Montreal, with its continually rising influx of capital and number of startups, has staked its claim as a tech city. According to a recent report from Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association, the province of Quebec received $693 million in venture capital in the past year; most of these spoils went to the city’s burgeoning startup scene.
Big incubators like Y Combinator and Techstars have flirted with the Montreal market by funding several late-stage startups in the last two years, but they have not opened their doors in the city. This hasn’t stopped homegrown incubators and venture capitalists like Flow Ventures or Technoparc in maintaining a healthy ecosystem. Another incubator, such as District 3 of Concordia University, has bridged the gap between the academia and business worlds.
Cory Wang, who runs operations at the accelerator Founder Institute, believes in the benefits of offering expertise and insight that is tailored to each startup. The program has been an important first step for entrepreneurs who have gone on to later stage incubators such as Y Combinator, 500 Startups, and Techstars.
“Founding a startup is a fundamentally stressful thing to do, so sharing space with other people who are engaged in a similar process is really helpful,” says Matt Fogel, founder of Fuzzy.io, an early stage artificial intelligence startup.
Nonprofit WearHacks has become a wearable technology creators’ playground in Montreal. Over the last few years, it’s had successful traveling hackathons and workshops for hundreds of makers, tweakers, and tinkerers in cities across the world. They want to help build communities that will foster mentorship and provide technologies to make wearable technology accessible to everyone.
Ari Ramdial, WearHacks’ executive director, explains the value of these physical spaces in the city. For creators and entrepreneurs, capital is always a welcomed boon, but it’s really about the connections. “Capital is rocket fuel, but the real value is mentorship,” says Ramdial.
Ramdial attributes some dynamism in Montreal to the schools in the area. Between McGill University, Concordia University, and the Université du Québec à Montréal, a stream of talent is constantly available for companies. Upwards of 1,000 startups, in turn, would have a constant need for space, mentorship, collaboration, and capital.
Fogel also agrees. “As a city births a larger number of successful startups, the founders and early employees of those startups will often become advisors and angel investors.”