After investing in Float, Fraser is joining the team and returning to his operations roots.
Toronto-based Float Financial has recruited experienced growth-stage technology operator-turned-investor Jack Fraser as the FinTech firm’s first chief financial officer (CFO).
Fraser began his career in banking before moving into tech operations. He previously held CFO and COO roles at Toronto’s itravel2000 and its parent Travelzest, and guided scaling Montréal-based luxury e-commerce platform Ssense as CFO from 2016 until 2020. Fraser spent the last seven years at the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) serving as a partner at BDC Capital’s Growth Venture Fund, where he backed and advised some of the country’s most valuable tech companies, from Cohere to Koho Financial, Hopper, and Super.com.
“My experience in hyper growth operations [at] technology companies lends very well to where Float is today, and going to for tomorrow.”
Jack Fraser, Float
Float helps Canadian small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) manage their spending through cards, software, and other products. Fraser joins the firm months after leading BDC Capital’s investment in Float’s $85-million CAD Series C round, raised in part to support the company’s push into AI. He said he officially left BDC two weeks ago to take on this CFO role, which he assumed last week. He described the position as “a very elegant fit” given his background.
“I believe that my experience in hyper growth operations [at] technology companies lends very well to where Float is today, and going to for tomorrow … I’m excited to be in a company that’s revolutionizing financial operations with AI,” Fraser told BetaKit in an exclusive interview.
Founded in 2019, Float got its start helping Canadian SMBs that felt underserved by traditional banks simplify their spending through corporate cards and expense management software. It has since moved into other areas, from bill payments to business accounts and credit, as it works to help these SMBs automate and improve their financial operations.
The fast-growing FinTech company now employs 190 people and serves 10,000 active Canadian businesses, up from around 7,500 this June when it announced its Series C financing. Its clients include Cohere, Clutch, Knix, and Impact Kitchen.
“We’d been looking for a CFO for a while, and the right answer turned out to be someone we already knew well … [Jack has] seen Float up close: the hard calls, the bets that paid off, and where we’re going next,” Float co-founder and CEO Rob Khazzam told BetaKit over email. Khazzam cited Fraser’s long track record of backing Canadian founders and belief in the importance of SMBs as among the factors that made him the right choice for the job.
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Fraser said he was attracted to Float’s mission of helping Canadian SMBs, and said that the AI and automation layer the company has been building remains in its “early days” in terms of market penetration. “There is so much more that Float Intelligence is capable of doing and will be doing for businesses,” he added.
Float is gearing up for expansion as American business expense management tech peer Ramp sets its sights on the Canadian market, and fellow Toronto FinTech platform Wealthsimple moves into serving businesses. Fraser said he is confident in Float’s ability to compete with both. He said he thinks more competition will lead to better services for Canadians, and he views Float’s focus exclusively on the Canadian market and businesses, respectively, as differentiators.
During his time with itravel2000, Fraser said the online travel company faced off against Expedia, which was expanding in Canada. “We competed head-on with them, and we survived and succeeded,” he claimed.
“Many times, we’ve seen American or other foreign competitors come to Canada and underestimate the uniqueness of Canadians … Those are mistakes we won’t make,” Fraser said.
Feature image courtesy Float Financial.