Rising and thriving: 15 Vancouver tech companies to watch
There are lots of reasons why Vancouver is not an easy market but the majority of our difficulties stem from the small market size — in terms of capital, population and talent. Anyone that currently runs a business here, or has in the past, can attest to this. But there are many young startups in the city that are not only “making it” but are on a steady rise and thriving in their respective industries.
See also
- 10 Vancouver companies that should have made the 'LinkedIn Top Startups 2018' list
- 10 of Canada's best diversity employers are in British Columbia
- Vancouver cybersecurity startup lands $15 million in funding
- These are the top employers in BC for 2019
For this list criteria, I sourced companies less than five years old (founded 2013–2018), headquartered in Vancouver, and growing in capital, employees, or user base. That’s it, no fancy algorithms or voting committees!
Here are 15 Vancouver startups that are making the West Coast proud!
Avenue HQ
Avenue HQ builds and maintains the website and digital marketing for realty businesses, so they can stay connected with their clients — and attract new ones.
Year Founded: 2013
Industry/Niche: Realty
Noteworthy: Avenue HQ has raised a total of $8.2M in funding over 3 rounds. Their latest funding was raised on May 24, 2018, from a Seed round.
Cmd
Cmd allows organizations to proactively secure their Linux environment like never before. Providing unprecedented real-time visibility into user actions, customizable controls, and the ability to stop commands pre-execution without the need for human intervention.
Year Founded: 2016
Industry/Niche: Computer & Network Security
Noteworthy: Cmd has raised a total of $21.6M in funding over two rounds. Their latest funding was raised on Feb 26, 2019, from a Series B round.
CTO.ai
On a mission to build the world’s most trusted platform for companies to hire, train, retain and motivate software engineers to do the best work of their lives using intelligent developer operations.
Year Founded: 2017
Industry/Niche: Development Operations
Noteworthy: CTO.ai has grown to a team of 55, of which 90% were hired in the last year.
Dapper Labs
Dapper Labs is the company behind CryptoKitties. Formed in February 2018, Dapper Labs was spun out of Axiom Zen to bring the benefits of decentralization to the first billion consumers through the power of play, fairness and true ownership.
Year Founded: 2018
Industry/Niche: Blockchain/Gaming
Noteworthy: Dapper Labs has raised a total of $27.85M in Series A funding.
Dooly
Sales enablement software that adapts to what your customers say. Dooly’s real-time playbook engine keeps sales conversations as sharp and on-point as the buyer you talk to, matching their every move with sales tools that answer even their toughest questions.
Year Founded: 2016
Industry/Niche: Sales Enablement
Noteworthy: Dooly has raised a total of $2M in funding over two rounds. Their latest funding was raised on May 22, 2018, from a Seed round.
FI.SPAN
FI.SPAN’s API management platform allows banks to quickly deploy new business banking products.
Year Founded: 2016
Industry/Niche: FinTech
Noteworthy: FI.SPAN Services Inc has raised a total of $4M in funding, raised on Dec 13, 2018.
Fitplan
Fitplan
Fitplan is a wellness technology company giving one-on-one access to the world’s most influential fitness experts and their methods. Like having a celebrity personal trainer in your pocket, Fitplan makes it efficient and affordable to find the right fitness routine, track progress and achieve specialized results.
Year Founded: 2015
Industry/Niche: Health & Wellness
Noteworthy: Fitplan has raised a total of $5.4M in funding over 3 rounds. Their latest funding was raised on Jul 3, 2018.
Grow Technologies
Grow’s technology is powering a new generation of data-driven banking products and services, including digital personal loans, instant customer onboarding and account opening, advanced data analytics, and real-time compliance and identification tools.
Year Founded: 2014
Industry/Niche: FinTech
Noteworthy: Grow has raised a total of $8M in funding over 3 rounds. Their latest funding was raised on Nov 1, 2017, from a Seed round.
Later
Later helps streamline your social media strategy so you can set yourself up for more sales and success. Their features focus on visual scheduling, media management, marketing and analytics.
Year Founded: 2014
Industry/Niche: Social Media
Noteworthy: With over 2 million users globally, Later is a member of the Instagram Partner Program.
Medimap
Medimap’s mission is to increase access to health care for Canadians by making wait times at walk-in medical clinics available online at medimap.ca.
Year Founded: 2015
Industry/Niche: Healthcare
Noteworthy: With over 900 clinics in five provinces updating their wait time to their platform, Medimap is well on track to improve access to care for patients across Canada.
Momently
Momently is a real-time analytics platform that was created to empower publishers to understand their readers and make better editorial decisions.
Year Founded: 2015
Industry/Niche: Content Analytics
Noteworthy: Momently is growing rapidly by serving up real-time analytics to digital publishers across the globe in every industry — from food and fashion bloggers, to fast-growing tech companies, to publishing organizations.
Ready
Image: BC Place / Twitter
Ready lets consumers order and pay for their food and drinks from their smartphones in seconds without the hassle of flagging down servers — no app is required. For venues, Ready optimizes front and back of house staffing to reduce labour costs, process more orders in less time, and provide a better overall customer experience.
Year Founded: 2016
Industry/Niche: Restaurant Payments
Noteworthy: BC Place recently partnered with Ready to launch the in-seat experience at over 1,500 seats — aiming to increase concession sales and reduce congestion at concession stands.
Spare
Spare is on a mission to help accelerate the global shift to efficient and autonomous mobility by enabling anyone to plan, launch, and analyze a smart transportation network in seconds.
Year Founded: 2015
Industry/Niche: Transportation
Noteworthy: Spare Labs has raised a total of CA$150K in funding from a Seed round raised on Apr 5, 2016.
Spocket
With the help of Machine Learning, Spocket is set to revolutionize the dropshipping market and aid online retailers to compete with Amazon by removing the need to hold inventory and erasing upfront costs for retailers. Spocket enables over 25,000+ entrepreneurs across five continents to launch and scale their online stores.
Year Founded: 2017
Industry/Niche: Drop Shipping
Noteworthy: Spocket has raised a total of $2.2M in funding over three rounds. Their latest funding was raised on Aug 21, 2018, from a Seed round.
Wiivv
Courtesy Wiivv
Wiivv is a technology company transforming footwear, apparel, and wearables for every human body. Wiivv Insoles and Sandals are created uniquely for you, based on measurements taken from the award-winning Wiivv app.
Year Founded: 2014
Industry/Niche: Health & Wellness
Noteworthy: Wiivv has raised a total of $7.5M in funding over three rounds. Their latest funding was raised on Feb 8, 2017, from a Series A round. They also acquired ESoles on Feb 14, 2017.
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