Best Internet First Media Companies in Canada
The 287 best Internet First Media companies in Canada in 2026, ranked by funding and momentum. Funding, investors, founders, valuation, tech stack and live signals. Top: Waverly.
When you're mapping the best Internet First Media companies in Canada by disclosed equity funding and recent funding momentum, 287 tracked players and $876M in total disclosed capital is a serious starting line.
Waverly leads the pack at $616M, with theScore not far behind at $118M. That's a concentrated prize. And the curve isn't flattening. Median app installs across 4,682 media and online media apps grew roughly 12% year-over-year, a number that lands harder when you remember the underlying CAGR for this sector sits at a steady 2.3%, driven by on-demand consumption habits, programmatic buying, and OTT video pulling ad dollars away from legacy formats. I'd call that a quiet compounding story that most people are sleeping on.
So where's the heat concentrating? Audio, mostly. Audio editors, playback engines, mindfulness tools: these are the sub-themes drawing installs and product investment right now. Regulatory attention around programmatic transparency and pre-bid avoidance is adding friction for some players, but for the nimble ones, that friction is a moat. The active investor roster here, Relay Ventures, Tiny, Fengate and Rogers among them, suggests institutional money already knows which way this market is bending.
- Galal & Karawi Management Consulting
Ranked: Best Internet First Media companies in Canada
| # | Company | App-install YoY | Disclosed funding | Last round | Founder | Employees | Tech stack | Recent signals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ground App-based news portal | +51% | $20K | 96 mo ago | — | 27 | Cart FunctionalityTurbopackSentry+30 | — |
| 2 | Tonit App-based networking platform for motorcycle enthusiasts | +6% | $932K | 88 mo ago | Jason Lotoski Founder and CEO | — | Amazon Web ServicesNetlifystyled-components+27 | — |
| 3 | Score Media and Gaming Provider of online sports betting and information platform | +2% | $40M | 70 mo ago | John Levy Founder & CEO | — | Node.jsTailwind CSSReact+7 | — |
| 4 | PressReader Digital newspaper and magazine aggregator | +2% | $9M | 117 mo ago | — | 500 | WordPressMySQLPHP+38 | — |
| 5 | FMG Publishing Provider of industry-focused trade publications covering business, construction, and manufacturing | — | $80K | 6 mo ago | — | 63 | WordPressMySQLPHP+18 | — |
| 6 | Waverly AI-powered social platform for like-minded individuals | — | $616M | 53 mo ago | Philippe Gagnon Co-Founder | — | — | — |
| 7 | VENERABLE VENTURES Provider of Indonesian news, current events, and entertainment industry reporting | — | $393K | 17 mo ago | Alan Macdonald CEO & Director | — | — | — |
| 8 | theScore Mobile first sports news platform | — | $118M | 81 mo ago | — | 271 | Apple iCloud MailNode.jsFacebook Login+37 | — |
| 9 | The Logic Digital platform providing economy-related news | — | $3M | 24 mo ago | David Skok CEO & Editor-in-Chief | 27 | WordPress Block EditorWordPressSwiftype+35 | 1 expansion |
| 10 | Playmaker Provider of sports news platform | — | $20M | 47 mo ago | — | 540 | WordPressMySQLPHP+22 | — |
| 11 | CBM Asia Development Online platform providing news on multiple categories | — | $12M | 151 mo ago | Charles Bloomquist CEO & President | 7 | — | — |
| 12 | Airborne Entertainment Publisher of entertainment content for mobile phones | — | $22M | 262 mo ago | Garner Bornstein Co-Founder | — | — | — |
| 13 | Wise Publishing Online platform publishing content focusing on personal finance | — | $5M | 57 mo ago | — | 58 | Apple iCloud MailGoogle WorkspaceAmazon Web Services+14 | — |
| 14 | Sportsgrid Provider of live sports betting coverage, props odds, and picks | — | $9M | 77 mo ago | — | 82 | SentryNode.jsNextAuth.js+14 | — |
| 15 | MovieSet Community Online movie fan community | — | $6M | 214 mo ago | Colleen Hardwick CEO | — | — | — |
| 16 | Dark Slope Online platform offering entertainment-related content | — | $3M | 70 mo ago | Raja Khanna Executive Chair & Co-Founder | 54 | WebflowThree.jsGSAP+16 | — |
| 17 | Thoora News/social media aggregation platform | — | $4M | — | Chul Lee Founder/CTO | — | — | — |
| 18 | Homestand Sports Provider of a news media platform for multiple sports | — | $803K | 55 mo ago | — | 29 | — | — |
| 19 | Xceed Molecular Online platform offering science-related news | — | $3M | 232 mo ago | Martin Urruela CEO | — | — | — |
| 20 | Calvista Gold Online platform for publishing about sustainable products for environment | — | $1M | 180 mo ago | Mark Haywood CEO | — | — | — |
| 21 | Collider Provider of entertainment news, movie trailers, upcoming movie reviews | — | $1M | 108 mo ago | Steven Weintraub Founder | 18 | ZohoLogin with AmazonAmazon Web Services+11 | — |
| 22 | Newsana News curated by experts and thought leaders | — | $500K | 167 mo ago | Ben Peterson Founder & CEO | 7 | — | — |
| 23 | Synced Online platform offering content related to AI | — | $150K | 144 mo ago | Chain Zhang Co-Founder | — | WordPressMySQLPHP+30 | — |
| 24 | precognate Limited information available | — | $125K | 216 mo ago | — | — | — | — |
Top 12 Internet First Media companies in Canada
#1
Seed · Halifax, Nova Scotia · founded 2010 · 63 employees$80.1Kraised▾
Provider of industry-focused trade publications covering business, construction, and manufacturing. The publications inform about industry trends, success stories, and challenges. Content extends from boardrooms to factory floors, covering stories that impact readers. The publications are available online and in print.
- Dec 2025Seed$80.1K
#2
Series C · Montreal, Quebec · founded 2018$616Mraised▾
AI-powered social platform for like-minded individuals. It allows users to connect with others who share similar interests, curate content, manage their feeds, and more.
- Jan 2022Conventional Debt$150M
- May 2021Series C$325M
- Nov 2019Series B$50M
- Dec 2018Series B$91M
#3
Public · Vancouver, British Columbia · founded 2010$392.7Kraised▾
Provider of Indonesian news, current events, and entertainment industry reporting. It delivers the latest information and in-depth analysis on a variety of topics. Content includes breaking news, detailed analyses, and diverse perspectives. The organization is committed to maintaining high standards of quality in every published article.
- Jan 2025Post IPO$174.5K
- Jul 2024Post IPO$218.2K
#4
Acquired · Toronto, Ontario · founded 2012 · 271 employees$118.2Mraised▾
theScore is a mobile first sports news platform, connecting fans to sports through combination of real time news, scores, fantasy information and alerts. It creates and curate the sports content which is mobile optimized, comprehensive, customizable and shareable to social apps. TheScore is a mix between social network and news source. A prominent feature of the app is called, Facebook-style, the "Feed," which combines game data, fantasy league data, and editorial content into a single view. To accommodate its younger audience, theScore included WhatsApp integration into the theScore, so that users can share theScore content over that platform as well as others like email and SMS. It has acquired mobile daily fantasy sports game Swoopt. It owns and operates mobile sports platforms ‘theScore,’ ‘theScore eSports, and the fantasy sports game 'QuickDraft. As of Q4 F2015, theScore's mobile platforms were used by 10.5 million average monthly active users.
- Sep 2019Post IPO$40M
- Aug 2019Post IPO$10M
- Nov 2018Post IPO$8.5M
- Mar 2015Post IPO$26.5M
#5
Seed · Toronto, Ontario · founded 2018 · 27 employees$2.9Mraised▾
Digital platform providing economy-related news. The platform provides news on business and finance, investment, and more.
- Jun 2024Seed$2.9M
#6
Acquired · Toronto, Ontario · founded 2020 · 540 employees$20Mraised▾
Provider of sports services. It develops a sports news platform that covers multiple sports.
- Jul 2022Series B$20M
#7
Acquired · Toronto, Ontario · founded 2012$40Mraised▾
Score Media and Gaming is a provider of online sports betting and information platform. The company develops an online multi-category sports betting platform. Also, it offers a real-time betting information platform for users. The mobile application is available for both Android and iOS platforms.
- Aug 2020Post IPO—
- Sep 2019Post IPO$40M
#8
Public · Vancouver, British Columbia · founded 2006 · 7 employees$12.2Mraised▾
CBMasia is an online platform providing news on multiple categories such as politics, lifestyle, games, culture, entertainment, sports, travel, and more. Monetizes through display advertisements.
- Oct 2013Post IPO$48K
- Jun 2012Post IPO$2.3M
- Apr 2012Post IPO$99.8K
- Mar 2012Post IPO$5.4M
#9
Acquired · Montreal, Montreal · founded 2000$22Mraised▾
Publisher of entertainment content for mobile phones. The platform provides mobile entertainment content and applications, including games, images, video, ringtones, and informational content. The company creates, packages, and distributes games, lifestyle applications, messaging services, ringtones, and graphics in conjunction with the media and consumer brands.
- Jul 2004Series A$22M
#10
Series A · Toronto, Ontario · founded 2017 · 58 employees$5Mraised▾
Online platform publishing content focusing on personal finance. The platform provides digital personal finance publications with understanding personal finance, earn and save extra money and get ahead financially.
- Sep 2021Series A$5M
- May 2021Seed—
#11
Acquired · Toronto, Ontario · founded 2010 · 82 employees$8.7Mraised▾
Provider of live sports betting coverage, props odds, and picks. The platform offers information, news, and videos related to various sports including professional and college leagues. It features articles, predictions, and analysis, along with betting tips and strategies. The site also provides content related to fantasy sports, social casinos, and industry news.
- Jan 2020Series A$6.2M
- Sep 2015Seed—
#12
Series A · Richmond, British Columbia · founded 1999 · 500 employees$8.5Mraised▾
PressReader offers one-click access to more than 2,300 ‘replica’, full-content newspapers from close to 100 countries through smart phone apps as well as web. Some of the daily newspapers that will be available: Chicago Tribune, Daily Mail, International Herald, Irish Times, La Presse, La Tribune, Le Monde, The Australian, The Guardian, The Globe and Mail and The Washington Post. Most individual newspapers and magazines available through PressReader can be purchased for $0.99 per issue or downloaded in conjunction with a paid subscription on PressDisplay.com.
- Aug 2016Grant (prize money)$32.3K
- Mar 2005Series A$8.5M
Funding & investor landscape
Notable founders
Market landscape — 10 sub-themes by coverage
Share of Internet First Media coverage by sub-theme.
Regulatory-risk over time flat
Funding & growth over time
funding rising · growth rising
Common questions
Sweetie watches where the money and the users are piling in. She covers sector wealth and momentum — the install curves and revenue pools that show which corners of the market are quietly on fire.