Two Canadian startups have announced fresh funding rounds to fuel growth. Here’s the latest on who raised, how much, and from whom.
Sharebee raises $400,000
Montreal-based Sharebee recently announced that is raised a $400,000 pre-seed investment round. Founded in 2017, Sharebee has been called the ‘Airbnb of storage and parking.’ It offers an online platform that connects people with unused spaces with people looking for storage or parking.
“Using your computer or mobile device, we envision a future where anywhere around the world, you can rent affordable, convenient, and safe storage spaces in your neighbourhood for half the price of a traditional storage unit,” said Max Villemure, co-founder and CEO at Sharebee.
The pre-seed round was led by Toronto-based self-storage company, All Canadian Self-Storage, with participation from Broken Glass Angels, ex-Uber Montreal general manager, JN Guillemette, and a group of independent angel investors.
“The P2P storage industry…[is] a market segment that is growing with the digitally enabled sharing economy.”
“Sharebee is a pioneer in the P2P storage industry, with a product targeted at a market segment that is growing with the digitally enabled sharing economy,” said Leslie Kellen, director of operations and marketing at All Canadian Self-Storage. “We are excited to work with and support Sharebee as they grow their customer base and expand into larger markets across Canada.”
Sharebee plans to use the funding to help with its expansion into Toronto. It also plans to use part of the $400,000 to “further improve” the renter and host experience on its platform, as well as hire more employees.
The Airbnb-style platform sources and manages more than 5,000 storage spaces in Quebec and Ontario spanning warehouses, garages, basements, vacant rooms, and storage lockers. Similar to the accommodations-rental platform, Sharebee verifies renters to give hosts more assurance. With every rental it also offers a $250,000 insurance policy for civil liability, and a $10,000 insurance policy for goods in storage, provided by Intact Insurance.
In April 2017, Sharebee was one of seven startups chosen to participate in the fourth cohort of InnoCité MTL’s smart city accelerator.
SmartCone Technologies $187,500 FedDev contribution
SmartCone Technologies is a surveillance technology startup based out of Stittsville, located just west of Ottawa. It recently received a $187,500 repayable contribution from FedDev Ontario to help it accelerate the market entry of its surveillance technology product.
According to FedDev Ontario, “the contribution will leverage an additional $375,000 through private sector investments from eligible angel investors.”
Founded in 2015, SmartCone has created a portable surveillance and Internet of Things (IoT) device for traffic cones and utility boxes. The device contains multiple sensors with embedded software that allow it to monitor “vulnerable and hazardous zones.”
SmartCone calls its device an early warning system touting it as safer, less expensive, and more productive than human or physical barriers. It uses flashing lights, audio, and visual messages that are posted to traffic signs to alert the public about surrounding hazards. SmartCone reportedly works in a number of situations including controlling bicycle lane traffic, managing vehicle fleets, monitoring traffic incident scenes, asset tracking, crowd control, and site security surveillance.
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Its website stated that it provides “mission-critical” feedback to people and personnel in the area it is used, and safety personnel are able to get full visibility of the scene, with its remote viewing capabilities.
CEO of SmartCone Technologies, Jason Lee, noted that the business is growing “to offer more jobs and bring advanced safety technologies to Canada and across the globe.”
With the funding, FedDev Ontario stated that the startup plans to expand its presence to new markets and also plans to create eight new full-time jobs in the Ottawa region.
Feature image courtesy Sharebee via Twitter
