Canada Drives is a Canadian online vehicle retailer founded in 2010 and based in Vancouver.[3][4] The company allows customers to buy certified used cars online.[5] Customers can also sell their vehicle to Canada Drives or trade it in.[6]
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | E-commerce / automotive |
| Founded | 2010 |
| Founder | Cody Green[1] |
| Headquarters | Vancouver, British Columbia , Canada |
Area served | Canada |
Key people | [2] |
| Services | Online Vehicle Retailing & Auto Financing |
Number of employees | 700+ (February 2022)[2] |
| Website | www |
History
editCody Green founded Canada Drives in 2010.[7] While working at a dealership, he noticed flaws in the existing sales process when customers would choose a vehicle only to then be declined for finance.[8] To make the process more efficient, he started helping customers get approved for car finance before choosing a vehicle. Realizing the scale of this customer pain point, he set out to solve the problem by building an online platform around this inverted process.[3] Green has stated that Canada Drives’ mission is “to be the easiest place to buy or sell your car in Canada.”[9]
Co-CEO Michael Galpin joined the company in 2011.[3] In 2014, Canada Drives moved from Saskatoon to Vancouver to be closer to the growing tech sector there. At the time, Canada Drives had six employees.[10] It founded Spring Financial in the same year.[11] As of February 2022, the company employed more than 700 people.[2]
Canada Drives was identified as a company growing fast enough for an IPO but opted to stay private due to low-interest private equity funds.[12] In 2019, U.S.-based growth equity firm Anthos Capital invested $100 million.[13]
Canada Drives expanded its business model in 2020 from online auto financing to online vehicle retailing and delivery.[14] The company currently operates in Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan.[15][16][17][18]
Sukhinder Singh Cassidy joined the Canada Drives board of directors in 2021 while the company closed $100 million CAD in a Series B round of funding led by San Francisco-based Honor Ventures.[19][20] In 2022 financial services company goeasy Ltd. made a $40 million minority equity investment.[21]
Canada Drives is an official partner of the Canadian Football League (CFL).[22]
On March 21, 2023, Canada Drives announced a plan to restructure its business operations and ends online vehicle retailing and delivery. As a part of its restructuring process, It filed for and was granted creditor protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act, pursuant to an initial order (the “Initial Order”) of the Supreme Court of British Columbia. It let go 95% of its IT staff and returned to its old online auto financing.[23]
Recognition
editIn 2016, Canada Drives earned the top spot on the Canadian Business Profit 500 list with 5-year revenue growth of 12,686% and was named Canada's Fastest-Growing Company.[24] From 2016 to 2021 the company was ranked numbers 44, 104, 193, 321, 386 and 479 respectively on the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 list of fastest growing digital technology, media, and entertainment companies.[25][26][27][28][29][30] In 2019 and 2020, Deloitte recognized Canada Drives as one of Canada's Best Managed Companies.[31][8][32] In 2021, the company was named one of Deloitte's Enterprise Fast 15 winners for a third time.[33][34]
Founder Cody Green has been included on Canada's Top 40 Under 40 2017 list of up-and-coming leaders by BNN Bloomberg as well as the Business in Vancouver Forty Under 40 honoree list.[35][36] In 2016, Green was a recipient of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.[37][38]
References
edit- ^ "Online car company ships car to your door same day in Ontario". CTV News. 4 June 2021.
- ^ a b c "Quick Facts". Canada Drives.
- ^ a b c "How Canada Drives became Canada's Fastest-Growing Company". Canadian Business. September 15, 2016.
- ^ "'In three-clicks I bought a car': Online vehicle market revs up amid pandemic - BNN Bloomberg". BNN. 1 April 2021. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
- ^ "Online car company ships car to your door same day in Ontario". CTV News. 4 June 2021. Retrieved 2021-07-14.
- ^ "Canada Drives Launches New Feature to Buy Canadians' Vehicles". Techouver. 13 April 2022. Retrieved 2021-07-14.
- ^ Daum, Kevin (12 October 2018). "This CEO Went from Selling 40 to 40,000 Cars a Year by Bringing Trust into the Car Sales Industry". Inc.com. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
- ^ a b "Canada Drives: Canada's Best Managed Companies 2019 - Canadian Business". www.canadianbusiness.com. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
- ^ "Canada Drives raises $79.4 million to expand online car purchasing and delivery platform". TechCrunch. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
- ^ "Has Vancouver's booming tech sector turned us into Silicon Valley North?". CBC.ca. September 21, 2016.
- ^ "Big changes for the 2023 tax filing season | Watch News Videos Online". Global News. Retrieved 2024-07-09.
- ^ "Private is the new public: The problem with tech stars chasing private money as they don't file IPOs". 10 January 2020. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
- ^ "Online car shopping platform Canada Drives eyes national expansion". driving. Retrieved 2021-07-14.
- ^ "Local fintechs shift gears to service online car sales". Business in Vancouver. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
- ^ "100% online platform promises to shift car buying experience in Alberta | Globalnews.ca". Global News. 7 October 2021. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
- ^ "Canada Drives expands online car-buying platform to Ontario". Auto Remarketing. 27 May 2021. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
- ^ "Vancouver's Canada Drives Launches Online Vehicle Purchasing And Delivery Nationally". Techcouver.com. 27 May 2021. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
- ^ "Canada Drives Launches in Saskatchewan". Techcouver.com. 4 May 2022. Retrieved 2022-07-15.
- ^ "Canada Drives secures $100 million CAD Series B, plans Alberta expansion | BetaKit". 18 August 2021. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
- ^ "Canada Drives adds former StubHub president to board". Auto Remarketing. 17 June 2021. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
- ^ "Goeasy Plans to Leverage Its Lendcare Acquisition With Online Car Sales Startup Canada Drives | BetaKit". 27 June 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
- ^ "Hittin' the Road: Canada Drives to deliver the Grey Cup to Hamilton". CFL.ca. 15 November 2021. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
- ^ "Canada Drives Announces a Restructuring of Business Operations to Position the Company for Success". www.businesswire.com. 13 September 2023. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
- ^ "How Canada Drives became Canada's Fastest-Growing Company - Canadian Business". www.canadianbusiness.com. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
- ^ "2016 Technology Fast 500" (PDF). Deloitte. p. 16.
- ^ "2017 Technology Fast 500" (PDF). Deloitte. p. 4.
- ^ "2018 Technology Fast 500" (PDF). Deloitte. p. 7.
- ^ "2019 Technology Fast 500" (PDF). Deloitte. p. 10.
- ^ "2020 Technology Fast 500 Rankings" (PDF). Deloitte.
- ^ "2021 Technology Fast 500 Rankings" (PDF). Deloitte. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
- ^ "Canada's Best Managed Companies: Returning Winners - Canadian Business". www.canadianbusiness.com. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
- ^ "Best Managed winners | Canada's Best Managed Companies". Deloitte Canada. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
- ^ "Canada Drives Named One of Canada's Enterprise Fast 15 Winners in Deloitte's Technology Fast 50™ Program For Its Third Consecutive Year". Financial Post. 17 November 2021. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
- ^ "B.C. firms nab six spots on Deloitte Technology Fast 50 rankings". Business in Vancouver. Retrieved 2021-07-14.
- ^ Bloomberg, B. N. N. (28 June 2017). "Canada's 2017 Top 40 Under 40 - BNN Bloomberg". BNN. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
- ^ "Cody Green". Business in Vancouver. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
- ^ Mckenzie, Kevin Hinton & Ryan. "BCBusiness". BCBusiness. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
- ^ "Canada Drives, Canada's Largest 100% Online Car Shopping and To-Your-Door Delivery Platform, Launches Nationally". Financialpost. Retrieved 21 December 2021.