JCI Technologies

JCI Technologies "was a pioneering internet firm started by a Geoffrey Edmunds and Martin Winstanley in Victoria, B.C., Canada in 1992. Chris Simpson and John Erickson joined the firm as senior executives several years later. "JCI" was an acronym for Jobs Canada Inc. The firm created searchable online databases of job-seekers (resumes), cars and real estate, respectively, Jobmatch, Automatch and Realtymatch (an MLS search service). Large ownership stakes were taken early by Canada's two largest newspaper chains, Torstar and Southam. The intent was to publish the newspapers' classified advertising on JCI's online databases. (This is significant as newspaper chains were often cited as missing out on the online movement. While Ccraigslist.com has been cited as one of the first online classified advertising sites in 1995, JCI Technologies appeared to have been far more advanced in 1995.) "Craigslist.org was one of the first online classified sites..."
"In early 1996, Southam Inc. agreed to invest in JCI Technologies. Over time Torstar and Southam will have equivalent ownership interests. The strategic relationship with JCI and Southam should further the concept of a national electronic classified advertising service."
JCI Technologies was cited as close to becoming Canada's largest online publisher in November, 1995.
JCI Technologies was a pioneering internet service provider with online classified services dating back to approximately 1993 as evidenced by this quote from November 1995: "jci, one of only two Canadian content providers to the Microsoft Network, began its first service, JobMatch, nearly three years ago using ivr (Interactive Voice Response) technology. In 1995 JCI was selected to be one of the first content providers selected for Microsoft's MSN network prior to MSN's launch in the mid 1990s".
By early 1996, JCI potentially had a dominant position in Canada's on-line classified ads with Southam also taking a stake in the company. Shortly after Conrad Black's Hollinger took over of Southam, financing for JCI was pulled and the investment failed just prior to the internet boom of the late 1990s.
Timeline
April 26, 1996: "Southam acquired a 21.9% stake in JCI Technologies (JT)..."
December 20, 1995: JCI Technologies finalized a deal with the Canadian Real Estate Association CREA put online Canada's Multiple Listing Service (MLS).
January 31, 1995: "Metroland, Printing, Publishing and Distribution (MP), a unit of Torstar, was granted warrants to raise its stake to 39% from 32.5% in JCI Industries (JCI)..."
October 23, 1995: JCI Technologies Inc. announced it was completing "negotiations with Human Resources Canada to launch an online computer service to link Canadian job seekers with prospective employers..."
December 1, 1994: announced that it acquired JCI Jobs Canada Inc.in a reverse takeover. (Jobs Canada Inc. operated "The National Employment Registry, a sophisticated resume database and retrieval service that allows employers to search for job candidates across the country.")
Pioneering Websites
*jcitech.com
*JobMatch, RealtyMatch and AutoMatch can be found on the msn or at jobmatch.com, realtymatch.com, or automatch.com".
*stockmatch.com
* realtymatch.com launched October 12, 1995; renamed the following year to mls.ca

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