PLATO Testing, Canada’s only Indigenous-led and staffed software testing company, is celebrating the new year with a significant investment of $500,000 from investment firm Raven Indigenous Capital Partners. The funding will support the training and employment of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit students as software testers, boosting the Indigenous economy and creating jobs.
With its unique train-and-employ model, PLATO Testing is changing the face of technology in Canada. Since launching in 2015, PLATO has held 15 training programs and trained more than 175 Indigenous students in software testing, creating a significant impact in over 50 communities and injecting almost $8 million directly into the Indigenous economy.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the PLATO Testing training program has continued. In November, the first ever hybrid in-person/virtual class began in Sault Ste. Marie and Regina. Students receive five-months of in-class training on the fundamentals of software testing, then undertake a three-month internship with one of Canada’s leading corporations.
In 2020, PLATO Testing founder Keith McIntosh was awarded the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business Award for Excellence in Aboriginal Relations, joining the likes of former Prime Minister Paul Martin and Senator Murray Sinclair as champions for Indigenous economic participation.