Making their mark: OBJ’s 2021 Fastest Growing Companies list reflects capital’s resilience BY DAVID SALI
david@obj.ca
In a year that challenged local entrepreneurs like no other in recent memory, Ottawa’s business community showed what it’s truly made of in 2020. While the pandemic ravaged many sectors of the economy, resiliency
proved to be just as much a byword of the past 12 months as masking and physical distancing. Businesses of all stripes across the National Capital Region showed their ability to adapt under incredible circumstances as they
navigated through a storm no one could have foreseen. That get-it-done attitude is clearly reflected in the 2021 list of OBJ’s fastestgrowing companies based on revenue growth over the past three years. A record number of applicants produced an outstanding group of companies that included three firms with three-year growth of more than 1,000 per cent. Equally impressive, this isn’t just a laundry list of tech startups. This year’s recipients run the gamut, from a last-mile delivery service that grabbed two multimillion-dollar financing rounds in 2020 to an upstart distillery that found a way to turn a milk byproduct into a vodka that’s flying off the shelves. Perhaps the most telling statistic that demonstrates the depth and breadth of the capital region’s entrepreneurial spirit is this: just one of this year’s growth leaders has previously appeared on OBJ’s list. Clearly, a new crop of enterprising entrepreneurs is making its mark on Ottawa’s economy. We are proud to celebrate this impressive group’s accomplishments. To find out how these plucky upstarts did it, read on.
GoFor delivers on early promise to become a last-mile logistics force GOFOR YEAR FOUNDED: 2016 LOCAL HEADCOUNT: 130 THREE-YEAR REVENUE GROWTH: 5,319% GoFor now operates in 75 cities. PHOTO BY MARK HOLLERON America, resulting in two major funding rounds that injected nearly $30 million into GoFor’s coffers to help fuel its breathtaking ascent. It’s enough to make even the most seasoned entrepreneur’s head spin, but Rollo – a former varsity basketball player at Laurentian University who says he relishes competition – seems to be taking it all in stride. Now operating in 75 cities, GoFor is
aiming to have drivers in place in up to 150 urban centres throughout Canada and the U.S. by the end of the year. It’s also partnering with FedEx and Purolator to provide customers with a full range of delivery services. “The winner in this space is not going to be just a last-mile delivery company,” Rollo says. “They’re going to have other logistics options. We are building that out right now.”– David Sali
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fill last-minute orders – is firing on all cylinders in its fifth year. As online commerce boomed during the pandemic, the company’s revenues skyrocketed 1,200 per cent from February to December, while its headcount has tripled in the past 12 months. Meanwhile, investors scrambled to grab a stake in what’s become one of the hottest logistics operations in North
SPRING 2021
When Ottawa-based last-mile delivery service GoFor closed its second multimillion-dollar funding round of 2020 back in December, founder Brad Rollo called a VC’s prediction that the company would become a billion-dollar enterprise “conservative.” As revenues keep rising in 2021, so does the CEO’s confidence in the firm’s future. “GoFor, without a doubt, has the potential to be a many billion-dollar company,” he says. Some might call that hubris, but Rollo doesn’t care. GoFor – which provides just-in-time delivery services for the likes of home reno giant Home Depot and paint manufacturer Sherwin-Williams and makes software that helps customers