On February 5, Faire proudly unveiled a new Canadian headquarters in Kitchener, Ontario. Faire’s Canada office is growing rapidly, scaling from 16 engineers in 2018 to 75 employees today. The expansion comes at a timely moment for Faire—we also welcomed Canadian customers to the marketplace at the end of 2019.
We hosted a grand opening cocktail event in the new 14,000 square-foot office space to commemorate the occasion. Attendees included Faire executive leadership, members of the local Kitchener-Waterloo community, and the entire Faire Canada team. Mayor of Kitchener Berry Vrbanovic and Faire board member Kirsten Green joined our co-founder Marcelo Cortes to give remarks.
Mayor Vrbanovic shared his excitement that mission-driven companies like Faire can benefit from Kitchener’s distinct talent pool. The region is often known as the “Toronto-Waterloo innovation corridor” due to its popularity with technology firms. According to Vrbanovic, both small businesses (like the customers Faire serves) and high-growth technology companies are great for the local economy.
Kirsten Green, Faire board member and founder of Forerunner Ventures, also spoke to the unique qualities of our Canadian office. Faire’s business is distinct and complex, and needs a strong technical backbone to be successful. She commented that our talented Kitchener team is key to Faire’s ability to serve our customers.
As part of the grand opening event, Faire announced our community partnership with The Working Centre. The Working Center is a non-profit organization that offers housing and employment assistance in downtown Kitchener. Their goal is to reduce unemployment and poverty, and Faire is honored to support them in their mission. Cortes presented The Working Centre with a donation to continue their efforts.