[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-connor-emeny-ironman-seven-continents":3,"related-connor-emeny-ironman-seven-continents":408},{"id":4,"title":5,"about":6,"author":12,"body":13,"canonical":378,"city":379,"date":380,"description":381,"extension":382,"faq":383,"image":398,"meta":399,"navigation":400,"path":401,"seo":402,"slug":403,"stem":404,"tag":405,"updated":406,"__hash__":407},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fconnor-emeny-ironman-seven-continents.md","Connor Emeny: The First Ironman Distance on All 7 Continents",{"name":7,"jobTitle":8,"sameAs":9},"Connor Emeny","Endurance athlete, author and speaker",[10,11],"https:\u002F\u002Fbcbusiness.ca\u002Fbusiness\u002Fsports\u002Fconnor-emeny-seven-continents-iron-distance-triathlon-personal-brand-30-under-30-2026\u002F","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.instagram.com\u002Fconnor.emeny\u002F","Loic Bachellerie",{"type":14,"value":15,"toc":368},"minimark",[16,26,76,81,97,106,109,113,122,125,157,165,180,189,193,196,205,208,228,231,235,238,253,259,262,266,272,278,284,290,296,304,308,323,343,346,354],[17,18,19,20,25],"p",{},"Connor Emeny is the first person to complete an Iron-distance triathlon on\nall seven continents. The last one was in Antarctica: a 3.9 km swim in water\nbelow zero, 180 km on a fat bike and a full marathon, finished in 32 hours,\n42 minutes and 34 seconds. Getting there took a 23-day sailboat expedition. On\nNovember 5 he joins us for a fireside chat at ",[21,22,24],"a",{"href":23},"\u002Fevents\u002Fnovember-5th","Fall Feast",".\nThis is his story so far.",[27,28,29,37,43,49,55,61],"ul",{},[30,31,32,36],"li",{},[33,34,35],"strong",{},"Known for:"," first Iron-distance triathlon on all seven continents, 2024",[30,38,39,42],{},[33,40,41],{},"Antarctica finish:"," 32:42:34, Deception Island, February 21, 2024",[30,44,45,48],{},[33,46,47],{},"From:"," born and raised in Toronto, now based in Vancouver",[30,50,51,54],{},[33,52,53],{},"Education:"," Bachelor of Commerce, Smith School of Business, Queen's University (2018)",[30,56,57,60],{},[33,58,59],{},"Recognition:"," BCBusiness 30 Under 30 (2026); recognized by Guinness World Records as the youngest Ironman finisher on six continents",[30,62,63,66,67,71,72,75],{},[33,64,65],{},"Work:"," author of the memoir ",[68,69,70],"em",{},"All In",", the documentary ",[68,73,74],{},"Chasing Antarctica",", speaker",[77,78,80],"h2",{"id":79},"who-is-connor-emeny","Who is Connor Emeny?",[17,82,83,84,90,91,96],{},"Connor was born and raised in Toronto,\n",[21,85,89],{"href":86,"rel":87},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.blogto.com\u002Fsports_play\u002F2021\u002F01\u002Ftoronto-man-aims-become-youngest-person-complete-ironman-every-continent\u002F",[88],"nofollow","according to blogTO",",\nand went to St. Michael's College School there. He found triathlon at Queen's\nUniversity, where he tried out for the triathlon team and raced with a\nteammate, Ben Rudson, who was training for an Ironman. After graduating from\nthe Smith School of Business in 2018, he went to Uber, where\n",[21,92,95],{"href":93,"rel":94},"https:\u002F\u002Fstmichaelscollegeschool.com\u002Fnews-article\u002Fconnor-emeny-youngest-athlete-to-complete-ironman-on-six-continents\u002F",[88],"his old school says","\nhe helped launch Uber Eats across Canada.",[17,98,99,100,105],{},"He was not a natural swimmer. \"I remember I could barely swim 3 or 4 laps\nwithout being out of breath,\" he told the\n",[21,101,104],{"href":102,"rel":103},"https:\u002F\u002Frichmondsentinel.ca\u002Farticle-detail\u002F49674\u002Fconnor-emeny-ironman-global-quest",[88],"Richmond Sentinel",",\n\"so I actually self-taught myself on YouTube.\" When a friend finished an\nIronman in 2016, Connor texted to say thanks for the inspiration, and that he\nwould do one by 2020.",[17,107,108],{},"He kept that promise the hard way. He left his job at Uber and moved to New\nZealand to train for six months, without knowing a single person in the\ncountry. He finished his first Ironman there on March 7, 2020. \"It turned out\nto be the most transformative and impactful six months of my life,\" he told\nblogTO, \"and ultimately sparked the idea for this global Ironman project.\"",[77,110,112],{"id":111},"how-connor-emeny-raced-an-ironman-on-six-continents","How Connor Emeny raced an Ironman on six continents",[17,114,115,116,121],{},"Ten days after that first finish line, the pandemic shut the world down. In\nthose first weeks he read about an Australian who had become the youngest\nperson to run an ultramarathon on all seven continents, and wondered whether anyone had done\nthe same with Ironman. Nobody had done all seven. The youngest person to have\ndone six was 32, and he was 23. \"I didn't know how (physically, financially,\nlogistically),\" he wrote for\n",[21,117,120],{"href":118,"rel":119},"https:\u002F\u002Fthefeed.com\u002Finsider\u002Fan-iron-distance-triathlon-on-all-7-continents-connor-emenys-world-record",[88],"The Feed",",\n\"but all I knew was I was willing to go ALL IN on a dream and see it through.\"",[17,123,124],{},"When races came back, he did five more Ironmans in 18 months:",[27,126,127,133,139,145,151],{},[30,128,129,132],{},[33,130,131],{},"North America:"," Ironman Chattanooga, September 2021",[30,134,135,138],{},[33,136,137],{},"Europe:"," Ironman Mallorca, October 2021",[30,140,141,144],{},[33,142,143],{},"Africa:"," Ironman South Africa, November 2021",[30,146,147,150],{},[33,148,149],{},"Asia:"," Ironman Philippines, March 2022",[30,152,153,156],{},[33,154,155],{},"South America:"," Ironman Brazil, May 2022",[17,158,159,160,164],{},"Paying for it was its own race. He worked three jobs while living in 10\nplaces over those 18 months, and every dollar went to racing,\n",[21,161,163],{"href":10,"rel":162},[88],"BCBusiness reports",".\nHe sold merch, ran a GoFundMe and pitched hundreds of brands on working with\n\"a Canadian dreamer.\" In the Philippines his bike did not arrive and he was\ndown to his last $10, so he asked strangers for help. \"A lot of people got me\npast that finish line,\" he says.",[17,166,167,168,173,174,179],{},"Brazil made him, at 26, the youngest person to complete an Ironman on six\ncontinents, a mark\n",[21,169,172],{"href":170,"rel":171},"https:\u002F\u002Fsmith.queensu.ca\u002Fmagazine\u002Falumni-notes\u002Fspring-2024\u002FConnor-Emeny.php",[88],"Guinness World Records recognized",".\nRecords are made to be broken, and this one has been: Guinness now lists\n",[21,175,178],{"href":176,"rel":177},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.guinnessworldrecords.com\u002Fworld-records\u002F764002-youngest-person-to-complete-an-ironman-triathlon-on-six-continents-male",[88],"a younger athlete","\nwho set it in September 2025.",[17,181,182],{},[183,184],"img",{"alt":185,"height":186,"src":187,"width":188},"Connor Emeny in a neoprene hood and goggles, resting his arms on the ice at the edge of a frozen mountain lake during a cold-water swim",810,"\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fconnor-emeny-ironman-seven-continents-2.webp",958,[77,190,192],{"id":191},"the-antarctica-ironman-32-hours-42-minutes-34-seconds","The Antarctica Ironman: 32 hours, 42 minutes, 34 seconds",[17,194,195],{},"There was no race waiting in Antarctica. \"This time, it's not a race,\" he\ntold the Richmond Sentinel: \"no 2000 competitors to encourage you, fans to\nhype you up or aid stations to refuel.\" Making it possible became a two-year\nproject in logistics. The answer was a 15 metre sailboat and a team of seven,\non a 23-day expedition across the Drake Passage, home to some of the roughest\nwater in the world.",[17,197,198,199,204],{},"To get ready, he trained in cold water and added ice baths, breathing work and\nsound baths to his routine. He calls mindset the fourth discipline of the\nsport, according to\n",[21,200,203],{"href":201,"rel":202},"https:\u002F\u002Fgonzookanagan.com\u002Fvancouver-resident-makes-history-as-first-person-to-complete-an-ironman-triathlon-on-all-seven-continents\u002F",[88],"Gonzo Okanagan",".",[17,206,207],{},"On February 21, 2024, on Deception Island, he did the full distance:",[27,209,210,216,222],{},[30,211,212,215],{},[33,213,214],{},"Swim, 3.9 km:"," in water of about minus 1 degree Celsius. \"My teeth froze,\nmy legs were like cement blocks and a wild seal was chasing me.\"",[30,217,218,221],{},[33,219,220],{},"Bike, 180 km:"," on a fat bike, around a 200 metre loop, 900 times. He\ncalled it \"pure mental torture.\"",[30,223,224,227],{},[33,225,226],{},"Run, 42.2 km:"," \"a combination of pain and euphoria.\"",[17,229,230],{},"The clock read 32:42:34. His last Ironman, in Brazil, had taken just over 11\nhours. \"Antarctica was by far the hardest thing I have ever endured,\" he\nwrote.",[77,232,234],{"id":233},"from-athlete-to-business","From athlete to business",[17,236,237],{},"After the finish came something founders who have shipped a big launch will\nrecognize. \"The feeling of accomplishment was overwhelming, yet fleeting,\" he\ntold the Richmond Sentinel. Looking back, he decided \"that's the real joy of\nlife: the daily grind and journey towards a goal; not actually achieving it.\"",[17,239,240,241,246,247,249,250,252],{},"What he built next is a business. BCBusiness, which named him to its\n",[21,242,245],{"href":243,"rel":244},"https:\u002F\u002Fbcbusiness.ca\u002Fbusiness\u002Fgeneral\u002Fbcbusiness-30-under-30-class-of-2026\u002F",[88],"30 Under 30 class of 2026",",\ndescribes how he turned the expedition into a personal brand: deals with\nGarmin, Arc'teryx, Adidas, Lululemon and Baffin, a memoir called ",[68,248,70],{},", and\na documentary, ",[68,251,74],{},". Having left the corporate world a second\ntime, he is now building a speaking career. \"I didn't even really know this\nwas a possible career path,\" he says.",[254,255,256],"blockquote",{},[17,257,258],{},"\"Lead from the front but never forget to walk beside. To me, the best\nleaders are both ambitious and grounded.\"",[17,260,261],{},"That is the leadership principle Connor gave BCBusiness.",[77,263,265],{"id":264},"what-founders-can-learn-from-connor-emeny","What founders can learn from Connor Emeny",[17,267,268,271],{},[33,269,270],{},"Look for the gap nobody has filled."," Connor did not set out to be faster\nthan anyone. He checked whether anyone had raced all seven continents, found\nnobody had, and went after the one thing that was still open.",[17,273,274,277],{},[33,275,276],{},"Fund it yourself, then sell the story."," Three jobs, merch, a GoFundMe and\nhundreds of brand pitches came before Garmin and Arc'teryx. His philosophy, in\nBCBusiness's words, is simple: no risk, no story.",[17,279,280,283],{},[33,281,282],{},"Ask for help when you are down to $10."," The Philippines finish happened\nbecause strangers helped. Every founder hits that moment. The ones who get\nthrough it are usually the ones who ask.",[17,285,286,289],{},[33,287,288],{},"Logistics are the work."," The swim, the ride and the run took under a day\nand a half. Getting a boat, a team of seven and a plan to Deception Island took two\nyears.",[17,291,292,295],{},[33,293,294],{},"Love the loop."," 900 laps of a 200 metre track is what building a company\nfeels like most days. Connor's lesson from the finish line is that the grind is\nthe good part.",[17,297,298,299,303],{},"If you are building in Vancouver too, our list of\n",[21,300,302],{"href":301},"\u002Fblog\u002Fbuilt-in-vancouver-startups-2026","startups built in Vancouver"," is a good\nnext read.",[77,305,307],{"id":306},"hear-connor-emeny-at-fall-feast-on-november-5","Hear Connor Emeny at Fall Feast on November 5",[17,309,310,311,313,314,318,319,204],{},"Connor joins us for a fireside chat at ",[21,312,24],{"href":23},", our\nevening for founders from across Vancouver. He is on the speaker list with\n",[21,315,317],{"href":316},"\u002Fblog\u002Fvansh-sobti-cloud-nine-clothing","Vansh Sobti, who built Cloud Nine Clothing to $10M by 22",",\nand ",[21,320,322],{"href":321},"\u002Fblog\u002Fannika-ng-blossom-social","Annika Ng, co-founder of Blossom Social",[27,324,325,331,337],{},[30,326,327,330],{},[33,328,329],{},"When:"," Thursday, November 5, 2026, 6 to 11 PM",[30,332,333,336],{},[33,334,335],{},"Where:"," Another Studios, 107 E 3rd Ave, Mount Pleasant, Vancouver",[30,338,339,342],{},[33,340,341],{},"What:"," an evening with Vancouver founders, a few short talks, and the\ndrinks are on your ticket",[17,344,345],{},"Connor spent four years chasing a finish line nobody had crossed. Come and\nhear what it took.",[17,347,348],{},[33,349,350],{},[21,351,353],{"href":352},"\u002Fevents\u002Fnovember-5th#tickets","Get your Fall Feast ticket",[17,355,356],{},[68,357,358,359,363,364,204],{},"Founder Feast spotlights people who are building something real. If you are a\nfounder in Vancouver looking for your people, see how our\n",[21,360,362],{"href":361},"\u002Fvancouver","Vancouver dinners"," work, or ",[21,365,367],{"href":366},"\u002Fapply","apply for a seat",{"title":369,"searchDepth":370,"depth":370,"links":371},"",2,[372,373,374,375,376,377],{"id":79,"depth":370,"text":80},{"id":111,"depth":370,"text":112},{"id":191,"depth":370,"text":192},{"id":233,"depth":370,"text":234},{"id":264,"depth":370,"text":265},{"id":306,"depth":370,"text":307},"https:\u002F\u002Ffounderfeast.com\u002Fblog\u002Fconnor-emeny-ironman-seven-continents","vancouver","2026-10-14","Connor Emeny is the first person to finish an Iron-distance triathlon on all seven continents, ending in Antarctica in 32:42:34. What founders can learn from it.","md",[384,386,389,392,395],{"q":80,"a":385},"Connor Emeny is a Toronto-born, Vancouver-based endurance athlete, author and speaker. He graduated from the Smith School of Business at Queen's University with a Bachelor of Commerce in 2018, and in February 2024 he became the first person to complete an Iron-distance triathlon on all seven continents. He was named to the BCBusiness 30 Under 30 class of 2026.",{"q":387,"a":388},"Who was the first person to complete an Ironman on all seven continents?","Connor Emeny. He raced his first Ironman in New Zealand in March 2020, then Chattanooga, Mallorca, South Africa, the Philippines and Brazil by May 2022, and finished the seventh continent with an Iron-distance triathlon on Deception Island, Antarctica, on February 21, 2024.",{"q":390,"a":391},"How long did Connor Emeny's Antarctica triathlon take?","32 hours, 42 minutes and 34 seconds. He swam 3.9 km in water of about minus 1 degree Celsius, rode 180 km on a fat bike around a 200 metre loop, and ran a 42.2 km marathon. Reaching Deception Island took a 23-day sailboat expedition across the Drake Passage.",{"q":393,"a":394},"Does Connor Emeny hold a Guinness World Record?","Guinness World Records recognized him as the youngest person to complete an Ironman triathlon on six continents, a mark he set at 26 when he finished Ironman Brazil in May 2022. Guinness now lists a younger athlete for that record, set in September 2025.",{"q":396,"a":397},"Where can I hear Connor Emeny speak in Vancouver?","Connor Emeny joins Fall Feast, Founder Feast's evening for Vancouver founders, for a fireside chat on Thursday, November 5, 2026, at Another Studios in Mount Pleasant. Tickets are on the Fall Feast page.","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fconnor-emeny-ironman-seven-continents.webp",{},true,"\u002Fblog\u002Fconnor-emeny-ironman-seven-continents",{"title":5,"description":381},"connor-emeny-ironman-seven-continents","blog\u002Fconnor-emeny-ironman-seven-continents","Founder Story",null,"386a5KLN7k0WwUauyc01Qr8wIJBoNAtC_HFP_r6X0fk",[409,697],{"id":410,"title":411,"about":412,"author":12,"body":419,"canonical":674,"city":379,"date":675,"description":676,"extension":382,"faq":677,"image":691,"meta":692,"navigation":400,"path":321,"seo":693,"slug":694,"stem":695,"tag":405,"updated":406,"__hash__":696},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fannika-ng-blossom-social.md","Annika Ng: How Blossom Social Grew to 850,000+ Users",{"name":413,"jobTitle":414,"worksFor":415,"worksForUrl":416,"sameAs":417},"Annika Ng","Co-founder and COO","Blossom Social","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.blossomsocial.com",[418],"https:\u002F\u002Fbcbusiness.ca\u002Fmoney\u002Ffinance\u002Fannika-ng-blossom-social-fintech\u002F",{"type":14,"value":420,"toc":665},[421,427,463,467,475,484,487,491,494,503,506,512,516,523,531,534,538,541,561,564,569,573,576,581,584,588,594,600,606,620,624,633,647,650,656],[17,422,423,424,426],{},"Annika Ng co-founded Blossom Social in Vancouver in 2021. The social\ninvesting app now has more than 850,000 users. This June its own community put\nnearly $2 million into the company in two hours, and Apple named it one of its\ntop 25 apps of 2025. On\nNovember 5 she takes the stage at ",[21,425,24],{"href":23},". This is\nher story so far.",[27,428,429,435,441,447,453,458],{},[30,430,431,434],{},[33,432,433],{},"Role:"," Co-founder and COO, Blossom Social",[30,436,437,440],{},[33,438,439],{},"Founded:"," 2021, in Vancouver, with Maxwell Nicholson",[30,442,443,446],{},[33,444,445],{},"Users:"," more than 850,000",[30,448,449,452],{},[33,450,451],{},"Crowdfunding:"," $2M in two hours, June 2026",[30,454,455,457],{},[33,456,59],{}," Apple Top 25 App of 2025, BCBusiness 30 Under 30 (2026)",[30,459,460,462],{},[33,461,53],{}," Bachelor of Business Administration, Simon Fraser University",[77,464,466],{"id":465},"who-is-annika-ng","Who is Annika Ng?",[17,468,469,470,474],{},"Annika grew up watching her father come home from his day job and start work\non his side business. That stuck with her. \"I definitely always knew I wanted\nto be an entrepreneur,\" she told\n",[21,471,473],{"href":418,"rel":472},[88],"BCBusiness","\nin March 2026.",[17,476,477,478,483],{},"She studied business at Simon Fraser University's Beedie School of Business,\nand in 2018 she was elected president of the SFU Business Administration\nStudent Society. In ",[21,479,482],{"href":480,"rel":481},"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.sfu.ca\u002Fsfunews\u002Fstories\u002F2026\u002F05\u002Ftop-sfu-business-talent-recognized-in-prestigious-b-c--award.html",[88],"SFU's own write-up","\nof this year's 30 Under 30 list, she calls that role something that\n\"ultimately became my gateway into entrepreneurship.\"",[17,485,486],{},"Through CEOx1Day, a student leadership program, she met Maxwell Nicholson.\nThe two stayed in touch, and in 2021 they reconnected to start Blossom. Today\nMaxwell is CEO and Annika is COO, and the founding team also includes Kartik\nBhutani and Brandon Beavis.",[77,488,490],{"id":489},"what-is-blossom-social","What is Blossom Social?",[17,492,493],{},"Blossom is a social network for investors. Members share their portfolios,\ntrades and investment ideas, and follow people whose thinking they trust. The\ndifference from a forum is that posts are backed by real activity from\nmembers' linked brokerage accounts, so you see what people actually hold, not\nonly what they say.",[17,495,496,497,502],{},"Around that feed sit the tools people come back for: portfolio and dividend\ntracking across brokerages, research on stocks and ETFs, and what\n",[21,498,501],{"href":499,"rel":500},"https:\u002F\u002Fbetakit.com\u002Fblossom-social-raises-more-than-2-million-through-frontfundr-campaign\u002F",[88],"BetaKit","\ncalls \"Duolingo-style investing education.\" Blossom has partnerships with\nNasdaq, the NYSE and Vanguard.",[17,504,505],{},"The idea came from a problem Annika and Maxwell lived with. \"We noticed when\nwe were online that the information on Reddit and Twitter was often really\nscammy and full of misinformation,\" Annika told BCBusiness. \"It just didn't\nfeel welcoming for everyday investors like us.\"",[17,507,508],{},[183,509],{"alt":510,"height":186,"src":511,"width":188},"Annika Ng, co-founder and COO of Blossom Social, smiling in a grey sleeveless blazer in front of large blue and red abstract paintings","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fannika-ng-blossom-social-2.webp",[77,513,515],{"id":514},"how-blossom-grew-from-2000-users-to-850000","How Blossom grew from 2,000 users to 850,000",[17,517,518,519,204],{},"The app launched on the App Store and Google Play in May 2022. Five months\nlater it had more than 2,000 users, growing about 10 percent a week, and\nBlossom had been picked for Google's Women Founders accelerator, according to\n",[21,520,501],{"href":521,"rel":522},"https:\u002F\u002Fbetakit.com\u002Fblossom-social-secures-750000-to-build-canadas-first-social-brokerage\u002F",[88],[17,524,525,526,530],{},"The first plan was bigger and harder: become \"Canada's first social\nbrokerage,\" with trading inside the app. By 2024 the team had dropped it.\n\"It was the wrong strategy, so we scrapped those plans entirely just to focus\non being the investing social network,\" Maxwell told\n",[21,527,501],{"href":528,"rel":529},"https:\u002F\u002Fbetakit.com\u002Fblossom-closes-2-1-million-to-grow-its-investing-social-network-in-the-us\u002F",[88],".\nChoosing one thing paid off. Blossom had more than 125,000 users by May 2024,\nover 500,000 by early 2026, and more than 850,000 today, with a growing share\nin the United States.",[17,532,533],{},"As COO, Annika runs the operating side of the company, and her idea of who\nthe app is for is a wide one. \"The word 'investor' today includes everyone,\"\nshe said in her BCBusiness profile. \"It's no longer just the stereotype we saw\n10 or 20 years ago.\"",[77,535,537],{"id":536},"_2-million-in-two-hours-blossoms-crowdfunding-record","$2 million in two hours: Blossom's crowdfunding record",[17,539,540],{},"Blossom has raised from funds too, LOI Venture and Goodwater Capital among\nthem. What sets it apart is that it kept inviting its own members to own a\npiece of the company, through equity crowdfunding on FrontFundr.",[27,542,543,549,555],{},[30,544,545,548],{},[33,546,547],{},"2024:"," the first $500,000 was taken within a day, the round was opened\nfor another $500,000, and 793 users put in nearly $1 million in total.",[30,550,551,554],{},[33,552,553],{},"2025:"," close to $2 million came in within six hours.",[30,556,557,560],{},[33,558,559],{},"2026:"," nearly $2 million in two hours, then $2.2 million from just over\n1,000 investors by the next day, past the cap Canada sets on money from\nnon-accredited investors.",[17,562,563],{},"Maxwell has described the people who backed the 2024 round as a \"true cohort\nof hardcore advocates and supporters.\" That is the real asset here. A member\nwho owns a piece of the company has every reason to bring a friend.",[17,565,566],{},[68,567,568],{},"This is a founder profile, not investment advice.",[77,570,572],{"id":571},"one-of-apples-top-25-apps-of-2025","One of Apple's top 25 apps of 2025",[17,574,575],{},"Apple named Blossom a Top 25 App of 2025, a line that now leads its App Store\nlisting. A few months later Annika was named to the BCBusiness 30 Under 30\nclass of 2026, and she used the moment to make a point about home. \"I think B.C. sometimes gets a reputation\nfor not having as strong of a startup scene compared to other Canadian\ncities,\" she told SFU, \"so being recognized alongside so many incredible\npeople really shows how much talent and momentum we have.\"",[254,577,578],{},[17,579,580],{},"\"I actually think being a woman has been an advantage. Many of the qualities\nthat make strong leaders, like empathy and humility, are traditionally seen\nas feminine.\"",[17,582,583],{},"That is Annika in BCBusiness, asked about being a woman in finance.",[77,585,587],{"id":586},"what-founders-can-learn-from-annika-ng","What founders can learn from Annika Ng",[17,589,590,593],{},[33,591,592],{},"Start from a problem you have."," Blossom exists because its founders were\neveryday investors who found the advice online unreliable. They built the\nplace they wanted to use.",[17,595,596,599],{},[33,597,598],{},"Drop the plan that does not fit."," Becoming a brokerage meant a long\nregulatory process and, in Maxwell's words, \"trying to compete with the\nWealthsimples, the Questrades of the world.\" Walking away from it let the team\nput everything into the social product.",[17,601,602,605],{},[33,603,604],{},"Make your users your owners."," Round after round, crowdfunding turned\nthousands of members into shareholders, and each of the last three filled\nfaster than the one before.",[17,607,608,611,612,614,615,619],{},[33,609,610],{},"Build in Vancouver on purpose."," Blossom is a Vancouver company with users\nwell beyond Canada. If you are building here too, our list of\n",[21,613,302],{"href":301}," and the\nguide to ",[21,616,618],{"href":617},"\u002Fblog\u002Fraising-pre-seed-canada-2026","raising a pre-seed round in Canada","\nare good next reads.",[77,621,623],{"id":622},"hear-annika-ng-at-fall-feast-on-november-5","Hear Annika Ng at Fall Feast on November 5",[17,625,626,627,629,630,632],{},"Annika is a speaker at ",[21,628,24],{"href":23},", our evening for\nfounders from across Vancouver. She joins\n",[21,631,317],{"href":316},",\non the speaker list.",[27,634,635,639,643],{},[30,636,637,330],{},[33,638,329],{},[30,640,641,336],{},[33,642,335],{},[30,644,645,342],{},[33,646,341],{},[17,648,649],{},"Annika has spent five years building a room where people talk honestly about\nmoney. Come and hear how she did it.",[17,651,652],{},[33,653,654],{},[21,655,353],{"href":352},[17,657,658],{},[68,659,660,661,363,663,204],{},"Founder Feast spotlights entrepreneurs who are building something real. If\nyou are a founder in Vancouver looking for your people, see how our\n",[21,662,362],{"href":361},[21,664,367],{"href":366},{"title":369,"searchDepth":370,"depth":370,"links":666},[667,668,669,670,671,672,673],{"id":465,"depth":370,"text":466},{"id":489,"depth":370,"text":490},{"id":514,"depth":370,"text":515},{"id":536,"depth":370,"text":537},{"id":571,"depth":370,"text":572},{"id":586,"depth":370,"text":587},{"id":622,"depth":370,"text":623},"https:\u002F\u002Ffounderfeast.com\u002Fblog\u002Fannika-ng-blossom-social","2026-10-13","Annika Ng co-founded Blossom Social, the Vancouver social investing app with 850,000+ users. How it raised $2M in two hours, and why she speaks at Fall Feast.",[678,680,683,685,688],{"q":466,"a":679},"Annika Ng is the co-founder and COO of Blossom Social, the Vancouver-built social investing app with more than 850,000 users. She is a Simon Fraser University business graduate and was named to the BCBusiness 30 Under 30 class of 2026.",{"q":681,"a":682},"Who founded Blossom Social?","Blossom Social was founded in Vancouver in 2021. Annika Ng (COO) and Maxwell Nicholson (CEO) launched it together, alongside co-founders Kartik Bhutani and Brandon Beavis.",{"q":490,"a":684},"Blossom is a social network for investors. Members share portfolios, trades and ideas, and posts can be backed by real activity from linked brokerage accounts. The app also tracks portfolios and dividends and teaches investing through short lessons.",{"q":686,"a":687},"How much did Blossom Social raise through equity crowdfunding?","In June 2026 Blossom raised nearly $2 million in two hours on FrontFundr, and $2.2 million from just over 1,000 investors within a day. It had earlier raised nearly $1 million from its users in 2024 and close to $2 million in six hours in 2025.",{"q":689,"a":690},"Where can I hear Annika Ng speak in Vancouver?","Annika Ng is a speaker at Fall Feast, Founder Feast's evening for Vancouver founders on Thursday, November 5, 2026, at Another Studios in Mount Pleasant. Tickets are on the Fall Feast page.","\u002Fimages\u002Fblog\u002Fannika-ng-blossom-social.jpg",{},{"title":411,"description":676},"annika-ng-blossom-social","blog\u002Fannika-ng-blossom-social","7OcqRLMfE5B2393T7LAdCS-h8IDi4S6VE-h5de4qltM",{"id":698,"title":699,"about":406,"author":12,"body":700,"canonical":840,"city":406,"date":841,"description":842,"extension":382,"faq":406,"image":843,"meta":844,"navigation":400,"path":316,"seo":845,"slug":846,"stem":847,"tag":405,"updated":848,"__hash__":849},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fvansh-sobti-cloud-nine-clothing.md","Vansh Sobti: Building Cloud Nine Clothing to $10M at 22",{"type":14,"value":701,"toc":831},[702,705,709,712,715,719,722,728,731,735,738,741,747,751,754,757,760,766,769,773,776,779,785,789,792,795,799,802,805,808,812],[17,703,704],{},"Vansh Sobti is 22 years old. His company, Cloud Nine Clothing, just crossed\n$10 million in revenue. He started it with $5,000 in savings, over 100\nmanufacturer rejections, and prototypes sewn from his mom's old hoodies.\nThis is how he got here.",[77,706,708],{"id":707},"the-idea","The idea",[17,710,711],{},"It started as a university assignment. The brief was simple: combine two\nexisting products into one. Vansh pitched a hoodie with built-in stress balls.\nHis project partner chose a different concept, and they moved on. But Vansh\nnever forgot the idea.",[17,713,714],{},"A year later, in 2022, he came back to it. The name came from the phrase\n\"I'm on cloud nine\", that feeling of pure joy. He wanted\ncustomers to literally wear that feeling. And so Cloud Nine Clothing was born.",[77,716,718],{"id":717},"the-problem-was-personal","The problem was personal",[17,720,721],{},"Vansh has social anxiety. Stress balls helped him manage it, but pulling one out\nin public sometimes made the anxiety worse. He knew there had to be a way to\nbuild that relief into something you'd wear every day, something that\ndidn't draw attention.",[17,723,724],{},[183,725],{"alt":726,"src":727},"Cloud Nine Clothing brand imagery","\u002FINSTAGRAM\u002F2\u002F1.jpg",[17,729,730],{},"The idea wasn't just about hoodies. After launching, Vansh realized anxiety\nis just one part of a much broader spectrum. Some people need texture. Others\nneed sound or something to bite. Cloud Nine is now expanding into sensory apparel\nthat addresses all kinds of stimuli, not just what Vansh personally\nexperiences.",[77,732,734],{"id":733},"building-the-product","Building the product",[17,736,737],{},"The first prototypes were scrappy. Vansh was cutting up old hoodies from his\nmom's closet and sewing different ideas together by hand. His mom helped\nwith the early stitching. He had no background in fashion or manufacturing. He\nwas learning everything from scratch.",[17,739,740],{},"Manufacturing was the hardest part. No manufacturer wanted to take on a product\nthis unconventional. Vansh contacted over 100 manufacturers before one finally\nagreed to work with him. That persistence (hearing \"no\" a hundred\ntimes and still believing) became the foundation of everything that followed.",[17,742,743],{},[183,744],{"alt":745,"src":746},"Vansh Sobti working on Cloud Nine Clothing","\u002FINSTAGRAM\u002F2\u002F3.jpg",[77,748,750],{"id":749},"year-one","Year one",[17,752,753],{},"The first three months were, in Vansh's words, \"horrible.\" Bills\nwere piling up, inventory costs were climbing, ads weren't converting, and\nnothing seemed to gain traction. Every day made him question everything.",[17,755,756],{},"So he did the only thing he could: he posted five videos a day on social media,\nevery single day, by himself. It was exhausting and overwhelming, but it was free.\nThe first year, Cloud Nine did about $100,000 in revenue, but ended roughly\n$10,000 in the red. Growth was inconsistent. The brand's sustainability was\ngenuinely in question.",[17,758,759],{},"Meanwhile, Vansh was a full-time university student. And under pressure from his\nparents to have something stable as a backup, he was simultaneously studying for\nhis mortgage broker's license. Three commitments at once. He'd work on\nCloud Nine during lectures, finish business tasks after class, and study for exams\nlate at night. Socializing mostly stopped.",[17,761,762],{},[183,763],{"alt":764,"src":765},"Cloud Nine Clothing product showcase","\u002FINSTAGRAM\u002F2\u002F4.jpg",[767,768],"blog-cta",{},[77,770,772],{"id":771},"the-10m-year","The $10M year",[17,774,775],{},"Year two brought $500,000 in revenue. Not profitable yet, but no longer in the\nred: the brand was breaking even. Then 2025 happened. Cloud Nine did\n$10 million in revenue and sold over 100,000 hoodies.",[17,777,778],{},"When asked what hitting $10M felt like, Vansh's answer is surprising:\n\"It almost felt the same as when we were doing $100,000.\" He'd\nbeen living with the vision for so long, believing in it so deeply, that the\nmilestone didn't feel like a dramatic shift. It felt like he was just\ncontinuing the same day he'd been living for years.",[17,780,781],{},[183,782],{"alt":783,"src":784},"Vansh Sobti and Cloud Nine Clothing growth","\u002FINSTAGRAM\u002F2\u002F5.jpg",[77,786,788],{"id":787},"impact-recognition","Impact & recognition",[17,790,791],{},"What started as one founder's personal struggle has become something much\nbigger. Cloud Nine isn't just selling hoodies. It's building a new\ncategory of sensory apparel. The brand has resonated with people across the\nspectrum of anxiety, ADHD, and sensory needs, and Vansh is now developing\nproducts that incorporate different types of stimuli beyond what he personally\nexperiences.",[17,793,794],{},"Vansh's entrepreneurial instinct didn't start with Cloud Nine. At 16,\nhe was running dropshipping stores and white-label brands, making $100,000 from\na store called Space Lights before he could even drive. That early exposure to\nreal money at a young age shaped his perspective: \"Money started to be a\nfictional thing. All my business ventures were never about the money aspect. It's\nmore so because I actually enjoyed doing it.\"",[77,796,798],{"id":797},"what-people-overlook","What people overlook",[17,800,801],{},"Building a product for anxiety as a young man came with its own friction. Vansh\ndidn't broadcast what he was working on. A lot of his friends didn't\neven know he was running a company. When classmates saw him working on Cloud Nine\nduring lectures, he'd explain it matter-of-factly. He wasn't building\nthe brand to flex. He was building it because he saw a genuine gap in the\nmarket.",[17,803,804],{},"Some people told him it would never work. One person said people buy clothing for\nhow it looks, not functionality, and called his designs ugly because they were\nplain. Vansh kept going.",[17,806,807],{},"That's the part of the story that matters most. Not the $10M headline, but\nthe hundreds of quiet days where nothing was working and he chose to keep\nbuilding anyway. If you're a founder in that phase right now, Vansh's\nstory is proof that the vision can be worth the grind.",[27,809,810],{},[30,811],{},[17,813,814,815,818,819,824,825,830],{},"Founder Feast spotlights entrepreneurs who are building something real. If\nyou're a founder in Vancouver looking for your people, consider joining a\n",[21,816,817],{"href":366},"Founder Feast dinner",". And if you're shipping a brand like Cloud Nine, your landing page does the heavy lifting.\n",[21,820,823],{"href":821,"rel":822},"https:\u002F\u002Fweblaunch.ca\u002F",[88],"WebLaunch"," builds the kind of conversion-focused\n",[21,826,829],{"href":827,"rel":828},"https:\u002F\u002Fweblaunch.ca\u002Fweb-design",[88],"Canadian web design"," that turns a story into orders.\n*",{"title":369,"searchDepth":370,"depth":370,"links":832},[833,834,835,836,837,838,839],{"id":707,"depth":370,"text":708},{"id":717,"depth":370,"text":718},{"id":733,"depth":370,"text":734},{"id":749,"depth":370,"text":750},{"id":771,"depth":370,"text":772},{"id":787,"depth":370,"text":788},{"id":797,"depth":370,"text":798},"https:\u002F\u002Ffounderfeast.com\u002Fblog\u002Fvansh-sobti-cloud-nine-clothing","2026-02-22","The full Vansh Sobti story: 100 manufacturer rejections, prototypes sewn from his mom's old hoodies, and how Cloud Nine Clothing hit $10M in revenue by 22.","\u002FINSTAGRAM\u002F2\u002F7.jpg",{},{"title":699,"description":842},"vansh-sobti-cloud-nine-clothing","blog\u002Fvansh-sobti-cloud-nine-clothing","2026-09-05","1EtQUzclSrt1d9uzcOMfmkH9LNVzDhqbcySjGnkaGG8"]