The people
What they build
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Working at Sparkroom
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On the TechTO stage
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About
Sparkroom sold lead-performance software — capturing, validating and routing enquiries, then measuring which marketing channels produced the ones that converted. Its early customers were mortgage companies, and that nearly ended it. McDonald told the TechTO stage in April 2020 that the company had "a dozen customers who were scaling quickly in mortgage" and "they all stopped paying us" in 2008. The team calculated how long its cash would last with no revenue at all, laid off half the staff, and pointed the product at a sector that was not collapsing: education. "We built the prospect list, we rebuilt the funnel," he said, and one deal — $400,000 in services revenue, paid on signature — bought the company months of payroll. Some of the laid-off staff were hired back once the pivot worked. CUnet, a subsidiary of the US student-lending company Nelnet, announced its acquisition of Sparkroom on 11 January 2010, expecting to close on 1 February; McDonald stayed on as chief executive and Jamie Shulman as vice-president of operations, both continuing to run it from Toronto. The two went on to found Hubdoc in 2013 and sell it to Xero. The Sparkroom brand still ships as enrolment-marketing software, now under Digital Media Solutions.
Backers
No funding round is published for Sparkroom. The company was acquired by CUnet, a subsidiary of Nelnet, in a deal announced on 11 January 2010; terms were not disclosed.
Quick answers
What did Sparkroom do?
It sold software that managed and measured sales leads for direct-response marketers — capturing and routing enquiries, then reporting which channels produced the leads that converted. Its product suite was named LeadDeliver, LeadIQ and Lead Market Analytics.
How did Sparkroom survive the 2008 financial crisis?
By changing customers. Its mortgage clients stopped paying, so the team cut costs, laid off half the staff, and sold the same software into education, where budgets held up. A single education contract worth $400,000 in services, paid on signature, carried the payroll for about three months.
What happened to Sparkroom?
CUnet, a Nelnet company, acquired it in a deal announced on 11 January 2010 and expected to close on 1 February. Jamie McDonald stayed on as chief executive and Jamie Shulman as vice-president of operations, both in Toronto. The Sparkroom brand still ships today, under Digital Media Solutions.
What is the connection to Hubdoc?
The same pair. Jamie McDonald and Jamie Shulman founded Hubdoc in Toronto in 2013 after Sparkroom, pivoted it from consumers to accountants and bookkeepers, and sold it to Xero in 2018 for up to US$70M.