It’s that time of year, again. The time when, thanks to my friends at BetaKit, I get the opportunity to share my thoughts about some of the great Canadian startups and technology companies I expect to make waves over the year ahead.
Having recently completed the full lifecycle of a startup tech company myself after successfullyexiting Grow Technologies, the company I founded nearly six years ago, I know first hand just how much dedication, talent, and opportune timing it takes to build a successful company. My hats off to all of the founders, team members, and other supporters helping realize the vision for each of the names below.
As always, it’s not easy to limit my list to just eleven companies, and by no means are these the only Canadian tech companies I’m excited about this year, but it’s a sample of the names I’ll be watching during the year ahead.
Klue
- Jason Smith, co-founder & CEO
- Sarathy Naicker, co-founder & CTO
- Named a 2019 Gartner “Cool Vendor”
Klueprovides a lens into a competitor’s world, continuously updating and connecting dots to help users win more business. It’s a new way to capture, manage, and communicate market insights from the web and across the company, in platforms many already use.
Coconut
- Katherine Regnier, founder & CEO
- Closed $6.5 million financing round in November 2019
Coconutprovides an enterprise-grade appointment scheduling solution that redefines how customers interact with organizations, while maintaining unparalleled levels of security and compliance. Coconut is used by many of the world’s largest firms, such as Jackson Hewitt, London Drugs, Rogers, and TELUS.
Damon Motorcycles
- Jay Giraud, co-founder & CEO
- Dominique Kwong, co-founder & CTO
- Won “Best in Innovation” Award at CES 2020
Damonis reinventing personal mobility for 1.5 billion daily commuters. Starting with a blank slate, the company reverse engineered the problems two wheel commuters face and built an experience that’s perpetually safer, smarter, and more rider-friendly.
The vision includes a self-learning mobility platform that will usher in a world with no fatal accidents on Damon vehicles by 2030. To achieve that vision, Damon put data-driven thinking at the epicentre of the company, employing radical innovations in sensor fusion, robotics, and AI.
Properly
- Anshul Ruparell, co-founder & CEO
- Sheldon McCormick, co-founder & COO
- Craig Dunk, co-founder & CTO
- Closed $22 million Series A in mid 2019
Properlyaims to quash issues typically associated with a home sale, like untimely house showings and expensive repairs. The platform uses machine learning to help homeowners determine what their home would sell for on the open market, with the option to sell directly to Properly and close quickly. The company offers its users a price match guarantee, meaning if the home sells for more than Properly’s offer, 50 percent of the difference is refunded to the customer.
Cmd
- Jake King, co-founder & CEO
- Milun Tesovic, co-founder & executive chairman
- Closed $19 million Series B in 2019
Cmdallows organizations to proactively secure their Linux environment like never before. The company provides unprecedented real-time visibility into user actions, customizable controls, and the ability to stop commands pre-execution without the need for human intervention. Cmd’s aims to allow its customers to get ahead of potential breaches and block malicious attackers without blocking business.
Flybits
- Hossein Rahnama, founder & CEO
- Closed $45 million Series C in 2019
Flybitsprovides users with real-time information about what their audience is doing on mobile devices and allows businesses to respond accordingly. The platform uses customer data from proprietary and public sources, as well as device sensors. Flybits then combines this with contextual data, like risk profiles, as well as machine learning, allowing enterprises to drop content to the right user at the optimal time.
Unbounce
- Rick Perreault, co-founder & CEO
- Carl Schmidt, co-founder & CTO
- Carter Gilchrist, co-founder & president
- Jason Murphy, co-founder
- Justin Stacey, co-founder
- Oli Gardner, co-founder
- Announced Smart Traffic, an AI-powered landing page product in November, 2019
Unbouncestarted in 2009 when landing pages were little more than a buzzword. The company’s CEO, Rick Perreault, frustrated waiting on developers for every new campaign, set out to create a better experience for marketers. Perreault joined forces with Carter Gilchrist, Oli Gardner, Carl Schmidt, Justin Stacey, and Jason Murphy to bootstrap Unbounce out of a dark, 500-square-foot room in Gastown, Vancouver.
As one of Canada’s fastest-growing tech companies with offices in both Vancouver and Berlin, Unbounce has powered over 650,000,000 conversions to date and serves more than 15,000 customers worldwide.
1Password
- Dave Teare, co-founder
- Roustem Karimov, co-founder
- Raised $200 million in 2019 as the first financing in the company’s 14 plus year history
1passwordis dedicated to storing passwords securely, allowing users to log into myriad online services with a single click. The platform can also be used to store other private documents, such as software licenses, credit cards, and driver’s licenses. With personal security and cyber risk increasingly on the minds of consumers and businesses alike, the company is well positioned to address major societal concerns.
Aspect Biosystems
- Tamer Mohamed, co-founder & CEO
- Konrad Walus, co-founder
- Sam Wadsworth, co-founder
- Simon Beyer, co-founder
- Closed $26 million Series A
Aspect Biosystemsis a Vancouver-based biotech startup, founded in 2013, that has developed what it calls pioneering technology that does 3D bioprinting of living, human tissue. The startup claims that its technology enables advances in the understanding of fundamental biology, disease research, regenerative medicine, and the development of novel therapeutics.
Korbit AI
- Iulian Serban, co-founder, CEO & CTO
- Ansona Ching, co-founder, CCO & COO
- Ekaterina Kochmar,co-founder & CSO
- Closed seed financing in 2019
Korbit AIis building the future of education; powered by machine learning, intelligent tutors which teach students through interactive exercises and conversations. The company’s mission is to bring a transformation to the world of education by providing a high quality, interactive, and personalized education for students at low cost, anytime and anywhere. Through their studies with Korbit, students will obtain trusted certification to improve their socio-economic status.
Maple
- Brett Belchetz, co-founder & CEO
- Roxana Zaman, co-founder & COO
- Stuart Starr, co-founder & CTO
- Closed $14.5 million financing in 2019
Mapleis a telemedicine platform that allows Canadians to see a doctor online within minutes – twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, anytime, anywhere. Patients have the option to securely text or video chat with a Canadian licensed doctor for diagnosis, treatment, and digital prescriptions.
Previous Canadian tech company to watch lists:
11 Canadian tech companies to watch in 201910 Montreal tech companies to watch in 201911 Prairie startups to watch in 201911 Canadian tech companies to watch in 201810 Montreal tech companies to watch in 201811 Canadian tech companies to watch in 201710 Montreal tech companies to watch in 201711 Canadian tech companies to watch in 2016
Have a different Canadian tech company you think is one to watch in 2020? Post your suggestion in the comment section below!
Image sourceUnsplash. Photo by Guillaume Jaillet
