Built by the Engineers Who’ve Shipped Cars.
The automotive industry has no shortage of software vendors. What it lacks is partners who actually know how to deliver.
At Ottawa Infotainment, we’ve sat on both sides of the table: inside OEMs building production infotainment for Subaru, Aston Martin, McLaren. And inside Tier 2s like Blackberry QNX, building CES concept cars that shaped the next wave of vehicle experiences. That dual experience is why we exist.
We know what it takes to get programs into production. We know where things fall apart. And we know how to give OEMs back control of their platform...while still meeting the safety, integration, and production demands that this industry requires.
Collaborating with Ottawa Infotainment is special due to their agile approach to software development. They are quite literally one of the fastest teams to integrate new technology, stemming from their deep experience in embedded software development.
— Jeff RogersVP of Sales and Marketing, Sensory
The Origin Story
How Ottawa Infotainment was started...
The origins of Ottawa Infotainment trace back to 2012, when a small group of engineers and designers were quietly shaping the future of in-vehicle technology from two very different sides of the industry.
On one side, they were building advanced concept cars for CES. Specifically, leading innovation teams at Blackberry QNX, crafting the highly-visible prototypes that would set the tone for the future of connected vehicles. On the other, they were deeply embedded within major OEMs like Subaru, Aston Martin, and McLaren, working inside the production trenches to bring infotainment platforms into full-scale mass production.
Over the next decade, this rare combination of CES-level innovation and production-grade delivery would turn into a series of highly technical projects: spanning OEM consulting, Tier 1 partnerships, and early embedded platform development. Those projects laid the technical and commercial foundation that ultimately led to the formation of Ottawa Infotainment in 2020.
Ottawa Infotainment wasn’t built as a startup experiment. It was built by people who had already spent years solving the exact problems OEMs face when trying to bring software-defined vehicles to market. Today, that experience powers the DragonFire platform, delivering production-ready software, hardware, and cloud solutions for some of the most demanding OEMs, Tier 1s, and new vehicle programs globally.
2025
Scaling Beyond Infotainment
Ottawa Infotainment expands its platform beyond infotainment into full embedded hardware, software, and cloud ecosystems. DragonFire now powers multiple hardware variants, supports extensive cloud integrations, and operates across production programs for passenger vehicles, motorcycles, and commercial platforms globally. The business continues to scale platform integrations across both OEM and Tier 1 supplier networks.
2024
Production-Grade Hardware & Private Label Tier 1 Adoption
DragonFire Pro, paired with DragonFire OS, launches into production, shipping full hardware and software systems directly into OEM vehicles. Tier 1 suppliers, including Yazaki, adopt DragonFire under private-label agreements, validating Ottawa Infotainment's full-stack product execution.
2023
To Make World Class Software, We needed to Make World Class Hardware
Ottawa Infotainment formally incorporates as an independent entity. Recognizing the critical need for integrated hardware control, Ottawa brings on Convergence Design Services as a fourth founding partner — adding world-class hardware engineering capabilities to complement its embedded software platform. This enables true full-stack delivery for OEMs and Tier 1s.
2022
First Production Customer Secured at CES
Backed by early investment through Haze Automotive, Ottawa Infotainment builds its first working prototype for CES. The live demonstration secures Ottawa Infotainment’s first production customer, directly enabling the launch and development of the DragonFire platform.
2020
The Gap in the Market: The Small OEMs Left Behind
While working at Haze Automotive, Sean Hazaray kept hearing the same quiet ask from industry colleagues (including groups like Porsche Digital) who were quietly building their own vehicle programs. They weren’t looking for another massive Tier 1 supplier — they needed help with something specific: infotainment and EE architecture. And none of the traditional Tier 1 players were picking up the phone.
The problem was obvious: any OEM not building hundreds and thousands of vehicles a year was effectively shut out of the market. The Tier 1s weren’t interested. The boutique OEMs were left with nowhere to turn.
Seeing the opportunity, Sean quickly reached back out to Jon Hacker and Miles Hammond with a simple proposal:
“We already know how to build this. Why don’t we build it for them?”
Jon and Miles didn’t hesitate. Ottawa Infotainment was born, created to serve the exact slice of the market that the big players had abandoned.
2019
If we can delight Amazon, we can please anyone...
At Amazon re:Invent 2019, Sean Hazaray, Miles Hammond, and Jon Hacker sit together after delivering one of the most aggressive AI/ML launches of their careers. In just eight weeks, their team built a working model that Amazon used to pitch Volkswagen and other OEMs. Amazon praised the delivery; Karma Automotive still uses the tools today. But sitting at that table, Jon threw out the line that started everything:
“If we can please Amazon, why can’t we do this for other OEMs?”
2012 - 2019
The DNA of Ottawa Infotainment: Production + Prototype
The founding team behind Ottawa Infotainment was uniquely formed at the intersection of OEM and Tier 2 experience:
The combination of high-volume production discipline and cutting-edge prototyping became the DNA of Ottawa Infotainment’s ability to execute for both emerging and established automotive customers.