The startup picture in Ottawa

Ottawa has real funded-company depth, but outside capital reaches a minority. Of 5655 tracked companies, 526 have ever raised outside money, while 180 are currently recorded as having raised funding. Venture activity is established here without defining the whole business landscape.

Startups in Ottawa - Funding, Founders & Investors

Everything startup in one place: who's building, how the landscape clusters, the people and investors behind it, and whether the capital is real.

Epocal

Precision Medicine Digital Health Platform

est. 2001 · 53,865 staff · raised outside money

Imant Lauks — CEO & Founder

The Ottawa Hospital

Importer and supplier of quality wood-based panel products

est. 1998 · 8,044 staff · raised outside money

Jack Kitts — CEO & President

Nortel

Nortel's Legacy Telecom Equipment

est. 1994 · 4,726 staff · raised outside money

Gary Daichendt — CEO

National Research Council Canada

Official research council of Canada

est. 1916 · 4,526 staff · raised outside money

Charles Kingsley — Co-Founder & CEO

Export Development Canada

Exporting:Assessing Company Growth Ability

est. 1944 · 3,118 staff · raised outside money

Mairead Lavery — CEO & President

N-able

Cloud-based MSP Management Platform

est. 2000 · 1,567 staff · raised outside money

Gavin Garbutt — Co-Founder

Mark Scott — Co-Founder

Minto

Provider of property and home builder development services

est. 1955 · 1,036 staff · raised outside money

Michael Waters — CEO & Director

Titus

Fortra's Data Classification Suite: Secure Data Protection

est. 2005 · 1,000 staff · raised outside money

Tim Upton — Co-Founder & CEO · BBA St. Francis Xavier University

Charlie Pulfer — ex-Co-Founder

E

Provider of car dealership services

est. 2017 · 912 staff · raised outside money

JASON MCCLENAHAN — Chief Executive Officer

DMITRY VODIANSKY — Founder

Mitel

Cloud-based Unified Communications Platform

est. 1973 · 750 staff · raised outside money

Richard McBee — President & CEO

Edgewater Wireless

Spectrum Slicing Wi-Fi Solutions

est. 1988 · 683 staff · raised outside money

Andrew Skafel — CEO & President

Hydro Ottawa

Hydro Ottawa Digital Service Enhancements

est. 2000 · 680 staff · raised outside money

Bryce Conrad — CEO & President

Skate Canada

National Figure Skating Development Program

est. 1887 · 664 staff · raised outside money

Debra Armstrong — CEO

Louis Rubenstein — Founder

Solace

Real-time event-driven data integration platform

est. 2001 · 537 staff · raised outside money

Haris Khan — Founder

Craig Betts — Founder & Director · BS Queen’s University

Inflector

Provider of mould & site remediation, lead abatement, and demolition services

est. 1994 · 500 staff · raised outside money

Jeffrey W Clarke — Founder & CEO

Kinaxis

Supply chain management solutions for agility and predictability

est. 1995 · 500 staff · raised outside money

John Sicard — President and CEO

TechInsights

Samsung: Leading Tech Giant in Semiconductor Production

est. 1989 · 450 staff · raised outside money

John Day — CEO

Halogen Software

Integrated Cloud Talent Management Platform

est. 2001 · 450 staff · raised outside money

Paul Loucks — Ex-President and CEO

Michael Slaunwhite — Co-Founder

Meriton Capitals

Optical networking products

est. 2000 · 441 staff · raised outside money

Mike Pascoe — CEO

March Networks

Video surveillance solutions for businesses to enhance security and profitability

est. 2000 · 431 staff · raised outside money

Peter Strom — CEO & President · Bachelor of Arts McGill

Government of Canada

Government of Canada Policy Development

est. 1867 · 407 staff · raised outside money

Gareth Jones — Senior Managing Director · MBA Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University

Meazure Learning

Provides exam security and identity management services for educational institutions

est. 2019 · 407 staff · raised outside money

Scott McFarland — CEO

Fullscript

Online integrative medicine platform

est. 1995 · 251 staff · raised outside money

Chris Wise — Co-Founder

Brad Dyment — Co-Founder @ Fullscript

You.i TV

Enterprise Video App Platform for Multi-Device Engagement

est. 2008 · 219 staff · raised outside money

Jason Flick — Ex-Co-Founder & CEO

Stuart Russell — Co-Founder & CTO

cluster · 1178 companies

Business Services

150 founded since 2018 · 43 funded

Sub-themes

it services · 257marketing services · 225hr services · 133management consulting services · 117legal services · 62facility management services · 55

e.g. canadian forces, Global Affairs Canada, Calian

cluster · 569 companies

Enterprise Applications

139 founded since 2018 · 86 funded

Sub-themes

hrtech · 101marketingtech · 92saas · 89enterprise software · 89enterprise collaboration · 39legal tech · 27

e.g. statistics canada, Titus, Mitel

cluster · 561 companies

Consumer

117 founded since 2018 · 43 funded

Sub-themes

professional consumer services · 133b2c e-commerce · 67fashion tech · 56sports services · 43local services · 38logistics tech · 32

e.g. giant tiger, Canada Soccer, Catholic Christian Outreach

cluster · 426 companies

Real Estate And Construction

54 founded since 2018 · 8 funded

Sub-themes

real estate brokers · 86building materials · 58real estate & infrastructure developers · 54facility management services · 35property management services · 31construction contractors · 30

e.g. Modernniagara, Minto, Richcraft

cluster · 350 companies

Healthcare

55 founded since 2018 · 14 funded

Sub-themes

clinics · 49rehabilitation and long-term care · 44clinic chains · 39services for healthcare providers · 32healthcare associations · 24cannabis brands and retailers · 21

e.g. The Ottawa Hospital, Canadian Blood Services, Cheo

cluster · 284 companies

Retail

112 founded since 2018 · 32 funded

Sub-themes

fashion tech · 57beauty tech · 26e-commerce enablers · 24b2c e-commerce · 24cannabis brands and retailers · 19horizontal e-commerce · 19

e.g. Shopify, Costco, giant tiger

cluster · 224 companies

High Tech

59 founded since 2018 · 47 funded

Sub-themes

security & surveillance technology · 32artificial intelligence · 27iot applications · 24deep tech · 19drones · 18wearable technology · 17

e.g. March Networks, Solink, GaN Systems

cluster · 185 companies

Consumer Goods

45 founded since 2018 · 10 funded

Sub-themes

food & beverage products · 37beauty & personal care products · 25alcoholic beverage products · 19home furnishing products · 17apparel brands · 17baby & kids products · 10

e.g. Dairy Farmers of Canada, Lee Valley Tools, Bridgehead

cluster · 184 companies

Nonprofits

15 founded since 2018 · 12 funded

Sub-themes

foundations · 106clubs and associations · 78air management services · 2hr services · 1green buildings · 1services for investment industry · 1

e.g. canadian red cross, scouts canada, world university service of canada (wusc-eumc)

cluster · 181 companies

Healthtech

61 founded since 2018 · 31 funded

Sub-themes

healthcare it · 61fitness & wellness tech · 38disease self management · 26healthcare booking platforms · 15wearable technology · 14assistive tech · 14

e.g. Fullscript, coughlin, T-Base Communications

Founder & Background	Role	Company
Jack Kitts University of Ottawa 1980	CEO & President	The Ottawa Hospital
Gavin Garbutt VIPSoftware, The Hot Plate	Co-Founder	N-able
Mark Scott TUC Managed IT Solutions	Co-Founder	N-able
Tim Upton Timber Corp, ex- Entrust, St. Francis Xavier University BBA	Co-Founder & CEO	Titus
Stephane Charbonneau Titus, ex-Helpsystems, ex-Titus Consulting, University of Waterloo, 1994	Co-Founder & CTO	Titus
JASON MCCLENAHAN Eblock, ex-Traderev, ex-Adesa	Chief Executive Officer	E
Andrew Skafel Edgewater Wireless Systems, ex-Ruralfone, ex-Natural Convergence, OMNES Education, 2005	CEO & President	Edgewater Wireless
Debra Armstrong Ex-CEO MBNA, TD, Blake, Cassels & Graydon, Kelly, Howard, Santini. Carleton University BCom 1987, University of Ottawa LLB 1990	CEO	Skate Canada
Haris Khan 24seven, ex-Gold Coast Music	Founder	Solace
Craig Betts Queen’s University BS	Founder & Director	Solace
Denis King Solace, ex-Solace Systems, ex-Newbridgealcatel, University of New Brunswick, 1999	Chief Executive Officer	Solace
Jeffrey W Clarke Inflector Environmental Services, Saint Mary's University, 2014	Founder & CEO	Inflector
John Sicard Kinaxis, ex-Orthofix, ex-Fastman, Harvard Business School, 2015	President and CEO	Kinaxis
John Day Flying Media, ex-Techinsights, ex-Ubm Global Trade	CEO	TechInsights
Paul Loucks ex-Halogen Software, Whitehill Technologies Education Technical University of Nova Scotia	Ex-President and CEO	Halogen Software
Michael Slaunwhite Open Text, ex-Corel, Carleton University, 1984	Co-Founder	Halogen Software
Peter Strom Zighra, ex-CEO Gyyr, Mosler Safe. McGill University - Faculty of Arts BA, Concordia University MBA	CEO & President	March Networks
Gareth Jones Government of Canada, ex-Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Merrill Lynch, Lazard. Dartmouth College Northwestern University - Kellogg	Senior Managing Director	Government of Canada
Chris Wise Kahi, ex-Nation's Capital Flag Football, Murmur Informatics.	Co-Founder	Fullscript
Brad Dyment Bit, ex-Emagine, ex-Simple Story Videos, Carleton University, 2007	Co-Founder @ Fullscript	Fullscript

backgrounds shown where available

193 investors are on record backing Ottawa companies. The most committed:

Most active — backed 2+ companies

BDC

Wesley Clover

FedDev Ontario

3Europa

3Canadian Space Agency

3National Research Council Canada

3Alacrity

3MaRS IAF

3Ontario Centre of Innovation

3L-Spark

2MMV Financial

2Covington Capital

Institutional

Alacrity · accelerator / incubatorMaRS IAF · VC fundL-Spark · accelerator / incubatorCovington Capital · VC fundTechnoCap · VC fundRamen Ventures · VC fundScaleUP Ventures · VC fundMistral · VC fundInvest Ottawa · accelerator / incubatorGenesys Capital · VC fundVenVest Capital · VC fundCanadian Technology Accelerator · accelerator / incubatorGE Equity · VC fundHerald Investment Management · VC fund+ 49 more

Private & corporate backers

BDCWesley CloverFedDev OntarioEuropaCanadian Space AgencyNational Research Council CanadaOntario Centre of InnovationMMV FinancialCPP InvestmentsHarbourVest Partners+ 120 more

hover a name to see who they backed

Funded startups — peer cities

Ottawa

526

Edmonton

349

Quebec City

276

224Hamilton

127Winnipeg

Companies that have raised

Company	Industry	Rounds	Latest Round	Founded
Telesat	telecommunications	9	2022-04	1962
Minto	real estate	1	2015-07	1955
Diablo Technologies	semiconductors	6	2016-08	2003
BelAir Networks	wireless	6	2007-12	2002
PBC Group	investment management	3	2014-12	1956
Iogen	renewables & environment	3	2007-06	1974
Meriton Capitals	mechanical or industrial engineering	1	2005-06	2000
Fellow	computer software	2	2021-10	2018
Sidense	semiconductors	5	2012-11	2004
TenXc Wireless	telecommunications	2	2004-12	2001
Bitaccess	financial software	2	2014-06	2005
Dairy Farmers of Canada	dairy	1	2023-07	1934
Tarian Software	computer hardware	2	2001-11	1999
LiveQoS	computer software	3	2013-11	2004
inBay Tech	computer & network security	3	2018-02	2009
Mitel	telecommunications	8	2018-12	1973
reDock	computer software	1	2019-02	2016
LiveWell Foods	retail	1	2017-02	2015
Spaceium	oil & energy	1	2024-07	2022
Treehouse	hospital & health care	1	2021-04	2019
Interset	computer & network security	2	2016-06	2002
Sielo Robotics	medical devices	0	2026-03	2015
GrowBots	marketing and advertising	0	2023-11	2023
360pi	information technology and services	3	2013-08	2009
3DAiLY	computer games	1	2024-07	2016

round amounts sparse for tier-3 cities — counts shown, dollar totals withheld

Company	Industry	Founded	Employees
Deep AI Chat	computer software	2025	—
RingTide	telecommunications	2025	—
Answer Flow AI	telecommunications	2025	—
True North Capital	financial services	2025	—
Backboard	computer software	2025	—
Bajaj Ventures	electrical equipment	2025	—
Blackrose Finbitnex AI	financial services	2025	—
CalvenRidge Trust	financial services	2025	—
Sparling Agentic	telecommunications	2025	—
Defend the Dominion	defense & space	2025	—
PanoScape	computer software	2025	7
Platinum Posh	consumer goods	2025	—
DSP-Eclipsys	information technology and services	2025	—
EdgeKube	computer software	2025	—
Viverlink Networks	computer networking	2025	—
Frugal	computer software	2025	—
GaiaLink	information technology and services	2025	—
Mazda	automotive	2025	—
CBC/Radio	online media	2024	—
Marketnex	marketing and advertising	2024	—

The startup picture in Ottawa

Epocal

The Ottawa Hospital

Nortel

National Research Council Canada

Export Development Canada

N-able

Minto

Titus

E

Mitel

Edgewater Wireless

Hydro Ottawa

Skate Canada

Solace

Inflector

Kinaxis

TechInsights

Halogen Software

Meriton Capitals

March Networks

Government of Canada

Meazure Learning

Fullscript

You.i TV

Business Services

Enterprise Applications

Consumer

Real Estate And Construction

Healthcare

Retail

High Tech

Consumer Goods

Nonprofits

Healthtech

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