Karney Li has worked at Wealthsimple since 2015, during which time the company rapidly expanded its customer base, moving into the U.K. and developing investing platforms targeting segments like socially-responsible investing. Li’s Instacart team will build the products and APIs that help its partners launch and maintain their Instacart storefronts. (BetaKit)

Talking point: This is the first major hire for Instacart in Canada, after the company announced last year that it would be expanding its Toronto office to 200 people to focus on research and development. Li will be responsible for the company’s retail engineering division, and should have a wealth of talent to tap into—Toronto is one of the top five markets in North America for high-quality tech talent, according to the CBRE. Instacart is set to open the new office this year as the grocery-delivery space heats up in Canada; the company has become a key delivery partner for grocery chains in Canada hoping to compete with Amazon, like Loblaw and Walmart, and it recently added luxury grocer Pusateri’s to its roster of Canadian partners.