LinkedIn Top Startups 2021: The 15 Canadian companies on the rise

Reported by: Riva Gold

The 2021 LinkedIn Top Startups list reveals 15 young, emerging companies where Canada wants to work now.

Over the past year and a half, professionals across Canada have been pushed to reevaluate the way they live and work in the wake of the pandemic. With economic recovery starting to happen at different paces across industries, many professionals are looking for something new, asking themselves: “What’s next?”?

Startups are a natural place to look to for new ideas and innovation. And our 4th annual LinkedIn Top Startups list in Canada is the resource to find the startups you should be paying attention to right now, reflecting 15 companies that have continued to attract investment, employees and attention in 2021.?

To put together this year’s rankings, we looked at LinkedIn data across four pillars: employee growth; jobseeker interest; member engagement with the company and its employees; and how well these startups pulled talent from our flagship LinkedIn Top Companies list. In order to be eligible, companies must be 7 years old or younger, have at least 50 employees, be privately held and be headquartered in Canada. (You can learn more about our methodology at the bottom of this article.)

Most importantly, this list is meant to be a resource for you. If you feel like a startup is the right fit for your next opportunity, take a look at who you may know at each company, see which jobs are currently open or dig into a LinkedIn Learning course on one of the top skills among employees. This article outlines some things to consider before taking the leap.?

Check out this year’s 15 Top Startups in Canada — and join the conversation using #LinkedInTopStartups.

You can also check out the Top Startups in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, New Zealand, Pan-Europe, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, the UAE, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Full-time headcount: 700 | Headquarters: Toronto | Year founded: 2014 | Most common skills: JavaScript, SQL, Cascading Style Sheets | Most common job titles: Software Engineer, Engineering Manager, Team Lead | What you should know: The online brokerage – described by Bloomberg as “a more reserved, Canadian version of Robinhood Markets” – offers zero-commission investing services for stocks and ETFs.

See jobs at Wealthsimple | See people you may know at Wealthsimple

Full-time headcount: 450 | Headquarters: Toronto | Year founded: 2015 | Most common skills: Social Media Marketing, Data Analysis, SQL | Most common job titles: Investment Analyst, Scout, Senior Software Engineer | What you should know: The fintech capital provider for online companies – formerly known as Clearbanc – recently reached unicorn status, and is working on plans for its international expansion.?

See jobs at Clearco | See people you may know at Clearco

Full-time headcount: 60 | Headquarters: Toronto | Launched: 2014 | Most common skills: Social Media Marketing, Data Analysis, Brand Development | Most common job titles: Digital Marketing Manager, Packer, Merchandise Manager | What you should know: The “no-makeup” beauty brand is known for its crayons that create a natural look.

See more about NUDESTIX | See people you may know at NUDESTIX

Full-time headcount: 360 | Headquarters: Calgary and Winnipeg | Year founded: 2018 | Most common skills: SQL, Python, JavaScript | Most common job titles: Customer Specialist, Software Engineer, Product Manager | What you should know: The tech company aims to simplify spending, savings and rewards, and recently announced plans for a second headquarters in Winnipeg, which is expected to add about 300 new jobs.?

See jobs at Neo Financial | See people you may know at Neo Financial

Full-time headcount: 75 | Headquarters: Toronto | Year founded: 2017 | Most common skills: JavaScript, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), Python | Most common job titles: Full Stack Engineer, Customer Specialist, Product Designer | What you should know: Originally a men’s streetwear shopping and news app, Bonsai seeks to reimagine the future of e-commerce for publishers and media companies.

See jobs at Bonsai | See people you may know at Bonsai

Full-time headcount: 224 | Headquarters: Toronto | Year founded: 2014 | Most common skills: SQL, JavaScript, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) | Most common job titles: Software Engineer, Agent, Data Analyst | What you should know: The financial services app offers Canadians a no-fee spending and savings account, and recently launched a benefit that gives employees on-demand access to their paycheque.

See jobs at KOHO | See people you may know at KOHO

Full-time headcount: 127 | Headquarters: Toronto | Year founded: 2014 | Most common skills: JavaScript, SQL, Java | Most common job titles: Full Stack Engineer, Inside Sales Representative, Engineering Manager | What you should know: The fintech company offers various financial services, including credit scores, education, personal loans, mortgages and digital tools.

See jobs at Borrowell | See people you may know at Borrowell

Full-time headcount: 1,000+ | Headquarters: Kitchener | Year founded: 2015 | Most common skills: SQL, Data Analysis, Java | Most common job titles: Application Specialist, International Recruitment Manager, Software Engineer | What you should know: The educational tech company – which helps foreign applicants seek higher education in the U.S., U.K, Australia and Canada – has doubled its headcount in under a year, per Forbes.?

See jobs at Applyboard | See people you may know at Applyboard

Full-time headcount: 60+ | Headquarters: Toronto | Year founded: 2017 | Most common skills: SQL, HTML, Insurance | Most common job titles: Customer Representative, Claims Adjuster, Customer Specialist | What you should know: Onlia offers digital insurance coverage for cars and homes in Ontario, and recently added a new group offering for employers.

See more about Onlia | See people you may know at Onlia

Full-time headcount: 86 | Headquarters: Toronto | Year founded: 2015 | Most common skills: JavaScript, SQL, Python | Most common job titles: Software Engineer, Data Scientist, Advisor | What you should know: The personalized commerce platform matches consumers with brands through a mobile app, allowing customers to earn points for purchases that can be redeemed for rewards.?

See jobs at Drop | See people you may know at Drop

Full-time headcount: 155* | Headquarters: Mississauga | Year founded: 2014 | Most common skills: Social Media Marketing, Digital Marketing, Influencer Marketing | Most common job titles: Account Coordinator/Executive/Supervisor, Talent Coordinator, Graphic Designer | What you should know: The global digital marketing agency specializes in influencer marketing, talent representation, social media marketing and management.

See jobs at Viral Nation | See people you may know at Viral Nation

Full-time headcount: 330 | Headquarters: Toronto | Year founded: 2014 | Most common skills: Java, JavaScript, SQL | Most common job titles: Software Engineer, Engineering Manager, Product Designer | What you should know: League is a tech-focused health company that helps consumers access, navigate and pay for care.?

See more about League | See people you may know at League

Full-time headcount: 80 | Headquarters: Vancouver | Year founded: 2018 | Most common skills: Insurance, Commercial Insurance, Risk Management | Most common job titles: Business Development Manager, Insurance Advisor, Broker | What you should know: The online insurance marketplace offers multiple insurance companies on one integrated online platform.

See jobs at APOLLO | See people you may know at APOLLO

Full-time headcount: 115 | Headquarters: Toronto | Year founded: 2017 | Most common skills: SQL, Cascading Style Sheets, JavaScript | Most common job titles: Software Engineer, Manager Strategy Operations, General Manager | What you should know: The online retail platform seeks to modernize the used car market and is looking to expand to more cities in Canada.

See jobs at Clutch | See people you may know at Clutch

Full-time headcount: 343 | Headquarters: Toronto. | Year founded: 2016 | Most common skills: SQL, Data Analysis, Python | Most common job titles: Back End Developer, Business Development Representative, Consultant | What you should know: The AI-powered chatbot provider can help customers return packages, change flights or answer sales and service questions.??

See jobs at Ada | See people you may know at Ada

Share the full list and your thoughts on this year's Top Startups using #LinkedInTopStartups.

Methodology

LinkedIn measures startups based on four pillars: employment growth, engagement, job interest and attraction of top talent. Employment growth is measured as percentage headcount increase over methodology time frame, which must be a minimum of 15%. Engagement looks at non-employee views and follows of the company’s LinkedIn page, as well as how many non-employees are viewing employees at that startup. Job interest counts rate at which people are viewing and applying to jobs at the company, including both paid and unpaid postings. Attraction of top talent measures how many employees the startup has recruited away from any global LinkedIn Top Company, as a percentage of the startup’s total workforce. Data is normalized across all eligible startups. The methodology time frame is July, 1 2020 through June 30, 2021.?

To be eligible, companies must be fully independent, privately held, have 50 or more full-time employees, be 7 years old or younger and be headquartered in the country on whose list they appear. We exclude all staffing firms, think tanks, venture capital firms, law firms, management and IT consulting firms, nonprofits and philanthropy, accelerators and government-owned entities. Startups who have laid off 20% or more of their workforce within the methodology time frame are also ineligible. Minority venture investments that LinkedIn or Microsoft, LinkedIn’s parent company, make in other companies have no impact on a company’s eligibility.?

About company insights

*Company insights were sourced from LinkedIn Talent Insights. Data reflects aggregated public member data from active LinkedIn profiles in the relevant country and includes full-time employee profiles associated with the company on LinkedIn. We exclude members who identify as part-time or contractors. Headcounts are provided by the companies directly, unless otherwise noted with an asterisk. Those headcounts are based on LinkedIn data. The insights reflect data as of August 2021.