Dax Dasilva

Born|

Vancouver, Canada

Nationality| Canadian
Citizenship| Canada
Education|

* Computer science
* Bachelor's in religion and art history

Alma mater| University of British Columbia
Occupation|

* Entrepreneur
* Author
* LGBTQ rights activist

Organization| Lightspeed

Notable work

| Set up “Never Apart” a non-profit organization

Dax Dasilva is a Canadian entrepreneur, author, and LGBTQ rights activist. He serves as the chief executive officer of Lightspeed, a Montreal-based tech firm with multiple offices in Canada and the United States. Dasilva, before setting up Lightspeed was a programmer by profession.[1][2][3][4]

## Contents

* 1 Early life and education
* 2 Career
* 2.1 Entrepreneurship
* 2.2 Author
* 2.3 Community involvement
* 3 References
* 4 External Links

## Early life and education[edit]

Dasilva was born in and spent his childhood in Vancouver and in 2001 he moved to Montreal, when he was aged 24. His parents emigrated to Canada from Uganda, Africa in 1972. His father took a course in welding and got a job in Ebco Industries, a British Columbia-based manufacturing company. After some time, he transitioned to graphic design at the same company. His father’s tech background encouraged Dasilva to pursue the same industry. Dasilva went to the University of British Columbia where he initially studied computer science before switching to religion and art history. He came out as gay while he was a teenager studying at an all-boys Irish Catholic high school in Vancouver.[5][6][4][7][8][9]

## Career[edit]

### Entrepreneurship[edit]

In 2005, Dasilva founded Lightspeed, a software company based in Montreal. The company works with retailers, creating retail POS systems helping them in the provision of an improved in-store and online customer experience using the help of cloud technology. Lightspeed has a clientele that spreads across 100 countries and has a portfolio of more than 74,000 businesses. It has more than 1,000 employees in 14 different offices around the world. In March 2019, the company went public on the Toronto Stock Exchange in an IPO that saw it raise almost CAD 240 million.[10][2][3][11][9]

### Author[edit]

In April 2019, Dasilva published a book titled Age of Union: Igniting the Changemaker. The book is addressed towards how people can be changemakers in the light of Dasilva’s own experiences.[2]

### Community involvement[edit]

In 2015, Dasilva set up Never Apart, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting diversity and unity in the society. He dedicated the Lightspeed’s first office building to a cultural center for Never Apart, after the company outgrew the capacity of the location. The cultural center features works of emerging artists through exhibitions such as Non-Binary, which examine gender roles in the society and work towards the promotion of self-expression. The organization also publishes an eponymous monthly magazine. He has also been an ambassador for Fierté Montréal.[12][13][9]

## References[edit]

1. ↑ "Lightspeed, Dax Dasilva, The Entrepreneurs 332 - Radio". Monocle. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Brownstein: Tech wizard Dax Dasilva advocates 'unseparation in a fractured world'". Montreal Gazette. 15 May 2019. Retrieved 2020-04-10.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Lightspeed shares surge after TSX IPO". BetaKit. 2019-03-11. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Rogers, Bruce. "Dax Dasilva's LightSpeed Creates 'Apple Store' Experience for Retailers". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
5. ↑ "Dax Dasilva on evolving businesses in the face of Amazon". Retrieved 2020-04-10.
6. ↑ "Now an international company, Dax Dasilva explains why Lightspeed is committed to Canada". BetaKit. 2017-04-11. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
7. ↑ News; Economy (2019-05-28). "Lightspeed is writing a new chapter in the Canadian tech story | Financial Post". Retrieved 2020-04-10. `{{cite web}}`: `|last=` has generic name (help)
8. ↑ "PROFILE: DAX DASILVA". Diary of a Social Gal. 2017-03-02. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 "Change Agents 2016: Dax Dasilva, Lightspeed". www.canadianbusiness.com. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
10. ↑ "No restrictions at the Never Apart gallery | CTV News". montreal.ctvnews.ca. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
11. ↑ "Video - BNN - Business News Network". BNN. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
12. ↑ "Re:Porter" (PDF). Fly Porter. September 2016. Retrieved 8 April 2020.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
13. ↑ "La LGBT connection". www.lesaffaires.com (in français). Retrieved 2020-04-10.

## External Links[edit]

* Dax Dasilva on Linkedin
* Dax Dasilva on Facebook
* Dax Dasilva on Instagram
* Dax Dasilva on Twitter
* Dax Dasilva on Crunchbase

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