[Editor's note: This is the latest in a series of articles highlighting segments of our Atlantic Canada Startup Data Report.]

Florian Villaumé, then the CEO of TechNL, posted in January 2026 that Newfoundland and Labrador is on track to become the No. 2 jurisdiction in the world for billion-dollar startups (or unicorns) per million people.

“That might sound bold — but the data and trajectory are real,” wrote Villaumé, who has since been succeeded in the CEO's post by Andrea King.

He produced data showing that Estonia is the top country in the world in this metric with 7.5 unicorns per million people. Newfoundland and Labrador, with a population of 550,000, has already produced a unicorn in Verafin, which was sold to Nasdaq for US$2.75 billion in 2021. CoLab Software and Spellbook, which raised US$72 million and $50 million respectively in 2025, both appear destined to be unicorns in the near future. And Kraken Robotics in 2025-26 produced a valuation of more than $2 billion. Though some may quibble that Kraken shouldn’t be included because it’s listed on a stock market, we would include it in the tally of unicorns because it’s a locally grown innovation company. 

So The Rock may soon have four billion-dollar-plus companies, giving it about 7.2 unicorns per million people. That would exceed the current silver and bronze medalists: Israel with 2.8 and the U.S. with 2.1.

“This story [of startups in Estonia] should feel familiar – because Newfoundland and Labrador has many of the same ingredients: talent, ambition, quality of life, and a growing tech ecosystem punching far above its weight,” said Villaumé. “The opportunity now is to double down – on talent, digital infrastructure, and policies that help tech companies scale faster.”

The innovation community in St. John’s in the last two years has graduated from being very good to exceptional. It is still basking in the glow of Verafin’s 2021 exit, and this new trio of titans is now coming up behind Verafin. The metric that tells the story more than any other is funding.

Almost Half a Billion Dollars in Funding

The headline figures are total fundraising of $310.2 million in 2025, which came after $146.9 million in 2024, for a two-year total of $457.1 million. Almost half a billion dollars of private investment flowed into the province’s fastest-growing companies.

Though CoLab and Spellbook drew more attention in the past year, Kraken in the past two years has attracted the most capital of all, and looks set to do so again in 2026. Selling shares on the TSX Venture exchange, the oceantech giant raised $71.8 million in 2024 and $115 million in 2025. Its funding in 2026 will exceed the total of the previous two years as it has raised $402.5 million to help finance its $615 million purchase of the British company Covelya Group.

The Spellbook Series B financing was interesting largely because it was led by Khosla Ventures, one of the top venture capital firms in Silicon Valley. The VC fund’s balance sheet and influence will be priceless when the company chooses to raise more money and exit. It’s also worth noting that part of this round was “secondary financing”, meaning the incoming investors bought some shares from previous backers or founders. While secondary fundings lower a company’s position on the CVCA league tables, they also reward investors, freeing up capital that they could – hopefully – reinvest. We should note that Spellbook also signed a $40 million debt agreement with RBC after the deal, meaning the company has access to more than C$100 million in capital as it grows.

Of course, Newfoundland and Labrador’s strong performance is seen well beyond the funding category. Our official figure for revenue growth is 43.8 percent, but several major companies that did not provide full revenue data when responding to our survey indicated that their revenues more than doubled in 2025. SiftMed’s sales, for example, increased by 10 times, and Spellbook said it expects to hit annual recurring revenue of US$100 million by the end of 2026.

With so much capital flowing into this group of companies, it’s no surprise that employment is rising. Following job growth of 28.2 percent in 2024, Newfoundland and Labrador startups increased employment by 20.6 percent in 2025.

Attracting Top-Flight Talent

The most interesting aspect of the staffing situation in St. John’s is an organized drive to recruit senior talent. TechNL has launched its Senior Tech Relocation Pilot, in which the association will help fund the recruitment of senior personnel to two tech companies. It’s a clever strategy because the top of the tech community is well-capitalized and selling great products, but has few executives with experience in transforming startups into global corporations. TechNL says this is a pilot program so it can assess interest of candidates. “Relocated leaders will be required to contribute to the local tech community through mentorship, workshops, and knowledge sharing over time,” said techNL.

Our research has revealed other strengths in the Newfoundland and Labrador community. There were 25 new companies. The province is home not only to 34 oceans startups (including the sector’s only $1B+ company) but also 29 medtech companies, placing it second only to Nova Scotia as a medtech hub in the region.

There is, however, one aspect of the St. John’s success story we find concerning. It’s not broad enough. A two-year funding total of $457 million is wonderful, but $425 million of that total, or 93 percent, went to just five companies – Kraken, CoLab, Spellbook, Mysa Smart Thermostat and Sparrow BioAcoustics. So far in 2026, the only substantial venture capital deal has been a $5 million-plus raise by Avalon  Holographics.

We’ve placed nine NL companies in our Elite category and three in Scaling. That compares with 18 Elite and four Scaling companies in New Brunswick. Given the roaring success of Newfoundland’s top companies, we would have thought that more companies would be moving up the ranks. Companies like SiftMed and BreatheSuite are tremendous companies, but Newfoundland and Labrador needs more like them for the current situation to be an unqualified success.