Victoria start-up Ceedar has raised US $200K (about CA $275K) in seed funding led by Vancouver’s Metalab Ventures. What makes the round unusual is that several contributors were also early users of the service, a move the founders say deepens product-market alignment.
Why customer funding matters
Co-founders Connor Turland and Pegah Vaezi built Ceedar in 2023 after struggling with conventional bookkeeping while running their own agency. Their platform now:
- pulls transaction data from Stripe, Wise and Venn
- uses AI agents to categorise and summarise expenses
- sends every report to human bookkeepers for accuracy checks
- aims to be, as the company markets it, “the last bookkeeper you will need to hire”
Early adopters who saw faster workflows and less tax-time stress chose to invest. One angel backed the company after Ceedar’s weekly insight emails eliminated inbox clutter. Turland says the start-up posted 70 per cent month-over-month revenue growth in the first quarter of 2025, although absolute figures remain undisclosed.
How Ceedar plans to grow
The four-person team will use the fresh capital for product refinement, hiring and entry into the United States later in 2025. Ceedar will keep its focus on digital service businesses; agencies, consultancies and SaaS firms that juggle multiple payment platforms.
For other founders, the takeaway is clear: solve your own pain point first, then invite satisfied users to share in the upside. Customer-led funding can provide both capital and built-in advocates, giving lean fintech companies a path to early traction without relying solely on traditional venture backing
