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Carl Mercier

Co-founder, VarageSale

Marketplace

Carl Mercier is a co-founder of VarageSale, the verified-member buy-and-sell marketplace he started with Tami Zuckerman in Montreal and later moved to Toronto. He was CEO through its US$34M raise, then became chief product officer in 2016. Before that he founded Defensio, a spam-filtering service Websense bought in 2009.

Carl hasn’t spoken on a TechTO, TechVancouver or TechWaterloo stage. This profile is here because Carl co-founded VarageSale, which appears in 1 talk in the archive.

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Quick answers

Did Carl Mercier co-found VarageSale?

Yes. The Globe and Mail reported on April 2, 2015 that CEO and co-founder Carl Mercier's company started in Montreal three years earlier and chose Toronto for its next office. La Voix de l'Est reported on April 28, 2015 that he co-founded it with Tami Zuckerman.

Why did he step down as CEO?

BetaKit reported on March 28, 2016 that he moved from CEO to chief product officer and named Andrew Sider CEO. He told BetaKit that as founders, product vision is not something you can outsource.

What did he build before VarageSale?

La Voix de l'Est reported on April 28, 2015 that he founded Defensio, which protected blogs from comment spam, and sold it to Websense in 2009. His ConFoo 2010 speaker page, checked September 24, 2026, says he also founded Adonis Technologies, acquired in 2006, and the Montreal on Rails developer group.

How much did VarageSale raise under him?

La Voix de l'Est reported on April 28, 2015 that VarageSale, with Mercier as CEO, raised US$34 million from investors including Sequoia Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners, and had grown from two employees to 55.

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Maintained by TechTO · facts sourced and dated · last reviewed Sep 24, 2026