Canada

Montréal

MEMBERS:
Montréal International The Ministère de l’Économie, de l’Innovation et de l’Énergie Ville de Montréal Startup Montréal Réseau Capital

"There's no city in the world that is more entrepreneurial than Montréal. So many immigrants, including my own family, have emigrated here and contributed to the entrepreneurial energy that oozes out of the city.”

Harley Finkelstein
Harley Finkelstein, President at Shopify
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Highlights

Montréal is a powerhouse for innovation with a vibrant culture and robust startup ecosystem. Its collaborations with the government of Quebec offer a mutually beneficial relationship that shapes the direction of innovation and technology. Montréal serves as the breeding ground for tech unicorns like Hopper, and hosts notable IPO successes such as Lightspeed and Nuvei. The 2022-2027 Quebec strategy to support research and investment in innovation will invest more than $7.5 billion over the next five years to build on Canada’s strong reputation as a leader in innovation. The Quebec Entrepreneurial Plan 2022-2025 will invest $121.7 million to support growth with a focus on women, youth, ethnoculturally diverse, First Nation and Inuit, LGBTQ2+, and disabled entrepreneurs. Montreal is also committed to bring together entrepreneurial key players with the ongoing construction of a new international innovation hub “Ax-C space” opening in 2025.

Montréal’s AI sub-sector is mature, far-reaching, and underscores developments in other sectors across the ecosystem. AI is largely supported by public and private sectors. Nationally, the Federal Government announced in 2024 a total of $2.4 billion for infrastructures, research and support programs. Provincially, startups, including those in AI, have access to investment capital through the $120 million Impulsion PME program and various investment funds such as i4 Capital. The government also provides $21 million over three years to Mila - Quebec AI Institute to support socially beneficial AI research. In the private sector, Microsoft earmarked $500 million to expand its cloud computing and AI infrastructure in Quebec over the next two years.






Ecosystem by the Numbers

ECOSYSTEM VALUE
(H2 2021 - 2023)
$39 bn
GLOBAL AVG. $29.4 bn
TOTAL EARLY–STAGE FUNDING
(H2 2021 - 2023)
$1.4 bn
GLOBAL AVG. $655 m
ECOSYSTEM VALUE GROWTH
(H2 2021 - H2 2023 VS H2 2019 - H2 2021)
28%
28% 28 61 46% 46 100 0
GLOBAL AVG. 46%
NUMBER OF UNICORNS
(H2 2021 - 2023)
5
GLOBAL AVG. 3
MEDIAN SEED ROUND (H2 2021 - 2023)
$1.1 m
GLOBAL AVG. $985 k
MEDIAN SERIES A ROUND (H2 2021 – 2023)
$10.4 m
GLOBAL AVG. $7.5 m
SOFT. ENGINEER SALARY (2023)
$72 k
GLOBAL AVG. $47 k
EARLY-STAGE FUNDING GROWTH (2020 - 21 VS. 2022 - 23)
4
Scale of 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest)
TOTAL VC FUNDING (2019 - 2023)
$8.5 bn
GLOBAL AVG. $4.6 bn
TIME TO EXIT (2019 - 2023)
11.5 years
GLOBAL AVG. 10 years
EXIT AMOUNT (2019 - 2023)
$11 bn
GLOBAL AVG. $8.9 bn
EXIT COUNT (#)
(2019 - 2023)
217
GLOBAL AVG. 80
49
43
49
38
38
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023

Sub-Sector Strengths

Life Sciences

Montréal’s Life Sciences sector closed 25 deals, valued at $253.6 million, in 2023. Three exits totaled $1.4 billion. Novo Nordisk acquired Inversago Pharma for up to $1 billion in August 2023. Inspire Bio Innovations, a Life Sciences and precision medicine hub, will open in downtown Montréal. Quantacet closed a $20 million fund for quantum startups. Sectoral Asset Management announced a $41 million Medtech fund focused on early-stage Canadian Medtech companies in 2023.

Cleantech

In September 2023, Swedish battery maker Northvolt announced it would build a $5.1 billion battery factory in Montréal. Investor Diagram announced a $44.3 million Climatetech fund in December 2023. In 2023, Montréal closed 22 Cleantech deals valued at $308.5 million, including carbon capture startup Deep Sky’s $55.4 million November 2023 Series A. Accelerator Cycle Momentum secured $22.3 million to scale new Cleantech projects and launch a matching fund in October. Sustainable tech startup Dcbel raised $90 million over three rounds, including an August 2023 Series B.

Fintech

Montréal’s Fintech ecosystem ranks #1 in Canada for green finance. Station Fintech Montreal Hub is the largest FinTech hub in Canada with 34 startups. There are over 31,000 university students enrolled in finance programs. Diagram’s third fund, worth $85 million+, will focus on Fintech. Luge Capital’s second fund, worth $52.4 million, will invest in early-stage Fintechs. Ten Fintech deals in 2023 raised $159.5 million collectively. Bitcoin provider Blockstream raised a $125 million January 2023 round.

Reasons to Move Your Startup to Montréal

Educated Talent

Montréal boasts 15 universities and colleges, 248,000 students, and is among the top cities in Canada for research. QS Best Student Cities ranks McGill University #1 nationally and #30 globally in 2024. NPower Canada will help 460 Québec residents enter digital careers through its free workforce development program. In 2023, Canada launched a plan to welcome skilled immigrants following record immigration 2021 and 2022.

Quality of Life

Montréal is a multicultural and multilingual metropolis, ranking as the #2 city in the world for remote workers and the second safest city in the world. Montreal ranks at #29 among the world’s best cities in the Time Out 2024 ranking. Montréal’s cultural attractions include 120​​​​​​​ festivals and close to 50 museums. It is cheaper than almost all other large cities in North America.

Support Network

Montréal's robust ecosystem thrives on the stability provided by institutional investors offering consistent funding and buffering startups from economic downturns. Montréal boasts three of Canada's top 10 investment funds, and in 2023, VC deals surpassed $1.3 billion across 1,100+ deals. The city's proximity to major North American hubs fosters strong connections. Montréal has an innovative approach to collaboration between companies, research centers, and public institutions.



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