From ’93 to ’04, Bill Hennessey was a key player in three gaming tech startups—helping them grow annual sales from single-digit millions to more than 60-times that amount. It was professionally and financially rewarding, but he was spending too much time away from his family.

His solution was a lateral move into real estate. Problem was, none of the existing realty players had the layout he wanted. So he built his own.

Launched in 2013, Platinum Atlantic Realty is a boutique real estate brokerage business that embraces technology and innovation. Examples include VR technology for property “showings” and plans to aggregate and mine appraiser data. “This will be the future of decision making for buying, selling and building real estate,” predicts Hennessey.

How is his DIY project working out? Not only has Premium Atlantic Realty revenue grown 247 per cent since 2016, but Hennessey also attracted the attention of global real estate service company, Colliers International. “Colliers International New Brunswick is now the largest commercial real estate brokerage in New Brunswick,” he says.

Of course, serial startup that he is, Bill Hennessey isn’t content with developing just two multi-million-dollar enterprises. He’s also the owner and developer of FiveFive Developments (a new eight-story residential and commercial development in downtown Moncton). And there’s apparently much more yet to come.

“In our space, I think we do well. But I will tell you, we’re just scratching the surface,” he says.