2024-03-04
Discover our updated map of the Montreal startup ecosystem
by Startup Montréal
15 January 2024
15 January 2024
This map is a tool for visualizing the resources and players in the ecosystem in Montreal. It was developed in 2019 to offer a global and macro vision and help startups better orient themselves in the ecosystem, through a simple visualization tool.
👉 Consult the map in dynamic format or in pdf format.
On the one hand, we hadn’t done a real update since the launch of Startup Montréal in February 2022. On the other hand, the ecosystem is evolving and becoming more diversified, and we’re looking to offer the most relevant resources for our audiences, in the best possible formats. Finally, to make the PDF map even more valuable, links to websites have been added.
We have clarified the type of organizations we focused on in the map:
We have also given priority to free resources.
The Event category has been merged with the Media category and updated to focus on events with an international scope. Also, we have an up-to-date events calendar on our website. We also highlight events regularly in LinkedIn publications.
The Talent category, which includes training courses and universities, has been removed, as another Talent map is under construction for next year, with more targeted and less general resources. Resources such as the recruitment strategy guide have already been available since September 2023 (in French only).
We’ve added a section entitled “Collaborative research and technology transfer“. Indeed, there are several organizations offering support for collaborative innovation and technology transfer. This can take the form of support for commercialization or bringing university research results to another level. Collaborative research is a partnership between one or more companies and a public or educational research center, with the aim of meeting a company’s need for innovation. It brings together researchers, entrepreneurs and stakeholders interested in the same issue, around the different aspects of an innovation. For example: creating a new product, a new component, a technology, an algorithm, solving a problem, developing a new process, a social innovation, developing knowledge, etc.
The funding section includes venture capital financing, institutional funds, financial institutions, socio-financing, networks and non-profit programs. For more detailed information, consult the capital network directory.
Incubators offer support, training and mentoring programs for startups that are generally in the pre-startup and startup phases.
Accelerators offer mentoring-based growth acceleration programs lasting several months. Startups participating in these programs are in the expansion phase, have some experience in the market and have a product ready to be commercialized or marketable in the short term and on a large scale.
In this map, accelerators and incubators are distinguished from support organizations, which offer entrepreneurs services such as mentoring, guidance, access to growth or travel grants on a one-off or ongoing basis.
Coworking spaces are spaces for shared work and collaboration. The spaces often organize networking events and conferences aimed at the entrepreneurial community.
Government programs support the creation and development of startups via government agencies at the level of the City of Montreal, the province of Quebec or Canada.
Clusters, of which there are 10, are geographical concentrations (on a city or province-wide scale) of companies and institutions from the same industry. Bringing these organizations together helps to develop a region’s competitiveness, and provides support and a common voice for its members. Clusters have a strategic focus and are formed because they represent an economic force for Quebec.
The collaborative research and technology transfer section brings together players whose mission is to support collaborative innovation and technology transfer: the 9 Regroupements sectoriels de recherche industrielle (RSRI), Axelys, the network of college technology transfer centers (CCTT) and Scale AI.
The physical hubs are physical spaces that offer a concentration of resources, players and experts in a single location for the development of startups.
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You can consult the map in dynamic format or in pdf format. This tool will be updated on an ongoing basis. If you don’t see an organization or would like to suggest an update, please contact us!