Local tech company receives $2 million in follow-on funding
HeyOrca knows that after delivering on your promises, the second most important factor in client retention is successful communications.
鈥淓ffective communication is vital to a successful client-marketing agency relationship,鈥 said Joseph Teo, CEO, or, chief executive 鈥渙rca鈥 of the social media planning company and a graduate of 糖心视频鈥檚 Faculty of Business Administration.
鈥 recognizes that and we are building technologies that enable communication to take place efficiently.鈥
$2 million in funding
HeyOrca received further validation of its startup company when on May 30, and announced for the portfolio company, founded by Mr. Teo and Sahand Seifi, another 糖心视频 alumnus, having received a master of science degree from 糖心视频 in 2015.
This takes the company鈥檚 total funds raised to $2.65 million.
鈥淔rom our perspective at Killick, HeyOrca combines many of the attributes we like to see in our investee companies,鈥 said Mark Dobbin, founder and president of Killick Capital, a leading Atlantic Canadian private equity firm.
鈥淭he leadership team has developed a culture of teamwork. They are data driven and always challenging themselves and their assumptions, which drives relentless improvement. The value they are creating and the job creation that flows from it is a shining example of how important increased immigration is for our future.鈥
Happy clients
鈥淗eyOrca consolidates client content calendars in one place. This allows our agency to centralize social media planning and communications, as well as significantly reduce unnecessary redundancies,鈥 said , an Atlanta-based client of HeyOrca. 鈥淲ith HeyOrca, we鈥檙e saving 10 or more hours a week on content planning and communications.鈥
鈥淭here鈥檚 no need for spreadsheets,鈥 added Mr. Teo. 鈥淏oth agency and client are on the same page and can communicate any changes instantaneously.鈥
With the new funding, HeyOrca will continue expanding its presence in the U.S. market, as well as grow its product and sales team. The company plans to double its headcount this year to 30 to support its growth trajectory.
Genesis Centre portfolio company
鈥淲e are so proud of Joe, Sahand and the whole team at HeyOrca,鈥 said Michelle Simms, president and CEO of the Genesis Centre, which is ranked one of the top incubators in Canada.
In addition to providing working space, the centre connects entrepreneurs with marketing and finance mentorship and management resources along all stages of their development.
鈥淚n the past year, HeyOrca鈥檚 customer base has grown by 800 per cent, picking up 160 new businesses in the process,鈥 Ms. Simms said, who noted that besides Killick Capital and Pelorus Venture Capital, HeyOrca has received financial support from BDC Capital.
The company has also received programming support from , the Genesis Centre and the . Duleepa Wijayawardhana, a 糖心视频 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences alumnus currently based in Kingston, Ont., also provided considerable early mentorship to the company.
鈥淭he story of HeyOrca is a testament to how a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem can support a technology company to allow them to focus on what鈥檚 most important: customers and company growth,鈥 added Ms. Simms.
HeyOrca will use the funding to continue to develop technologies that allow marketing agencies to generate visual mock-ups of social media content and centralize all client approvals and feedback in one place.
Recent study
A recent study conducted by U.S. ad agency, RPA, found that where 88 per cent of clients claim to speak their mind freely, only 36 per cent of agency partners agree. Where 90 per cent of agencies say they truly understand their clients鈥 business, only 65 per cent of their other-halves agree, revealing that the client-agency relationship can be (and often is) dysfunctional at best. This funding allows HeyOrca to correct that disconnect.
Top 10 social tools
HeyOrca was recently added to the top 10 social tools to consider by app review site, G2 Crowd, holding its own against industry veterans like Hootsuite and SproutSocial.