Economies around the world have been struggling but some traditional industries are showing promise. The mining business is booming, in part due to the pursuit of minerals needed for renewable energy solutions, as shown by a global mining equipment market that’s expected to reach US$125.7 billion in 2025. As well, even as countries and corporations move to decarbonize energy, oilfield equipment expenditures are forecast to reach a peak of US$133 billion in 2023.

Now, a digital approach to serving those traditional markets is providing encouraging results for a Dubai-based company run by a trio of Canadians.

Helmed by CEO and Chairman Harold Hemmerich, along with sons Steele Hemmerich (President) and Dain Hemmerich (COO), Interfield Global Software Inc. (CBOE: IFSS) has two operating divisions — ecommerce through their flagship platform Equipment Hound and SAAS through their flagship product ToolSuite — that service industrial segments around the world, including oil and gas, mining and, increasingly, renewables.

And just as the pandemic accelerated the widespread adoption of online retail shopping, so did it boost Interfield’s virtual approach to selling products and services in industrial sectors.

COVID ‘accelerated’ Interfield’s ecommerce plan

The company began building Equipment Hound in 2019 and then, “COVID accelerated our plans for an ecommerce solution,” Dain Hemmerich says. While a retail shopper can easily order clothes online, someone procuring equipment and supplies for a mine or oil drilling operation, for example, hasn’t always been able to just point, click and pay — it required flying to a different country to see and verify purchases. As well, most websites featuring industrial equipment and supplies simply contained ads, leaving buyers and sellers to connect and complete purchases on their own.

“We want all that happening on Equipment Hound,” Dain Hemmerich says. “Communications happen on Equipment Hound. Third-party verification comes through us. We help with logistics and support the whole process.”

“We do for resources what Amazon does for retail,” says Harold Hemmerich.

The need was there for such a service - when Equipment Hound launched in 2021, it hosted US$500,000 worth of equipment on its platform; by last year, that number was up to US$100 million — and growing.

The focus on solutions is also at the core of Interfield’s ToolSuite, a data management platform that allows operators of complex industrial operations to monitor — in real time, from distant locations — equipment usage, personnel and activity breakdowns, billing, ESG and more.

Data means money in resource industries

Says Dain Hemmerich, “We understood that there’s a huge need for a data management solution that can track all the information from an operation in real time because most companies were still, and to this day are, doing that by paper or, at most, Excel, so they’re losing a ton of data. It’s causing downtime and it’s losing companies a lot of money.”

As Interfield Global Software has advanced both ToolSuite and Equipment Hound, it has found suppliers and partnerships to improve those services. It has welcomed the likes of Oilfields Supply Centre Ltd., an multi-billion dollar oilfield manufacturing company, and Al Dobowi, a manufacturer of tires and batteries, as premium members of the latter. It has also completed a co-marketing and agency agreement with Vigilant Scanning Ltd., which offers scanning and geoseismic technologies in the petroleum, waste and recycling, and security sectors.

“When we have more partners behind us, we believe we have the best chances of delivering a successful solution to each client,” Dain Hemmerich says. “We don’t want to reinvent the wheel. If somebody has a solution that works well with our solutions, then we’re happy to team up with them and give the clients as many solutions as we can. For us, this helps us build our revenue base without increasing our costs substantially.”

With a rapidly expanding partnership, supplier and client base, and a target market valued at US$500 billion, Interfield is headed for growth in the coming year, and in February went through a successful IPO via Cboe Canada, which exposes Interfield to Canadian and international investors.

And what should potential investors consider?

In addition to having management and a board with global experience with public companies and a diverse history in natural resource and technology, the Hemmerichs point out the potential of Interfield.

“We’re a growth company at the start of its cycle that can demonstrate, clearly, what the potential is,” Harold Hemmerich says, noting, “You’re seeing many, many different industrial segments coming on to our platform.”

“Our platforms are developed, they’re working, they’ve got established clients,” Dain Hemmerich says, “and they’re extremely scalable. So, the number of industries we can advance into, the number of solutions we can provide, we see a huge runway in front of us.”

Their customers seem to agree, he says, adding, “When billion-dollar companies start to sign up with you after one meeting, you can sense that you’re on to something.”

Learn more about Interfield Global Software Inc. on its website as well as:

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