LinkedIn has shared its list of top Canadian startups for 2019, naming “the hottest Canadian companies to work for right now.”
The second annual list, which featured 25 companies, included a number of startups that raised large amounts of capital this year such as Drop, Wealthsimple, and Borrowell.
LinkedIn creates its lists using data collected from its users. when constructing the top startups list LinkedIn considered four main points: employee growth, jobseeker interest, member engagement with the company, and how well the startup pulled talent from the LinkedIn Top Companies list. To be eligible, startups had to be seven years old or younger, privately held, and headquartered in Canada, with at least 50 employees.
Here are the 25 Top Startups in Canada for 2019:
- Element AI, Montreal – Element AI has had a breakthrough year, launching its first products since the company was founded in 2016.
- Wealthsimple, Toronto – Online investment planning platform Wealthsimple raised a $100 million investment round, earlier this year, led by Allianz X with participation from Power Corp.
- Clearbanc, Toronto – In July, Clearbanc closed a $393 million CAD ($300 million USD) round to help scales its revenue share model globally.
- CCI, Mississauga – Founded in 2017, Cannabis Compliance Inc. is a global consulting firm and one of Canada’s first consulting firms to advise on regulatory issues around cannabis. The startup helps companies gain government approvals and stay compliant, while also offering training for professionals who want to break into the industry.
- League, Toronto – A digital platform for employee benefits, League raised $62 million in a Series B round led by TELUS Ventures, in July 2018.
- Drop, Toronto – Mobile rewards startup Drop recently closed a $58 million Series B funding round led by HOF Capital. Drop CEO Derrick Fung told BetaKit at the time that the startup was disrupting an archaic industry and hinted at plans to take the Drop public.
- Connected, Toronto – Connected launched out of stealth mode in 2015 to helps brands build better software products. The startup was founded by former Xtreme Labs employees.
- Dialogue, Montreal – Earlier this year, the startup closed a $40 million funding round led by Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. Founded in 2016, Dialogue was incubated in Diagram Ventures, which is backed by Power Financial-backed VC firm Portag3 Ventures.
- Integrate.AI, Toronto – Started in 2017, Integrate.AI is a customer intelligence platform that was founded by former Facebook and Instagram executive Steve Irvine. The startup raised a $39 million CAD Series A round in the fall of 2018 led by Portag3 Ventures.
- Ritual, Toronto – Earlier this year, the startup announced its international expansion into the UK and Australia. In June of 2018 Ritual raised $90 million CAD Series C, following its $53 million CAD Series B in September 2017.
- Mejuri, Toronto – Ecommerce-born Mejuri sells fine jewelry and recently opened its third brick-and-mortar store. The startup raised a $30 million CAD Series B funding round from US-based investor, in April.
- Ada, Toronto – The startups AI-powered chatbot platform enables enterprises to create a “seamless” customer experiences. This year, Ada partnered with Toronto-based non-profit Ample Labs to launch a chatbot for homeless people in Toronto. In December, Ada closed a $19 million Series A round.
- PathFactory, Toronto – Formerly LookBookHQ, PathFactory is a B2B content insight and activation platform that was founded in 2012. The startup raised a $13 million CAD Series B funding round in September 2017.
- OpenCare, Toronto – which was also named to Elevate’s most innovative workplaces in 2019.
- Flybits, Toronto – Context-as-a-service platform for mobile apps Flybits has closed a $45 million CAD Series C round in July to help commercialize its portfolio and develop a marketplace to forge partnerships between banks, FinTechs, and data providers.
- Certarus, Calgary – Founded in 2012, Certarus has developed a virtual natural gas pipeline system that compresses, transports, and integrates natural gas, which ultimately helps lower operating costs and reduces the environmental impact of oil and gas projects.
- StackAdapt, Toronto -The Toronto-based native advertising platform was founded in 2013 and currently has a team of 132 employees.
- Loopio, Toronto – Founded in 2014, Loopio is has developed software for requests for proposals, requests for information, and security questionnaires. In early 2018 the startup raised $11 million.
- Collective Arts Brewing, Hamilton -Founded in 2013, the craft brewery brings together the creative process of brewing craft beer with emerging artists and musicians.
- Ample Organics, Toronto – Seed-to-sale cannabis software company Ample Organics was founded in 2014. The startup recently laid off around 16 percent of its workforce, with founder and CEO quoting changes in the cannabis industry.
- Swift Medical, Toronto -Founded in 2015 Swift Medical’s app can assess the severity of a skin wound and help medical professionals streamline the tracking of healing progress as well as documentation and claim submissions. In March 2018, Swift Medical secured $11.6 million in funding.
- Borrowell, Toronto -FinTech startup Borrowell closed a $20 million Series B consisting of equity and venture debt, co-led by White Star Capital and Portag3 Ventures, in June. Founded in 2014, the startup, also backed by Power, offers free credit score and report monitoring, automated credit coaching tools, and AI-driven financial product recommendations.
- Greenhouse, Toronto -A healthy, green beverage company, Greenhouse was founded in 2014 and currently has a team of 168 employees.
- #paid, Toronto -#paid launched in 2014 with the goal of connecting marketers with influencers for campaigns and content creation. it early 2018, the startup raised a $9 million Series A to expand its influencer marketing platform.
- Venngage, Toronto -Launched in 2012 to help marketers create data-driven visual reports, Vennage has since grown to 55 employees and is being used by organizations such as Google, Forbes, Harvard University and Wired.
LinkedIn’s full list can be found here