nesto


Founded in 2018, nesto is transforming property financing in Canada with its digital mortgage platform that streamlines the mortgage process for both borrowers and financial institutions. To date, nesto has served over 400,000 customers and processed billions in mortgage volume annually. The company has raised several hundred million dollars, fueling the development of its proprietary tech platform and contributing to the June 2024 acquisition of CMLS Group, Canada’s third-largest non-bank lender at the time.
Starting as a brokerage in 2019, nesto quickly expanded nationwide and became Canada’s first Digital Mortgage Lender in 2020. By 2022, nesto had evolved into a fully integrated platform that manages every step of the mortgage journey, from origination to funding and servicing, while passing on these efficiencies to customers via competitive rates. The team is on a mission to provide a “positive, empowering, and transparent property financing experience” for all Canadians.
With an $80M Series C funding round in late 2022, the team expanded their product offering by introducing the nesto Mortgage Cloud—a B2B solution designed to empower other mortgage industry players. Last year in 2023, in recognition of its innovative solutions and impressive growth rate, nesto was awarded the Canadian Mortgage Lender of the Year and earned a place in Deloitte’s Technology Fast 50™. Nesto has been supported by key investors including IGM Financial, National Bank of Canada, and BMO, and continues to be a trailblazer in the Canadian B2B and D2C mortgage industry segments. In February 2024, after raising an undisclosed amount, nesto acquired Vancouver-based CMLS Group– a longstanding Canadian mortgage lender multiple times its size– emphasizing the founders’ bold leadership and commitment to creating the mortgage ecosystem of the future.
Malik Yacoubi (CEO) and Karim Benabdallah (CTO) founded their first venture together 24 years ago, kicking off their entrepreneurial journey as students at Université Laval where they developed a retirement home portal and later a web hosting business. In 2004, they co-founded Mobilito, one of Canada’s first mobile marketing firms, followed by Paymentpin, a leader in mobile carrier billing, which was acquired by Boku in 2012.
Damien Charbonneau (COO), an industrial engineer from École Polytechnique de Montréal, joined Malik and Karim after starting his career in management consulting at McKinsey & Company, and later joining Diagram Ventures. Damien was the one to pitch the concept for nesto to Malik and Karim through the Diagram incubator, and in 2018, Damien joined the nesto team full-time to launch Canada’s first digital mortgage platform. In making its decision, the Endeavor panelists responsible for nesto’s selection noted the complementarity of the team and their excitement for the company’s potential to win over the Canadian market.
Malik, Karim and Damien were selected as Endeavor Entrepreneurs through the Canada office in 2024.