🍞 Gluten-free bakery franchise expansion, Alumni celebrations, and New FrontFundr webinar to scale smarter

🔔 Your campaign updates feed

🍞Origin Bakery is expanding across Canada

Origin Bakery is expanding its franchise across Western Canada. With a signed agreement in Nanaimo and active conversations in Calgary, Victoria, and the Okanagan, momentum is building fast. The gluten-free franchise has not yet officially launched — if you're interested, you can reserve your investment.

Invest in Origin Bakery | $55K Reserved

🍹GoodLife Brands is growing its team

GoodLife Brands is growing its team. They're hiring a Director of Commercialization to help bring their craft beverages to more communities across Canada. Referrals welcome, apply or reach out directly.

Invest in GoodLife Brand | $585K Raised | 39% of target

🔔 Alumni updates

🔵 joni (a sustainable period care company) celebrated its 6th birthday and a major milestone of one million period products donated. As a proud B Corp™, the company has made measurable social and environmental impact a core part of its business.

🌸 Blossom Social (an investing social network) launched Beevis, an AI portfolio coach that uses your personal investor profile to give tailored advice. With a full conversational experience coming soon. 

📝 From Our Desk 

Scale Smarter: Funding, Payments & Community-Led Growth Across Borders

Scaling a company today requires more than just a single funding source. On Thursday March 26, join FrontFundr, Swoop, and Airwallex for a practical discussion on how successful founders combine smart capital strategies with global financial infrastructure to expand efficiently. Key takeaways include:

🔷 Building a Modern Capital Stack: How to strategically mix debt, equity, and grants to fuel growth without unnecessary dilution.

🔷 Infrastructure for Global Expansion: Why global-ready payments and financial systems are critical for founders looking to move beyond the Canadian market.

🔷 Community-Driven Growth: How to leverage community-powered investment to turn your customers into your most loyal brand ambassadors.

The session will also feature a first-hand case study from FrontFundr alum Melissa L’Heureux-Haché (VEGAIN) on raising community capital to scale a consumer brand internationally.

[Register for the session here]

🤔 What’s on our minds

🚀 MDA Space heads to Wall Street as defence fuels demand

One of Canada's most established space companies is about to make its US market debut. MDA Space, the Brampton-based robotics and satellite firm, announced this week that it is launching a US$300 million initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol $MDA. The company will continue to trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange, where it has been listed for years, but the NYSE opens a new chapter for a company with deep Canadian roots and increasingly global ambitions.

MDA Space is a robotics, satellite systems, and geointelligence pioneer with more than 450 missions. Most Canadians know MDA best as the company behind Canadarm, the robotic arm that became a symbol of Canadian ingenuity on the International Space Station. 

🤔 Why now?

MDA is entering the US market from a position of strength, and the global defence and space industry is growing fast enough to back it up. Here's a snapshot of where the company stands:

• Q4 profit of $24 million, with revenue up 44% year-over-year, boosted by its satellite 

• Record-high annual revenue of $1.6 billion CAD, a 51% increase year-over-year 

• A $4 billion CAD sales backlog 

• Three business segments: satellite systems, robotics and space operations, and geointelligence

• Revenue split of roughly 70% commercial and 30% government as of end of 2025

🛡️ What about defence?

MDA is rapidly positioning itself as a major defense contractor. Last month, it cemented its status by launching 49North, a wholly owned, defense-focused subsidiary. The company is building momentum. MDA was selected for one of the first procurements from Canada’s new Defense Investment Agency in December and signed a U.S. Department of Defense contract in January to support the "Golden Dome" missile defense project. For a Canadian firm, this level of integration with U.S. defense spending is notable and likely explains why an NYSE listing makes strategic sense right now.

🌍 What it means for Canadian investors

If you already hold MDA on the TSX, nothing about your position changes. The stock continues to trade in Toronto as before. While the US listing helps MDA open up to a much larger pool of American institutional investors, which can improve liquidity and push valuations higher over time. It also raises MDA's profile at a moment when space defence is one of the hottest investment themes globally.

MDA's stock has risen in recent months, after a dip last year when MDA lost a major satellite manufacturing contract. Geopolitical tailwinds can shift, government contracts can be delayed or cancelled, and the company carries meaningful debt. Any investor considering MDA should weigh the downside with the upside of a growing Canadian space company.

 🌐 Community Responses

Sharing some community responses from last week’s newsletter article on Canadian lifestyle retailer Roots potential sale of the company.

🎙️ Hear from our founder feature

KaleMart24: Making Healthy Convenience Convenient with Oussama (Sam) Saoudi

This podcast was recorded back in 2023.

Q: What inspired the creation of KaleMart24?
 A: The idea came from a simple realization: healthy food options are hard to find on the go. Convenience stores are everywhere, but most are stocked with junk food. I wanted to create a store where busy, health-conscious consumers, especially Millennials and Gen-z, could grab nutritious snacks and beverages easily.

Q: What makes KaleMart24 stand out in a crowded convenience market?
 A: KaleMart24 combines the accessibility of a convenience store with the quality and experience of a small natural market. We source the best organic and natural foods, support local suppliers, and design stores to feel welcoming and modern. It’s convenience without compromise, and we’re creating a model that can scale across neighborhoods in Canada and the U.S.

Q: Looking ahead, what excites you most about KaleMart24’s journey?
 A: The opportunity to redefine what a convenience store can be. No one else is offering healthier, better-for-you options at this scale. From our first stores in Montreal to franchises across North America, it’s about making nutritious, convenient food available to everyone, everywhere.

🎧 Want to listen to the full episode?

Spotify / Apple

📌 FrontFundr Bulletin

📢 FrontFundr partnership with Swoop Funding is getting publicity

The recent partnership between FrontFundr and Swoop Funding has gained significant traction across the Canadian fintech sector, with coverage in Startup Weekly, NCFA Canada, and TechNX. By combining FrontFundr’s equity crowdfunding expertise with Swoop’s global reach the collaboration aims to provide Canadian startups with a more comprehensive suite of capital options to support sustainable growth. Learn more.