Montreal’s secret of success: It’s young, diverse, and growing

Montreal is about to hit the big leagues. From the cluster of hip startups in the Mile End area to the crop of collaborative workspaces springing up around the city, from the university-run incubators to the ever-growing selection of networking events, it’s definitely getting noticed.

“If Montreal was a startup, it would be in its Series A,” says David Nault, principal at iNovia Partners, a venture capital firm in the city. “We’re experiencing acceleration, but are still figuring things out.”

For a startup, a Series A represents validation and growth. For a city, it means progress and expanding appeal. Montreal isn’t Canada’s biggest magnet for startup companies—that honor still goes to the much larger city of Toronto—but it’s growing. The reason? A diverse community, an ample supply of students, and an infrastructure that encourages new companies.

Philippe Telio, founder of Montreal’s International Startup Festival, says the growth has been phenomenal. Since the festival started in 2011, the number of participants has continued to expand.

“When we started, startups numbered in the hundreds. Now, in the thousands,” says Telio. “The city has gained a lot of confidence in the last five years.”

This confidence has translated into a greater presence worldwide. Last year, Montreal cleared the threshold to become number 20 in the top 20 global startup ecosystems, a ranking compiled by Compass, a provider of software for startups and tech companies. According to Inc., Montreal is one of 16 startup hubs to watch in 2016.

Montreal’s Secret of Success: It’s Young, Diverse, and Growing

It may be easy to point to the corporate tax credits and relative affordability of Montreal as reasons why startups have flourished in the city, but while these are certainly undeniable advantages, those who work within the ecosystem describe something much more vibrant and organic.

“What’s unique about Montreal? The word that comes to mind is ‘multi’ — multicultural, multidisciplinary, multi-ethnic . . . I could go on,” says Xavier-Henri Hervé, executive director of Concordia University’s District 3 Innovation Center, an incubator for startups in the city.

Indeed, Montreal has always been a fusion of different influences — of French and English, European and Canadian, contemporary and traditional, all while epitomizing the cultural diversity that is the hallmark of Canadian cities.

Put all this “multi-ness” in a metropolitan area that is the second largest in Canada and the second in the world for number of students per capita, and what you get is golden conditions for breeding startups. McGill University is here, as is the University of Montreal.

“In any startup system you need youth, and in Montreal, we have always had a young population with great knowledge and great skills,” says Hervé.

Their ideas and enthusiasm have fueled the system.

“We’ve caught the startup bug,” says Matthew Bruna, the native Montreal founder of one-year-old studEtree, a mobile used textbooks marketplace for students. “The kinds of startups you get are impacted by the city you are operating in, and in Montreal, the ideas come from all over the world.”

But it’s clear that even as the ecosystem and the startups within it has developed, the common passion within the community here remains Montreal, the city itself. There is an ultimate, overarching goal — that of putting the city on the map and everyone is in on it.

Montreal’s Secret of Success: It’s Young, Diverse, and Growing

“Montreal is a passionate city. We really have this going for it,” says Philip Cutler, founder of GradeSlam, a tutoring platform. “And when we are passionate, we don’t hold back.”

“People who would compete elsewhere work together here,” says Telio, who uses the words cohesive, generous, and engaged to describe the city’s startup ecosystem. “Right now, we’re the perfect size — not too big, not too small — everyone knows each other and supports one another.”

No wonder the city has seen a sharp increase in the number of collaborative workspaces. WeWork is opening a new office in Place Ville Marie in March. It’s the company’s first space in Canada.

Insiders don’t see the city replicating Silicon Valley. Rather, Montreal will have its own DNA, one that favors shared spaces, tight-knit networks, and open resources.

“We are aiming for critical mass, in what I call beehives — of people, of resources, and of startups. It will create even more energy and momentum than what we have now,” says Nault.

“The importance of shared spaces and events is unequivocal. When you put smart, like-minded people together in a room, it will elevate the whole community,” says Telio.

Though whatever the final product of Montreal, the Startup City, will be, there’s a sense that right now it is already the place to be — a city that is still discovering its own potential, and at the same time, full of ambition.

Photo Credit: Lauren Kallen

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