Consolidation in the technology-training sector is highlighting demand for skills related to artificial intelligence (AI).
Ontario's Uvaro today announced that it has bought the Vancouver-based, technology-training venture Lighthouse Labs for an unspecified amount. The 12-year-old Lighthouse Labs is known for its boot camps, where students learn skills such as coding.
The acquisition is a strategic move for Uvaro, and it aligns with wider job-market trends, CEO Joseph Fung told BIV.
The Canadian government's last year budgeted $2.4 billion to support AI initiatives and to help build infrastructure to power supercomputing centres.
AI-focused programming and investments are aimed at creating a more digitally skilled workforce and they make clear that workers today are looking for training to help them thrive in a world where AI is a hot employment sector.
"Uvaro's background is all in technology development," Fung said. "Even prior to the acquisition, we had launched and announced our own AI-productivity curriculum in terms of courses."
Uvaro's skills development program, however, has historically been focused on front-of-office activities, such as training for sales reps, customer service representatives, project managers and marketers, and how AI may change or augment those roles, he said.
"We have never had curriculum offerings around [AI for] technical development or technical roles," he said.
The acquisition increases Uvaro's staff count to about 100, up from 60.
"Our leadership team stretches from Vancouver to Kitchener to Calgary," said Fung, who is based in Kitchener. "Most of our services are delivered remote, and so our big geographies are the Vancouver and Toronto areas."
Most training is also paid for by the students, as opposed to by companies training staff, Fung added.
Lighthouse Labs CEO Jeremy Shaki told BIV in 2023 that “AI’s going to put every school on its toes in terms of keeping up with what is changing in the job market."
Today he said that "by aligning with national priorities like digital skills training, we’re helping Canadians seize opportunities and prepare for the digital economy."
