🔎 Spotlight #3: Inside Float — Canada’s Smart Spend Management Platform
Because chasing receipts shouldn’t be a full-time job.
How it started and what they do
Float was founded in 2019 by Ruslan Nikolaev, Griffin Keglevich, and Rob Khazzam, three Canadian operators who saw the same pain point again and again: spending at growing companies was stuck in the dark ages. Rob’s time as Uber’s GM for Canada and Eastern Europe made it clear how much time fast-moving teams wasted chasing receipts, wrestling with clunky corporate card programs, and dealing with expense policies that never really fit.
Together, they set out to fix that for Canadian teams by building a modern spend management platform. Float gives companies smart corporate cards, real-time expense tracking, and the kind of control that finance and ops folks actually want. If you’ve ever scrambled at month-end to reconcile charges or lost hours managing old-school expense workflows, you get why Float resonates.
Funding and team at a glance
Founded: 2019 in Toronto
Funding: $37M CAD Series A led by Tiger Global and Golden Ventures
Team size: Over 100 employees and still growing
Website: floatfinancial.com
Float’s growth has been steady and focused. They’ve stayed lean enough to feel fast and collaborative but big enough to have a real footprint in Canadian fintech. They’re backed by strong investors who understand how to scale without losing what makes them different.
How they’re carving out their space
Float’s approach is simple and practical. Everything they build is designed with Canadian teams in mind, from CAD-first billing to GST-compliant receipts, bilingual support, and integrations that fit the tools finance teams actually use. They’ve made issuing cards and tracking spending feel smooth and intuitive, so teams stay in control without the usual month-end headaches.
They’ve also done a great job making themselves visible. If you’re in Toronto, you’ve probably seen their billboards, streetcar wraps, and witty ads that make even finance people do a double take. That brand presence keeps Float top of mind and makes them feel like a modern partner, not another old-school bank option.
Most importantly, the trust shows up in the customers who use Float every day. Well-known Canadian companies like Jane, Clutch, and Ada rely on Float to keep spending smart and workflows clear. It’s a sign they’re solving real headaches for real teams.
Who they’re up against and how they compare
Spend management is heating up globally. In the US, big names like Brex, Ramp, and Airbase have raised huge rounds and set the bar high for automation and control. In Canada, though, the market is still wide open. Big banks technically offer corporate cards but they’re slow, rigid, and come with legacy workflows that frustrate finance teams.
Float stands out by being local and purpose-built for Canadian teams. They get the tax quirks, the currency headaches, and the way Canadian companies actually operate. Instead of duct-taping together bank cards, spreadsheets, and expense software, finance teams get one tool that just works and connects to QuickBooks or Xero without hassle.
Building for teams, not just transactions
Float knows that finance and ops folks don’t just want another card to manage. They want tools that feel modern, easy to use, and built for how people actually work. They’re not just shipping features and calling it a day. Right now, they’re partnering with Lazer Technologies to build out a new mobile app, making it even easier for teams to manage expenses on the go and keep everything in sync in real time.
They back that up by staying close to their customers. Float runs CFO roundtables, shares practical spend policy templates, and actually ships updates based on what real users ask for. It’s a big reason so many Canadian startups and mid-sized companies trust them to help keep their spending organized and predictable.
My experience with the team
I actually onboarded Float for my first job out of school at a Toronto fintech, so I know firsthand how much smoother it made managing expenses. A couple of years later, I even interviewed with Float and remember how rigorous and thoughtful the process was. It forced me to think deeply about real ops problems and how I’d tackle them. Even though I didn’t end up joining, that experience left me with a ton of respect for how high their bar is and how serious they are about hiring people who really care about solving these pain points.
Why you’d want to work here
If you’re in RevOps, BizOps, or just want your work to actually make a difference, Float is the kind of place where you’ll see the impact every day. They’re growing fast but still small enough that you can shape how things get built and done. You’ll be solving real headaches for real customers, working with a team that listens, and building a product that people actually enjoy using.
🧭 Float Roles — Now Hiring
These are the roles at Float that stood out to me this week. They’re always growing, so keep an eye out for more in my Tuesday drops.
That’s a wrap on Spotlight #3
If you made it this far, thank you for reading. I hope these spotlights help you discover companies worth your time — and make the job hunt feel just a little bit less overwhelming. Keep an eye out for next Tuesday’s LaunchPad job drop, and if you know someone looking to break into tech or level up, feel free to share this with them too.
Here’s to building something cool — or better yet, joining something cool. 🚀
