5 Failed Startups Founded in Toronto
Here’s a list of 5 failed startups from Toronto.
Some of them were big, with huge teams and funding rounds.
Others were smaller, ran by the co-founders, and with no funding.
But all of them shut down.
And each for a specific cause of failure.
5 Failed Startups Founded in Toronto
1) Verelo
Verelo was a Canadian startup that offered web monitoring services from multiple locations. Not enough traction made the company shut down in 2012.
Details of the startup:
- Founders: McGrath, Michael Curry
- Country: Canada
- Industry: Analytics
- Started in: 2012
- Closed in: 2012
- Nº of employees: 1-10
- Specific cause of failure: Lack of Funds
You can read more about their failure here.
2) Wattage
Wattage was a platform with an ambitious goal: to break the entry barrier for hardware design. They weren't able to validate market interest.
Details of the startup:
- Founders: Brett Hagman, Jeremy Bell, Peter Nitsch
- Country: Canada
- Industry: Software & Hardware
- Started in: 2014
- Closed in: 2015
- Nº of employees: 50-100
- Funding Amount: < $1M
- Specific cause of failure: No Market Need
You can read more about their failure here.
3) Chowdy
Steve and his housemate were always complaining food was expensive in Toronto. So, they came with a solution: hire a chef for themselves and 20 friends. This simple idea quickly escalated into a business, that, within a few months, was making +$110,000 per month. But, as it went up fast, it also came down rapidly. The business was involved in some legal problems, which forced the founders to shut it down. Read Steve’s failure story and learn from his mistakes!
Details of the startup:
- Founder: Steven Long
- Country: Canada
- Industry: Food & Beverage
- Started in: 2014
- Closed in: 2016
- Specific cause of failure: Legal Challenges
You can read more about their failure here.
4) Gymlisted
Gymlisted was a website for finding the right private gym. Every day, Tom would go home from his day job and code up features for Gymlisted until midnight. Once launched, they started with their marketing efforts. But they soon realized there was pretty much no demand for what they were offering.
Details of the startup:
- Founder: Tom Zaragoza
- Country: Canada
- Industry: Software & Hardware
- Started in: 2017
- Closed in: 2018
- Specific cause of failure: No Market Need
You can read more about their failure here.
5) REPitchbook
Charlie Reese is a Canadian software developer who came with (what he thought it was) a revolutionary idea for a SaaS business in the real estate industry. Using his knowledge in JavaScript, React, and SQL, he built a prototype in 6 weeks. But he failed to validate his idea and shut down.
Details of the startup:
- Founder: Charlie Reese
- Country: Canada
- Industry: Software & Hardware
- Started in: 2017
- Closed in: 2018
- Specific cause of failure: Poor Product
You can read more about their failure here.
