Convergence, along with its UX Research & Design studio, Pixel Ramen, creates award-winning digital products. For over 10 years, Convergence has been designing, engineering, and deploying modern software applications and supporting cloud infrastructure for startups, government, and private enterprises. Industries serviced include aviation, banking/finance, esports, healthcare, hospitality, real estate, natural resources, government, and more.
Convergence also runs a robust community program, hosting and co-organizing 50+ annual events related to tech, entrepreneurship, industry, and business, collaborating with community organizations such as Vancouver Startup Week, AWS Usergroup, Vancouver Tech Week, Google Developer Group, ECOMSquare, and many others.
On the AI front, Convergence is one of the foundational AI/ML development agencies in Vancouver, having spun up its AI practice in 2019 (now separately branded as Giant Leap). Since 2019, Convergence has been consistently engaged in building commercial AI/ML products for clients in both the public and private sectors.
In 2025, Convergence will launch its Venture Catalyst Program, an accelerator-like program that will provide select startups with structured mentorship, strategic programming, office space, and access to a robust community event calendar.
ABOUT MATTHEW HOUSSER
Matthew Housser is best known as the CEO and Co-Founder of Convergence, the Vancouver-based AI, UX, and digital product development agency. Matthew is a fourth-generation Vancouverite and a direct descendant of George Housser, of the renowned law firm Bull, Housser & Tupper LLP, a fixture in the British Columbia legal community for over 130 years.
After earning a BSc in Computer Science from Simon Fraser University, Matthew spent the better part of a decade as a software engineer for Fortune 500 companies before founding Convergence. His roles included positions at SAP/Business Objects, Kodak, and Western Union Business Solutions between 2006 and 2015.
Over the past five years (including some current affiliations), Matthew’s memberships and affiliations have included: a member of the VANTEC Angel Forum, Keiretsu Forum Canada, and BC Tech; an associate of the Digital Technology Supercluster; co-chair of the Vancouver Club‘s technology committee; and advisor to numerous local tech-based startups.
As of September 2024, Matthew’s focus has shifted to his new product venture in the enterprise healthcare sector. This new venture, Simuhealth, has already onboarded enterprise clients, including BC’s Provincial Health Services Authority, Fraser Health, Interior Health, and Island Health, which collectively serve 3.6 million Canadians and operate 47 hospitals.
Going forward, Matthew’s primary focus will be on scaling Simuhealth in Canadian and the US markets.
Matthew remains Chairman of Convergence, as the company continues its long-standing tradition of growth, client service, and community support, operating independently of Matthew’s involvement in day-to-day activities.
IN HIS WORDS
“Although the word “entrepreneur” was not in my vocabulary at the time, the first activity that might qualify as entrepreneurship took place in elementary school, perhaps around grade four or five. This would have been in the mid-1990s.
“I had already become interested in programming, armed with a 486 PC—Windows 95, of course—and the QBASIC programming language. My friend and I had the idea of starting a game company and circulating (selling) copies of our games to our elementary school friends. We would load the game onto floppy discs and draw the company’s logo directly onto the floppy disc label. We had a company name and everything. I think we were charging five dollars per disc or something like that—it is a blurry memory.”
“Ultimately, we never sold a single copy, and the “game” was really just moving a little animated character around the screen using the arrow keys. I believe we called the (vaporware) game Mystic Quest and the company Mystic Software. I am pretty sure we stole those names from somewhere else.
“Until university, the above adventure in elementary school—which was, in hindsight, an adorably naive plan—was my only true business scheme. I would not really characterize gigs such as tutoring as a small business, though I was engaged to tutor math as well.
“My first genuine business transaction was around 2010 or 2011. My friend and I developed a mobile app that was something like a fusion between Groupon and Foursquare. In 2011, our company and intellectual property were acquired by a US company in an all-share deal, with a modest salary for continued involvement for 12 months post-acquisition. We were young and inexperienced, and what ultimately ended up happening was that the product was shelved, and our shares were locked up until they eventually became worthless.
“This experience gave me the confidence to start taking entrepreneurship more seriously, although, in hindsight, we really did give away our business for peanuts, putting no thought whatsoever into protecting ourselves or negotiating a structure that made sense for us. We blindly said “yes” to everything, riding the excitement of selling our app in our mid-twenties.
“From 2014 until the very end of 2016, I launched a new business and primarily worked on a social photo app called Copycat (subsequently rebranded to Verse).
“We raised some pre-seed capital to fund the development of the product, and from there, we on-boarded our first developer and designer—team members 001 and 002. At that time, I was still very much a software developer masquerading as an entrepreneur. Until mid-2015, I continued to hold on to my day job as a Software Architect at a Fortune 500 financial institution, where I had worked since 2010.
“Towards the end of 2016, we were forced to make a decision: raise additional funds to keep the ship sailing or pull the plug and pivot. I was so personally invested in the project that, if left to my own devices, I probably would have raised more money and kept going. Fortunately, my mentor advised me that it was wiser to appreciate that the market had spoken—and to pivot.
“In the first quarter of 2017, we decided to become a professional services firm and pivoted. Convergence was incorporated in 2014 but was never truly activated until that year. The rest of the Convergence timeline spans four offices and multiple evolutions—and brings us to the present day.
“Additionally, in 2016, I co-founded a hobby business, Taiga Therapy Inc., which manufactures and sells the Barrier and Myst lines of organic consumer and commercial soaps.
“That company continues to operate to this day, selling through a network of small Canadian retailers and online through Amazon, although I am entirely uninvolved in its day-to-day operations.
“From 2017 to 2018, I co-ran a cryptocurrency mining operation—a separate corporate entity of its own—and even secured a commercial warehouse space in South Vancouver for a time. At some point, the operation was no longer profitable enough to make sense, and the global demand for GPUs became absolutely insane. As a result, the business was shuttered, and its assets were liquidated. I likely took at least two trips to Beijing, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, and Shanghai in relation to that business alone.
“Convergence is by far the company I have been most closely associated with since 2017. It has been the engine and foundation for everything I have done since.
“Finally, and most recently, I have shifted my attention and focus to Simuhealth, our new venture in enterprise healthcare. Our current clients include BC’s Provincial Health Services Authority, Fraser Health, Island Health, and Interior Health. We exited “stealth mode” in early March 2025, and Simuhealth represents the next chapter in my professional life.
“The sole focus of my life post-university has been pursuing my professional and business ambitions. I travel when I can—almost always to Japan, once or twice a year—but I am never truly offline for more than 24 hours.
“Over my journey, I have learned enough about failure to know that one can never be certain that things will work out indefinitely. One must plan simultaneously for both success and failure.
“The first time I felt (naively) that everything would work out—which, of course, it did not—was when we received our first quarter-million-dollar cheque 10 years ago. At the time, we believed that those funds would make our app a success. Believe me when I say that, at that moment, I truly felt that that business was my future.
“The second time I felt that things might work out—this time, armed with a healthy dose of pessimism—was in 2017, when we signed our first client as an agency. Technically, that was the first dollar I had ever earned from a client or customer as an entrepreneur. I never set out to build a service firm, but it was a realistic path forward, and I have continued building upon it until the present day.
“Let me continue with Simuhealth—for 10 years, I have longed to be in the product world, but I did not want to be yet another startup with an idea but no clients or revenue.
“In 2024, now armed with the sum total of everything we have learned and built over a gruelling decade of business in a competitive setting, we identified an incredible opportunity to serve organizations in the healthcare industry—specifically, any organization running a healthcare simulation, training, or education program.
“Our first major win was onboarding PHSA, Fraser Health, Island Health, and Interior Health as clients—organizations that collectively serve 3.6 million Canadians and operate 47 hospitals. This contract was the catalyst for the incorporation of Simuhealth Technologies Inc. and my personal pivot to focusing on the enterprise healthcare space.
“My mentor of the past 13 years, Howard Louie, is by far the single greatest influence on my professional and entrepreneurial life. We are talking about one to five phone calls a day over the span of 13 years, countless business explorations and lessons learned, numerous trips to Asia, the founding of half a dozen corporate entities, and more. I can only imagine the new and exciting ways I would have managed to fail without his guidance over the years.
“I would like to thank my partner for being my confidante and supporter over the past three years, and for turning Convergence into a widely recognized brand in Vancouver over the past 12 months—that was entirely her doing.
“Also, I want to acknowledge the entire Convergence team. They have endured some tough times throughout the years, and I am deeply grateful for their dedication. Thank you to all the members of our team, both past and present, for building this commercial engine.
“Beyond serving as an innovation partner for clients in both the public and private sectors, Convergence in 2024 became one of the most prolific hosts of community event programming, having hosted over 60 events last year alone.
“In 2025, we are excited to introduce the Convergence Venture Catalyst Program, an accelerator-style initiative that will provide select startups with structured mentorship, strategic programming, office space, and access to our robust community programming. More details will be announced soon.
“As for Simuhealth, we are addressing a critical inefficiency in a multi-billion-dollar healthcare industry. We have adoption and traction with enterprise clients, an imminent product launch, a strong pipeline of target organizations, and meaningful industry partnerships. I am interested in speaking with active investors. Our team has built numerous commercially successful products over the years—some award-winning, some acquired, some widely adopted in their respective industries—but this time, Simuhealth is our platform.
“I am currently raising $1 million USD in pre-seed funding to scale our enterprise healthcare product across the US and nationwide in Canada, while also envisioning Convergence as an established venture incubator in Vancouver, continuing to attract and serve high-calibre clients in both the public and private sectors.”
Author Profile
- Helen Siwak is the founder of EcoLuxLuv Marketing & Communications Inc and publisher of Folio.YVR Luxury Lifestyle Magazine and PORTFOLIOY.YVR Business & Entrepreneurs Magazine. She is a prolific content creator, consultant, and marketing and media strategist within the ecoluxury lifestyle niche. Post-pandemic, she has worked with many small to mid-sized plant-based/vegan brands to build their digital foundations and strategize content creation and business development. Helen is the west coast correspondent to Canada’s top-read industry magazine Retail-Insider, holds a vast freelance portfolio, and consults with many of the world’s luxury heritage brands. Always seeking new opportunities and challenges, you can email her at helen@ecoluxluv.com.
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