Gander Social raises $1 million to build a Canadian alternative to X and Meta

Canada-focused social media platform Gander Social has raised over $1 million through the first phase of its equity crowdfunding campaign .

The Ottawa-based company secured funding from over 1,300 Canadian investors in just over a week through FrontFundr , a Toron t o-based crowdfunding platform that offers a means for private companies to raise capital through private placements. Gander said the first $500,000 was raised “within a matter of hours,” and that it exceeded its $1 million target eight days later.

Gander has set an initial target of attracting 500,000 Canadians to the sovereign platform.

Founded this year by CEO Ben Waldman, Gander hopes to provide a sovereign Canadian social network not subject to the whims of American giants like Elon Musk’s X or Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta. Th