Three tech startups with Canadian roots have recently secured fresh funding to fuel their growth. Here’s the latest on who raised money, how much, from whom, and what they plan to put the new capital toward.
Rocket Doctor secures $4.6 million CAD
Toronto-based healthtech startup Rocket Doctor has secured about $4.6 million CAD ($3.8 million USD) in seed funding to bolster its growth across Canada and the United States. The equity round was led by f7 Ventures and Irv Edwards of Emergent Medical Associates.
Founded in 2020, Rocket Doctor offers a digital health marketplace that allows physicians to quickly and easily launch and operate their own independent virtual clinics. The startup plans to use the new capital to support its direct-to-patient diagnostics program and develop its tech platform, as it scales to meet “strong demand” for its virtual healthcare services.
Since the startup’s public launch last June, Rocket Doctor said it has enabled over 130 doctors to care for nearly 40,000 patients. The company’s service is currently available in California, Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia. Rocket Doctor previously raised $1.3 million CAD ($1.1 million USD) in pre-seed funding.
Faculty raises $3.6 million CAD seed round
Canadian-founded, San Francisco-based e-commerce startup Faculty, which offers modern grooming products, has raised $3.6 million CAD ($3 million USD) in seed financing led by The Estée Lauder Companies.
The round also involved participation from RareBreed Ventures, Maple VC, Debut Capital, creative connectors, AUFI, 10K Ventures, Game of Thrones actor Maisie Williams, and musical artist Iann Dior. The round brings Faculty’s total funding to date to over $4.2 million CAD ($3.5 million USD).
Founded in 2019 by CEO Umar ElBably and COO Fenton Jagdeo, who are both from Canada, Faculty is a cosmetics brand that aims to redefine traditional masculinity. The startup currently offers nail lacquer and nail stickers, which it launched last year and are currently sold out.
Faculty told BetaKit it plans to put the new capital towards expanding its product offering, marketing, research and development, its team, and building its customer community.
Zetane secures $181,000 CAD grant from Epic Games
Montréal-based startup Zetane Systems has secured a $181,000 CAD ($150,000 USD) grant from Epic Games to connect its software to Epic’s Unreal Engine, a video game design platform that boasts over 7.5 million users.
Founded in 2016, Zetane builds software for industrial applications of machine learning. The startup plans to link its software with Unreal Engine through an API plug-in, as it looks to facilitate the use of machine learning in a variety of complex operations, “both in the video game industry and beyond.”
Last year, Zetane received $350,000 from the Québec government to support a joint project with defence contractor Rheinmetall. The funding was provided through Investissement Québec.
Photo from Rocket Doctor