Local entrepreneur Kyle Braatz turned a simple idea into one of Canada’s most valuable tech companies—without the typical Silicon Valley playbook
December 3, 2025
While Silicon Valley startups burn through venture capital chasing unicorn status, an Ottawa entrepreneur quietly built something extraordinary from his guest bedroom. Fullscript, the health-tech platform founded by Kyle Braatz in 2011, has achieved what many consider the ultimate validation: $1 billion USD in annual revenue.
Even more impressive? They did it the Ottawa way—methodically, profitably, and without sacrificing control.
The Billion-Dollar Milestone That Almost Didn’t Happen
Braatz’s approach paid off after years of consistent growth, with Fullscript achieving $1 billion USD in revenue over the past 12 months. This milestone follows a secondary deal earlier this year where existing investors valued the company at $2.5 billion USD.
But here’s what makes Fullscript’s story uniquely Ottawa: this wasn’t a hyper-growth, venture-fueled rocket ship. It was a deliberate, 14-year journey built on profitability, patience, and treating every new business line like its own startup.
“You don’t have much time for those ‘pinch-me’ moments,” Braatz admitted when asked about the billion-dollar achievement. For him, the focus has always been on the next challenge: “Are we moving fast enough? Are we investing quick enough? Why are we not in a particular market yet?”
The Unconventional Path to a Billion
Most tech founders face a fork in the road early on: go ultra-focused on one product, or build the comprehensive platform you envision. With limited bootstrapped capital, conventional wisdom says pick one thing and dominate it.
Braatz chose neither—or rather, both.
Braatz opted to take it slow, building each segment of his wellness tech business like they were each their own startup. Instead of spreading resources thin across multiple initiatives, Fullscript would perfect one segment, make it profitable, then use those resources to fund the next.
“If we have this thing we want to invest in, don’t go right to the end state immediately,” Braatz explained. “Let’s just start and go through the process of getting there.”
The Numbers Behind the Success
The strategy worked spectacularly:
- $1 billion USD in annual revenue (2025)
- $2.5 billion USD valuation
- 100,000+ healthcare providers using the platform
- 10+ million patients served
- 1,000+ employees across North America
- Profitable since 2018 when they hit $40 million ARR
What Fullscript Actually Does (And Why It Matters)
For those outside healthcare, Fullscript might fly under the radar. But for integrative medicine practitioners across North America, it’s become indispensable infrastructure.
Fullscript’s platform has helped over 100,000 providers prescribe treatment plans to more than 10 million patients to date. The platform streamlines how healthcare providers recommend and deliver professional-grade supplements, combining:
- Digital dispensing platform with 20,000+ practitioner-grade products from 300+ brands
- Custom treatment protocols and adherence management
- Clinical resources and evidence-based tools
- Lab testing services (through their Rupa Health acquisition)
- End-to-end fulfillment directly to patients
Think of it as the operating system for integrative healthcare—connecting practitioners, products, and patients in a seamless ecosystem.
The Bootstrap-to-Billions Playbook
What’s remarkable about Fullscript’s journey is how capital-efficient it was:
2011-2018: Nearly fully bootstrapped with only $2 million in angel funding 2018: Hit profitability at $40 million ARR 2019: Raised $25 million Series B (went straight to balance sheet, not spent on growth) 2021: $240 million growth investment at $300 million revenue 2025: $1 billion revenue milestone
Fullscript didn’t need much external financial support along the way, hitting profitability when it achieved $40 million ARR in 2018, bootstrapping nearly the entire way except for $2 million in angel funding.
This stands in stark contrast to most venture-backed startups that raise hundreds of millions before achieving profitability—if they ever do.
Strategic Acquisitions Fueling Growth
While building organically, Fullscript has also made strategic acquisitions to accelerate key capabilities:
- Rupa Health (October 2024): Expanded into lab testing services
- Natural Partners: Strengthened product catalog and distribution
- Emerson Ecologics business: Brought fulfillment in-house after early distribution challenges
Each acquisition followed the same startup-within-a-startup philosophy—integrate thoughtfully, prove the model works, then scale.
Ottawa’s Hidden Tech Success Story
Braatz’s deep ties to the Ottawa community and commitment to building a supportive entrepreneurial environment have been critical to Fullscript’s success. The company maintains its headquarters at 360 Albert Street in downtown Ottawa, employing over 500 people locally.
But Fullscript represents more than just one company’s success. It’s proof that Ottawa’s tech ecosystem can produce billion-dollar companies without following Silicon Valley’s playbook of:
- Raising massive rounds at inflated valuations
- Prioritizing growth at all costs
- Burning through cash for market share
- Rushing to IPO or acquisition
What’s Next: The “Next Moonshot”
Despite hitting the billion-dollar milestone, Braatz isn’t resting. Fullscript’s unique approach includes treating each new venture as a startup, focusing on market leadership and innovation, particularly in lab testing and clinical decision support.
The company is currently developing its latest internal “startup”—building out comprehensive lab testing capabilities that integrate seamlessly with practitioner workflows. It’s the same methodical approach that built the first billion.
As for an IPO? Despite avoiding the IPO market for now, Braatz sees it as a potential future step. But characteristically, he’s in no rush. The focus remains on building sustainable value, not chasing short-term liquidity events.
Lessons from Ottawa’s Billion-Dollar Builder
Fullscript’s journey offers a masterclass for Canadian entrepreneurs:
1. Profitability Isn’t a Dirty Word While venture-backed startups chase growth metrics, Fullscript proved profitability creates freedom. Once you’re profitable, you control your destiny.
2. Slow and Steady Can Win Not every company needs to “move fast and break things.” Sometimes deliberate execution beats rushed expansion.
3. Bootstrap as Long as Possible The less capital you raise early, the more you own later. Fullscript’s founders maintained significant ownership through disciplined capital management.
4. Treat New Initiatives Like Startups Don’t over-invest in unproven ideas. Start small, validate, then scale—even within a large company.
5. Solve Real Problems for Specific Users Fullscript didn’t chase trends. They solved genuine pain points for healthcare practitioners and built from there.
6. Ottawa Can Compete Globally You don’t need to be in Silicon Valley to build a billion-dollar company. Ottawa’s talent, cost structure, and quality of life can be competitive advantages.
The Bigger Picture for Ottawa’s Tech Scene
Fullscript’s success comes at a crucial time for Ottawa’s startup ecosystem. Recent reports have found that some of Canada’s largest technology hubs, including Ottawa, have lost ground in global rankings amid a tough fundraising environment.
But Fullscript demonstrates that Ottawa can produce world-class companies that compete globally. The city’s ecosystem includes:
- Strong healthcare and life sciences expertise
- Deep enterprise software talent (legacy of Nortel, Shopify, and others)
- Government and institutional customers for B2B validation
- Lower costs compared to Toronto and Vancouver
- High quality of life for talent retention
Ottawa’s startup ecosystem currently ranks #86 globally, with 273 startups, but companies like Fullscript prove the region can punch above its weight.
Tech Built on Rails (Literally)
For the technically curious, there’s another remarkable aspect to Fullscript’s story. The platform launched on Rails 3.2 in 2011, and that original Rails monolith now runs on Rails 7.2 with over 1.6 million lines of Ruby.
While many companies rewrite their tech stack multiple times chasing the latest frameworks, Fullscript shows that choosing solid, proven technology and scaling it thoughtfully can support billion-dollar businesses.
The Bottom Line
Kyle Braatz started Fullscript in a guest bedroom 14 years ago with a simple mission: make supplementation seamless for healthcare practitioners and their patients. Today, that mission has created:
- A billion-dollar revenue business
- A $2.5 billion valuation
- Jobs for 1,000+ people
- Better healthcare for 10+ million patients
- Proof that Ottawa can build globally competitive tech companies
While headlines often celebrate overnight successes and unicorn valuations, Fullscript’s story is more meaningful: sustainable growth, real profitability, genuine value creation, and patient capital that compounds over time.
It’s the ultimate proof that sometimes the best way to build a billion-dollar company is to focus on building a great company—and let the billions follow.
Quick Facts: Fullscript at a Glance
Founded: 2011
Founder/CEO: Kyle Braatz
Headquarters: Ottawa, Ontario
Employees: 1,000+
Annual Revenue: $1 billion USD (2025)
Valuation: $2.5 billion USD
Providers Using Platform: 100,000+
Patients Served: 10+ million
Products Available: 20,000+ from 300+ brands
Path to Profitability: Achieved at $40M ARR in 2018
Total Funding: ~$267 million (mostly after achieving profitability)
Interested in Ottawa’s growing tech ecosystem? Fullscript is actively hiring across engineering, product, and business functions. The company sponsors local Ruby and Rails meetups and remains committed to building Ottawa’s entrepreneurial community.
Share this story with aspiring entrepreneurs who need to hear that there’s more than one way to build a billion-dollar company.
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