Sammy Lau

Co-founder and CEO, Greenline

Went from studying history to scaling startups. Now building tools that help Canadians take control of their personal finances. Based in Toronto.

Sammy Lau

About

I was born in Hong Kong, grew up in Vancouver, and am proud to be a Britannia grad. I studied history at the University of Toronto, where I attended as a Loran Scholar. Becoming a Loran Scholar changed the trajectory of my life. It connected me to a community of people who believed in service and leadership, and gave me the confidence to take a less conventional path.

After graduation, I ended up at Canopy Labs, and from there spent nearly a decade in startups ranging from seed stage to Series E: Canopy Labs, Top Hat, Lillio, and others. I made a lot of mistakes along the way, but I learned what matters in building a business.

Outside of work, I've always been drawn to things that widen access, from the arts to the scholarships that changed my own path. I had people open doors for me when I was young, and I try to do the same for the next person.

Greenline came from a personal gap. I grew up in an immigrant family where no one talked about money. For years, I deposited every paycheque into a chequing account because I genuinely didn't know where else to put it.

Why is all your money sitting here?

A bank teller I'd never met asked me that, and it sent me down a rabbit hole. As I learned more, friends started coming to me for help. The same patterns kept showing up: people paying fees they didn't understand, celebrating returns that actually underperformed the market, or too embarrassed to admit they didn't know where to start.

The tools that existed were built for people who already understood finance. Everyone else was left guessing. That's why I'm building Greenline: a dashboard that helps Canadians see everything they have, understand what it's costing them, and know whether they're on track.

Greenline dashboard showing portfolio overview

A look inside Greenline