Watchlist: 8 companies of scale to watch grow
From SaaS to science and coding to call centres, these companies are poised to continue along solid growth trajectories.
Here’s a riddle for you. What do these companies have in common: the direct-to-consumer socks outfit, Outway; the online social network and marketplace focused on sustainable products, Social Nature; small batch sustainable cannabis company, Tantalus Labs; fintech firm Koho; and fellow fintech firm Boast.
The answer? That whole list has scaling stories to share and will do so at our next #vtjtalks event, Scaling to 7, 8, 9 figures and beyond: Lessons from local founders. To serve as a tasty appetizer for that #vtjtalks entree, here is an octet of companies that have shown they are no slouches to scaling.
Aspect Biosystems
“It’s literally right out of Star Trek,” Harjit S. Sajjan, Minister of International Development, quipped of the work that the local biotech outfit Aspect Biosystems is doing. Specifically, he was referring to its development of bioengineered tissue therapeutics. Under Sajjan's watchful eye as Minister responsible for PacifiCan, the government's economic development organization dished out over $25 million to 10 local businesses earlier this year.
This included over $3 million for Aspect, which played host to the announcement. The company has since added Diane Gardiner as chief human resources officer and signed a megadeal: a collaboration, development, and license agreement with Novo Nordisk to receive USD $75 million in initial payments and up to $650 million in future milestone payments per product arising from the collaboration.
Quotable: “We have a shared goal: everybody on the team really believes that we're going to make a difference in how we think about medicine and how we treat diseases in the future. I would ask people who are looking at Aspect from the outside and thinking, ‘Is this somewhere I'd like to work?’ [to consider whether] that goal excites you. If it does, then reach out. We'd love to welcome more people and have you join us on this journey. Well, like I said, if you're a kickass individual, that is.” - Co-founder and chief scientific officer Sam Wadsworth from our How (and why) to get a job story series.