A good acquisition’: Boise’s MetaGeek purchased by Canadian company

ByDon Day - BoiseDev Editor & Founder

Boise-based firm MetaGeek has been acquired by Waterloo, Canada-based Auvik, the companies announced today. The tie-up will combine MetaGeek’s wi-fi experience with Auvik’s network management products under a single roof.

The Boise office for MetaGeek will remain, and employees will become part of Auvik, and MetaGeek’s product suite will remain available.

The entrepreneurial ‘arc’

MetaGeek founder Ryan Woodings told BoiseDev this is the culmination of his path as an entrepreneur. He will join Auvik.

“I started 16 almost 17 years ago,” he said. “It feels like a great way to close this chapter. MetaGeek was a success.  It’s a good acquisition by a good company. To me, I’m pretty happy about it. The entire arc from the beginning to the end – to be able to build it and experience all of that has been pretty amazing.”

MetaGeek is one of Boise’s longest-running tech startups – first starting in 2005 in Woodings’ spare time. He designed a small device he called the Wi-Spy, which helped users analyze and optimize wi-fi networks – which at the time were still relatively new and primitive.

[It’s a sign(s): Local sign shop buys competitor]

He took the business full-time, moved into an incubator space – and hired his mom to do the books. In the years since, MetaGeek hired a number of employees and launched a series of products that related back to the original thesis of helping with wi-fi networks.

Joining forces

As we reported in 2020, MetaGeek began looking more seriously at home wi-fi, with workers suddenly out of the office and working from home. Around the same time, Auvik had a similar realization.

Now, the companies will join together. The terms of the deal were not announced. Woodings said culture fit was the primary driver of the sale.

“They came to us and they had a good culture fit and a good partner fit,” he said. “I will remain on – and help integrate our tech into their tech.”

According to data from Crunchbase, this is Auvik’s second acquisition after picking up Talaia in 2018. Auvik has taken a number of funding rounds, including its latest in 2020, according to Crunchbase. Funders include Great Hill Partners and others.