Canada

Montréal

MEMBERS:

OSMO Real Investment Management Inc. Ville de Montréal École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS)

Startups are at the heart of Montreal’s entrepreneurial sector. They are a powerful lever for the economic development of our metropolis.

Ecosystem by the Numbers

EARLY-STAGE FUNDING

$525 m

GLOBAL AVG.

$687 m

ECOSYSTEM VALUE

$8.7 bn

GLOBAL AVG.

$28.6 bn

MEDIAN SEED ROUND

$762 k

GLOBAL AVG.

$671 k

MEDIAN SERIES A ROUND

$5 m

GLOBAL AVG.

$4.7 m

SOFT. ENGINEER SALARY

$55 k

GLOBAL AVG.

$46 k

Life Sciences

Greater Montreal has 620 organizations, +150 research centers, 11 post-secondary institutions, and 80 multinational subsidiaries, many of which collaborate via open Innovation programs and AI-driven public-private partnerships. Scientific and clinical research received $118M in provincial funding, while NÉOMED Innovation Center received a $25M investment. Notable activity includes the acquisition of Clementia Pharma for $1.3B(after its IPO in 2017), the IPO of Milestone Pharmaceuticals’ ($468M), and the $82.5M Series B round for Repare Therapeutics’ $82.5M.

AI, Big Data & Analytics

Headquartered in Montreal are AI-powered supply chain hub SCALE AI, the world’s largest academic research center in deep learning MILA, and the Institute for Data Valorization IVADO. Greater Montreal has 7 AI accelerators, 9 research centers, and 17 corporate labs (7 new last year). AI contributes to the strength of Montreal’s robotics, advanced manufacturing, MedTech, and mobility sectors. A new $250M AI-fund was created by CDPQ. Local startups Element.ai, Stradigi.ai, Alaya Care, and Dialogue raised a combined $468M.

Reasons to Move Your Startup to Montréal

A place to be

Greater Montreal is the most affordable major city in North America and the best-ranked student city in the Americas.

COVID-19 Policy

The federal-funded IAP ($250M grants) and the BCAP interest-free loans (max $40K) aimed to support $10K early stage startups. Provincially, the Quebec government launched PACTE and PACME to access loans of min $50K, and to cover training expenses, respectively. Montreal also unlocked an emergency fund for retail businesses, social economy, creative and cultural industries and tourism sectors.

Export hub

Canada is the only country that has free trade agreements with all G7 countries and 38% of local startups export internationally.

Funding

There are 7 new investment funds ($876M total), $33M for PME MTL, and $3.75M for the ecosystem leader Bonjour Startup Montreal. Montreal’s unicorn, Lightspeed POS Inc., IPO'd in.