ontario.

When Ferreira searched the internet to see if similar companies existed, he came across Taiv.

Since Local Reach was focused on Canada and Taiv was only available in the United States, he figured there might be an opportunity to collaborate. He sent Palansky an email with a cheeky subject line that said something like, “I love your business so much I’ve decided to copy it.”

The companies started talking and realized since Taiv had plans to expand into Canada, collaboration didn’t make sense since they would eventually be competitors. An acquisition, however, appealed to both parties.

More than 2,000 businesses in 13 U.S. cities use Taiv’s device, Palansky said, and the company is preparing to launch in three more cities — San Diego, Los Angeles and Philadelphia — in the coming weeks.

The company will expand into Canada when it launches in Winnipeg in July. More Canadian cities will follow in 2026.

The company employs around 45 people. Palansky expects to hire up to 15 more by the end of June, plus 20 more in the new year. He’s also looking for a new office, as the company has outgrown its current 5,000-square-foot Exchange District headquarters.

Taiv has raised “a significant amount of money,” Palansky said, primarily from venture capital funds in the United States. He declined to disclose the company’s annual revenue, but said it grew by more than 400 per cent in 2024.

People have encouraged Palansky and his partners to move the company to a larger centre, but they’re committed to staying in Winnipeg.

Palansky hopes the city becomes a hub for more startups.

“This should be a place where people are opening up offices in the tech industry,” he said. “It’s just something I’m really passionate about.”

aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca