Skip the tellers

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This article was published 17/08/2021 (1486 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Tech-talented Winnipeggers can rejoice: a giant opportunity is coming to town.

The brains behind food-delivery titan SkipTheDishes are bringing their latest enterprise, Neo Financial, to Winnipeg.

It’s a move to build a new headquarters in the Exchange District, revealed to the Free Press ahead of an official announcement today, that will add hundreds of technology and creative-design jobs in the city over the coming years.

“Honestly, we couldn’t be more excited,” said Andrew Chau, Neo’s chief executive officer and co-founder of Skip, in an interview Monday. “We’re going back to our roots to build up another innovation hub — a place where we started it all, all those years ago. What could possibly be more thrilling?”

Created in 2019 as a way to disrupt and reimagine Canadian banking, Neo Financial has already begun to shake up the market by offering a digital alternative to the country’s “Big Five” banks.

Neo combines a high-interest savings account and a MasterCard with a network of merchant reward offerings, all personalized through an algorithm for individual spending behaviour. A quick application and approval process allows customers to load their credit card to their digital wallet instantly, allowing them to take advantage of exclusive cashback offers.

Unlike other traditional banks, Neo does not have any physical locations or branches for customers to visit. It does not charge monthly fees for saving accounts, nor does it have annual or overlimit fees for the credit card program.

“When people say digital-first and the frontier of tech, this is what we believe that actually means,” said Chau. “What we’re trying to do is build a household brand that’s genuinely accessible to everyone.”

So far, Neo has been based in Calgary. Now, the company is creating a second headquarters in Winnipeg right within the former offices for SkipTheDishes.

It’s a lucrative trajectory that isn’t new to the company’s founders.

When SkipTheDishes had just started in 2012, Chau was based in Calgary and led a small team from there. But the company has always been headquartered in Winnipeg, even after it was acquired by U.K.-based Just Eat PLC in 2016 for $200 million.

Over the years, Skip saw exponential growth — even increasing revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic, unlike many other businesses. Just last week, it launched a new Winnipeg-only business model, entering the grocery and retail space after Skip reported a 900 per cent increase in year-over-year demand.

“Here’s the thing, a lot of our foreign investors actually ask us about this, too. They wonder why we’re so excited about Winnipeg and why we like keeping our operations here,” said Chau.

“To us, it’s not just because it’s our hometown in many ways or because we love the Winnipeg Jets, it’s the established trust we have here and fantastic talent we’ve seen.”

Dayna Spiring, president and CEO of Economic Development Winnipeg, said news of Neo’s expansion couldn’t come at a better time.

“It’s such a great Winnipeg story,” said Spiring. “The fact that we have these tech entrepreneurs, who saw their star rise and saw huge success, coming back here to us is just amazing. It truly speaks to our community and the kind of talent that we can foster here.”

Spiring said there’s an overall dearth of financial innovation or tech startups in Canada, but because of Manitoba’s competitive tax credits for digital media, many such enterprises have settled in the provincial capital.

“Look at Ubisoft as an example or all the others like Skip and now Neo in Winnipeg,” she said. “What we’re seeing is an evolution to our city. They’re bringing that innovation culture right when we most need it.”

Chau said there’s lots more to come, estimating at least 300 new jobs to be expected over five years in the city.

“At the end of the day, we’re building the future,” he said. “And we’re so electrified it’s right here in Winnipeg with the kind of talented team that’s already led us to success.”

 

temur.durrani@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @temurdur