E-commerce, manure treatment, backpacks and 3-D printed jewellery. These are just a selection of the year's most memorable companies of the year, as chosen by the editors of the Report on Small Business
Please enable JavaScript to view this content. Open this photo in gallery: <a href="http://shopify.com"> <b>SHOPIFY</b></a>. Ottawa e-commerce software company has become the country’s first Internet startup since the dot-com crash to reach a billion-dollar valuation, thanks to one of <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-money/business-funding/a-rare-startup-success-story-shopify-hits-1-billion-milestone/article15892998/">the largest venture financings in Canadian history</a>.
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Open this photo in gallery: <a href="http://www.herschel.com"><b>HERSCHEL</b></a>.
The Vancouver backpack company <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-marketing/sales/can-herschel-backpacks-go-mainstream-and-keep-their-cool/article12201755/#dashboard/follows/">made a name as a fashion brand for young adults</a> but mass-market selling requires careful steps.
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Open this photo in gallery: <a href="https://www.thalmic.com/en/myo/"><b>THALMIC LABS.</b></a>
Since announcing Myo last February, Mr. Lake and his co-founders – Matthew Bailey and Aaron Grant – have received overwhelming response. Since June 2013, <a href="<https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-growth/the-challenge/30000-orders-for-a-gadget-that-doesnt-yet-exist/article12639268/#dashboard/follows/>"> the Kitchener-based company raised $14.5-million</a>.
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Open this photo in gallery: <a href="http://www.hotpopfactory.com/">HOT POP FACTORY</a>. The Toronto design firm <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/video/video-hot-and-fresh-jewellery-straight-from-the-3-d-printer/article7998042/
">specializes in the creative applications of 3D printing</a>
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Open this photo in gallery: <a href="http://www.alterrus.ca/"><b>ALTERRUS SYSTEMS INC.</a></b> In <a href=”https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/video/video-rooftop-parking-lot-transformed-into-vertical-farm/article7648180/">this video</a>, Christopher Ng, CEO of Alterrus, explains how VertiCrop technology - a moving conveyor system - can turn a vacant parking lot (like this one in downtown Vancouver) into a fully functional agricultural farm yielding local green vegetables.
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Open this photo in gallery: <a href="<a href="http://www.livestockwaterrecycling.com/"><b>LIVESTOCK WATER RECYCLING</a></b>. The Calgary company, which processes manure into nutrients and drinkable water, <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-growth/the-challenge/manure-processor-comes-out-smelling-like-a-rose/article14519472/#dashboard/follows/">comes out on top</a> among the semi-finalists for the Small Business Challenge contest.
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Open this photo in gallery: <a href="http://www.keycafe.com/"><b>KEYCAFE</b></a>. Devising a workable system to exchange keys at a neighbourhood café may be a tall order, but <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/starting-out/startup-wants-to-turn-cafes-into-airbnb-key-swap-locations/article14333781/#dashboard/follows/?6743555">the Vancouver startup’s approach</a> may be the perfect solution.
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Open this photo in gallery: <a href="http://www.enterrafeed.com/"><b>ENTERRA FEED CORPORATION</b></a>. The Vancouver-based company makes creates sustainable animal feed ingredients and concentrated natural fertilizer for food production. <a href="
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/starting-out/conversation-with-david-suzuki-leads-to-maggot-based-animal-feed/article15114182/#dashboard/follows/?6743555">The idea for the company</a> was sparked during a conversation between the company’s founder and David Suzuki.
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Open this photo in gallery: <a href="http://knixwear.com/ "><b>KNIX WEAR</b></a>. The Toronto-based lingerie company <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-growth/day-to-day/toronto-lingerie-company-rethinks-womens-underwear/article15055052/#dashboard/follows/?6743555">specializes in women's underwear</a>, and their products are sold in Hudson Bay’s stores across Canada.
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Open this photo in gallery: <b><a href="http://www.wattpad.com/">WATTPAD</a></b>. Each month, <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/starting-out/his-mission-cultivate-a-youtube-for-readers/article15020377/#dashboard/follows/">the Toronto company has 20 million unique visitors who collectively spend 5 billion minutes on the site</a>, which he says is more time than people spend in public libraries in the entire U.S. The company’s co-founders have figured out how to provide value for readers and writers to keep them coming back, and in huge numbers.
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Open this photo in gallery: <a href="http://www.zanis.com/ "><b>ZANIS & CO.</b></a>
Steve Arnold has made a career out of tracking, dealing and collecting debris from outer space. He even scored his own TV show, Meteorite Men, on Discovery Science. His latest entrepreneurial endeavour includes <A HREF="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-growth/day-to-day/the-entrepreneurial-side-of-meteorite-hunting/article14627946/">a partnership with Zanis & Co.</a>, a jewellery and watch business.
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Open this photo in gallery: <A HREF="http://buddy-belts.com/"><b>BUDDY BELTS.</b></a> When her dachshund choked on a traditional collar, <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/starting-out/canadian-inventor-of-the-buddy-belt-broke-away-from-the-pack/article15568473/#dashboard/follows/">Roxanne Pettipas came up with a shoulder-hugging design</a> that distributed pressure more evenly
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Open this photo in gallery: <b><a href="https://tophat.com/">TOP HAT MONOCLE</a></b>.
Instead of convincing universities to take a chance on its classroom engagement platform, <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/starting-out/firm-succeeds-by-pitching-learning-tool-directly-to-professors/article10728507/#dashboard/follows/
">Top Hat Monocle earned top grades</a> by bringing professors and students onside
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