Toronto-founded NorthOne moved its HQ to New York to serve its American client base.
Canadian-founded FinTech startup and challenger bank NorthOne has announced the closing of its $92.1 million CAD ($67 million USD) Series B round.
The financing, which closed in “late summer,” included participation from Battery Ventures, Don Griffith, retired National Football League player Drew Brees, Ferst Capital Partners, FinTLV, Next Play Capital, Operator Stack, Redpoint Ventures, Tencent, and BetterCompany founder Tom Williams.
Nearly half of New York-headquartered NorthOne’s staff, 36 out of 75, is located in Canada, with almost all of them based in Toronto.
NorthOne was founded in Toronto in 2016 by Eytan Bensoussan and Justin Adler. Most of its employees continue to be located in Toronto. A spokesperson for NorthOne told BetaKit that the Canadian startup moved its headquarters to New York as it only serves American small businesses. However, NorthOne still operates in Toronto and has an office in the city.
The company originally launched as Ferst Digital after returning investor Ferst Capital, which housed CEO Bensoussan as entrepreneur-in-residence. It was rebranded as NorthOne in fall 2017.
NorthOne provides a banking platform that connects to the financial tools companies use and provides insight into the financial health of the business. The system was created to prevent small businesses from losing out on productivity and overpaying due to their banking experience.
In partnership with The Bancorp Bank, NorthOne’s offering delivers banking functionalities like wires, mobile check deposit, and cash deposits through its mobile app.
RELATED: Challenger bank NorthOne raises $29.3 million CAD Series A
NorthOne has been growing quickly in recent years. Last year, NorthOne reported that it hired more than 70 new employees, representing a 230 percent increase from the same period in the previous year. In 2021, it also opened a new office in Oregon, six months after the opening of its San Francisco office.
According to NorthOne, this latest investment will support the company as it looks to build new working capital and credit products, as well as faster and more convenient payment solutions. TechCrunch reported that NorthOne doesn’t plan to go on another hiring spree with its new capital.
NorthOne noted that the Series B round brings its total funding to $90.3 million USD raised since it launched. In past funding, the startup closed a $29.3 million CAD Series A round in 2020, and $2 million in seed capital in 2018.
