Calgary’s Helcim Raises $53M Series C at $250M Valuation as Banks Exit Small-Business Payments

STRENGTH · Export Alberta · B2B Scale-Up

Calgary payments processor Helcim closed a $53-million CAD Series C led by BDC’s Growth Venture Fund, valuing the company at $250 million — up from $97 million at its Series B two years ago, BetaKit reports. Helcim serves small and medium-sized businesses, reports more than $150 million in annual recurring revenue, and is raising precisely as Canadian banks retreat from small-business payments, with RBC and BMO selling Moneris. “There’s huge momentum in the business right now, and the market shifted in our favour at the same time,” said CEO Nicolas Beique.

What it means: This is what pressing a structural advantage looks like — when incumbents exit a market, the growth-capital-plus-go-to-market playbook wins the vacated ground. Alberta scale-ups watching a competitor retreat from their category should treat this as the template: fund the push, move fast, and make the expansion loud enough that customers hear about it.