Canadian tech used to be known for getting acquired.
At TechExit.io Vancouver, Globe and Mail reporter Sean Silcoff pointed out how quickly that narrative has shifted. Fourteen years ago, limited capital and lower valuations left many startups vulnerable to foreign buyers.
Today, a growing number of Canadian companies are reaching scale and using acquisitions to expand products, enter new markets and build stronger businesses.
Joining Sean were Shelly Badhesha (RBCx), Jeff Duke (Vibanc) and Andrew McLeod (Certn) leaders who have helped drive this shift from targets to acquirers.
Key takeaways:
- Acquisitions work best when the underlying business is already strong
- Strategic clarity matters more than deal volume
- Integration and culture determine whether deals succeed
Below are some of the practical lesson’s founders should consider before pursuing acquisitions.
Acquisitions Work Best As Accelerators
One of the biggest misconceptions founders have is treating acquisitions as a shortcut to solve growth challenges.
Jeff explained that the opposite tends to be true. Companies should already be performing well before they pursue M&A.
As Jeff put it, “Your house needs to be in order.”
If a company is still searching for product-market fit, acquisitions should not be used as a rescue strategy. Instead, they should serve as an accelerator once the fundamentals are already in place.
Jeff encourages founders to evaluate four core elements before doing a deal: capital, clarity, consequences and capacity.
He also addressed a misconception that has gained traction online.
“You should be planning for at least around twenty percent of the deal to come off your balance sheet,”
Jeff said, pushing back on the idea that businesses can be acquired with no capital involved.
Without that financial and operational foundation, even promising deals can become overwhelming for a young company.
Strategy Comes Before The Target List
When acquisitions succeed, they are usually tied to a very specific strategic goal.
Shelly shared an example from her experience working inside a SaaS company that pursued acquisitions as a way to strengthen its position in the market.
The company initially operated in the youth sports registration space. From there, leadership realized that owning additional parts of the customer journey could significantly increase value.
Shelly explained the thinking behind the strategy:
“For us, it was about vertical integration. How do we obtain market share by owning more of the participation lifecycle?”
The company expanded by acquiring platforms connected to other recreational activities such as golf bookings, ski passes and campsite reservations.
By controlling multiple points in the same customer journey, the company increased revenue per household and built a stronger data platform.
For founders in the audience, the takeaway was clear: acquisitions should reinforce a clear strategy rather than simply adding more companies to the portfolio.
Valuation Differences Can Create Powerful Opportunities
Andrew shared a particularly compelling example of how acquisitions can accelerate growth.
Certn began acquiring companies early in its journey while raising capital at significantly higher revenue multiples than the businesses it was buying.
Some acquisitions happened at less than two times revenue, while Certn itself was raising capital at much higher valuations.
Andrew described the opportunity plainly:
“When you’re buying companies at sub-two times revenue and raising at fourteen- or fifteen-times revenue, the value of your currency is incredibly high.”
In that environment, acquisitions become a powerful tool for building enterprise value.
From Andrew’s perspective, those early deals became one of the most impactful growth decisions the company made.
Integration Is Where The Real Work Begins
While acquisitions can look straightforward in a pitch deck, the real challenge begins after the deal closes.
Andrew admitted that early in Certn’s acquisition journey he underestimated how demanding integration would be.
Looking back, he shared a lesson learned from experience:
“There’s no such thing as an arms-length acquisition. I’m convinced there’s no such thing. There’s always work.”
Integration often requires significant leadership focus. In many cases, Andrew said a senior leader needs to dedicate a year or more to ensuring the new business becomes fully integrated.
Shelly echoed this from her own experience. One of the biggest surprises she encountered was the amount of technical debt that sometimes surfaced after acquisitions.
Another unexpected challenge involved talent retention. In some transactions, she saw sudden departures from acquired teams that forced leadership to rethink their integration strategy in real time.
Culture Still Determines Whether Deals Work
While financial models often dominate acquisition discussions, the panelists repeatedly returned to the human side of deals.
Jeff emphasized the importance of alignment between founders and leadership teams early in the process.
He referenced a lesson he has seen play out repeatedly:
“You can’t do a good deal with a bad person.”
Deals that begin with misalignment between leadership teams often create problems long after the transaction closes.
Final Word For Founders
Canadian tech companies are entering a new phase of growth.
Rather than waiting for foreign buyers, more founders are using acquisitions to expand their products, strengthen market position, and accelerate growth.
Andrew summarized one of the biggest advantages of this strategy during the session.
“It’s five times easier to upsell an existing customer than it is to acquire a new one.”
In a crowded market where new products appear daily, owning an engaged customer base can be one of the most valuable assets a company has.
For founders considering acquisitions, the lesson is straightforward: start with strategy, build the capacity to execute and prepare for the work that comes after the deal closes.
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