Jacqueline is the COO at Vendasta. She is responsible for the development and execution of Vendasta’s revenue and go-to-market strategy, with the core mandate of empowering Vendasta’s Channel Partners to leverage its platform and marketplace to help over 5M small businesses transition to digital. She played an instrumental role in Vendasta’s $40M capital raise in 2018, and more recently, helped lead its IPO process which resulted in an oversubscribed $120M private investment.

Brendan King is the innovative force behind Vendasta. Responsible for providing the vision, thought leadership, and business strategy, it is Brendan’s ability to focus on the big picture while maintaining quality on the finest details that drives Vendasta’s success.

We should never underestimate the power of head offices. This province is not exactly head office central in the country. In fact, our history would suggest the opposite … a successful company started here is more likely than not to be taken over by a larger fish from a bigger pond.

Canadian digital solutions platform Vendasta has put some of the C$119.5 million (about US$97 million at the current XR) it raised this spring to use, acquiring Toronto-based CalendarHero for an undisclosed amount. The deal adds another Vendasta owned and operated solution to its stack. The deal also brings 100,000 into Vendasta’s platform, many of them small business owners.

Vendasta is among western Canada’s most notable technology companies. So much so that we are frequently being cited as an innovation leader by federal and provincial leaders. Such was the case for Premier Scott Moe’s annual State of the Province address. Watch the speech here.

Vendasta is proud to announce it secured a spot on The Globe and Mail’s 2021 Report on Business ranking of Canada’s Top Growing Companies. With verified three-year revenue growth of 101%, the end-to-end ecommerce platform ranked #316 among the nation’s fastest-growing businesses. In total, 448 companies earned a spot on this year’s list.

Vendasta has long looked for new hires beyond its home turf in Saskatoon. “We have a ton of raw talent at the junior level —the [University of Saskatchewan’s] got a fantastic comp-science department,” said CEO Brendan King. But the Prairie city is less stocked with candidates with product management and marketing expertise, or executives with experience scaling companies. So pre-pandemic, Vendasta brought in foreign workers via Canada’s fast-track program for tech talent, and hired senior staff in Seattle, Chicago and other U.S. cities who flew in regularly.

For every dollar a local business owner spends on technology and digital solutions, $2.50 is spent on implementation and ongoing services from marketing agencies and other local experts. Digital technology is a $220 billion market that is rapidly expanding and comes with its own set of challenges. A 2020 survey of more than 600 respondents reveals local agencies and business experts saying their inability to scale operations is the number one challenge they face in providing digital solutions to local businesses.

Vendasta is proud to welcome JazzHR to its wholesale marketplace, marking the first time partners can sell hiring software to small- or medium-sized businesses (SMBs) directly from the platform.

SMEs are the backbone of our economy, what does it take to ensure steady ROI and growth as events surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic continue to create disruptions? Brendan King, CEO of Vendasta takes the time to share his thoughts in this chat.