Company co-founded by Cheriton School of Computer Science alums attracts $37-million CAD financing round

Thursday, November 4, 2021

A company founded by two University of Waterloo graduates is on track to become a giant in the Canadian business-to-business credit card market.

Float, which was co-founded by Cheriton School of Computer Science alums Griffin Keglevich and Ruslan Nikolaev, recently brought in a whopping $37 million CAD in new investments.

The company’s third co-founder and current CEO, Rob Khazzam, who joined Float in March 2021, brings a wealth of experience in business and finance, having previously worked for Uber and various venture capital advisory firms.

photo of Griffin Keglevich, Ruslan Nikolaev and Rob Khazzam

Float co-founders (L to R): Griffin Keglevich, Ruslan Nikolaev and Rob Khazzam. Image credit: floatcard.com

The company was created out of work the two former students did with the University of Waterloo’s start-up incubator, Velocity.

“Float has shown tremendous growth since their time at the Velocity incubator and this new round of investment puts them on the path to join other Canadian unicorns in a few years,” said Adrien Côté, Velocity’s executive director. “Often with start-ups, it comes down to a team committed to finding the right opportunity and we’re honoured that Velocity could support the Float team as they found their early path to success.”

Along with their technical know-how and programming skills, Griffin Keglevich and Ruslan Nikolaev completed a double-degree program, pairing computer science at Waterloo with business at neighbouring Wilfrid Laurier’s Lazaridis School of Business and Economics.

Read the full story on Waterloo News.