Skip the Dishes co-founder named one of Canada's top young business innovators

Josh Simair, the CEO and one of the founders of Skip the Dishes, has been named to list of Canada's Top 40 Under 40.

The transplanted Saskatchewanian who just turned 30, started the Winnipeg technology company, characterized as the Uber for the delivery of restaurant meals, about five years ago.

Simair often talks about "creating value" for his customers, his employee and shareholders. He's become a leader in the startup community in both Manitoba and Saskatchewan, and has become something of a poster child for the virtues of doing business in the Prairies.

While continuing to run the business that now operates in 28 Canadian cities and six in the U.S., with many more on the way, Simair has also become an active investor in other local startups.

Skip the Dishes company was purchased by the U.K. firm, Just Eat, for about $200 million late last year. It now has more than 200 employees, most of them in Winnipeg.

"I'm honoured to win," Simair said in an interview. "I also think it's great for Manitoba. A big part of this program is to hold leaders accountable to their commitment to the business and to their communities."

Simair was the lone Manitoba on the list this year. Past Manitoba winners include Paul Soubry, the CEO of New Flyer Industries and Wade Miller, current CEO of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 is a awards program created by executive search company Caldwell Partners to honour young achievers and innovators in Canadian business. 

The full list

• Taylor Ablitt, Co-Founder & CEO, Diply, ON
• Melody Adhami, President & COO, Plastic Mobile, ON
• Sachin Aggarwal, Chief Executive Officer, Think Research Corporation, ON
• Foteini Agrafioti, Chief Science Officer & Head of RBC Research, RBC, ON
• Ben Almond, SVP & Regional Managing Director, Canada, CH2M, BC
• Corey Berman, President & Co-Founder, Koru Distribution, ON
• Dr. Liam Brunham, Assisant Professor, University of British Columbia & Principal Investigator, Centre for Heart Lung Innovation, BC
• Scott Burrows, Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer, Pembina Pipeline Corporation, AB
• Carinne Chambers-Saini, CEO, Diva International Inc.,ON
• Ian Crosby, Co-Founder & CEO, Bench, BC
• Paul Desmarais III, Senior Vice President, Power Corporation of Canada, QC
• Avik Dey, Managing Director, Head of Natural Resources, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, ON
• Tariq Fancy, Founder & CEO, The Rumie Initiative, ON
• Jonathan Ferrari, Co-Founder & CEO, Goodfood Market Corp., QC
• Harley Finkelstein, Chief Operating Officer, Shopify, ON
• Cody Green, Founder & Co-CEO, Canada Drives, BC
• Dr. Patrick T Gunning, Professor & Canada Research Chair in Medicinal Chemistry, University of Toronto Mississauga, ON
• Reetu Gupta, Chief Operating Officer, The Easton's Group & The Gupta Group, ON
• Jeremy Gutsche, Chief Executive Officer, Trend Hunter, ON
• Michael Katchen, Co-Founder & CEO, Wealthsimple, ON
• Brad Katsuyama, Co-founder & CEO, IEX Group, ON
• Bilal Khan, Founding Managing Director, OneEleven, ON
• Alexandre Lefebvre, President, Lefebvre Group, QC
• Tony Lourakis, Chief Executive Officer, Fleet Complete, ON
• Matias Marquez, Founder & Chief Operating Officer, Buyatab Online Inc., BC
• Rachel Mielke, Founder & CEO, Hillberg & Berk Accessories Inc., SK
• Robert Niven, Founder & CEO, CarbonCure Technologies Inc., NS
• Thomas Park, Assistant Vice President, Operations & Strategy, Business Development Bank of Canada, BDC Capital, QC
• Dr. Nav Persaud, Staff Physician and Assistant Professor, St. Michael's Hospital, ON
• Shahrzad Rafati, Founder & CEO, BroadbandTV, BC
• Dr. Hossein Rahnama, CEO & Professor, Flybits Inc., Ryerson University & MIT Media Lab, ON
• Irfhan Rawji, Principal, Totem Capital Corporation, AB
• Alex Robertson, Chief Executive Officer, Camp Oochigeas, ON
• David Segal, Co-Founder, DAVIDsTEA and Mad Radish, ON
• Joshua Simair, Co-founder & CEO, SkipTheDishes, MB
• Matt Switzer, Senior Vice President, Strategy & Corporate Development, Hootsuite, BC
• Katie Telford, Chief of Staff, Office of the Prime Minister of Canada, ON
• Dr. Aristotle Voineskos, Director, Slaight Family Centre for Youth in Transition, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and Associate Professor, Psychiatry, University of Toronto, ON
• Hayley Wickenheiser, CEO, Wick Hockey, Philanthropist, 6x Olympian, AB
• Kristen Wood, Creater & CEO, THE TEN SPOT® beauty bars, ON

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca

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