Shopify executive says he hopes its prospects inspire other Canadian tech firms

By David Friend, The Canadian Press

TORONTO – Executives at Shopify Inc. hope the international spotlight shone on the e-commerce software maker will embolden other Canadian technology companies to think about their futures on a global scale.

“When I hear companies talk about maybe they’ll go IPO, that’s exciting for me,” said chief platform officer Harley Finkelstein on Tuesday.

“There’s been too few of them in the past few years.”

Employees of Shopify (TSX:SH) gathered at the Toronto Stock Exchange to ring the opening bell on Tuesday, wrapping up a whirlwind few weeks for the company.

Shopify executives have been travelling across North America to meet with potential investors in hopes of drumming up interest for their growth plans.

The company managed to raise a larger-than-expected US$131 million for their IPO.

Shopify began trading on both the TSX and New York Stock Exchange last Thursday, and its shares have soared about 75 per cent from the IPO price.

All of that attention has caused a ripple effect across other Canadian tech firms, including Vancouver-based social media software company HootSuite.

Last week, chief executive Ryan Holmes said he was “bullish” after the success of Shopify’s IPO and would consider speeding up HootSuite’s own public offering, which had been initially targeted to happen within the next two years.

Finkelstein said he wants to see other tech firms build long-term Canadian businesses that don’t “sell out too early” and focus on growing across the world.

“I very much believe in the next five to 10 years there is going to be this incredible tech renaissance across the Canadian ecosystem,” he said.

“If Shopify can play a role in helping inspire entrepreneurs … that’s something we would love to do.”

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