# Tobyn Sowden

> Tobyn Sowden is the Victoria-based founder and CEO of Redbrick, a parent company that builds, acquires, and operates software and media businesses. A University of Victoria computer science graduate, he founded Redbrick in 2011 and has led its expansion through products including Shift and acquisitions including Leadpages, Delivra, Animoto, and Paved. He received the 2024 EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Pacific Overall Award and the 2026 VIATEC Colin Lennox Award for Technology Champion.

- **Role:** Founder and CEO at Redbrick
- **Organizations:** Redbrick, RedWillow Media, Neverblue, Couvon
- **Education:** BSc, Computer Science, University of Victoria
- **Known for:** 2024 EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Pacific Overall Award winner., 2026 VIATEC Colin Lennox Award for Technology Champion recipient., VIATEC’s March 2026 citation credits him with launching or acquiring more than 35 companies and investing over $1.3 million in Victoria startups.

## Career timeline

- **2008** — Founded search marketing business RedWillow Media while at university; subsequently sold it to Neverblue and joined that company.
- **2009** — Graduated from the University of Victoria with a BSc.
- **2010** — Started Couvon, a Victoria daily-deals business.
- **2011** — Founded Redbrick in Victoria.
- **2014** — Sold Couvon to Island Daily Deals after acquiring GOYAdeal.
- **2016** — Launched DeskMetrics as a desktop analytics service; Redbrick ranked fifth overall and second in software on PROFIT 500.
- **2020** — Redbrick acquired Leadpages in March.
- **2021** — Redbrick acquired Delivra at the end of the year.
- **2022** — Redbrick’s company timeline records the sale of Assembly to St. Joseph Communications.
- **2023** — Redbrick acquired Animoto in August and announced $100 million in annualized revenue.
- **2024** — Won the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Pacific Overall Award; Redbrick became a Certified B Corporation.
- **2025** — Redbrick acquired Paved in March and Quartz and The Inventory in April.
- **2026** — Named VIATEC Colin Lennox Award recipient; Redbrick announced its preliminary Westholme hotel proposal.

## Achievements

- 2024 EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Pacific Overall Award winner.
- 2026 VIATEC Colin Lennox Award for Technology Champion recipient.
- VIATEC’s March 2026 citation credits him with launching or acquiring more than 35 companies and investing over $1.3 million in Victoria startups.
- Led Redbrick through its announced $100 million annualized revenue milestone with the 2023 Animoto acquisition.

## Latest updates

- **2026-06** — Redbrick announced a forthcoming proposal for Westholme Hotel at Government Street and Pandora Avenue in Victoria, with Aryze; the project was in preliminary development.
- **2026-03** — VIATEC named Sowden the 2026 Colin Lennox Award for Technology Champion recipient.
- **2026-02** — Signed Redbrick’s Synergy Climate Action Partner commitment on February 18.
- **2025-04** — Redbrick acquired Quartz and The Inventory from G/O Media.
- **2025-03** — Redbrick acquired newsletter advertising platform Paved.

## Links

- Website: https://tobyn.net/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tobyns/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/tobyn-sowden
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-07