Toronto receives $1.4bn tech investment in September
In September alone, Toronto has drawn over $1.4 billion in investment from US and Canadian companies, ranging from global tech giants to local start-ups.
Toronto, which hosted Sibos last year, is considered as one of the largest tech cities in the world and is up to compete with the likes of San Francisco.
A recent study by CBRE showed that Toronto has created more tech jobs than the San Francisco Bay area, Seattle and Washington DC combined in the last year.
Recent announcements of investment and tech market milestones include:
- Microsoft announcing $570 million in investments, along with 500 new full-time jobs.
- Uber launching its newest engineering hub in Toronto, investing $200 million
- Shopify announcing up to $500 million in investments and a new Toronto office to house thousands of employees.
- Other major tech players, including Intel, Pinterest, Instacart and WeWork Labs all announced new Toronto offices as well.
- Flexiti Financial, which offers consumer financing, secured $80 million.
- Sidewalk Labs, Google affiliate to create smart cities, is moving into the city.
- Amazon has announced Toronto was one of the cities considered for its new HQ.
As expected, and with all the recent news about Canada opening up to APIs, financial technology is sure to see some of that capital.
On the topic of financing in Canada, a partnership between alternative business lender Thinking Capital and National Bank of Canada (NBC) will offer financing to small businesses.
