2019 is in the books and it was a great one for Vancouver tech community and the province as a whole.
Burnaby’s Clio announced a funding round that makes them Canada’s newest Unicorn, seven Vancouver companies were among Canada’s best workplaces in technology, and to top it off, we found out that our software developers now make more than their counterparts in Montreal and Toronto.
We have a lot to look forward to in British Columbia in 2020 and what better way to kick off the calendar year than to highlight 10 homegrown startups that Techcouver will be watching closely this year.
Certn
Victoria’s Certn enables its clients to make key decisions with people data. Today, Certn has over 1,000 clients and provides fast, compliant, affordable background checks to employers, contractors, property managers and the gig economy. Using AI and proprietary technology, the company is able to assess applicants’ faster and more accurately than traditional models.
Certn has raised a $975,000 seed round last year that included Atrium Ventures, Panache Ventures, Hello Ventures, and iNovia Capital and is rumoured to be closing a Series A in the near future.
Cmd
Vancouver’s Cmd allows organizations to proactively secure their Linux environment by providing real-time visibility into user actions, customizable controls, and the ability to stop commands pre-execution without the need for human intervention.
The cybersecurity startup closed a US $15 million Series B funding round led by Google Ventures last year and was named to CNBC’s 2019 Upstart 100 list. Cmd was co-founded in 2016 by ex-HootSuite security operations lead Jake King and Metrolyrics founder Milun Tesovic. Tesovic sold his MetroLyrics startup to CBS Interactive in 2014.
Damon Motorcycles
Vancouver’s Damon Motorcycles has entered the electric vehicle arena with a limited edition superbike, the Hypersport Pro. Founded by serial entrepreneurs Jay Giraud and Dominique Kwong, the mobility startup raised a $2.5 million seed financing round that included Round 13 Capital and Techstars.
Damon has partnered with Blackberry to use its QNX technology across its line-up of bikes. This week Damon received the “Best in Innovation” award at CES in Las Vegas and the Hypersport is set to hit the roads in mid 2020.
Dooly
Vancouver’s Dooly helps sales professionals reduce time spent on administrative tasks using AI. The platform syncs digital notes, fields, and tasks straight to Salesforce, while providing salespeople and customer success teams with the information they need in real-time.
Co-founded in 2016 by Justin Vallaincourt and Kris Hartvigsen, Dooly raised $2 million in 2018 in a round led by ScaleUP Ventures with participation from Panache Ventures, Pallasite Ventures, and New Avenue Capital.
Jane Software
North Vancouver’s Jane Software is cloud-based, health care practice management software used by practitioners in a variety of disciplines including physiotherapists, massage therapists, and chiropractors.
Founded by Alison Taylor and Trevor Johnston, Jane has received significant accolades including being named to Deloitte’s Technology Fast 50 Companies to Watch and Globe and Mail’s Top Growing Companies list in 2019. Jane closed a $2 million debt financing round with CIBC Innovation Banking, has grown to 70 employees, and is in use in 10,000 clinics in 50 countries.
Kobalt
Vancouver’s Kobalt helps small and mid-sized organizations assess, develop and run their security programs. The cybersecurity startup builds on existing frameworks and toolsets, an extensive set of experts and cloud and data at scale to address the complexity of cybersecurity while making it accessible to teams with fewer resources.
Founded by Pankaj Agarwal, Michael Argast, and Boris Wertz, Kobalt raised a $1 million founders round and is currently being incubated by Wertz’s Version One Ventures.
Lumen5
Vancouver’s Lumen5 combines powerful artificial intelligence with a simple drag-and-drop interface to help anyone create professional video content in minutes. The two year-old startup empowers brands to share their stories through videos without experience or training and its AI-powered platform has already attracted 400,000 users.
Lumen5 won the 2019 New Ventures BC Competition, taking home the $105,000 Innovate BC first-prize package. Bootstrapped to date, Lumen5 employs 25 with plans to double in 2020 and has multi-million dollar revenue.
Pixieset
Vancouver’s Pixieset creates digital products for photographers. Their mission is to equip and inspire everyone on the journey towards running their own photography business.
Launched in 2013, Pixieset was recently ranked #8 on Canadian Business’ Growth 500 list in 2019. Hundreds of thousands of photographers around the world use Pixieset to make their business simpler, more professional, and more streamlined.
Shift
Victoria’s Shift is a free desktop application that lets you access and switch between your Google Accounts all from one central place. The productivity platform spun out of parent company Redbrick and now has over 30,000 paying customers.
Shift recently closed a $1 million seed round led by Panache Ventures and appointed former General Manager Nadia Tatlow to the role of CEO. Since its inception, Shift has made significant strides forward, recording 10x growth in 2018 and an additional 4x growth to date in 2019.
Terramera
Terramera is focused on fusing AI, science and nature to create revolutionary technologies that transform how we grow food and solve other world-scale challenges. Terramera recently raised US $45 million in equity funding to advance its Actigate™ Targeted Performance technology.
2019 accomplishments include being named to the prestigious Global Cleantech 100 list at the Cleantech Forum and winning a US $1 million prize in the growth-stage category in the Nutrien-Radicle Challenge.