Andrew Chau is a 2024 recipient of the Outstanding Impact Award.
This award recognizes an extraordinary alumnus/alumna who is currently making significant personal and professional contributions in society, demonstrating exceptional leadership in their field(s) of endeavour, maintaining a standard of excellence that inspires their colleagues and peers, with promise of future achievement and resulting in a demonstrable betterment of their community.
Andrew Chau (BComm’09) is a visionary tech entrepreneur who co-founded SkipTheDishes and Neo Financial—two of the most successful tech startups to come out of the Prairies. During a time when there was less activity in tech innovation in Saskatchewan, SkipTheDishes showed that innovation and outstanding entrepreneurial ideas with international impact can be built, and blossom, right here at home.
A testament to the power of humble, hard work, Chau developed an entrepreneurial mindset from a young age. He learned the value of building one’s future in business by working alongside his parents in the Saskatoon restaurant they owned and operated for 30 years.
While a student at USask’s Edwards School of Business, Chau became involved with student groups and met other like-minded people with whom he would later create SkipTheDishes. A few years after graduating from USask, having gained experience working for Boston Consulting Group and the United Nations World Food Programme, he joined fellow USask alumni Jeff Adamson (BSA’08) and brothers Josh Simair (BComm’10), Dan Simair (BSc’05), and Chris Simair (BSc’09) in the venture. Together, they learned the value of persistence over long days of door knocking to solicit business and late nights of evaluating progress to make decisions on how to improve. SkipTheDishes eventually grew to become the largest food delivery network in Canada and the incredible success of the company positioned Chau and his team members as industry leaders.
Taking what he learned from SkipTheDishes, Chau applied his education, knowledge, and skills to a new venture in the financial technology sector. In 2019, he co-founded Neo Financial with partners Chris Simair, Jeff Adamson, and Kris Read. In 2022, Neo Financial received unicorn status after a $185-million Series C fundraise and a $1-billion-plus valuation, making it one of the fastest Canadian companies to reach this valuation.
Chau remains committed to his roots and to pursuing and uplifting entrepreneurship on the Prairies. Neo Financial has been recognized as one of the top tech startups in Canada by LinkedIn and was ranked first on Deloitte’s 2023 Technology Fast 50 Companies to Watch. In 2022, Chau was recognized as one of Avenue Calgary’s Top 40 Under 40, an accolade that celebrates young leaders who have made significant contributions to their fields. In response to this honour, he took the opportunity to encourage other entrepreneurs to build their own businesses in the Prairie provinces.
Congratulations!
