October 18, 2021 – Ottawa, ON – Invest Ottawa is pleased to announce two rapidly scaling local firms – Noibu and Growcer – have successfully graduated from its IO Accelerator flagship program, designed to help entrepreneurs grow and scale on their Venture Path.
“It has been amazing to work with these two firms and their founders over the last three years. They have both been relentless in their own ways, and to see them start to scale, despite a global pandemic has been fun to watch,” said Nick Quain, Vice President of Venture at Invest Ottawa. “They are both firms that are also easy to work with and support – we’re looking forward to supporting their future growth through our ScaleUp program.”
Noibu, which joined the IO Accelerator in 2018, has built an eCommerce error monitoring platform to power the world’s best eCommerce experiences. The product helps customers like Guess, Avon, and Moschino detect, prioritize, and resolve revenue-impacting eCommerce errors, helping these leading brands to process over 100 million errors per year. Noibu grew from $0 and half a dozen full time employees (FTE’s) at launch in 2019 to multi-millions in annual recurring revenue and 45 current FTR’s, with plans to hire 10 more in Q4 of 2021.
Growcer, which makes fresh and nutritious food more accessible, sells plug-and-play hydroponic growing systems that grows fresh produce year-round in any climate, with a focus on schools, universities, institutions and northern and Indigenous communities. Growcer joined the IO Accelerator in 2018, expanding from 6 FTEs and 3 customers to almost two dozen FTE’s. With a record 137% year over year growth in 2021 and a 50% increase in new customers since May of this year alone, Growcer now has a network of almost 40 farms.
Noibu’s Director of People & Culture Sarah Crandlemire is proud of the company’s ongoing association with Invest Ottawa and excited to have reached this milestone in Noibu’s history.
“The IO Accelerator has been instrumental in Noibu’s growth. We joined the accelerator with a different product line and the support from IO advisors and other IO accelerator companies allowed us to push through the difficult days so that we now have a world-class SaaS company right here in Ottawa. What started as a group of ambitious founders has turned into a company of 45 amazing people supporting hundreds of customers worldwide with millions in annual recurring revenue, and we will continue to lean on the IO Accelerator network in the future.”
Alida Burke, one of Growcer’s co-founders, says the IO Accelerator program gave the team the space, resources and support needed to get their company to the next level.
“Over the last three years, the IO Accelerator team has held us accountable to our financial and operating targets, while connecting us to mentors and partners that have been invaluable in our growth. For us, graduation means taking what we’ve learned in our journey thus far and adjusting our processes and operations to meet our next phase of expansion,” said Burke.
About the IO Accelerator
The IO Accelerator is designed to rapidly and systematically accelerate the development and commercial success of high growth technology startups. In a phased and milestone-based approach, founders push themselves over 12 to 18 months to create a scalable and globally competitive technology company. Companies receive a minimum of 10 hours of advisory services per month from experts in a variety of management fields, guidance and introductions to investors, curated market research, as well as access to the IO Accelerator co-working space and startup community.
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Syntax Strategic
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