Shopify is on fire.
Their stock price skyrocketed again today, putting it in a tight race with TD Bank to become the country’s second-most valuable company on the TSX behind RBC.
The e-commerce company’s shares were up 7 per cent, pushing its market value over $100 billion.
Investors rushed to buy Shopify shares last week after its CTO Jean-Michel Lemieux said they were seeing Black Friday-type of traffic as it brings “thousands” of businesses online during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As we help thousands of businesses to move online, our platform is now handling Black Friday level traffic every day!
It won’t be long before traffic has doubled or more.
Our merchants aren’t stopping, neither are we. We need 🧠to scale our platform.https://t.co/e2JeyjcEeC pic.twitter.com/6lqSrNUCte
— Jean-Michel Lemieux (@jmwind) April 16, 2020
Today Shopify announced that it will begin providing cash advances directly to business owners in Canada who are navigating the economic fallout from pandemic crisis. Previously, Shopify Capital was only available in the U.S. and U.K.
“Many independent businesses have been forced to adapt quickly, and they need cash now, not months from now,” Shopify COO Harley Finkelstein told BNN Bloomberg. “This funding will fill in the gaps that banks can’t satisfy right now.”
The program, which Shopify unveiled in a blog post today, may appeal to owners who fear taking on debt to keep their companies alive. Shopify Capital isn’t traditional financing, instead they offer cash advances that are repaid through future sales.
Shopify will offer advances as low as $200 and as high as $500,000 and it didn’t take long for them to get started. Their first Canadian loan was approved in 34 minutes.
Time between launching the Shopify Capital in Canada e-mail and first offer being accepted: 34 minutes. Minutes. Not days.
— Kaz Nejatian (@CanadaKaz) April 20, 2020