OTTAWA, CANADA, NOV 5-6 2025 • ROGERS CENTRE

Thank You Ottawa!

A perfect wrap to an unforgettable week.

The conversations and community energy reminded us exactly why tech in Canada keeps scaling up and why we’ll be back, even bolder, next year!

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Why Attend SAAS NORTH

Future-Proof Your SaaS In The Age Of AI

Meet Top Investors & Raise Capital To Scale Faster

Learn From Industry Leaders On AI, GTM, & Growth

Founder-Only Sessions With Actionable Playbooks

Unmatched Networking With Top SaaS & AI Innovators

Be Part Of Canada’s Largest In-Person SaaS Community

Why Attend SAAS NORTH?

BetaKit Keynote Stage

BetaKit is known for sharing cutting-edge, timely insights on Canada’s tech ecosystem – The BetaKit Keynote Stage is where you’ll see the people that are building and financing Canadian SaaS success stories.

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Explore the 2025 Agenda

This Year’s Theme: Future-Proofing SaaS in the Age of AI
From go-to-market to product innovation, this year’s agenda is packed with real strategies, tools, and frameworks to help you adapt, scale, and thrive with AI.

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SAAS NORTH’s Biggest Names

Since 2016, SAAS NORTH has been attracting the biggest names to our stage. Check out our past speaker alumni!

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Tobias Lütke

Founder

Shopify

Tope Awotona

CEO & Founder

Calendly

Katherine Homuth

Founder

Oomira & SRTX

Swish Goswami

Head of Growth & Marketing

Boardy

Neil Patel

Co-Founder

Neil Patel Digital

Stephany LaPierre

Founder & CEO

Tealbook

Mara Reiff

Chief Data Officer & Co-CEO

FreshBooks

Dax DaSilva

CEO

Lightspeed

Jason VandeBoom

Founder & CEO

Active Campaign

Alison Taylor

Co-Founder & Co-CEO

Jane

David Cancel

Co-Founder & Executive Chairman

Drift

Jason Smith

CEO & Co-Founder

Klue

Sarah Stockdale

Founder

Growclass

Steve Munford

CEO

Trulioo

Kelly Schmitt

CEO

Benevity

Wade Foster

CEO & Co-Founder

Zapier

Sara Cooper

Chief People Officer

Jobber

Canada’s Largest SaaS Community. Your Biggest Networking Opportunity.

No bad LinkedIn pitches. Just real connections that matter.

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Canada’s Largest SaaS Community

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Don’t Just Take Our Word For It

SAAS NORTH is the best place to learn, scale, and raise capital. If you’re building a SaaS company, there’s no better event to connect with investors and seize funding opportunities.

Neil Patel

Co-Founder, Neil Patel Digital

The best founders in SaaS and AI come together at SAAS NORTH to tackle the industry’s most interesting challenges.

Andrew McLeod

CEO, Certn

Each year, SAAS NORTH gathers companies, entrepreneurs, and seasoned industry experts to connect and exchange ideas around one of the most vibrant areas in Canada’s tech ecosystem – SaaS.

Jeff Shiner

CEO, 1Password

If you are a founder, investor or interested in SaaS, SAAS NORTH is the conference for you. I was impressed by the caliber of attendees, speakers and ideas presented.

Tobi Lutke

CEO, Shopify

I was very impressed by the quality of the content at SAAS NORTH. This conference is a great learning opportunity for both start-up and scaling companies.

Kelly Schmitt

CEO, Benevity

SAAS NORTH brings a lot of value to the SaaS ecosystem. You get not only the companies, but also the mentors, financiers and partners that the companies can leverage.

David Ossip

CEO, Ceridian

I was here last year and it worked out really well. Met a lot of really cool companies, and I’m here for more of that this year.

Tope Awotona

CEO + Founder, Calendly

SAAS NORTH was a game-changer. I closed a $3M round and landed $100K in advisory business, all from connections made at the conference. If you attend one tech event in North America, make it this one.

Adrian Salamunovic

Co-Founder, MILLIONS.co

SAAS NORTH has seen tremendous growth…This is a great place for SaaS companies to meet others…

Michele Romanow

Co-Founder & Executive Chairman, Clearco

2025 Sponsors

We accept money in exchange for audience visibility.

Without the brave mid-level marketing managers who convinced their CFOs to give us the money, it would be fiscally irresponsible to run this event.

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Exhibitor Hall Of Fame

We provide booths so you can scan badges like it’s cardio.

Let’s be real — your product deserves more than a cold LinkedIn DM. At SAAS NORTH, you’ll meet decision-makers, demo-gawkers, and just the right mix of “we’re buying soon” energy.

Your booth. Your spotlight. Your bragging rights.

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The Latest From SAAS NORTH NOW

Why Defence Tech Is Emerging As Canada’s Next Big Innovation Sector

Eliot Pence, Founder & CEO, Dominion Dynamics & Douglas Soltys, Founder & Editor-in-Chief, BetaKit

SAAS NORTH NOW #101

Canada’s AI Moment: Minister Evan Solomon On Building A Nation Of Builders

Evan Solomon, Canada’s first Minister of AI & Digital Innovation, & Michael Buhr, Executive Director, C100

SAAS NORTH NOW Special Edition

From CX To AI Agents: Jo Lai On Redefining The Customer Experience

Jo Lai, VP of Customer Experience & SVP AI Solutions, HTS (Hopper Technology Solutions)

SAAS NORTH NOW #100

What Customers Really Want: Insights From Sarah Stockdale

Sarah Stockdale, Founder & CEO, Growclass

SAAS NORTH NOW #99

Jason Smith On Closing The Competitive Revenue Gap

Jason Smith, CEO & Co-Founder, Klue

SAAS NORTH NOW #98

Louis Têtu’s 6 Rules For Building SaaS Companies That Last

Louis Têtu, Executive Chairman & Former CEO, Coveo

SAAS NORTH NOW #97

From $1M to $10M: 3 Timeless Lessons for SaaS Growth in 2025

Asia Orangio, CEO & Founder, DemandMaven

SAAS NORTH NOW #96

From Idea to Launch: 4 Founder Lessons From goConfirm’s Peter Carrescia

Peter Carrescia, Co-Founder, goConfirm (formerly Confirm, & originally Qui Identity)

SAAS NORTH NOW #95

5 Tactical Lessons From Simon de Baene’s Bootstrapped SaaS Journey

Simon De Baene, Co-Founder & CEO, Workleap (formerly GSoft)

SAAS NORTH NOW #94

1 2 3 … 10 Next

Hello to Canada’s SaaS and AI Community,

From humble beginnings to leading a 400-person global company, Simon De Baene’s story is what happens when sustainable growth meets a relentless focus on solving real customer problems.

At SAAS NORTH, the Co-Founder and CEO of Workleap (formerly GSoft) shared how his bootstrapped SaaS and AI journey led to $100M+ ARR (without a single pitch deck until year 18) and how that journey positioned them to acquire Barley.io just last week.

Simon’s insights are packed with dry humor, tactical advice, and a healthy dose of humility, showing that this isn’t a story about chasing unicorn status but about building a business that works for customers, employees, and the long term.

Key takeaways:

Workleap raised capital for the first time after reaching $100M ARR, just to accelerate M&A.
Product success came from falling in love with the problem, not the pitch.
Culture evolved with the company but never replaced strategy.

Simon De Baene built a $100M+ SaaS company by focusing on what most overlook: real problems, simple products, and strategic patience.

If you're growing a SaaS business without a roadmap, this journey might be exactly what you need to hear.

1. Solve Real Problems

Fall in love with the problem, not the solution. When you focus on the problem, the solution becomes secondary. What matters most is solving something that truly needs fixing.

That’s exactly how Workleap found success with its first hit, ShareGate. It didn’t tackle a flashy challenge. Instead, it addressed a frustratingly common issue: moving files in SharePoint. It wasn’t glamorous, but it was painful, and no one else was solving it well.

This problem-first mindset became the company’s guiding principle.

“We became so obsessed with the problem that we became the best at solving it,” said Simon and that obsession paid off.

It’s a reminder to listen more than you build. If customers are annoyed by something and willing to pay to make it go away, you’re on to something, even if it doesn’t sound exciting.

2. Build Less. Deliver More.

“There’re always too many features and most features are useless.”

Simon learned this one the hard way: building 18 different products over the years, many of which flopped but the ones that succeeded had one common denominator; they kept things simple.

Launching with fewer features isn’t just a lean tactic; it’s a reality check.

“It needs to be uncomfortable,” Simon said of shipping early. “If it feels complete, you’ve waited too long.”

Simon emphasized how you need to force yourself to release before you're ready. Then talk to your users. You’ll get more value from real feedback than another month of “polish.”

3. Don’t Confuse Culture for Strategy

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast... but the culture will starve if there’s no strategy.”

In Workleap’s early days, the perks were legendary: in-office baristas, a skate ramp, wild holiday parties. “We even had a coffee shop,” Simon said, laughing.

But those things became distractions.

Some applicants just wanted to work there because it looked cool, not because they believed in the mission.

Simon’s team eventually realized that culture must support strategy and not replace it. “A culture should support your mission, not the other way around,” he said. “The culture will starve if there’s no strategy.”

Perks don’t build alignment but clarity does. Define your mission and reinforce it constantly, especially as the team scales.

4. Be the Painkiller, Not the Vitamin

“It’s very difficult to do a go-to-market when it’s just a nice to have.”

Simon categorized products as either painkillers (must-haves) or vitamins (nice-to-haves). The former are obvious to customers and easy to sell. The latter require education and often get cut from budgets.

At Workleap, the team chose painkillers every time. They wanted products that showed up in Google searches, not ones that required explanation.

You have to ask yourself: If your product disappeared tomorrow, would your customers panic or shrug?

Build things that solve immediate, budget-worthy problems.

5. Your Business Is Not Your Identity

“It’s just a business. It’s not your whole identity... I used to be my business.”

Simon got real about the emotional rollercoaster of entrepreneurship. In the early years, he felt every high and low viscerally. “Every time my business was suffering, I was suffering,” he admitted.

But perspective brought peace. “The day I decided to put myself out of the business a little bit more, I made better decisions. And mentally, I’m much healthier.”

He ended with a note of humility: “Don’t let success, fame, or money change you. Appreciate the success and don’t take it for granted.”

The overriding message was clear; you have to build boundaries, celebrate wins, and protect your mental health.

The business is what you do, not who you are.

Simon De Baene’s journey is a powerful reminder that consistency, intentional growth and an obsession with solving real problems can be a truly winning formula for success.

And sometimes, that starts in the printer room.

SAAS NORTH is THE Canadian hub for rapidly-scaling SaaS founders and their teams. Learn, network, and grow with Canada’s largest in-person SaaS community at SAAS NORTH.