Local tech firm Vendasta hiring 100 employees as demand increases during pandemic

Saskatoon tech firm Vendasta Technologies Inc. is surging ahead in the face of COVID-19 as it started a hiring campaign on Thursday with plans of welcoming 100 new employees to the company by the end of the year.

Vendasta, a 12-year-old software company that sells digital products for small and medium-sized businesses, is in the peculiar position to welcome new hires as lockdowns across the province, country and world have helped the company not only recover losses seen during the initial lockdown period but also reach new heights as more people and companies continue to work from home.

“We’re growing very fast, so we made a decision to invest and restart in jobs in this community,” Vendasta CEO Brendan King said at the company’s downtown headquarters at the Avenue Building before members of the media, the tech industry and dignitaries in attendance.

“We’re very bullish on this province and we’re very humbled with where we are.”

Vendasta is using a $40 million venture capital boost in 2019 to fuel a three-year growth plan that looks to bring its total workforce to 650 by the end of 2021.

After a brief downturn in March, Vendasta has been capitalizing on the changing commerce landscape. April, May and June saw steady increases in month-over-month growth that has translated into a 49 per cent year-over-year growth rate for the company.

King said there were three “drivers” that helped Vendasta come out of the lockdown ahead. The acceleration of e-commerce in 2020, remote work and online learning popularity as the COVID-19 pandemic has altered the way companies across the world do business and the way people and customers interact with them.

“We’re super fortunate because that’s what we do,” King said. “We provide e-commerce, remote learning and remote tools to work…June was fantastic, we had our best month ever.”

Mayor Charlie Clark thinks Thursday’s announcement is a sign of more things to come from Saskatchewan’s improving tech industry.

“Seeing this strength and hiring 100 people at the same time as many in the economy is struggling is a very good story,” Clark said. “We’re the Silicon Prairie, and we’re talking more and more about that and we’re seeing the growth.”

Saskatoon West MP Brad Redekopp has a son currently enrolled in computer sciences at the University of Saskatchewan. He said without companies like Vendasta in the province, his son, and hundreds of others like him would be seeking employment out of the province once he completes his degree.

“Years ago when he first started he was talking about where he was going to move to,” Redekopp said. “Nowadays he’s talking a little differently — like he might actually want to stay in Saskatoon.”

King couldn’t say what portion of the new employees would be from the city or province, but the jobs would consist of sales personnel, engineers and marketers.

Roughly 400 people currently work at Vendasta, which is preparing to move to Saskatoon Square by October 2021. Once the move is complete, the building’s name will change to Vendasta Square.

“We’re humbled to be able to invest and help grow the tech community in Saskatoon,” King said.