Scaling Beyond Borders: Canoe’s Approach to International Expansion

Scaling Beyond Borders: Canoe’s Approach to International Expansion

Canoe’s international expansion is a testament to strategic market assessment, measured growth, and adapting to regional nuances.

Today, they are the category leader in automation solutions for alternative investments. With a $36 million Series C financing round closed last year, market leader status in North America, a strong EMEA business, and growing APAC traction—it’s clear Canoe is the global category leader. 

However, those global ambitions started over 5 years ago. With inbound demand from international markets and enterprise clients operating across multiple geographies, Canoe recognised that scaling internationally was not just an opportunity but a necessity.

Market Research & Expansion Readiness

Canoe’s initial decision to expand internationally was driven by a significant total addressable market (TAM) outside of its domestic market and strong inbound demand from new regions. 

To ensure readiness, Canoe followed a deliberate, phased approach:

• Market Discovery & Demand Assessment – The company identified several key segments within its global key accounts and a broader known ideal customer profile (ICP) to measure demand against. Then, they used the inbound pipeline in those regions as a primary indicator for readiness. 
• First Boots on the Ground – Canoe’s first EMEA-based FTE provided both sales and product experience as well as the executive presence to show necessary commitment to the region. 
• Incremental Investment & Organic Growth – Expansion efforts were continuously measured. Additional resources had been gated by a set of milestone triggers that, once reached, opened up additional sales and marketing, product investment, and local support 

Budgeting & Investment Strategy

Canoe took a disciplined approach to budgeting, aligning financial commitments with expected revenue growth.

Key considerations included:

• Heavy initial focus on selection of ideal customer segments & markets rather than the entirety of the EMEA region. The UK was selected as the centralised landing pad, but opportunities were nurtured in a handful of complementary countries and segments. 
• Investment to localise the product internationally, with non-U.S. data hosting being a key requirement to ensure clear compliance for existing and future client conversations. In-country resources were also allocated to achieve client SLA commitments. 

Go-To-Market Strategy

Canoe applied a structured playbook for international expansion, mirroring its domestic growth strategy but with region-specific adjustments.

Key Steps in the GTM Process:

1. Anchor Client Strategy – Canoe identified existing global clients in new markets to serve as early adopters and reference accounts.
2. Market Seeding – The team leveraged their relationships and their board’s networks to access key decision makers within potential anchor client businesses. This was complemented by creative marketing efforts to enhance brand awareness, educate on the product, and fuel pipeline momentum.
3. HQ-Based Support & Transition to Local Presence – Initially, all markets were serviced from the U.S., but once Canoe saw 5x pipeline in their target segments alongside ecosystem buying signals, including local early-stage competition—sufficient milestones were triggered to start hiring on-the-ground teams.
4. Product Localisation – Canoe took a twin approach to product localisation, leveraging client demand to prioritise the EMEA product roadmap and also to hire local product talent. This served to validate the true EMEA market need against bespoke client requests.
5. Partnership Channels – A key component of Canoe’s success has been its partnership ecosystem. By leveraging existing USA-based relationships, as well as key EMEA executive ecosystem relationships across system integrators, consultancies, and downstream applications, the team accelerated awareness and access to market niches. 
6. Iterative Refinement – While 75% of Canoe’s domestic playbook was transferable, the company fine-tuned its GTM approach based on local nuances and market feedback. For example, 60% of SQLs in Year 1 came in through partners, whereas in the same year in the US, the marketing channel delivered the majority. 

Building & Scaling an International Team

Canoe’s international team-building strategy was rooted in acquiring local expertise, exporting key product knowledge and culture carriers from HQ, while ensuring a consistent heartbeat from US-based leadership.

• Expansion Hires: The company’s initial market presence relied on hiring a senior operator who had previously been the first hire in EMEA for a comparable business. Following Canoe’s successful $25M Series B financing round allowed additional key hires across product, sales, account management, marketing, support, and operations, rapidly expanding from 1 to 10 FTE in 9 months. This included several key executive hires to further cement market credibility. 
• Expats & Culture Carriers: Recognising the importance of cultural and product familiarity, Canoe decided to relocate key product and delivery team members from HQ into the market.
• Integration with HQ: While local teams had autonomy, close alignment with U.S. leadership ensured consistency in sales and marketing messaging, product development, and operating rhythms.
• 24/7 Support Evolution: Canoe expanded its support function to ensure real-time coverage for its global client base, ensure SLA parity, and the ability to service global clients effectively.

Key Success Metrics & Performance Tracking

To measure international expansion success, Canoe tracked:

• Pipeline Growth: New business development via marketing efforts, partnerships, and outbound sales.
• Product Localisation Requirements: Tracking if local product development was client-specific, regional requirement, or core roadmap—and then assigning resources to develop based on the potential ROI. Asset-level data was identified as a key requirement for UK/Europe and is now a global proposition for Canoe.
• Talent Acquisition & Retention: Benchmarking time to hire and time to ramp against HQ helped ensure the talent bar was kept high and enabled teams consistently. 
• Client Expansion & Retention: Monitoring whether existing clients renewed and increased their usage of Canoe’s platform.
• Regional ARR against Global Industry Split: A key goal was to tie ARR % split to global private markets penetration. EMEA represents 20-30% global private markets; therefore, Canoe’s ARR target for EMEA was 20-30% of global revenue. 

The company assessed these metrics at 6-month, 12-month, and long-term intervals, making iterative adjustments based on performance data.

Lessons Learned & Adapting to Market Challenges

Canoe’s experience underscored several critical international expansion lessons:

• Localised Presence is Essential: A sales presence alone does not guarantee success—clients expect localised product, delivery, and support teams/resources. 
• Cultural & Regulatory Adaptation: Every region has unique compliance, buying cycles, and business practices that require tailored approaches.
• Scalability vs. Customisation: While a GTM strategy can be replicable globally, it must still be refined to fit each market’s nuances.
• Evaluating Expansion Success: Expansion efforts need to demonstrate clear, measurable results on a 3-6 month reporting heartbeat at the C-level.

The Role of Investors in Expansion

Canoe’s investors played an integral role in its international growth, providing:

• Strategic Guidance – Leveraging their expertise and network to accelerate market entry.
• Warm Introductions – Connecting Canoe to prospective clients, partners, and local business leaders.
• Operational Investment – Helping Canoe make informed investment decisions to balance risk and return.

Conclusion

Canoe’s expansion story demonstrates how methodical, data-informed decision-making, combined with network leverage and localised adaptation, can create global growth momentum. From carefully assessing pipeline data before opening new markets to restructuring sales teams in response to investor expectations, Canoe has navigated international growth pragmatically.

As the company looks to deepen its foothold in EMEA and cautiously approaches APAC, it continues to balance global standardisation with regional customisation, embodying a model for companies aspiring to scale beyond borders.