Communitech Expands True North Team of Flagship Tech Companies

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The Communitech Corp startup incubator. expanded its group of high-performing Canadian tech companies, reaching the “critical mass” CEO Chris Albinson says he needs to embark on a mission to make Canada the next Silicon Valley.

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Communitech announced Thursday that it has added 26 companies to its Team True North, an initiative launched this summer that initially leveraged 35 private companies that the incubator says have the potential to generate $1 billion in revenue by 2030 and grow. become global players in their industries.

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These companies, the CEO said, have proven they have the courage, experience and innovation to overcome the technological wreckage that has devastated public and private markets this year, as investors have been spooked by high interest rates and the threat of recession.

« There’s a macro environment here that no one misses, but we’ve never had this critical mass of companies that are this resilient and this strong, and in many cases actually accelerating, » Albinson said per telephone from Waterloo, Ont.

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Albinson credits the courage of the extended True North team to the diverse set of industries the companies belong to, ranging from healthcare to finance. Some notable companies in the fall addition include Calgary-based Neo Financial Technologies Inc., which offers financial services and products; Vancouver-based Hootsuite Media Inc., a social media marketing platform; and Montreal-based Talent.com Inc., a company that runs a hiring platform.

« Even if you go back to the late ’90s, we didn’t have that density and diversity of successful companies, » Albinson said.

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On average, Team True North businesses generate $131 million in annual revenue and 200% annual growth. Two companies on the summer list have already achieved $1 billion in revenue: Faire Wholesale Inc., which provides wholesale products to independent businesses, and ApplyBoard Inc., which helps international students apply to universities. of the whole world.

Albinson said he is already seeing results from the True North program. Universities are encouraging their young engineers to cut their teeth at startups in Canada, rather than seeking internships at big Silicon Valley companies, he said. Even a senior member of San Francisco-based Slack Technologies LLC is interviewing for a position at a Team True North company, Albinson said.

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And even though the near-term economic outlook looks bleak, the CEO said many companies on his team have taken years to hit $1 billion in revenue.

“Do I think companies are going to have to work a little harder to do their (seed) rounds? Absolutely,” he said. « The way I see it is to take a company to $1 billion in revenue, the median time to get there is 12 years…These Team North companies came through the 2008 recession. »

Albinson added, « These companies are very well built for longevity and the ability to weather the storm. »

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