Contakt World Inc may be involved in contact tracing, but it is looking to evolve beyond the pandemic reminder

The spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) and its variants has brought the world of contact tracing technology to the forefront under the guise of vaccine passports, which are becoming the key to everyone’s business, travel and social life. days.

Companies involved in the development of this technology have naturally grown in importance and investors have given them more attention.

One company that has become involved in the field is CSE-listed Contakt World (CSE:HELP) Technologies Inc, which was established to develop and deliver SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) solutions for the public and private. The company integrates data collection and management, communications, advertising and IoT devices for the healthcare industry and is committed to improving health equity and disease management.

Smart Health RM, a relationship management software built from the ground up, was Contakt World’s first SaaS software application (CSE:HELP) for public health agencies, designed with a particular focus on contact tracing and community engagement communication channels leveraging AI technology.

Contakt World acquired its second platform, HealthCheck, a symptom management tool that helps HR departments and healthcare professionals monitor the well-being of those who report to work or school each day, in August 2021.

Then, in October 2021, Contakt World decided to provide access to vaccine passport technology through a partnership with Portum, which provides secure proof of vaccination to monitor guest access to events or venues. Contakt World will offer the Portum platform to commercial and government customers to meet and monitor vaccination mandates in public and private settings, exposure notification, symptom checker, secure vaccine wallet and distancing notifications.

The year-old company went public in July 2021, with Zayn Kalyan, a partner at a venture capital firm, and one of the company’s founding investors, Altus Capital, as interim CEO. .

Proactive caught up with Kalyan to learn more about the company.

Proactive: Contakt World was established in 2020 as a health equity-conscious contact tracing company. Has its mission changed in light of the coronavirus (COVID-19)?

Zayn Kalyan: Thus, the company has evolved since its original inception beyond just focusing on contact tracing. We have expanded our scope to focus on providing software solutions for the health and wellness space beyond just pandemic response. But, having said that, our core business is the HealthCheck product and what it essentially does is provide symptom screening and vaccine passport validation tools for medium and large businesses. We like to call it a “Covid Compliance” solution.

Right now in the United States there is a lot of pressure for companies to ensure that all of their employees are vaccinated and to ensure that all employees regularly report their symptoms on a day-to-day basis. And while it may not seem like the sexiest company, there is a huge demand for it. Even in the face of sweeping vaccination warrants being closed by the US Supreme Court, private companies continue to push very hard to have all their staff vaccinated and validate that vaccination, as well as to ensure regular screening for symptoms.

This is often for insurance purposes. Simply ensuring that all of their staff are able to meet their insurance requirements, they should regularly check in with their employees that they are vaccinated and free of symptoms. In a broader context, however, I would say that the company is really focused on providing SaaS solutions, not only in terms of pandemic response, but also beyond.

So we’re looking across the entire health technology space to find companies that we can acquire or partner with to really expand our portfolio and continue to deliver solutions. Currently, we have over 800 customers and over 100,000 users on our platform. And we think it’s a huge opportunity to be able to market other solutions on this network.

So what kind of areas would the company be looking to expand into?

I think initially we’re obviously very focused on the health technology space, and that includes telehealth. We are looking very critically at long-term care and home care, and how we can innovate in those areas through technology. And in other areas such as on-demand nursing. Then, beyond that, we’re also looking to see how we can be very innovative. I think there’s a lot of opportunity in providing solutions, leveraging virtual reality and augmented reality in the metaverse, and there’s also a lot of opportunity in the blockchain space. We want to be at the forefront of that.

You serve as interim CEO of Contakt World, as a partner in venture capital firm Altus Capital, one of the company’s founding investors. So what do you think you bring to the company yourself?

So my background is actually in software development. I started my career as a software engineer. Through a number of companies, I sort of made my way into venture capital and investment banking and have been with Altus Capital for almost just over four years. I think I’m kind of looking to guide the business as it evolves beyond just being Contakt World and looking to acquire other assets and bring them together to create a software and technology portfolio More diverse SaaS.

I am therefore looking to continue and stay with the business over the next two months as we grow it, while looking for a strong management team who can continue to grow the business beyond my tenure.

Is it something that would be done internally? Where do you see external appointments?

I think it will go through the acquisition. As we look at other businesses to acquire and other businesses to expand, I’m sure we’ll find the key management players we need throughout this process.

So what should investors expect from the company in the short to medium term?

I think it’s been an exciting year. HealthCheck has done an excellent job over the past two years. The business has made nearly C$1.35 million in the past calendar year and continues to grow. There is a growing demand for the products and very healthy margins, being a SaaS business. I think as we look to acquire other companies, there will be a great series of new and very good partnerships with larger companies, and all of this in the face of more revenue and more profits in this area.

I think we are currently in a great position in technology, at the macro level. Big tech is struggling in capital markets, and I think this is an opportunity to find accretive acquisitions at fair valuations that we can add to our top line and bottom line.

So what do you think of the Contakt World share price?

I think coming out of 2020 we were trading a discount on our true value in the context of the rest of the tech market with people just looking at us as a COVID deal and not understanding the business as it exists today and the number of customers that we have, as well as the number of daily active users that we have.

I think as we expand into 2022 we will continue to educate the market and I think as we make more acquisitions and build the portfolio , this will be positively reflected in our share price. We’re very excited about going into 2022. Like I said, I think there’s a lot of opportunity, not just in health tech but also beyond, and we are looking to make some very good strategic acquisitions in the months ahead. .

Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com