While dozens of cities across North America have become synonymous with the tech space, there’s one that stands out among the rest in terms of rapid tech growth — and it’s not exactly close to Silicon Valley. In truth, Toronto has proven to be by far one of the fastest growing tech epicenters, touting a global presence that stems from a diverse range of industries. Labeled a “startup hotspot” by Inc. Magazine, Toronto's ascent into tech stardom reached its height over the past decade, when industry giants like Google, Twitter and Microsoft established satellite offices across the city, and fledgling companies began opening up in droves. According to a 2019 CBRE report, Toronto ranks third among North American cities in terms of tech talent and boasts nearly the same number of tech jobs as the San Francisco Bay Area.
There’s no question that Toronto’s booming tech community is reshaping the city’s economic landscape. With a notable influx of venture capital and strong ties to nearby tech hub Kitchener-Waterloo, the city is slated to become a global tech leader. This surge in worldwide status is promising news for the city’s established tech companies, which will undoubtedly benefit from the area’s burgeoning tech presence. From fintech to healthtech, Toronto’s tech companies span a wide range of sectors — a demonstration of the diversity of the city’s tech scene. Whether they’re developing smart home devices or reinventing remote education, these 19 tech companies in Toronto are doing their part to make the Canadian capital a hotbed of invention and disruption.
Tech Companies in Toronto to Know
- Top Hat
- Loopio
- Tulip
- TradeRev
- Coinsquare
- Mavencare
- Rubikloud Technologies
- Ecobee
Founded: 2009
Focus: Autotech
What they do: Acquired by KAR Global in 2017, TradeRev aims to reinvent the auto industry with its vehicle appraisal and auctioning system. Through the company’s platform, dealers and buyers can launch live, dealer-to-dealer auctions, offering the ability to sell vehicles on-demand while generating real-time pricing information. TradeRev’s technology is designed to bring transparency to the automotive auction space.
Founded: 2014
Focus: Retail Tech
What they do: Tulip has developed a SaaS-based mobile platform designed to empower retailers and more closely connect customer and store associate experiences. The company creates mobile applications that enable all aspects of the retail experience, from assisted selling to point of sale. Tulip’s mission is to modernize and transform the in-store experience for retailers like Saks Fifth Avenue, Kate Spade and Bonobos.
Founded: 2013
Focus: Software
What they do: Taplytics aims to help businesses deliver personalized customer experiences that span mobile, email, web and more. The company’s customer experience automation platform allows users to deliver unique cross-channel experiences at scale, elevating customer relationships and optimizing customer touchpoints. Additionally, Taplytics’ suite of services are intended to help enterprises of all sizes optimize their products, begin testing immediately and grow their team’s skills.
Founded: 2013
Focus: Software
What they do: Flybits enables micro-personalized experiences to help its clients create value for their customers. The company’s contextual recommendation engine helps businesses better understand their customers by aggregating data and making it more accessible, which ultimately leads to increased engagement, greater loyalty and higher ROI. Flybits works primarily with retail banking, wealth management and insurance clients.
Founded: 2013
Focus: Fintech
What they do: Sensibill provides digital banking tools intended to foster stronger relationships between financial institutions and their customers. The company’s suite of tools enables users to acquire customers with a true differentiator, increase mobile and card usage, personalize offers to grow product holdings, increase customer retention and boost referral rates. Sensibill works with banks located throughout North America and the U.K.
Founded: 2007
Focus: Home Electronics
What they do: Launched by Stuart Lombard, Ecobee creates smart home products designed to help consumers save money and conserve energy. The company’s devices include smart thermostats, cameras, sensors and air filters, all of which are developed to work seamlessly together and can connect with users’ smartphones to ensure optimal home security. Ecobee also offers its own subscription-based thermostat management software, SmartBuildings, which is intended to help commercial and multi-family buildings optimize energy savings.
Founded: 2009
Focus: Edtech
What they do: Top Hat has created a higher education teaching app that helps professors more closely connect with students. The app enables instructors to stream lectures in real time, record class meetings, take attendance, present and edit slides, and create polls, quizzes and discussions. Partnering with more than 750 universities across North America, Top Hat provides students access to digital textbooks, assignments, and online tests and exams.
Founded: 2012
Focus: Care Services
What they do: CareGuide is dedicated to matching families with high-quality care providers through its portfolio of websites. The company helps its users discover child care, housekeeping services, elder care and pet care, which can be accessed through websites like Sitter.com, ElderCare.com and PetSitter.com. CareGuide’s website, HeartPayroll, helps people more easily pay caregivers, offering competitive pricing and seamless processing capabilities.
Founded: 2006
Focus: Entertainment
What they do: Founded by Allen Lau and Ivan Yuen, Wattpad is a global multi-platform entertainment company that facilitates the creation and distribution of content across various formats. Their social storytelling platform allows artists to create, build and amplify their stories, boasting more than 50 writing resources. Wattpad’s aim is to connect untapped, talented writers with leading multi-media entertainment companies.
Founded: 2006
Focus: Healthtech
What they do: Think Research is a healthcare software company that aims to organize the world’s health knowledge to ensure all people get the best care. The company’s knowledge-based tools empower clinicians at the point of care and across all sectors, while their in-house team of physicians, pharmacists, nurses and nurse practitioners consolidate research into actionable insights. Think Research’s solutions are designed to reduce costs and inefficiencies and fit seamlessly into clinical workflows, thus improving clinical pathways and patient outcomes.
Founded: 2010
Focus: Software
What they do: Influitive helps its clients discover, nurture and mobilize customer advocates to drive top-line growth and bottom-line profits. The company’s platform is designed to drive engagement and customer growth at scale by combining customer advocacy tools, expert services and training with intelligent automation, gamification and personalization features. Influitive works with a wide range of global brands including IBM, Oracle, Cisco and Adobe.
Founded: 2014
Focus: Software
What they do: Loopio has developed response software that streamlines the way enterprises respond to RFPs, RFIs and security questionnaires. The software features a multi-language library, customized categories, duplicate detection and an attachment library, all of which makes sales content more accessible and enables collaboration across the organization. Loopio’s client base includes Bugcrowd, DocuSign, HedgeServ, Citrix and Netskope.
Founded: 2014
Focus: Cryptocurrency
What they do: Coinsquare has created a platform for trading bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP and other cryptocurrencies. The company’s proprietary platform runs multiple encrypted and distributed backups daily, while its QuickTrade feature instantly enables trades between any two currencies. Coinsquare is committed to focusing on transparency, risk mitigation, and building a regulated and safe environment for the trading of digital assets.
Founded: 2014
Focus: Biotech
What they do: Founded by Brendan Frey, Deep Genomics utilizes AI, biology and automation to develop life-saving genetic therapies. Their AI-powered discovery platform helps the company’s team of geneticists, molecular biologists and chemists identify the best drug candidates. Deep Genomics ultimately focuses on the development and marketing of oligonucleotide therapies that target the genetic determinants of disease at the level of RNA or DNA.
Founded: 2014
Focus: Healthtech
What they do: Mavencare is dedicated to providing high-quality, family-focused home care to senior citizens. The company allows users to book and monitor home care appointments at any time, utilizing mobile technology that provides seniors with appointment updates and medication reminders. Mavencare is guided by the aim to enable elderly patients to receive care from the comfort of their homes.
Founded: 2010
Focus: Software
What they do: EventMobi enables event planners and marketers to deliver interactive, memorable experiences through the company's event app platform. Their event management software enables users to collect registrations, foster attendees' connections, schedule important reminders, collect feedback and gather insights through live reporting. Boasting clients from a broad range of industries, EventMobi also offers a virtual event platform for online and hybrid conferences.
Founded: 2005
Focus: Computer + Network Security
What they do: 1Password enables its users to save their passwords so they can log in to sites with a single click. The company’s technology records usernames and passwords during sign in and keeps them secure by tracking password breaches and other security problems. 1Password works with a variety of clients including Geckoboard, Netguru and Unbabel.
Founded: 2002
Focus: Software
What they do: Achievers helps drive organizational success by enabling businesses to activate employee participation and accelerate a culture of performance. The company’s employee engagement platform gets rid of the need for disparate rewards and recognitions processes by allowing users to acknowledge each other’s contributions, communicate effectively and quantify their results. Achievers’s diverse client base boasts organizations such as McDonald’s, Ericsson, General Motors and Availity.
Founded: 2007
Focus: Retail Tech
What they do: Flipp seeks to change the way consumers shop by helping retailers and brands transform their businesses. The company’s next-generation digital shopping marketplace connects its partners with shoppers to drive incremental sales and deliver personalized experiences. Flipp empowers users to make informed shopping decisions while saving them time and money.
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