Edmonton tech founder sells WonderFi to Robinhood for $250M, still drives 2009 Accord

Karia Samaroo sold his cryptocurrency trading platform WonderFi to U.S.-based Robinhood for $250 million CAD this week—a major exit for a company that became Canada's biggest crypto exchange. And he's marking the moment by driving his 2009 Honda Accord, which he said has reached a point of being a road hazard, "till it dies."

Samaroo built WonderFi in Vancouver after leaving a three-year law career in Calgary, where he discovered cryptocurrency. The company attracted investor Kevin O'Leary—known as "Mr. Wonderful" on "Dragons' Den"—who became a business partner. All WonderFi shares went to Robinhood as part of the acquisition. Samaroo said he always wanted to make it an international brand, and the company grew to dominate Canada's trading market.

The path from Edmonton to a nine-figure exit started in the late 1980s. Samaroo's parents arrived in Canada in 1989 with three kids and $100—his father Vernon from Guyana, his mother Ezmina from Kenya, meeting in London before settling in West Edmonton Village. Vernon worked at a local RadioShack and brought home computers with permission, letting young Karia and his brother experiment. "He's always had that love of technology," Samaroo said in a statement to the Journal. "I remember the first time he brought a computer home. Me and my brother would just go on it, and my dad would just let us use it, figure it out, and we would have it for a few days, and then he would return it. And then, a couple of days later, he'd come back with another one—honestly like one of the most memorable things from my childhood."

Vernon founded the Canadian Multimedia Conference in 1992 and paid young Karia a few cents per 10 faxes to send invitations—an early hustle that built the work ethic. At school, Samaroo (then known as Ben) made his first independent sale: a pirated video game for $5 on an Edmonton school bus. He went to the buyer's house to reassure the parents the game had no virus. As a teenager he built websites, then studied business and law at the University of Alberta. He legally changed his name three years ago.

With the sale now complete, Samaroo's immediate focus is keeping that 2009 Accord on the road a little longer.