Where is Velocity's headquarters located?

Velocity's headquarters is located in Kitchener (Canada).

How big is Velocity's investment team?

Velocity has a team of 13, including 4 partners.

How many companies has Velocity invested in?

Velocity has invested in 192 companies, including Faire & Kik.

Which companies has Velocity invested in lately?

Voltra & RunQL are the latest investments by Velocity.

How many exits has Velocity been involved in?

Velocity's portfolio has seen 2 IPOs and 26 acquisitions.

How many unicorns are there in Velocity's portfolio?

There is 1 unicorn in Velocity's portfolio.

Velocity - 2026 Investor Profile, Portfolio, Team & Investment Trends

Velocity, an accelerator and incubator program founded in 2008, is based in Kitchener, Canada. With a presence in 5 countries, it has supported around 192 startups in sectors like Enterprise Applications, High Tech. As of Sep 2026, Velocity has 1 unicorn under its belt and has witnessed 28 portfolio exits. Most notable companies in its portfolio include Faire, Kik and Quo. The program is backed by a team of 13 people who primarily support Grant (prize money) startups based in Canada. Its latest investment was a $1.8M Seed round in Voltra on May 15, 2025, which also saw participation from Contrary and Hanover Technology Investment Management.

Key Metrics

Founded Year

2008

Location

Kitchener, Canada

Portfolio Companies

Faire, Kik & 190 more

Sectors of Investment

Enterprise Applications, High Tech & 35 more

Stages of Investment

Seed & Grant (prize money)

Locations of Investment

Canada, United States & 3 more

Unicorn in Portfolio

ApplyBoard

View Velocity's full profile

Velocity has a portfolio of 192 companies, one of which is a Unicorn. Their most notable investments are in LSK Technologies and Pitstop.Their portfolio spans across Canada, United States, India and 2 more locations. They have invested in Enterprise Applications, High Tech, HealthTech and 34 other sectors, across stages such as Seed, Grant (prize money) stages. Here is the list of top investments by Velocity:

1. Faire

Online wholesale marketplace connecting retailers with brands to facilitate direct purchases. It is an online wholesale marketplace that connects retailers with brands, allowing them to discover new products and streamline their purchase process through a user-friendly platform. The company facilitates wholesale buying and ordering across various product categories, serving both retailers and brands.

Key facts about Faire

Founded Year: 2017
Location: San Francisco (United States)
Valuation: $*****
Stage: Series I
Total Funding till date: $1.7B
Employee Count: 5,161 as on Aug 31, 2026
Investors: equitywestsecurities.com, Baillie Gifford and 27 Others
Latest Funding Round: Series I, Nov 17, 2025, $*****
Highlight: Editors' Pick

2. Kik

Kik is a mobile application that provides multimedia messaging for friends and family members. It allows users to send 1-to-1 text messages over the data plan or a Wi-Fi connection. Its features include photos, files, GIFs, emojis/stickers & voice recordings sharing support; group chatting, user nicknames support, and others. It also provides quizzes, fashion tips, news, advice and more. The app is available for iOS and Android devices.

Key facts about Kik

Founded Year: 2009
Location: Santa Monica (United States)
Last Known Valuation: $*****
Stage: Acquired
Total Funding till date: $166M
Employee Count: 56 as on Aug 31, 2026
Investors: SIB Investment Group, Millennium Technology Value Partners and 16 Others
Latest Funding Round: Series D, Jul 03, 2017, $*****
Highlight: Acquired

3. Quo

AI-based budgeting and expense management platform. It offers a platform for expense tracking and plans monthly finances. It also allows users to access emergency loans instantly via Quo membership card.

Key facts about Quo

Founded Year: 2018
Location: Palo Alto (United States)
Stage: Acquired
Total Funding till date: $63.2M
Employee Count: 60 as on Jul 01, 2024
Investors: Global Founders Capital, Craft Ventures and 25 Others
Latest Funding Round: Series B, Apr 07, 2022, $*****
Highlight: Acquired

4. Bartesian

Online platform offering cocktail dispensers. The product catalog includes dispensers, cocktail shakers, barware accessories, varieties of cocktails, and more. The dispenser has a robotic bartender that offers cocktails from the capsules, offers drinks using a pod-based system by utilizing glass bottles with different liquors. Users can also take monthly subscription services of the cocktail.

Key facts about Bartesian

Founded Year: 2014
Location: Kitchener (Canada)
Stage: Series A
Total Funding till date: $20M
Employee Count: 32 as on Aug 31, 2026
Investors: Forecast Labs, Cleveland Avenue and 7 Others
Latest Funding Round: Series A, Apr 06, 2021, $*****
Highlight: Editors' Pick

5. Hive

Developer of project management software for coordinating team workflow tasks. The platform provides tools for organizing projects, tracking time, and managing team collaboration through various visual formats including calendars, kanban boards, and gantt charts. Users can utilize artificial intelligence features to summarize content, search across connected applications, and generate updates. The system supports project planning, task assignment, and progress monitoring to facilitate team coordination.

Key facts about Hive

Founded Year: 2015
Location: New York City (United States)
Valuation: $*****
Stage: Series A
Total Funding till date: $28M
Employee Count: 65 as on Jun 30, 2026
Investors: Dot Edu Ventures, Comcast Ventures and 8 Others
Latest Funding Round: Series A, Aug 30, 2021, $*****
Highlight: Editors' Pick

View the full list of portfolio companies

Velocity has invested in 192 companies over the last 15 years, with an average of 2 new investments annually in the last 10 years. In 2025, it made 1 investment. Its most recent first time investment was in Voltra and most recent follow-on round was in Pout.

Here are Velocity's Year-on-Year Investment Trends:

Year	No. of Investments
Year	1^st Round	Follow-on	Total
2026 (YTD)	0	0	0
2025	1	0	1
2024	2	0	2
2023	0	0	0
2022	0	0	0
2021	0	0	0
2020	6	0	6
2019	2	0	2
2018	2	0	2
2017	2	0	2

View all investments by Velocity

Velocity has made 13 investments in Seed stage with an average round size of $1.01M and 12 investments in Grant (prize money) stage with an average round size of $25K.

Here are Velocity's investments by stage:

Stage of entry	No. of Investments
Seed	13
Grant (prize money)	12

Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments

View all investments by Velocity

Velocity has a diverse portfolio, with companies operating in the Enterprise Applications, High Tech, Vertical SaaS, Consumer and HealthTech. Notably, it has invested in 157 Tech companies, 113 Enterprise (B2B) companies, 95 Software companies and at least 54 companies focusing on Consumer (B2C).

Here are Velocity's investments by sector:

Sector	No. of Investments
Enterprise Applications	15
High Tech	8
Vertical SaaS	5
Consumer	3
HealthTech	3
Others	23

Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments

View all investments by Velocity

Velocity has made most investments in Canada (24), followed by United States where it has made 1 investment.

Here are Velocity's investments by geography:

Country	No. of Investments
Canada	24
United States	1

Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments

View all investments by Velocity

Velocity has not made any investment in 2026 so far.

Here are the most recent investments by Velocity:

Filter this list

Date	Company	Location	Round Details	Round Amount	Co-Investors
May 15, 2025	Voltra	Canada	Seed	1287	Contrary [+1]
Nov 13, 2024	RunQL	Canada	Seed	6988	Mistral [+3]
Jun 28, 2024	Scribenote	Canada	Seed	2514	Andreessen Horowitz [+1]
Nov 09, 2020	piandpower	Canada	Seed	9296	-
Aug 07, 2020	Aqua-Cell Energy	Canada	Grant (prize money)	4848	-

See more recent investments made by Velocity

Velocity has 1 unicorn in its portfolio - ApplyBoard. The most recent unicorn in their portfolio is ApplyBoard which became a unicorn in 2020, 6 years before Velocity first invested in it.

Here is a list of unicorns in Velocity's portfolio:

Filter this list

Tracxn Score	Company	Short Description	Founded year	Sector	Location	Company Stage	First Investment/ Acquisition Details
56	ApplyBoard	Study abroad application platform connecting recruitment partners and schools	2015	EdTech	Kitchener	Series D	myhcski

View more details about unicorns in Velocity's portfolio

2 of Velocity's portfolio companies have become public. Alchemy Nano got listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange - Venture Exchange (TSX-V), in Jul 2026 at marketcap of $38.7M and Chalk.com got listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) at marketcap of $3.7B.

Here are Velocity's portfolio companies that went public:

Filter this list

Company	IPO Date	First Invested on	First Round of Investment	Round Size
Alchemy Nano	Jul 09, 2026	-	-	9866
Chalk.com	Jul 30, 2021	-	-	6569

View more details about public companies in Velocity's portfolio

26 companies from Velocity's portfolio have been acquired. The most recent acquisition was Pitstop in Mar 2026 by Fullbay for $*****.

Here are Velocity's portfolio companies that got acquired most recently:

Filter this list

Company	Acquisition Date	First Invested on	First Round of Investment	Round Size
Pitstop	Mar 25, 2026	Apr 14, 2016	Seed	4394
ProNavigator	Oct 28, 2025	-	-	3516
Caribou	Jan 23, 2025	Feb 28, 2020	Seed	1973
Ubiq	Aug 16, 2024	-	-	7392
1Mentor	Jan 11, 2024	-	-	5594

View all acquired companies in Velocity's portfolio

Velocity has a team of 13 members including 4 Partners and 4 Principals located in Canada and Saudi Arabia. Velocity's team does not sit on the board of any company as of now.

Here is a list of top team members in Velocity:

Name	Designation	Location	Board Memberships	Contact Details
David Shak	Partner	Canada	-	-
John A G Dick	Partner	Kitchener	-	-
Akash Vaswani	Partner	Kitchener	-	1 Email
Moazam Khan	Partner	Saudi Arabia	-	-
Krysta Traianovski	Principal	Kitchener	-	-
Parisa Hamilton	Principal	-	-	-
Eric Blondeel	Principal	Canada	-	-
Andrew Martinko	Principal	Kitchener	-	-

View team details of Velocity

Over the past 15 years, 68 investors have co-invested in Velocity's portfolio companies. This includes funds and angels.

Invested before Velocity: Accelerator Centre has invested before Velocity.
Top Co-investors of Velocity: 7 investors entered a company along with Velocity. These include investors like Inovia Capital (2 companies).
Invested after Velocity: A total of 60 investors have invested in Velocity's portfolio after their investments. Top Investors include Accelerator Centre (6 companies) and Y Combinator (2 companies).