Participated · Equity · Sep 2024

Loop offers a globally integrated finance platform that simplifies cross-border payments, currency exchange, and treasury management for small and mid-sized businesses. The product is positioned to remove banking friction and high fees for merchants operating in multiple currencies. Loop serves thousands of Canadian businesses and targets SMBs that are underserved by large banks for international banking needs. The company launched in 2022 as an evolution of its original Lending Loop offering and broadened its product set beyond small-business lending. Loop says it will use new funding to bolster growth and accelerate development of a "global-by-default" financial services solution. The platform aims to give finance teams the tools previously accessible only to large enterprises so businesses can access new markets and simplify operations.

Participated · Equity · Jan 2024

Requity Homes operates a rent-to-own program that lets aspiring buyers live in a home while saving for a down payment and retain an option to purchase at a guaranteed price. The program couples rent reporting and credit coaching to help newcomers, self-employed workers, and others qualify for mortgages. Since its founding in 2020 the company has received thousands of applications and reported 5x year-over-year growth. Management says 80% of customers have bought back their homes in an average of 18 months. Requity Homes currently serves Northern Ontario (Sudbury, North Bay, Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay), Saskatchewan (Saskatoon, Regina), Alberta (Calgary, Edmonton) and Manitoba (Winnipeg). The company plans to use new financing to extend its reach across target markets in Ontario, Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. Requity Homes operates a tech-enabled rent-to-own platform that purchases homes upfront so aspiring buyers can live in their dream home while saving toward a down payment and later buy back at a predetermined price. The company leverages underwriting technology to assess future mortgage capability and serves families who are not mortgage-ready due to credit history, lack of down payment, or self-employment. Founded in 2020, Requity has been helping families in Northern Ontario since 2021, with availability in Sudbury, North Bay, Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay. It plans to expand into Western Canada by summer 2022. Requity will use recent funding to accelerate development of its platform and to hire across technology, marketing and operations roles. Early client examples highlight its role as a steppingstone to home ownership for people who may qualify for a mortgage in the next two to three years.

Participated · Seed · Mar 2022

HonestDoor operates an online platform that provides estimated property valuations (AVMs) for houses and condos using real estate data, machine learning, data science, and a team of data analysts. The company aggregates property taxes, transaction and permit data, neighbourhood growth rates, home assessments and other insights to give realtors and homeowners comprehensive market information. HonestDoor was founded in 2018 by Daniel Belostotsky, who serves as founder and CEO, and is based in Edmonton, Alberta. It is currently the go-to resource for users in British Columbia, Alberta (including commercial property insights) and Manitoba. HonestDoor raised CAD$2.2M in seed funding and intends to use the proceeds to scale its platform to deliver on-demand AVMs across Canada and to test its model in select U.S. markets. The product aims to help realtors and prospective homeowners make informed decisions through trends and predictive rental and resale metrics. Honestdoor is an Edmonton-based proptech startup that provides real estate data to brokers, consumers, and financial institutions. Its platform uses machine learning algorithms to calculate weekly values and statistics on properties — including homes, condos, and empty land — and to predict mortgage renewal dates and lender information. The technology is used by financial institutions and real-estate professionals; Honestdoor is operational in 19 cities in Alberta and is piloting a mortgage system with brokers and banks. The company launched last June and was bootstrapped until this financing. Honestdoor raised $500,000 in its first round to scale its product and team and to expand to new cities, with the raise positioned as preparation for a larger future round. During the COVID-19 pandemic the company offered free advertising on its site to Alberta businesses affected by or helping during the crisis.

Participated · Equity · Dec 2021

Willful is an online platform that guides people through a series of questions to create customized legal wills and estate-planning documents drafted with provincial estate lawyers. The company offers free future updates so customers can keep wills current as life changes, and its fully digital notarial will in Quebec can be completed online without an in-person notary. Willful launched a pilot program for digital wills in British Columbia and the service is available in Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Manitoba. The company was co-founded in 2017 by Erin Bury and Kevin Oulds and operates with a 15-person team. Willful partners with estate lawyers in each province to draft and maintain legal content as legislation changes. The platform also supports appointment of executors and beneficiaries and provides instructions for executing wills in accordance with provincial requirements. Willful provides an online platform for Canadians to create legal wills and assign powers of attorney for personal care and/or property. The startup plans to use its new funding to launch products that make it easier for Canadians to prepare legacy plans and tools to help families wrap up a loved one’s affairs, and to invest in its partner program. Willful has partnerships with League, Wealthsimple, Sonnet Insurance, and CAA, and Tactico will help lead the company’s Quebec launch. The company reported a 600 percent increase in demand during COVID-19 and a threefold increase in revenue, and it has provided more than 2,500 free plans to frontline healthcare workers. Willful’s platform is available in Ontario, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Manitoba. The company was launched in 2017 and graduated from Real Ventures’ FounderFuel accelerator in 2019.

Participated · Equity · May 2020

Obie.ai is a Hamilton-based startup that expanded its offices to San Jose, California earlier this year. In February 2020 the company raised C$1 million in a funding round led by High Park Angels and including Dash40, Enterprise Fund, Sherpa Capital, Conconi Growth Partners and others. The company used part of the funding to accelerate the launch of Obie Access, an AI-powered knowledge base designed specifically for startups. Obie Access leverages AI to pull information out of silos, answer employee queries, and includes a redesigned knowledge editor with a Slack-first approach. The product was launched in April. Obie.ai is a The Forge alumnus and said the funding will help it continue growing its team in Hamilton and abroad with support from The Forge, Innovation Factory and its advisors.