The financing comes just nine months after the Calgary-based software company raised US$52 million and brings its total funding to US$100 million. A spokesperson for the firm said the round included “return investors that know the business and have seen the growth.” Existing investors include BDC Capital, Ignition Partners and Impression Ventures. (The Logic)

Talking point: The round is intended to help the company expand globally and double its workforce, which has already grown fivefold to 250 in just over a year. Symend’s technology uses AI and behavioural science to identify and recover debt from bank and telecom clients. The firm claims its system uses a more “empathetic, humanist approach” to debt collection. Two-thirds of major North American telecoms currently use its services, as well as a multinational bank, according to the company. Its rapid growth coincides with an increased number of delinquent bill payments during the pandemic as unemployment rates rise globally