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OTTAWA, CANADA -- (Marketwire) -- 07/10/12 -- Shopify (www.shopify.ca), the industry-leading ecommerce platform and Ottawa's fastest growing company, announced today the launch of its third annual Build-A-Business competition (www.shopify.ca/build-a-business). This year, the company has partnered with some of the industry's biggest names to act as mentors throughout the competition.

To participate, entrepreneurs must open an online store and start selling products using Shopify. At the end of the competition, the Canadian business that sells the most over a two month period will win a VIP trip for two to New York City to meet with the competition mentors:

- Tim Ferriss, The 4-Hour Workweek

- Daymond John, FUBU & The Shark Tank

- Tina Roth Eisenberg, swissmiss

- Eric Ries, The Lean Startup

The competition runs from July 10, 2012 to February 28, 2013, with each of the mentors providing exclusive advice and guidance along the way. In addition to the trip to NYC, the Canadian prize winner will receive:

- $20,000 Google AdWords credit

- Fast Company Magazine online feature article

"Our first two competitions were extremely successful. In total 4,438 new businesses were created who sold over $15 million worth of products," said Tobias Lutke, Founder and CEO of Shopify. Last year's winner developed a product called TurtleBot, a fully functional and customizable robot that is built on an open-source framework by five mechanical engineers from the University of Waterloo.

"Given the strong focus on mentorship, and the incredible advisors that we have lined up to help these entrepreneurs launch new businesses, we think this year's competition will act as a catalyst in the creation of thousands of successful new Canadian online stores," said Lutke.

Competition mentor, Tim Ferriss says "This competition is intended as a benevolent and encouraging kick in the ass. This stuff isn't rocket science, but it does require stepping outside your comfort zone for a bit to realize this isn't that hard. It's just unfamiliar. If you do it now, a lot of people will be in the same boat and you'll take the trip together."

For more details on the Build-A-Business competition, including registration, please visit www.shopify.ca/build-a-business.

About Shopify

Shopify is an ecommerce platform that allows individuals and businesses to create awesome online stores. Shopify currently hosts over 25,000 active online retailers, including: Gatorade, Amnesty International, General Electric, Tata Group, Tesla Motors, LMFAO, Foo Fighters, Encyclopedia Britannica, Evisu Jeans, and CrossFit. Shopify was founded in 2006 by two snowboarding enthusiasts who wanted to create a better way to sell their snowboards online. Shopify has received $22 million in Series A and B funding from Bessemer Venture Partners, FirstMark Capital, Felicis Ventures, and Georgian Partners.