LinkedIn has revealed its ranking of the top 15 startups in Canada this year, featuring tech unicorns Neo Financial and Ada as first and second, respectively.
For the fifth edition of its annual Top Startups list, LinkedIn also named (in order) Fable, Shakepay, ApplyBoard, BenchSci, Cohere, Certn, Drop, Dapper Labs, Snapcommerce, Manifest Climate, Irwin, TealBook, and Klue.
This year’s list saw a number of startups from previous cohorts make their returns. ApplyBoard has been included in four consecutive Top Startups lists, while Drop follows with three appearances from 2019 to 2022. Ada also made the 2019 roster, but didn’t return for the two subsequent lists until this year’s group.
Calgary FinTech startup Neo Financial was placed first on the roster, after hitting a number of milestones throughout 2022. It reached unicorn status in May after securing a $185 million CAD Series C round at a more than $1 billion valuation.
Neo Financial also expanded its Calgary office earlier this year to accommodate the rapid growth of its team, doubling its workforce to over 400 employees as of January. LinkedIn noted that Neo Financial now has a full-time headcount of around 700 people.
ApplyBoard, BenchSci, Drop, Cohere, Certn, Tealbook, Fable, Shakepay, Snapcommerce, Manifest Climate, Irwin, TealBook, Klue and Dapper Labs have also raised significant rounds of funding within recent years.
Ada reached unicorn status last year with its $130 million Series C round. The startup, which is headquartered in Toronto, opened a machine learning centre in Israel in June.
LinkedIn touts its list as a resource to find Canadian startups that are “rising to the challenges of the moment and continuing to innovate and gain attention in 2022.”
However, as the economic downturn continues to impact the valuation of tech companies, LinkedIn’s list, both present and past, include companies that have struggled of late. Ada recently joined the increasing number of startups imposing layoffs, reducing its staff by 78 people, representing around 16 percent of its 500 employees.
RELATED: AI startup Ada cuts 16 percent of its workforce
LinkedIn compiled its list by analyzing internal data from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022 across four pillars: employee growth; job seeker interest; member engagement within the company and employees; and how well these startups pulled talent from its flagship Top Companies list. Eligible companies must be fully independent, privately held, have 50 or more full-time employees, be seven years old or younger, and be headquartered in Canada.
Startups that have laid off 20 percent or more of their workforce within the methodology time frame are ineligible.
Looking at LinkedIn’s list from last year, Wealthsimple and Clearco topped the 2021 edition. Both companies were not included in this year’s list as they continue to brace through unfavourable market conditions.
After Wealthsimple initially enacted a hiring freeze in June, the FinTech startup later laid off approximately 13 percent of its staff.
Clearco cut a quarter of its staff in July, and last month revealed that it is handing off all of its overseas business to Outfund, a United Kingdom-based revenue-financing firm.
Image courtesy Neo Financial.