Forbes interviewed Vendasta CEO Brendan King on how the company’s Saskatchewan roots shaped its values and approach to building trusted generative AI for local businesses. King discussed Vendasta’s commitment to responsible AI, its AI employee strategy, and how the platform helps small businesses compete with digital-first enterprises.
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.
