What began just over a decade ago as a way for some local entrepreneurs to sell snowboards on the side is now Canada’s most valuable tech company by market capitalization – and the Ottawa firm’s growth doesn’t appear to be slowing.
Shopify (TSX:SHOP)(NYSE:SHOP) took the title as Canada’s top tech firm on Friday afternoon as its shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange crested $222, officially ousting CGI Group from the spot. Shopify’s shares have continued to climb at the start of the week, trading at around $227.81 on Monday and giving the Ottawa e-commerce giant a market capitalization of $22.3 billion.
Shopify’s shares have risen more than 500 per cent since the firm debuted on the TSX in 2015, raising more than $150 million in its initial public offerings on the TSX and New York Stock Exchange.
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The Ottawa-based firm’s platform, used by more than 600,000 merchants operating digital storefronts, got its start as a custom-coded e-commerce site for CEO Tobi Lütke and co-founders Daniel Weinand and Scott Lake to launch their online snowboard shop back in 2004. The company now employs more than 3,000 people globally and has branched out from its Elgin Street headquarters to a nearby building on Laurier Avenue to make room for its Ottawa expansions.
Shopify will report its full-year earnings on Feb. 12, when it is expected to hit $1 billion in annual revenues for the first time in its history.