Reading time: 6 minutes.
SaaS North is Canada’s largest in-person event for B2B enterprises. Hosted annually in Ottawa, this year’s event is being hosted at the Shaw Centre on November 15 and 16, 2023. SaaS North is designed to bring together fast-growing Software as a Service (SaaS) companies. It features a host of opportunities for founders in the sector to ‘cross-pollinate’ by networking, chatting, and mentoring others in the field.
With everything from pitch competitions to mentor sessions and talks from tech veterans, SaaS North’s 2023 event is a can’t miss event. Not only is it a chance to learn from other businesses in the space, SaaS North is also a great opportunity for investors and tech enthusiasts alike to scope out interesting startups.
Founded by Kanata’s L-Spark accelerator and Cube Business Media in Vancouver, SaaS North is truly a coast-to-coast collaboration. With over 800 companies and 2000 guests, this is one event worth keeping on your radar.
Here are a few of the best startups to watch at this year’s edition of SAAS North:
Obius
Founded: 2023
Headquarters: Montreal
Billed as an AI inventory management expert, Obius plans to be the inventory software of choice for small businesses. Obius was founded by Deloitte consulting alum Maxine Lavoie, who also headed up Goodfood. Running meal delivery giant Goodfood required massive amounts of operational strength; now, Lavoie is sharing his skills. He created Obius to cater to the inventory needs of e-commerce businesses so that inventory stockouts or lost sales are a thing of the past.
E-commerce retailers tend to plan inventory incorrectly. With 15 years of management and consulting behind him, Lavoie understands the pressure inventory mistakes can put on margins. With Obius, his users get a slice of his skillset to take home. The software ‘democratizes operational excellence’ and makes better margins possible for small businesses feeling the squeeze.
As far as SaaS goes, Obius offers users alerts when items need replenishment, inventory alerts, and an inventory dashboard. Higher tiers of the software allow users to forecast and manage their sales. There have been no funding rounds announced yet, but with Obius on the roster at SaaS North this year, it will be on investors’ radars.
Deskree
Founded: 2022
Headquarters: Toronto
Promising a ‘no-code back end’ for any app, Toronto startup Deskree lets users hook up APIs, databases, and integrations without costly tools. With easy setup and infinite possibilities to scale, Deskree’s product lets you build, deploy, and plan databases in a fraction of the time. Without the harness of struggling with infrastructure and code, users can connect their front-end software to just about anything they need.
This includes enterprise tools. Deskree’s capabilities can work for everyone from freelancers to large corporations, and they host users on a shared Discord for real-time help.
All of this suggests Deskree is a new SaaS North visitor worth watching. A recent seed round earned the company $1.4M in seed funding from lead investors at Forum Ventures, and it seems like the best is yet to come.
Qui Identity
Founded: 2022
Headquarters: Toronto
Qui is one SaaS North contender that will interest investors and tech enthusiasts alike. The brainchild of ex-Wave CEO Kirk Simpson, Qui offers, essentially, a blue checkmark for everyone. Created as an entity before Elon Musk started upselling the symbol, the blue checkmark is a response to digital ID cards becoming more prevalent across the web. The average user needs a way to prove they are who they say they are – fast.
The result is Qui, a Web3 startup that allows its users to certify themselves securely. Qui is built on a decentralized key management infrastructure (DKMI). The tool allows Qui users to share authentic, signed data about their identity: which is even more crucial in a digital age.
Having promised Simpson a ‘blank cheque for his next adventure’, Qui has gathered $6.5M in seed funding. With Round13 Capital and OMERS Ventures on board as Qui’s lead investors, there’s likely lots of adventuring still to come.
Profitual
Founded: 2022
Headquarters: Fredericton, New Brunswick
Like many SaaS North startups, New Brunswick based Profitual wants to deliver a slice of expertise for its user. For Profitual, the expertise comes from CEO Raymond Fitzpatrick’s interest in creating financial models and budgets. Sophisticated information like this is often difficult for startups but can be essential when it comes to getting funded. After developing expertise as venture capitalists, themselves, Fitzpatrick teamed up with Daniel Hoyles to share the financial knowledge.
Profitual has gotten plenty of interest, including catching the eye of funders. Having gained $1.2M in seed funding late last year, Profitual has $1M in angel investment from Fitzpatrick and Hoyles. Their lead investor is still unknown, but with a SaaS North appearance in the works and plenty of buzz, Profitual is worth a watch.
Digitho
Founded: 2021
Headquarters: Montreal
Designed to improve the manufacturing process for semiconductors, Digitho allows manufacturers to print a serial number on each microchip. In the event something goes wrong, the chip can be easily traced and recalled. This allows manufacturers to track the chip as it makes its way through the supply chain, making for better traceability and quality control.
It’s no small feat in an industry that operates in nanometers. The lithographic process requires meticulous operations, as even small amounts of dust or water can contaminate the end result.
