Francophone Business Of The Year Nanoptix Is Exploring The Indian Market
MONCTON – At the Conseil économique du Nouveau-Brunswick’s (CÉNB) 35th annual business awards banquet Saturday, a company that makes printing technology for receipts and tickets at casinos and ATMs was crowned Business of the Year.
Dieppe-based tech company Nanoptix has just celebrated its 22nd birthday, President and CEO Daniel Vienneau said, so receiving the prize is an honour.
“It’s nice that they think of Nanoptix as a company that’s worth this award,” he said. “I’ve been coming to this banquet and been part of the Conseil économique of New Brunswick for over 20 years, and so to have this honour today is really something that we, all the staff at Nanoptix, are very pleased to receive.”
Vienneau initially started the company with his brother, Michel, to cater to the optical market. But it shifted to the gaming industry in 1999. It has since been designing, producing and manufacturing various printers, printing systems and
casino and terminal payments from its facilities in Dieppe.
The 32-person team now exports 97 per cent of its products globally and can be found everywhere that transactions happen – from cruise ships to ATM machines to slot machines. Nanoptix is now the largest provider for thermal printing technology for the Australian casino market, Vienneau said.
“We sell to manufacturers of products like kiosks for lotteries or slot machines, so our products end up everywhere,” he said.
Vieanneau will be in India for the second time next month as the company begins to explore that market, including the railway sector.
“They need tickets to get on trains,” he said. “Actually, we did some projects in the rail systems in Ontario years ago, so it’s not a new product. But it’s a new country and everything that comes with it [is new] – developing partnerships and relationships.”
For Vienneau, business was something he knew he always wanted to do. At the age of 10, his father would tell him he would one day become a business manager.
“I’m from Petit-Rocher, I didn’t know how to speak English,” he said. “But I was telling to everybody that I will be a businessman, not knowing what it was. I guess he saw that it was a natural thing for me and growing up and starting university, I knew that was what I wanted to do.”
He said being based in New Brunswick is not a problem for an exporter like Nanoptix. The company has grown at a “very good pace,” Vienneau said, seeing 20 per cent expansion this year. But even though the company has been around for more than 20 years, competing in a global market brings Nanoptix some challenges.
“The challenge is…knowing what’s next and what are the challenges we’ll have in the next few years. Because thermal printing is not necessarily something that will last for another 50 years, obviously. What’s the next step and [what direction] should we go in?” he said. “But we do work on what we need to do next as a technology provider in the transaction business.”
That’s why Nanoptix invests nearly $1 million each year to research and development.
“It’s a big investment but we have no choice being in that market,” Vienneau said.
Four other companies also received awards under the Popular Choice or Coup de cœur category, which was created in 2017. The winners were chosen by members of CÉNB from 14 finalists from the four corners of the province.
Edmundston craft brewery Les Brasseurs du Petit-Sault was the winner for the Northwest region, whisky maker Distillerie Fils du Roy won for the Northeast, apple farm Verger Belliveau Orchard in Memramcook won for the Southeast, and health and wellness company Simply For Life represented the Southwest.
CÉNB CEO Thomas Raffy, whose group is made up of Francophone entrepreneurs and business people committed to the economic development of New Brunswick, said it’s important to celebrate these businesses at a provincial level.
“In our communities, we know the businesses, we know how great they are. But when it comes to the provincial scale, nobody really knows what’s happening in all four corners [of the province],” he said.
“Francophone businesses create wealth in our communities and in New Brunswick, not only by creating jobs and paying taxes, but also giving back to their communities. So, it’s important for us to take the time to celebrate them to say thank you.”