12 Top Startups in Canada 2024

Every year, new startups pull to the forefront of their industry through exciting innovation and industry-disrupting business models. We’ve rounded up the best startups in Canada of 2024 that startup lovers, investors, and aspiring entrepreneurs should follow. 

Disclaimer: With so many exciting startups launching and growing worldwide, we aren’t able to cover them all. Furthermore, the startups that are listed below are not officially ranked and are listed in no particular order.

• Industry: Fintech, Real Estate, Financial Services
• Founders: Chase Belair, Damien Charbonneau, Karim Benabdallah, Malik Yacoubi
• Founded In: 2018
• Funding: $151.4 Million
• Investors Include: Portage Ventures, BMO Capital Markets, Diagram Venture

Nesto wants to make it easier for all Canadians to afford a mortgage. They’ve been pioneering the real estate and financial services industry for the last five years by empowering everyday folks to take their home-buying experience into their own hands stress-free. Their proprietary Mortgage Cloud software helps lenders improve their operations and streamline the application process by offering a transparent and seamless financing experience. 

• Industry: Artificial Intelligence, Software 
• Founders: Aidan Gomez, Ivan Zhang, Nick Frosst
• Founded In: 2019
• Funding: $434.9 Million
• Investors Include: Index Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, Alumni Ventures, Oracle

Cohere provides access to affordable, easy-to-deploy large language models by giving their computers the ability to read and write. Their ultimate goal is to successfully build machines that understand our world in order to make it safely accessible for everyone. Whether it’s to better understand your customers or help a company create compelling copy to get their point across, one could say that they’re making the world a better place, one supercomputer at a time. 

• Industry: Cybersecurity, Information Technology 
• Founders: N/A
• Founded In: 2021
• Funding: $4 Million CAD ($2.9 Million USD) 
• Investors Include: Leen Li, Jeff Fettes, Annette Verschuren, The Firehood, BKR Capital

Protexxa is providing businesses with cutting-edge cybersecurity technology to help them better protect their company’s greatest assets. According to their website, 90% of cyberattacks are caused by human error; Protexxa’s B2B cybersecurity platform utilizes artificial intelligence to “identify, evaluate, predict, and resolve cyber issues for employees.”  With this amazing tech backing up any company, cyberattacks will soon become a thing of the past. 

• Industry: Animation/Art, Film Production, Media and Entertainment
• Founders: Jonathan Bronfman, Lon Molnar, Matthew Panousis
• Founded In: 2018 
• Funding: $6.5 Million CAD ($4.7 Million USD) 
• Investors Include: Rhino Ventures, Harlo Equity Partners, Jake Cassady, John Cassady

Monsters Aliens Robots Zombies (aka “MARZ”) is revolutionizing the visual effects side of film production. With their proprietary AI solutions, MARZ is bringing incredible renderings to televisions all over the country, from lip-dubs to de-aging, wig and costume fixes, and more. They have notable credits under their belt, like HBO’s “Watchmen,” Marvel’s “WandaVision,” and Netflix’s “Wednesday,” and it’s easy to see why Hollywood has taken an interest in their tech to bring their stories to life. 

• Industry: Big Data, Quantum Computing, Software
• Founders: Christian Weedbrook 
• Founded In: 2016
• Funding: $265.5 Million
• Investors Include: Bessemer Venture Partners, Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF), Pegasus Tech Ventures

Since its inception, Xanadu has strived to bring quantum computing on-demand in order to best service the future needs of society in the most effective way. Because quantum computing is the way of the future, they want to build computers that are available and useful to everyone, everywhere. 

Today, Xanadu is advancing the industry through the development of PennyLane, an open-source, leading software library project among quantum researchers and developers, as well as the Xanadu Quantum Cloud (XQC) service and the Strawberry Fields application library. 

• Industry: Autonomous Vehicles, Artificial Intelligence, Transportation
• Founders: Raquel Urtasun
• Founded In: 2021
• Funding: $100 Million CAD ($73.1 Million USD)
• Investors Include: Volvo Group Venture Capital, BDC Capital’s Women in Technology Venture Fund, Golden Ventures

Waabi is a cutting-edge, woman-owned startup that’s taking self-driving vehicles to the next level through artificial intelligence. This startup focuses specifically on self-driving semi trucks. Their self-driving system, Waabi Driver, is a low-cost, flexible, and virtual environment that reduces the need to test drive miles in the real world. Founder Raquel Urtasun believes that self-driving vehicles are one of the most “exciting and important technologies of our generation. Once solved at scale, it will change the world as we know it.”

• Industry: Blockchain, Media and Entertainment
• Founders: Scott Martin, Jordan Castro, Evan Keast 
• Founded In: 2021
• Funding: $54 Million
• Investors Include: Seven Seven Six, FTX Ventures, 10T Holdings, Acrew Capital

Who doesn’t love a little bit of color? Doodles is an NFT and animation company that is guaranteed to bring a smile to your face. Join along on the adventures of Hap and Mello, Doodles’ proprietary characters. Created by Scott Martin, aka “Burnt Toast,” the Doodles universe is creating state-of-the-art digital experiences that are engaging and, ultimately, fun. They also operate something called the Inkubator, which is a community-based treasury that funds upstart ideas from its collectors, ultimately giving the community a say in how the Doodles brand expands.

• Industry: Software, Construction
• Founders: Lauren Lake, Mallorie Brodie
• Founded In: 2014
• Funding: $41.9 Million
• Investors Include: CBIC Innovation Banking, Storm Ventures, Autodesk, StandUp Ventures

Bridgit is a workforce intelligence and planning tool for the construction industry. Their ultimate goal is to help the construction industry maximize their profits by implementing a people-first approach, meaning that companies who implement Bridgit into their workforce will see actionable steps taken to improve the company’s strategic business decisions. 

Women-owned and created, Bridgit is the first of its kind. With several digital integrations to choose from, construction companies will no doubt find the solution they’ve been seeking in order to keep their business running smoothly.

• Industry: Mobile Payments, Fintech, Financial Services
• Founders: Daniel Eberhard, Jonathan Bixby, Joshua Bixby, Mike Benna
• Founded In: 2014
• Funding: $278.9 Million 
• Investors Include: Portage Ventures, TTV Capital, Eldridge, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan, Business Development Bank of Canada

KOHO Financial is bringing a new approach to on-the-go banking.  Its platform helps users complete their day-to-day banking operations while offering helpful tools such as goals, cash flow projections, group spending, spending insights, and categorizations so users can better manage their money on their own time. Trusted by over 1 million Canadians, it’s easy to see why KOHO is the way to go. 

• Industry: Healthcare
• Founders: Emma Stern, Kyle Zien
• Founded In: 2019
• Funding: $31.4 Million CAD ($22.9 Million USD)
• Investors Include: BDC Capital’s Women in Technology Venture Fund, Whitecap Venture Partners, Canadian Business Growth Fund

Felix Health is offering on-demand healthcare treatment for Canadians everywhere. Their digital healthcare platform provides seamless access to medication through online diagnoses and delivery, making it a fast and effective way for patients to get the care they need without jumping through countless hoops to do so. From mental health to sexual wellness and general prescriptions, Felix Health is created for the modern human with modern solutions.  

• Industry: Fashion, Manufacturing
• Founders: Andy Wang, Tony Yu
• Founded In: 2018
• Funding: $2.1 Million
• Investors Include: Crowdfunding 

Vessi is a “footwear manufacturing company and a water-hating, moisture-riding shoe that is freakishly light.” Their goal was to create a shoe that could be worn in any climate or weather and at any time. With 100% waterproof shoes, Vessi successfully created a stylish, optimal piece of footwear that men, women, and children can wear for years to come. There are plenty of styles and colors to choose from, so you can (literally) put your best foot forward. 

• Industry: Financial Services, Fintech
• Founders: Andrew Chau, Jeff Adamson, Kris Read
• Founded In: 2019
• Funding: $235.8 Million
• Investors Include: Valar Ventures, Manitoba, Knollwood Investment Advisory, Altos Ventures, Tribe Capital

Neo Financial poses the question, “What if the future of banking wasn’t a bank?” They offer a brand new credit card designed to help users save. Backed by the MasterCard network, as well as several financial institutions throughout Canada, Neo Financial offers a new way to save with their Neo Savings Account, a CDIC-backed account that includes deposit protection. Other offerings include Neo Mortgage, Neo Credit, and even Neo Invest, further taking the future of banking to the next level. 

Recommended: Check out our full list of the top startups to watch!

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