After acquiring a substantial array of experience as a corporate lawyer, coupled with a passion for strategy and entrepreneurship, I shifted my focus to business development and leading ideas across the elusive canyon to reality.
Every charitable donation makes a huge impact to the lives it touches. All of my philanthropic and entrepreneurial accomplishments are focused on improving the way we live and the world we live in. I have been lucky enough to work with these charities to help raise awareness and funding. Please contact me if you have an idea that needs funding, a desire to work together or simply want to learn more.
Top Forty Under 40 winner, Zac Killam has built several businesses including Canada’s largest taxi advertising network and the 2nd largest of its kind in the world, a rapidly growing multi-family real estate business, and a PropTech company.
Zac was awarded Canada’s most prestigious media award – the gold-medal Media Innovation Award in 2014 for his technology advancements with Play Charging.
Shortly after establishing Play’s national media network, Zac teamed up with the Canadian Cancer Society to raise awareness and funding for the cause. His philanthropic efforts for the charity have been recognized with the prestigious contribution award.
Seeking out industries that are in need of innovation, Zac trailblazed the path to enable rent reporting to Credit Bureaus in Canada.
Until Zac brought his entrepreneurial thinking to the credit industry, renters across the country were unable to build credit for their single largest payment each month.
Proudly featured in Bloomberg, Yahoo Finance, Apple News, Canadian Business Journal, Globe & Mail, Financial Post, Financial Post Magazine, Financial Post Executive Podcast, Marketing Magazine, Business in Vancouver, News 1010 Radio, News 1130 Radio, Media in Canada, Global TV, Toronto Sun, Tech Vibes, MoneyWise, Breakfast Television, Huffington Post and the Wall Street Journal.
The Play Taxi Media advertising network reaches 1.8 million people and delivers 100 million video impressions, nine million page views, and 12,000 hours of interaction time each month.
If you’ve caught a cab in Vancouver lately – or any other major Canadian city – you may have amused yourself with a tablet-like touch-screen terminal that plays videos and lets you pass the time playing skill-testing games.
You may have called that cab in the first place using an app called One Taxi. And you might even have charged your smartphone in the cab using a complimentary device called Play Charging.
All three of these innovations were created by the same 35-year-old entrepreneur – Zac Killam, founder and CEO of Play Taxi Media, One Taxi and Play Charging.
Founded in 2008, Play Taxi Media (“Play”) is leading the way in providing effective interactive campaigns to Canadian advertisers. Play owns and operates the only national network of interactive tablets deployed in taxis in Canada and is the 5th largest worldwide.
Driven by an engaging technology platform that encompasses the best elements of online, broadcast, and out-of-home, Play tailors its approach to meet the needs and goals of each client. This style not only increases awareness but also creates immediate opportunities for consumer engagement while tracking and measuring the performance of each campaign extensively.
The Toronto-based PropTech, which is used by 30,000 landlords and property managers across Canada and the U.S., is partnering with Equifax Inc. to create an online portal that tracks a tenant’s rent payments so that the resulting data can be incorporated into credit files. Either tenants or landlords, who are tasked with updating their tenants’ profiles on a monthly basis with on-time or missed payments, can sign up to use the service.
Zachary Killam, the CEO, said the contribution of rent payments to credit files and scores could significantly benefit two groups of Canadians who have traditionally struggled to establish their credit-worthiness.
“Why isn’t my credit score better? I pay my rent every month. How can that not matter?” FrontLobby is changing this imbalance, for the first time in Canada renters have the opportunity to build credit by paying rent.
When Zachary Killam was a renter years ago, he found it strange that all his rent payments counted for nothing on his credit score.
“When I moved into my first place, I had a $300 credit card limit. I paid my rent on time, but it always struck me: Why isn’t my rent ― which is of course my largest expense each month ― not on my credit record? I have a credit record for my phone bill but not my rent.”
It happens to everyone. You’re out-and-about using Google Maps to get to your next appointment, checking Yelp! for the best nearby coffee shop and Instagramming your latest photo masterpiece when before you know it, your device battery is dead and you have no way to power up.
That’s where TELUS would like to help. In partnership with Play Taxi Media, TELUS is unveiling the first-ever fleet of taxis in Canada featuring cell phone and tablet chargers.
“APOLLO is making it easy for Canadians to shop for insurance. Partnering with them means, Landlord Credit Bureau can now provide our members with access to insurance whenever, wherever they need it” said Zac Killam, CEO of Landlord Credit Bureau. “Our landlords and tenants appreciate services that are designed with them in mind, APOLLO certainly delivers on this promise.”
The media co has had a successful three-year run on the West Coast, where it has placed ads on interactive touch-screens in cabs for the CBC, the Weather Network, Flight Centre and Telus.
“Because of the success locally, the next logical step was to roll it out nationally,” Zachary Killam, founder, Play Taxi Media, tells MiC.
As the payments are reported, renters can start to build, improve or repair their credit score and, in turn, access lower interest rates down the road when applying for a mortgage, car loan, or other credit product. Plus, as renters develop a good tenant history, they can receive preferred tenant status and look favourable to future landlords.
This record can also help landlords avoid delinquent or destructive tenants, offering a win-win situation.
FrontLobby has a single mission: to improve the lives of landlords, tenants, and property managers alike. One way they achieve this is by allowing renters to use their monthly rent payments, often the largest expense they pay each month, to help build their verified rental history and improve their credit at the same time.
The bottom line? FrontLobby places renters in the driver’s seat when it comes to managing their credit score.
Do you want to watch TV while you ride in a taxi? Passengers in Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary will soon get to try out the experience with the Canadian debut of Play Taxi Media, which plans to put taxi headrest TV touch-screens in 1,500 cabs in November. The company has partnered with the CBC to provide passengers with daily news headlines and with The Weather Network for weather reports. The network also enables consumers to enter email or phone numbers to get access to promotions and additional information.
Rent is the biggest monthly expense for independent Canadians who don’t own their own homes. Paying it on time isn’t always easy. For thousands of Canadians, paying rent requires making a choice between meeting one financial obligation or another, but they overwhelmingly make rent a top priority.
Please contact me with investment opportunities relating to real estate (PropTech, FinTech, and Multi-Family), environmental and sustainability businesses (for profit & not for profit), and advisory roles (strategy, growth, legal, partnerships).