
Canada, one of the major economies in the developed nations, has risen from being a service economy to being an ‘energy superpower’, and now tops the global startup ecosystems following US, UK.
Canada’s financial capital ‘Toronto’ and Vancouver feature in the top 30 cities contributing to the global startup ecosystem. Other key innovation ecosystems across Canada include Montreal, Ottawa, Edmonton and Quebec City.
Canada boasts of a mature startup ecosystem, enriched by multiple support factors required for a thriving startup hub. The Canadian government drives the innovation ecosystem with initiatives like ‘Startup Visa Program’ and ‘Ontario network for entrepreneurs’ on a national level.
Abundance of networking and funding is driven by 100+ incubators and accelerators - Mars Discovery District and DMZ to name a few.
Canada attracts the best and brightest tech talent from across the globe with its leading research universities, notably the University of Toronto and the University of Waterloo. Also Canada is a diverse nation of various culture groups, nearly half the population comprising of Asians and Africans, providing a friendly startup ecosystem.
There are currently over 17K+ tech startups in Sweden, of which 1.7K+ are Fintech startups.
We, at Tracxn, keep a track of the latest happenings in the world of startups and their associated ecosystems – including venture capital funds, private equity funds and investment banks amongst others.
In this edition, we have the ‘Soonicorn Club of Canada Fintech’ – an exclusive list of the most promising Canadian startups that have also reached significant valuation milestones over the previous few years.
The Soonicorns - soon to be Unicorns - are the handful of highly valued startups which have successfully grown out of their nascency to attract valuations of over a few hundred millions. Watch out for these companies in the coming years as they take on the journey to becoming the elite Unicorns.
2014, Toronto
USD 206M
2015, Toronto
USD 170M
2011, Toronto
USD 115M
2011, Vancouver
USD 83M
2014, Toronto
USD 77M
2003, Toronto
USD 73M
2008, Toronto
USD 71M
2006, Toronto
USD 65M
The Minicorns - are the high growth early stage ventures (Series A+). Watch out for these companies as they take the business to the next level, by scaling up for the accelerated growth.
2012, Vancouver
USD 55M
2014, Toronto
USD 38M
2008, Toronto
USD 34M
2012, Vancouver
USD 31M
2012, Montreal
USD 22M
2014, Toronto
USD 16M
2012, Toronto
USD 15M
2014, Calgary
USD 15M
2013, Toronto
USD 15M
Disclosed Funding
USD 206M
Wealthsimple provides an advisor assisted investment platform for exchange-traded funds. It features tools for dividend reinvesting and automated portfolio rebalancing. It offers sharia-compliant customized portfolio for micro-investment, social investment and halal investment. It enables users to invest in a diversified portfolio based on the risk type.
Company Overview
|
Founded |
2014 |
|
Location |
Toronto (Canada) |
|
Investors |
Allianz X, Power financial, David Ossip and 5 Other Investors |
|
Founders |
|
Disclosed Funding
USD 170M
ClearBlanc provides merchant cash advance for small business owners and entrepreneurs. Offers marketing card to fund marketing expenses. Eligibility criteria include average monthly revenue of $10,000, incorporated business and at least six months of consistent revenue history.
Company Overview
|
Founded |
2015 |
|
Location |
Toronto (Canada) |
|
Investors |
Arcadia Funds, Upper90, Highland Capital Partners and 13 Other Investors |
|
Founders |
|
Disclosed Funding
USD 115M
Vena Solutions provides financial management software suite for enterprises. It features solutions for financial close management, regulatory reporting & compliance, reporting & data analytics, budgeting, planning & forecasting, and revenue performance management. It offers data analysis and insights for automating financial processing.
Company Overview
|
Founded |
2011 |
|
Location |
Toronto (Canada) |
|
Investors |
JMI Management, Centana Growth Partners, Difference Capital Financial and 3 Other Investors |
|
Founders |
|
Disclosed Funding
USD 83M
Trulioo provides ID verification solutions. The solution offers an electronic identity verification solution that enables organizations to meet KYC and AML requirements. Offers document verification solution that enables authentication of ID documents. Provides access to over 400 trusted global data sources. Also offers business verification solution and AML watchlist check solution.
Company Overview
|
Founded |
2011 |
|
Location |
Vancouver (Canada) |
|
Investors |
Goldman Sachs, Santander InnoVentures, American Express Ventures and 7 Other Investors |
|
Founders |
|
Disclosed Funding
USD 77M
League provides a digital platform for employee wellness solutions. The platform gives employers tools to easily manage their benefits program and deliver healthcare services for employees. The web-based app gives the ability to create personal health spending accounts and tracks employee utilization. It also gives customized offerings for employees, delivered on-site by the best health professionals in the business.
Company Overview
|
Founded |
2014 |
|
Location |
Toronto (Canada), Chicago (United States) |
|
Investors |
Workday Ventures, TELUS Ventures, OMERS Ventures and 10 Other Investors |
|
Founders |
|
Disclosed Funding
USD 73M
FreshBooks is a cloud-based invoicing and accounting software. The features of the product are invoicing, accounting, time tracking, payment management, expense management, reports, etc. The product is used by small and medium industries, freelancers, and small teams. The product is available in the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store on the subscription-based pricing plan.
Company Overview
|
Founded |
2003 |
|
Location |
Toronto (Canada) |
|
Investors |
JPMorgan Chase & Co., Georgian Partners, Accomplice and 7 Other Investors |
|
Founders |
|
Disclosed Funding
USD 71M
SecureKey is the identity and authentication provider for organizations. It enables customers to connect with online services using a digital credential. It offers Verified.me for identity verification, Concierge Service which is an authentication network for connecting people to online services using their banking credentials, digital identity ecosystem, etc.
Company Overview
|
Founded |
2008 |
|
Location |
Toronto (Canada) |
|
Investors |
Bank of Montreal, Scotiabank, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and 13 Other Investors |
|
Founders |
|
Disclosed Funding
USD 65M
Q4 offers a cloud-based investor relations and capital markets solution for the IR industry. It offers Q4 Desktop, an all-in-one IR solution that provides clients the tools, the insight, and the information they need to make the right decisions for the organization and communicate and engage effectively with investors. Also offers webcasting, studio, and intelligence solutions. Clientele includes Visa, Du Pont, Nike, Boeing, Cisco, Oracle, Walmart, etc.
Company Overview
|
Founded |
2006 |
|
Location |
Toronto (Canada) |
|
Investors |
Napier Park Global Capital, OpenText Enterprise Apps Fund, Information Venture Partners and 11 Other Investors |
|
Founders |
|
Disclosed Funding
USD 60M
Paybright offers e-commerce and mPOS solutions in Canada. Provides multiple payment plan options for goods and services. Offers retail financing for consumers by applying online on any device or at the point-of-sale. Provides repeat purchases with renewable credit limits for merchants. Offers ID barcode scan with form-fill features to enable credit application. Available on Android and iOS platforms.
Company Overview
|
Founded |
2009 |
|
Location |
Toronto (Canada) |
|
Investors |
goeasy, CBGF, iA Financial Group |
Disclosed Funding
USD 59M
Koho provides a mobile linked prepaid visa card. Its mobile app enables users to track their spending and savings. The app automatically categorizes expenses made through the card. It features savings module that automatically puts money aside and helps users save. The app is available for Android and IOS platforms.
Company Overview
|
Founded |
2014 |
|
Location |
Toronto (Canada) |
|
Investors |
Drive Capital, National Bank of Canada, Portag3 Ventures and 9 Other Investors |
|
Founders |
|
Disclosed Funding
USD 51M
Sensibill is a receipt management solution for mobile banking applications. Customers can capture a paper receipt using their smartphone camera, or forward an email receipt directly to the service. Utilizes OCR and deep learning AI to structure 150+ unique data types found on receipts. Allows customers to separate their personal and business expenses.
Company Overview
|
Founded |
2013 |
|
Location |
Toronto (Canada) |
|
Investors |
National Bank of Canada, Information Venture Partners, First Ascent Ventures and 13 Other Investors |
|
Founders |
|
Disclosed Funding
USD 50M
Flybits Context-as-a-Service platform enables banks and other enterprises to create and deliver context-aware mobile applications, and to adapt and change them in real time. Flybits enables the creation of highly-personalized mobile experiences on top of traditional app development and simple location-based services. It supports the iOS and Android devices of today and scales easily to handle the data sources of the emerging internet-of-things.
Company Overview
|
Founded |
2013 |
|
Location |
Toronto (Canada) |
|
Investors |
Mastercard, Point72 Ventures, Reinventure Group and 12 Other Investors |
|
Founders |
|
Disclosed Funding
USD 40M
Financeit works with small & medium-sized businesses and larger enterprises to offer customers flexible payment plans for large purchases. Customers have to apply through a business that offers Financeit. They can set up pre-authorized payments to pay off their plan. Financeit pre-approves applicants based on their credit reports. interest rates vary depending on the size of the payment plan, the details of the credit report, and the type of product or project purchased.
Company Overview
|
Founded |
2011 |
|
Location |
Toronto (Canada) |
|
Investors |
Goldman Sachs, DNS Capital, TPO and 9 Other Investors |
|
Founders |
|
Disclosed Funding
USD 34M
Borrowell is a credit monitoring and financial products comparison platform. Users have to register on the platform and they get access to their credit report. They get personalized product recommendations and credit improvement tips based on their credit report. Allows users to compare credit cards, personal loans, mortgages, bank accounts, insurance & investment products.
Company Overview
|
Founded |
2014 |
|
Location |
Toronto (Canada) |
|
Investors |
WHITE STAR CAPITAL, Clocktower Technology Ventures, Argo Ventures and 16 Other Investors |
|
Founders |
|
Disclosed Funding
USD 55M
Bench is an online bookkeeping service for independent businesses.It provides the services of a professional bookkeeper who works closely with the client business and turns the data collected into professionally prepared, tax-ready financial statements, and securely delivers them to the client through the Bench web app. Typical clients are employers with teams of fewer than 10 and revenue below $2.5 million. As of January 2014 it has seen 30% month-over-month growth since launching and has processed more than $160 million in bookkeeping transactions across North America.
Company Overview
|
Founded |
2012 |
|
Location |
Vancouver (Canada) |
|
Investors |
Inovia Capital, Bain Capital Ventures, Altos Ventures Capital and 15 Other Investors |
|
Founders |
|
Disclosed Funding
USD 38M
Coinsquare is a cryptocurrency exchange that allows the users to buy, sell and exchange. Users can make deposits via bank transfers and can trade in 36 cryptocurrency pairs. Provides real-time market data and information related to cryptocurrencies and digital assets. Allows the users to transfer funds from the wallet to other users. The platform also provides a history of past trades, transfers. App is available for iOS and Android platforms.
Company Overview
|
Founded |
2014 |
|
Location |
Toronto (Canada) |
|
Investors |
Canaccord Genuity Group, Riot Blockchain |
|
Founders |
|
Disclosed Funding
USD 34M
Tier1 Financial Solutions for customer relationship management software for capital markets, investment management, and investment banking firms. It features solutions for workflow management, compliance, client profiling, customer data management, deal tracking, reporting, communication, etc.
Company Overview
|
Founded |
2008 |
|
Location |
Toronto (Canada) |
|
Investors |
Wavecrest Growth, Salesforce Ventures, MassMutual Ventures |
|
Founders |
|
Disclosed Funding
USD 31M
Procurify is a SaaS-based purchasing software to automate & streamline procure-to-pay operations. The solution serves as a platform to streamline procurement operations, track procurement spends, and increase visibility throughout the procure-to-pay process. The solution provides custom workflows for procurement requests, approvals, and payments. Features include approval management, real-time budget tracking, expense management, vendor management, spend analytics, and reporting. The solution is also integrable with other third-party/existing systems. Also offers a mobile app for managers to view procurement requests and send approvals.
Company Overview
|
Founded |
2012 |
|
Location |
Vancouver (Canada) |
|
Investors |
Information Venture Partners, HarbourVest Partners, Manulife Financial and 11 Other Investors |
|
Founders |
|
Disclosed Funding
USD 22M
Mobeewave is a provider of dongle-free NFC mobile payment terminal solutions enabling payment acceptance on smart devices. This technology turns any NFC-enabled phone (or other smart device) into a secure, contactless payment terminal (mobile POS) to receive payments from ApplePay, contactless cards, or any NFC wallets without the use of any additional hardware.The company launched its own consumer-facing app called "PayMeTap" in 2016.
Company Overview
|
Founded |
2012 |
|
Location |
Montreal (Canada) |
|
Investors |
NewAlpha, Mastercard, Forestay Capital and 3 Other Investors |
|
Founders |
|
Disclosed Funding
USD 16M
FundThrough is a marketplace lender for small business loans. They work with businesses that sell to established, credit worthy companies. They give small business owners better access to working capital by allowing them to leverage the credit strength of their customers. The businesses upload the invoices that they want funded and once approved they receive access to 80-90% of the invoice as a line of credit.
Company Overview
|
Founded |
2014 |
|
Location |
Toronto (Canada) |
|
Investors |
Scale UP Ventures, David Mirvish, Intercap and 5 Other Investors |
|
Founders |
|
Disclosed Funding
USD 15M
Street Contxt is an information marketplace built for global Capital Markets. Their platform insights are contextual to each user. They assist sell side content producers - including sales, trading, desk analysts, research analysts, banking, and ECM - to distribute and track engagement in their desk commentary, research reports and news updates. Street Contxt integrates with CRM programs and produces reporting that delivers actionable insights enabling sell side firms to be engaged in the health check of their desk, client engagement, commission allocation and business continuity. They also work with buy side - Hedge Funds, Pension Funds, and Institutional Asset Managers, assisting them in tailored discovery of new and relevant content in real time
Company Overview
|
Founded |
2012 |
|
Location |
Toronto (Canada) |
|
Investors |
Joe Lonsdale, Point72 Ventures, Palm Drive Capital and 15 Other Investors |
|
Founders |
|
Disclosed Funding
USD 15M
ZayZoon allows employees to access short-term cash advances before payday. It partners with payroll providers to give employees earned wages. ZayZoon algorithm verifies the working hours, wages and other distributions in order to determine the expected take-home pay. It also provides a financial health platform for services such as overdraft prediction, expenditure behavior, banking insights, and interactive financial education.
Company Overview
|
Founded |
2014 |
|
Location |
Calgary (Canada) |
|
Investors |
Bluesky Equities, Prairie Merchant |
|
Founders |
|
Disclosed Funding
USD 15M
Flexiti Financial is an online Point-Of-Sale (POS) financing company providing in-store purchase finance to customers of partnering merchants. The customers can apply in-store or at home and get instantly approved while the merchants get paid for the purchases in a couple of days. The application process is 100% online.
Company Overview
|
Founded |
2013 |
|
Location |
Toronto (Canada) |
|
Investors |
Credit Suisse, Globalive Capital and 2 Other Investors |
|
Founders |
|
The Soonicorn Club comprises of Unicorns - companies with over $1 billion valuation, Soonicorns - companies with high valuation and good chances of soon becoming Unicorns, and Minicorns - early-stage companies that have the potential to be Unicorns in the long term.
Tracxn Soonicorn Club provides a handpicked selection of high potential and high growth companies. The shortlisting is based on a combination of multiple publicly available signals and detailed analysis of the company by our internal sector specialist teams. The companies that make the cut are the ones that show promising performance on multiple parameters - market size, investment by marquee investors, execution excellence and future growth prospects.