Canada, a North-American country has encouraged several entrepreneurs to take their moves on starting a business in Canada. Many people came up with amusing ideas on how to work in Canada by starting their own enterprise and executed them with absolute flawlessness. Business opportunities in Canada are vast and it is commendable how rapidly a small business in Canada can become so gigantic. Kudos to these opportunists who have made Canada what it is now.
- Vidyard
Vidyard, one of the video streaming startups in Canada was founded in 2010 by fourth year students of University of Waterloo namely Michael Litt, Devon Galloway & Edward Wu. This software making company was initially a college design project which later became a new business in Canada. Vidyard creates software to host and analyses video performance. Vidyard also raised $18 million at a valuation just under $100 million to provide video marketing tools for businesses and is now a global leader in video marketing and sales solutions.
- Clarity
Launched in Feb’12, Clarity was another small business in Canada. Clarity is an online business coach which makes it easier for businessmen to flourish their business by proper counseling and training. This business in Canada works as an inter-mediator who connects entrepreneurs with expert advisers through telephones. These 7,500+ advisers guide the entrepreneurs after researching the market and analyzing the various other factors. Founded by Dan Martell, Clarity was self-funded by him. By October 2012, Martell had managed to attract ample traffic to his website. 12,000 calls from entrepreneurs from over 50 countries had got solutions and advises through Clarity.
- 500px
Founded in Toronto, 500px was a start-up in Canada which was established in 2003. Evgeny Tchebotarev and Oleg Gutsol co-founded this premium photo sharing community. 500px is for the aspiring and professional photographers who wish to share the photos and gain more exposure. Times magazine had named 500px as one of the best blogs in 2012. “Showcase your work, discover amazing photo and stay inspired” is what the website tells to its viewers. With 2.5 million registered users and over 10 million monthly active users, 500px is growing viral every day. The 500px app is also available on iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8.
- Kik Interactive
Kik Interactive was my personal favorite of all startups in Canada. It was founded by a bunch of students from the University of Waterloo in 2008. Kik Messenger is the first app developed by Kik Interactive. Kik is a free messaging application which is available on iPhones, Android, Windows, and Blackberry phones. In 15 days after launch, Kik had been registered by 1 million users. The CEO of this new business in Canada, Ted Livingston recently announced that Kik now has more than 100 million registered users, which is more than triple the number it had just one year ago. The specialty of Kik messenger is that you do not have to share your mobile number or email address. You can simply create an account with a user name and keep your personal details private. Several other features on Kik have made it one of the top 10 free messaging apps globally.
- Whirlscape Inc.
Whirlscape Inc led by CEO Will Walmsley is a high technology startup which is now doing great business in Canada and other countries. It was founded in June 2012. This startup in Canada received major popularity after it launched the Minuum keyboard in 2013. Minuum is a smart one row qwerty keypad (instead of the regular four rows) which changes the entire experience of typing for its users. Minuum has a remarkable autocorrect, and supports eight languages. It is one innovative keypad which has been developed by merging advanced user experience design and complex algorithm. It can be operated on phones, Google Glass and other motion sensing gadgets like Microsoft Kinect.
- Upverter
Upverter is a hardware engineering platform founded by three roommates at the University of Waterloo – Zak Homuth, Stephen Hamer, and Michael Woodworth. Upverter is an ‘EDA (Electronics Design, Accelerated) software that engineers use to rapidly design next-generation electronics on any OS, from anywhere’. A great tool for open hardware, Upverter is highly secure and reliable. It is an award winning PCB layout tool which was also included in ReadWriteWeb’s list of their “10 favourite startups” in one of the conferences.
- Wattpad
A worldwide community for readers and writers is Wattpad. It was launched in 2006 by founders- Allen Lau and Ivan Yuen. It serves as a platform to discover and share stories online or on the app. Wattpad was selected as the hottest Digital Media company in the country at the Canadian Innovation Exchange in December 2011. Readers who visit Wattpad come from the U.K., Canada, the Philippines, Australia, United Arab Emirates and other countries. Wattpad had recorded over 2 million writers and 100,000 stories upload per day till April 2014 and is gaining more popularity in 2015.
If you were thinking on how to work in Canada or start a small business in Canada then take an initiative. Your determination and commitment to your work can fetch a lot of money and success. There are various Canada based websites which can guide you through your path. You can make a matured plan, build up your contacts, meet up real investors and get started in no time.
