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Canada's startup ecosystem is rapidly growing, with significant activity in cities like Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal. As of 2023, Canada hosts around 10,000 startups, supported by a favorable business environment and government incentives such as the Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) tax credit. In 2022, Canadian startups attracted approximately CAD $10 billion in venture capital funding, underscoring the country's robust entrepreneurial landscape.
As of 2023, Canada's startup ecosystem comprises about 10,000 startups. The market has shown substantial growth, with venture capital investments reaching CAD $10 billion in 2022. This impressive financial influx highlights the ecosystem's capacity for expansion and innovation, attracting entrepreneurs and investors alike. The diverse range of industries represented within the Canadian startup landscape further enhances its market size and potential.
Canada's startup ecosystem is characterized by several key strengths, including a high quality of life, a diverse and skilled workforce, and robust support for innovation and research. The country excels in areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), clean technology, and biotechnology. These strengths are bolstered by world-class educational institutions and a strong emphasis on R&D, positioning Canada as a competitive player in the global startup arena.
Toronto, often dubbed 'Silicon Valley North,' is a major hub for tech startups, particularly in AI and fintech. Montreal boasts a vibrant AI research community, contributing significantly to advancements in machine learning and related fields. Vancouver is renowned for its expertise in software development and gaming. These cities collectively drive Canada's innovation, making substantial contributions to the country's economic growth and technological advancements.
Beyond the major cities, emerging hubs like Ottawa, Calgary, and Waterloo are gaining traction. Ottawa is noted for its strength in telecommunications and software, Calgary for its focus on energy and cleantech, and Waterloo for its burgeoning tech scene and strong ties to academic institutions. These emerging hubs are expanding Canada's startup ecosystem, providing new opportunities and attracting a diverse talent pool.
Canada's startup ecosystem benefits from a robust network of accelerators, incubators, and co-working spaces. Notable initiatives like the MaRS Discovery District in Toronto and the Creative Destruction Lab in various cities provide startups with mentorship, resources, and access to capital. This supportive infrastructure is crucial for nurturing early-stage companies and fostering a collaborative entrepreneurial environment.
Despite its strengths, the Canadian startup ecosystem faces challenges such as access to late-stage funding and a smaller market size compared to the U.S. Additionally, navigating regulatory frameworks and attracting international talent can be hurdles for startups. Addressing these challenges requires strategic investments and policy support to sustain growth and competitiveness in the global market.
Canada's strategic location and trade agreements offer startups significant opportunities for international expansion. The emphasis on sustainability and green technology drives innovation in sectors like clean energy and environmental solutions. Continued investment in AI, biotechnology, and other emerging technologies positions Canada for sustained growth. The future outlook for Canada's startup ecosystem is promising, with strong potential to play a pivotal role in the global innovation landscape.
The Canadian startup ecosystem demonstrates remarkable resilience and adaptability, essential for navigating global economic shifts and market dynamics. The country's multicultural society and diverse talent pool foster a rich environment for innovation. As Canada continues to invest in its entrepreneurial infrastructure and support systems, it is well-equipped to handle future challenges and capitalize on new opportunities, ensuring sustained growth and success.
Canada's startup ecosystem is supported by numerous influential angel investors who provide crucial early-stage funding and mentorship. Notable figures include Mike Volker, a prolific angel investor with investments in over 100 startups, and Dan Martell, known for his investments in tech and SaaS companies. These investors typically contribute between CAD $25,000 and CAD $500,000 per deal, offering not only capital but also strategic guidance and industry expertise, which are vital for the growth and development of nascent companies.
Leading venture capital firms in Canada play a critical role in driving the growth of startups. Firms such as BDC Capital, Real Ventures, and Inovia Capital are at the forefront, providing substantial funding to high-growth companies. BDC Capital, for instance, has invested in over 700 companies, supporting a wide range of sectors including cleantech, healthcare, and ICT. These firms typically engage in Series A to Series C funding rounds, with investment sizes ranging from CAD $1 million to CAD $50 million, facilitating significant scaling opportunities for startups.
The investment size and scope in Canada's startup ecosystem vary widely, catering to different stages of business growth. Early-stage investments, often provided by angel investors, range from CAD $25,000 to CAD $2 million. For growth-stage companies, venture capital firms offer larger funding rounds, typically between CAD $5 million and CAD $50 million. The scope of these investments spans various sectors, including AI, biotechnology, fintech, and cleantech, reflecting the diverse and dynamic nature of Canada's entrepreneurial landscape.
Canada's venture capital and angel investment activity are robust, with a significant number of deals annually. In 2022, over 600 venture capital deals were recorded, amounting to approximately CAD $10 billion in investments. This high level of activity underscores the vibrancy of the Canadian startup ecosystem, with both angel investors and venture capital firms actively seeking out and funding promising startups across a broad spectrum of industries.
The future outlook for Canada's investment market is highly optimistic. With continued emphasis on innovation and technology, sectors such as AI, biotechnology, and clean technology are expected to drive substantial growth. Government support through initiatives like the SR&ED tax credit further bolsters the ecosystem. As global interest in sustainable and innovative solutions increases, Canada's startups are well-positioned to attract significant international investments, fostering an environment ripe for continued expansion and success.
Support and mentorship are critical components of Canada's startup ecosystem. Angel investors and venture capitalists often provide more than just financial backing; they offer strategic advice, industry connections, and operational support. Programs like MaRS Discovery District in Toronto and Creative Destruction Lab across various cities enhance this support, offering structured mentorship, resources, and access to capital. This comprehensive support system helps startups navigate early challenges and scale effectively.
The Canadian government and various institutions play a pivotal role in nurturing the startup ecosystem. Initiatives such as the SR&ED tax credit and the Canada Small Business Financing Program provide substantial financial support and incentives. Additionally, organizations like Innovate Canada and provincial programs offer grants, loans, and advisory services. This extensive support infrastructure is vital for fostering innovation, reducing financial barriers, and promoting sustainable growth within the startup community.
Canada's startup ecosystem is bolstered by top angel investors, leading venture capital firms, and extensive support systems. With a diverse range of investment sizes and scopes, the market is poised for significant growth. The future outlook remains positive, driven by innovation, government support, and a collaborative environment. As Canada continues to attract global investments and foster entrepreneurial talent, it stands to become a key player in the global startup landscape, contributing to advancements across various high-growth sectors.
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Montreal, Canada
Software (Web Marketplace Saas..) • Media • Retail (& E-Commerce) • Cosmetics (& Fashion) • HealthTech (& Fitness) • Gaming (& eSports) • Cloud Services (& Infrastructure) • Developer tools • Local commerce • Healthcare (& Wellness) • Online Social • Consumer
Partner Inovia Capital
Chris Arsenault serves as General Partner at iNovia Capital. He served as Advisor at Luge Capital. His focus areas are consumer internet, SaaS and e-commerce. Chris has been an early stage technology investor and entrepreneur for the past two decades. He was founder & CEO of SIT, which was acquired by Ubizen, and helped launch a series of tech companies; Copernic, Wanted, up2 and i5. Chris believes entrepreneurship is a "state of mind", not a title nor a profession. He is a board member of the CVCA, Reseau Capital, is Co-Chair of the CIX and is an active Charter Member of Silicon Valley based C100.
Palo Alto - California, U.S.A. - Global: U.S.A., Australia, Canada, Germany, U.K., Israel, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, Malta, Iceland
Software (Web Marketplace Saas..) • PropTech • Businesses Solutions • FinTech (& Financials services) • A.I. (& Big Data) • HealthTech (& Fitness) • Medical Devices (& Hospital Services) • Real Estate (& Construction) • Healthcare (& Wellness) • Mobility • Consumer
Anand Rajaraman serves as Co-Founding Partner & Vice President at Cambrian Ventures. Rajaraman also serves as Co-Founding Partner at Rocketship.vc. He also serves as Special Partner at Neotribe Ventures. He serves as Founding Partner at Cambrian Ventures. He also serves as a Co-Founding Partner at Milliways Ventures. He is a Founding Partner of @WalmartLabs and has served as a Senior Vice President. Prior to founding the firm in 2000, he was the Director of Technology at Amazon.com and was responsible for technology strategy and advanced technology initiatives. He helped launch the transformation of Amazon.com from a retailer into a retail platform, enabling third-party retailers to sell on Amazon.com's website. He came to Amazon.com in 1998 through the $250 million acquisition of Junglee that he co-founded. As the Chief Technology Officer, he played a key role in developing Junglee's award-winning Virtual Database technology. He has research and development experience at Stanford University, AT&T Bell Labs and Xerox PARC. He serves as a Consulting Assistant Professor at Stanford University's Computer Science Department. He has numerous publications, patents and awards at leading academic and industry foru He has been featured in articles in Business Week, the San Francisco Chronicle and other leading national publications. He obtained M.S. and Ph.D. in Computer Science from Stanford University and a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, where he won the President of India Gold Medal for graduating at the top of his class. He served as an Adviso and Board Member at ClearStory Data and is a board member at Gradiance. He serves as the board member at Transformic. He is also an Angel Investor.
San Francisco Bay Area - Toronto (Ontario) - California, U.S.A. - Canada
A.I. (& Big Data) • HealthTech (& Fitness) • Woman Focused
AI expert, entrepreneur and investor in world-changing ventures.
Dr. Barney Pell serves as Board Member at LocoMobi. He is a Board Member of Ecoation Innovative Solutions. He is an Associate Founder and serves as Advisor at Singularity University. He serves as a Board Member at Speak With Me. He is also a Co-Founder and serves as Chief Strategy Officer and Chairman at LocoMobi. He was the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of QuickPay. He was previously Co-Founder and CEO of Powerset. He is Co-Founder, Vice Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer of Moon Express, a private company building autonomous robotic lunar landers and is also Associate Founder and Trustee of Singularity University. Barney received his Ph.D. in computer science from Cambridge University, where he was a Marshall Scholar and his B.S. degree in Symbolic Systems from the Stanford University, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and was a National Merit Scholar.
Menlo Park - San Francisco Bay Area - California, U.S.A. - Global: U.S.A., Australia, Canada, Germany, U.K., Israel, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, Malta, Iceland
Businesses Solutions • Consumer
Partner at Sequoia Capital
San Francisco Bay Area, U.S.A. - Global: U.S.A., Australia, Canada, Germany, U.K., Israel, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, Malta, Iceland
BioTech • Businesses Solutions • A.I. (& Big Data) • DeepTech
Daniel Gross the founder of Greplin, a search engine. Greplin operated by linking together various online accounts into one search experience. For example, a customer could search their Facebook, Gmail and Dropbox accounts from one unified service without check each individually. In 2011, Greplin raised $4 million in funding from venture capital firm Sequoia Capital. Gross was one of Sequoia's youngest founders at the time. They introduced a premium offering at $5 a month, which allowed customers to link enterprise-facing services like Salesforce. In 2012 the company renamed itself to “Cue” and launched an additional predictive search features. In addition to search, Cue offered customers an automatic and intelligent agenda of their day. This included files, emails, addresses, phone numbers and more that were deemed algorithmically relevant. Cue was a similar product to Google Now. He is Y-Combinator's first Israeli.
San Francisco Bay Area, U.S.A. - Global: U.S.A., Australia, Canada, Germany, U.K., Israel, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, Malta, Iceland
Blockchain (& Cryptos) • Woman Focused
Most Interested In
I love creating something from nothing. Health and Wellness Productivity
Ottawa, U.S.A. - Canada
PropTech • Businesses Solutions • FinTech (& Financials services) • Hardware (& Manufacturing) • HealthTech (& Fitness) • Real Estate (& Construction)
Lance Laking serves as Senior Investment Director at MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund. Lance also serves as a Boartd Member of viscore. He is also a mentor, advisor and facilitator of Entrepreneurship Programs for MaRS Venture Services. In addition to MaRS, Lance is a member of the Board at Expertfile, and an active Angel Investor. Lance was recently Executive Chairman at Granite Networks where he lead the sale of the company to Rogers Communications. He previously served as President and CEO of BTI Systems where he was responsible for securing more than US$55M in growth capital (BTI acquired by Juniper Networks in January 2016). Prior to joining BTI, Lance founded the Canadian subsidiary of HUBER+SUHNER, a Swiss-based wireless and optical component manufacturer.
Washington D.C - Montreal Quebec Canada - Montreal Qc Canada, U.S.A.
Media • Businesses Solutions • Cosmetics (& Fashion) • IoT (& Wearables) • A.I. (& Big Data) • HealthTech (& Fitness) • Gaming (& eSports) • Analytics • Medical Devices (& Hospital Services) • Healthcare (& Wellness) • Online Social • Consumer
Partner at Real Ventures
Alan MacIntosh is a Co-Founder and serves as Partner at Real Ventures. He is also an Angel Investor.
He serves as Mentor and is a Co-Founder at FounderFuel. MacIntosh also serves as Managing Partner at Acta Wireless. MacIntosh has over 20 years of international business experience starting in oil exploration with Schlumberger. He later undertook a product management role with Hewlett-Packard, before joining Canada's Telesystem group in 1990, where he established TIW's mobile operations in eight countries including the UK where he managed operations for three years. Previously, he served as Board Member at Fabric Software. In 1997, Alan moved to sister company Microcell and co-founded GSM Capital, the first global wireless fund, backed by nine of the world's leading operators. Alan currently sits on the boards of WaveMetrix, Millennial Media, Cellfish Media and Montreal Start-up. A native of Scotland, he holds a BSc (Hons) in Offshore Engineering from Heriot-Watt University and MBA from INSEAD.
London - New York - San Francisco Bay Area, U.S.A. - Canada - U.K.
Software (Web Marketplace Saas..) • Businesses Solutions • FinTech (& Financials services) • A.I. (& Big Data) • Food & Beverage • Woman Focused
General Partner at Acronym Venture Capital
Most Interested In
Rubicon invests in mobile, big data, Enterprise Saas, FinTech, Hospitality Tech, Insurance Tech, B2B, B2C, AI&ML, PropTech and Direct to consumer companies
Not Interested In
We do not invest in MUSH: Municipality, Utility, Schools or Hospitals. No Edtech, no Healthcare, no energy of any kind & nothing highly regulated.
Joshua Siegel serves as General Partner at Rubicon Venture Capital. As General Partner - New York, Joshua leads Rubicon's New York office and oversees the day to day activities and operations of Rubicon including evaluating early stage technology companies seeking funding, assisting current portfolio companies with development and interaction with our angels, attracting LP capital, and development of our network. Joshua has extensive experience and connections in technology, real estate, luxury lifestyle brands, digital media, and consumer products. Previously, Siegel acted as a General Partner at Georgetown Angels, a global angel investment group he cofounded with Andrew Romans. He was also an early stage strategic advisor for startups and real estate concerns, and board member of The Founders Club, a venture capital equity exchange fund and broker of secondaries providing liquidity to entrepreneurs and early investors. Formerly CEO of Professional Connection Resources, an enterprise level marketing system for the legal community, Manager Eastern European Banking Systems at Citibank, Director of Market Intelligence at Citicorp Debt Capital Markets. Siegel received his BA degree from Boston University in Economics and Business Administration and received his MBA from Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business in Finance and Entrepreneurship in 2000
Miami Beach - New York - Florida, U.S.A. - Canada - Germany
Businesses Solutions • HealthTech (& Fitness) • Healthcare (& Wellness)
Founder and CEO
Jason Goldberg serves as Board Member at Crew. He serves as Chief Executive Officer at OST. Goldberg Co-Founded and served as Chief Executive Officer at Pepo. He previously founded consumer Internet companies Hem.com, Fab.com, Social Median, and Jobster and led strategy and product teams for T-Mobile and AOL. Before his career in business, his first startup was Bill Clinton's campaign for President of the U.S.A. in 1992, which carried Jason to a six-year stint in the White House. He currently splits his time between Berlin, Germany
New York, U.S.A. - Canada - Mexico
AgroTech • A.I. (& Big Data) • Blockchain (& Cryptos) • Analytics • Cloud Services (& Infrastructure) • Developer tools
Most Interested In
SaaS, B2B, B2SMB, B2E
Not Interested In
Crypto
Toronto (Ontario) - San Francisco Bay Area - California, U.S.A. - Canada
Software (Web Marketplace Saas..) • Businesses Solutions • FinTech (& Financials services) • Sales (& Marketing) • A.I. (& Big Data) • Blockchain (& Cryptos) • Cloud Services (& Infrastructure) • Online Social • Woman Focused
Seed Stage Investor and Past Founder (investor in Flexport, Boom Supersonic, Mattermost, ObserveAI, NURX, and more)
Mr. Yuri Sagalov is the Founder and serves as Managing Partner at Wayfinder Ventures. Mr. Sagalov serves as Venture Advisor at Spider Capital. He Co-founded and served as Chief Executive Officer at AeroFS. He also served as Partner at Y Combinator. He also served as Chief Executive Officer at Redbooth.
