Calgary, Montréal, Munich — auticon, the award-winning, leading global technology employer for autistic professionals, has just entered into the Canadian market in Montréal and now announced to join forces with Meticulon in Calgary, Canada’s first technology company focused on employing people with autism. The acquisition of Meticulon’s IT consulting division makes the new combined company the leading employer of adults on the autism spectrum offering exceptional quality work within the information technology industry for its customers also in Canada. The combined enterprise in Canada – known as auticon in all English-speaking regions and as auticonsult in all French-speaking regions to avoid linguistic connotations – will leverage the unique strengths of each company, offering services such as business analytics, artificial intelligence, software development and migration, as well as quality assurance and testing.
Meticulon’s consulting business team will join auticon, offering its strong Canada presence and expertise in delivering high quality remote software testing services. With an office in Calgary, Meticulon currently employs 31 autistic individuals who serve major clients and brands in the Software, Oil & Gas, Finance, Engineering, and Securities industries. The customer base of auticon includes top European and U.S. companies, such as BMW Group, GlaxoSmithKline, Allianz, Lufthansa, Siemens, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Warner Bros..Through the acquisition auticon will continue to expand its portfolio of clients with major Canadian companies and will be able to serve its global customers in Europe and in North America.
“This strategic union will allow us to expand business and employment opportunities across Canada, introducing new sectors and regions to the autism advantage for business,” said Garth Johnson, CEO and co-founder of Meticulon and now Canada CEO of auticon. “Our clients know how accurate, proficient, and diligent our gifted people are which is why we’ve been growing by over 45% every year since 2014. auticon Canada’s mission is to build on this foundation and become the best and largest autism employment focused consulting firm Canada-wide.”
“Despite being highly qualified, only 15 to 20 percent of people with autism are employed in the mainstream workforce,” said Kurt Schöffer, Group CEO of auticon. “The acquisition of Meticulon’s consulting division supports auticon expanding on its mission to bring awareness to neurodiversity while creating distinguished career opportunities for adults with autism. We look forward to accelerating employment opportunities in tech and consulting for the exceptionally talented and skilled adults on the autism spectrum.”
auticon is backed by some of the most influential investors and family offices in Europe, including Sir Richard Branson (Virgin Group), Susanne and Felix Porsche, Stephen Brenninkmeijer (C&A), Ananda Impact Ventures, and Yabeo Capital. Existing and new investors – e.g. Ferd Social Entrepreneurs of Norway and Alexander Andre de la Porte (Rockmelon) – have increased their commitment to further enable the expansion of auticon globally.
“Autistic adults can bring outstanding value in the technology area such as Business Analytics or Artificial Intelligence,” said Brock Brown, Servant Leader VP Corporate Services, Vitruvi Software. “We appreciate the cooperation of auticon and Meticulon in order to bring more autistic workforce to the Canadian IT market.”
Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group, says, “We’ve already seen auticon achieve great success in Europe and the US. I’m excited to see the further expansion internationally and into Canada. auticon is a business with purpose at its core and everyone at Virgin is proud to be part of their journey as they continue to make a positive difference to lives around the world.”
A leading employer of people with autism across the globe, auticon recognizes that employees on the spectrum often possess skills that are beneficial in the IT and technology field, including pattern recognition, error detection, fraud prevention, logical analysis, sustained concentration, and attention to detail. Since its inception in 2011, auticon has significantly developed and broadened its portfolio of services and solutions in cutting-edge fields such as artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain technologies, test automation, data mining and crime prevention.
auticon has successfully expanded in Western Europe, opening seven locations in Germany and affiliates in France, Switzerland, Italy and the U.K and established a strong U.S. platform to allow the company to accelerate growth first in Montréal and Calgary and then to cities across Canada.