HOW TO PITCH TO INVESTORS

Edmonton-founded Jobber recently closed a US$100-million funding round

In 2010, Sam Pillar and Forrest Zeisler met at an Edmonton coffee shop. They got talking and learned they were both computer scientists with an interest in helping small businesses.

Zeisler had a friend at a local painting company that needed help organizing paperwork. Seeing the market potential, Pillar and Zeisler founded Jobber, a software platform that helps small home-services businesses—plumbers, electricians, landscapers—manage and automate administrative tasks.

They bootstrapped the company with small investments from family and took on some credit card debt. Pillar entered a pitch competition through Alberta tech conference AccelerateAB and presented how Jobber worked and what problem it solved to potential investors.