Hi there, I'm Luke Closs.

I like to make things in real life and on the web.

I tweet, write lots of code, present ideas and like to throw things.

A little bit about my path:

  • I graduated in 2001 from BCIT with honours in Data Communications and Internetworking.
  • From 2001 to 2004 I worked for Telos Technologies building 2g and 3g cellular soft switches.
  • From 2004 to 2006 I worked for Sophos on unix based email gateway anti-spam product.
  • In 2006 I joined Socialtext's globally distributed development team and we built a platform for social enterprise collaboration.
  • In 2007 I juggled a lot and made a Youtube video of some pretty badass club passing - featuring Roundabouts and Chopabouts.
  • In 2008 I helped to found the Vancouver Hack Space, one of Canada's first Hackerspaces. I also helped Dan Bricklin (inventor of the Spreadsheet) build the first Spreadsheet for the One Laptop Per Child project.
  • In 2009 I created VanTrash, one of the first civic open data apps in Canada. VanTrash became ReCollect, a business to help municipalities communicate with citizens about waste collection.
  • In 2011 I became independent and helped the Vancouver Biodiesel Co-op and Wilderness Committee with innovative and collaborative web projects. I also filmed a part in a television commercial as a juggler!
  • In 2011 I joined Prime Radiant as the Developer of Checkmarkable, an app to help organizations have repeatable, high quality processes.
  • In 2012 I founded ReCollect Systems Inc, with Kevin Jones and David Eaves to grow ReCollect to the next stage in its journey. I built some cool hacks, including a Picture frame tool for Moms and Grandmas and a SMS Harvest - a tool for groups to gather feedback from large groups.
  • In 2013 I spent most of my time growing as an entrepreneur on ReCollect. Still, I managed to have some other fun: I helped launch VHSdecel - Vancouver's first startup decelerator, my open source biodiesel point of service system Biopay has been embraced by others, and I re-launched SMS Harvest.
  • From 2014 to 2021 I built ReCollect into a profitable and impactful bootstrapped, Software as a Service company in the civic tech space. I owe so much to my amazing co-founders David Eaves and Kevin Jones and my love, Jen Closs.
  • In 2021 ReCollect was acquired by Routeware Inc, a leader in the Solid Waste and Recycling software industry. I continue to learn and grow in this new phase of the company.
  • In 2023 I left Routeware to explore new places and ideas, and to work on my health.