A broad smile crosses Kamal Vahi’s face as he opens the door to Empowered Startups’ office in downtown Vancouver. For him, he’s entering more than a place of business; he’s entering a space that brings him great comfort personally as well as professionally.
“For eight months I was here at the office every day, and I had complete peace of mind. I could focus on my startup and whenever I needed some help, I was with the right set of people. [The] location was amazing, office was amazing, people were amazing,” he beams.
Originally from India, Kamal and his family came to Canada through Empowered Startups’ Canada Start-up Visa Program in 2022. Though he had thoroughly prepared himself by completing the comprehensive modules in Empowered’s Global Startup Accelerator online, Kamal experienced the natural apprehension that comes with picking up one’s life and moving across the world.
Kamal Vahi“We were scared. It’s a new country, new people, very different culture. We met the Empowered team, and the day we met, it calmed all of us so nicely. After that, we felt that there is a family to which we belong,” he recounts. “Even if I have a personal problem, there is someone who is going to take care of me. It was not only my startup; it was my family that was being taken care of. They have helped us settle into Vancouver so nicely; we couldn’t have asked for anything better than this.”
An IT professional with more than 25 years of experience, Kamal is the founder of Data Crafters Infosolutions, a quality management system delivered via software for small and medium organizations. Utilizing his industry knowledge as the foundation for his startup was a logical starting point, but he lacked familiarity with creating a business in Canada. That’s where the advantage of being in Empowered’s Startup Incubator, an integral component of its SUV program, helped immeasurably according to Kamal. In listing the names of several Empowered team members who have assisted him in building Data Crafters, he makes a point to emphasize the significance of Matthew Pattinson, who has mentored Kamal and provided him with guidance, feedback and resources during his entrepreneurial journey.
“He worked so hard to gather so many wonderful tools, so many softwares which helped take our product online, helped us take our product to our customer,” explains Kamal in describing Matthew’s impact. He details how Matthew facilitated meetings with reputable accountants, lawyers, and marketing professionals, some of whom were eventually hired by Data Crafters for their services, which Kamal considers “the backbone of any business”. His gratitude for Matthew’s efforts is clear, as is his appreciation for his experience with Empowered Startups.
“When I started my journey with Empowered, I didn’t know it was going to be so good. I never thought that my journey would be so simple,” admits Kamal. When asked if he would recommend Empowered’s SUV program to others, he definitively states, “I will tell any entrepreneur not to go anywhere else.”
