{"id":10268,"date":"2019-12-16T11:39:39","date_gmt":"2019-12-16T16:39:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.brainstation.io\/?p=10268"},"modified":"2021-01-28T16:07:24","modified_gmt":"2021-01-28T21:07:24","slug":"2019-the-toronto-tech-sector-makes-it-big","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/2019-the-toronto-tech-sector-makes-it-big","title":{"rendered":"2019 in Review: The Toronto Tech Sector Makes it Big"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

2019: Toronto Year in Review<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After years of unprecedented progress in Toronto\u2019s tech scene, 2019 brought Canada\u2019s biggest city yet another year of breakneck growth, big-money deals, and major-league startup success.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we get set to ring in 2020, we thought it was a good time to reflect on the year that was.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are some of the most important trends and stories from a busy 2019 in Toronto tech.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Big VC Funding and Big Exits<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Even in a record-setting year for Canadian tech deals, Toronto <\/span>stood tall<\/span> with $1.4 billion in venture capital funding across 119 deals in the first three quarters of the year. That means Toronto companies received 30 percent of total dollars disbursed in Canada, with Montreal and Vancouver both coming in at 17 percent each.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Michele<\/a>
Michele Romanow and Andrew D’Souza of Clearbanc<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The biggest deal of the year in Toronto was $300 million in new funding for Clearbanc. Borne out of an idea co-founder Michele Romanow had while on the set of Canada\u2019s reality TV series Dragons\u2019 Den \u2013 which is similar to the American Shark Tank \u2013 Clearbanc is disrupting startup funding by funding from $5,000 to $10 million in exchange for a steady revenue share of their earnings until it’s paid back.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company is a major local success story, with this recent round of funding \u2013 which breaks down into $50 million Series B and $250 million for Clearbanc\u2019s third fund, which it uses to invest \u2013 following a $50 million funding round in December and another $70 million round in November 2018.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[This] clearly indicates that the model is working. We\u2019re finding a ton of customers where [revenue share] is a good fit,\u201d Romanow recently <\/span>told<\/span><\/a> BetaKit.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other Toronto companies raising nine-digit funding rounds included Vena Solutions, a cloud-based financial planning and analysis provider that raised $115 million in equity financing in January, and local success story Wealthsimple, which raised C$100 million in May in one of Canada\u2019s largest-ever investment rounds for a fintech company, one that CEO Michael Katchen teased could help the company get into mortgages.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a pretty meaningful milestone for Wealthsimple,\u201d he <\/span>said<\/span><\/a>. \u201cIt will go toward making our business better, our software better and simpler and more powerful, toward growing our team, and getting more clients.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut we also have this vision about becoming a financial institution of choice for our clients that can help them over the course of their lifetimes. Ultimately, I’d love to replace banks as our clients’ primary financial relationship. It’s going to take us a long time to get there, but that’s our vision. It’s the next-generation financial institution.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What stands out about VC activity in Toronto in 2019, beyond those major deals, was the diversity of companies earning funding. Here are some of the other noteworthy 2019 investments in Toronto tech:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n