Winnipeg-based tech firm Taiv closes US$13M growth round

Taiv Inc. may rely on AI, but there’s nothing artificial about the Winnipeg company’s progression.

The tech company has closed a US$13 million growth round fewer than nine months after raising US$10.5 million in series A financing.

The latest round is a combination of debt and equity, and brings the total capital raised to more than US$30 million. The company’s latest valuation is just under US$100 million, said Taiv co-founder and CEO Noah Palansky.

“This is really a growth round,” he said. “It’s about hiring people and really investing in our product. We want to make something that’s amazing.”

Taiv offers a small box that connects to TVs and uses AI to detect and replace live TV commercials in bars, restaurants and other venues with relevant content such as drink specials, events and paid ads.

Nearly 5,000 venues in 32 metropolitan areas use Taiv’s product, Palansky said. The company provides the box and installation to businesses free of charge; it makes money by selling ads and shares a portion of the revenue with participating businesses.

After debuting its product in the United States, Taiv made its Canadian debut when it launched in Winnipeg in July. More than 30 venues in the city use it.

Other Canadian cities will follow at some point, Palansky said. “We want to finish expanding across the U.S. first.”

Since Palansky founded Taiv in 2018 with chief technology officer Jordan Davis and chief business officer Avi Stoller, the business has sustained nearly 300 per cent annual growth.

“We feel very confident that the business model is sound and that it works and that the economics are good,” Palansky said, adding he and his partners want to take Taiv from being a “small regional player to a national player.”

Taiv is on an exciting trajectory, said Sandra Foster, managing partner with Women’s Equity Lab Manitoba, which invested in the growth round. Taiv is the first Manitoba company WEL has invested in.

“We were very excited to be given the opportunity to invest in Taiv,” Foster said. “They are a fast-growing company contributing enormously to the economy in Manitoba.”

In June 2022, the company received $100,000 from the province’s Innovation Growth Program to aid its expansion in the United States.

Innovation is going to drive Manitoba forward, said Mike Moroz, minister of innovation and new technology.

“Our government’s deeply committed to ensuring that researchers, founders (and) entrepreneurs have the supports that they need to go from concept to commercialization as quickly as possible,” Moroz said. “And Noah and Taiv are great examples of Manitoba companies doing exactly that.”

In the last year, Taiv’s employee count has almost tripled to 85, Palansky said. Approximately 80 per cent of the staff work in the company’s 18,000-square-foot office above Browns Socialhouse at 311 Portage Ave.

aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca