Shopify to open 'sales lab' in Kitchener

Ottawa-basedShopify, a company that makesan online software platform that helps businesses sell their goods on the Internet, is expanding into Kitchener.

Shopify is looking to hire five people for what it calls a 'sales lab' that will be located in the Communitech Hub in downtown Kitchener, and will focus on ways for the company to reach new businesses.

According to chief platform Officer, Harley Finkelstein, the company was attracted to the region because of its burgeoning tech scene.

"What became obvious to us was you had this great place, Kitchener-Waterloo, where everyone was opening offices there for the engineering talent, but there's probably also a ton of great sales and business people who have a penchant, or passion, or a backgroundeven,in technology," said chief platform office, Harley Finkelstein.

The five-personteam will be led by Loren Padelford, the company's 'chief sales scientist.'

"Assuming it works out the way we think it's going to work out, that office will likely grow fairly quickly," said Finkelstein.

Shopify was started in 2006 byTobias Ltke, Daniel Weinand and Scott Lake tosell snowboards online. Now, the company has about 500employees, with offices in Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto and its software runs over120,000 online stores. In December last year,Shopifyraised $100 million in venture capital funding.

• Ottawa's Shopify raises $100M in venture capital

The company has also created hardware and software packagesso that users can set up aniPad toact as a point of sale machine in storeor make sales through a smartphone with a mobile app and card reader.

They work with small businesses as well aslarger Canadian companies like jacket-maker Moose Knuckles and Herschel, which makes backpacks and bags. Large American partners include Gatorade, Tesla and Budweiser.

"But most of our customers are small businesses, and that's really going to be the focus of that particular office," said Finkelstein.