Startupfest 2016 - Evidence of a great Canadian tech ecosystem

A decade ago, there was little chance that the Canadian tech landscape could have sustained Startupfest, and certainly not on the scale that this annual gathering in Montreal (of tech entrepreneurs, founders, investors and mentors) has matured into.

Having made the pilgrimage to the sixth annual version of this event last week, I came away more convinced than ever that everything being done in support of start-ups in Canada is working and working well. Startupfest and its organizers (most notably founder Phil Telio), all the sponsors and volunteers deserve big thanks for creating a solid event.

I heard plenty of pitches at Startupfest, and I was impressed by so many of them. Regardless of the stage they’re at, these start-ups not only have a clear mission and passion for their project, but they’re also able to communicate what they're bringing to market and identify their promised product-market fit early in the pitch.

The Next Challenge:

As well as we've done incubating and nurturing start-ups, the next challenge facing us is to provide similar levels of support to those businesses entering the scale-up, growth stages. In recent years, we've seen many examples of companies needing to look to the US or elsewhere to secure Series B+ funding. Most of the recent later stage funding for Canadian tech companies has the price set by and is being led by US money — with occasional Canadian groups jumping in but typically not leading.

Last week, Betakit announced that Bruce Croxon, founder of Lavalife and now managing partner of Round 13 capital, has raised $35 million for Round 13’s Founders Fund—focused on growth stage IT companies.

“There’s a lot of early stage money. It isn’t difficult to get a $200,000 cheque out of Angel groups,” Croxon said. “There’s a lot of early stage support but when companies start to prove something and they need a larger cheque, the capital dries up.”

Let's build on the great momentum from last week's successful Startupfest and push that energy up-market a bit to help these growing companies stay in Canada while reaching bigger markets and achieving their potential as future substantial employers and economic engines for Canada.