Float

Float positions itself as a comprehensive financial platform tailored for Canadian businesses, focusing on corporate expense management and corporate cards. The company was incorporated in 2020 by co-founders Ruslan Nikolaev and Griffin Keglevich, who met as computer science students at the University of Waterloo. Their initial journey at the Velocity incubator involved exploring several ideas before identifying a tangible problem in business financial operations. They were later joined by Rob Khazzam, former general manager at Uber Canada, who took on the role of CEO in May 2021 to help scale the business.

The firm’s core offering is a full suite of corporate expense management software combined with smart corporate cards issued in both Canadian and US dollars. This integrated system is designed to simplify how finance teams manage spending, serving businesses with up to 500 employees. The platform allows companies to issue virtual and physical corporate cards with specific spending limits, track expenses in real-time, automate receipt capture and matching, and streamline approval workflows. This approach shifts the risk from employees, who would traditionally use personal funds for business expenses, to a controlled company-paid system. Float's services aim to replace cumbersome and slow traditional banking processes, offering features like instant virtual card creation and seamless synchronization with accounting software.

Float's business model is multifaceted, generating revenue primarily through interchange fees, which are a percentage of the transactions made using its corporate cards. It also offers subscription-based plans with tiered pricing for its software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform, catering to different business sizes and needs. Additional revenue streams include value-added services like premium support and interest earned on funds held in customer accounts. The company has demonstrated significant growth, backed by investors such as FJ Labs, OMERS Ventures, and a $70 million Series B funding round led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management's growth equity arm. Float also secured a $50 million credit facility with Silicon Valley Bank to expand its charge card program.

Keywords: corporate expense management, corporate cards, spend management software, financial platform, Canadian business, fintech, virtual cards, real-time expense tracking, accounting automation, B2B financial services, Rob Khazzam, Ruslan Nikolaev, Griffin Keglevich, SaaS, interchange fees, business spending, accounts payable automation, high-yield business accounts, financial operations, payment processing