INNOVATE™ Toronto

Tech is about more than just new tools. It is about unlocking opportunities and markets, supporting new approaches, and empowering more high-tech innovations. Microsoft has worked closely with Toronto and Canada’s venture capital community looking to bolster its investments in Canadian startups.   Toronto and Canada’s venture capitalists are innovation...

Influitive helps the world’s leading brands engage with their customers to drive business value across multiple dimensions. Customer referrals, references and reviews are now recognized as the most effective way to drive business growth and Influitive enables this at scale. Since 2010, Influitive has pioneered advocate marketing and built an...

FoundersBoost Toronto is the city’s only 100% free, not-for-profit preaccelerator program for early-stage founders. We are a volunteer-only organization that runs six-week boot camps that prepare founders for accelerators, investment, and revenue. We take no equity and charge no fees from any of our startups. FoundersBoost Toronto is led by...

MERIC S. GERTLER PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO ” INCLUSIVE EXCELLENCE ” “U of T’s remarkable diversity provides both a springboard to social mobility and a superb environment for education, research and innovation.” – MERIC S. GERTLER, PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO The strength of Toronto’s higher education, research and innovation enterprise...

The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) is transforming the future of child health through an innovative approach we call Precision Child Health. Building on our long legacy of paediatric clinical and research innovation, and a 2022 ranking as the top children’s hospital in the world*, over the next decade we’ll...

Real Ventures is one of Canada’s most active early-stage venture capital firms, dedicated to serving entrepreneurs and nurturing the communities in which they thrive. In 2007, we questioned why brilliant Canadian founders should have to fly to San Francisco to raise seed capital. Since then, we have dedicated ourselves to...

Fashion’s Pollution ProblemThe $2.5 trillion fashion industry is one of the top-most polluting industries in the world, generating 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Specifically, the heavy reliance by the industry on synthetic, petroleum-derived, fabrics such as polyester, is projected to create over a quarter of the world’s carbon emissions...

Over 33,000 Canadians have died of Covid-19, most of whom were alone in the hospital or in long-term care homes known for poor conditions and mistreatment of residents. Against the backdrop of a long-existing labour shortage, health care workers’ resilience and compassion are being tested, and many are quitting. It’s...

Venture for Canada is a national charity that fosters the entrepreneurial skills and mindset of young Canadians. We recruit, train, and support young people to work for innovative Canadian small businesses and startups. Participants develop the network, knowledge, and entrepreneurial skills to have more impactful careers through our programs. In...

Currently amid the Fourth Industrial Revolution, we are witnessing unprecedented technological change triggered by a multitude of disruptive forces. These changes have shaken Canada’s business ecosystem, causing new players to rise and existing leaders to fall.   Consequently, incumbents are faced with a harsh reality where constant innovation and technological...

The transportation industry is amid one of the most important revolutions since 1886, when Karl Benz invented the first automobile powered by an internal combustion engine (ICE). 135 years later, electric vehicles (EV) are now the leading focus of automotive engineering and innovation around the world. As with any new...

Like Benjamin Franklin knotting a key to a kite in a lightning storm, today’s AI researchers are unlocking technology that is reshaping our world. From quantum neural networks and natural language processing, to AI for drug discovery, the path to future innovations and commercialization is charted by a small subset...

How salmon & sangria started a green revolution.Some of the most inspiring inventions come at the most innocuous times. In 2017, Just Vertical co-founders Conner Tidd and Kevin Jakiela were completing their Masters of Science at the University of Toronto. Bright eyed and full of enthusiasm, they hoped to equip...

As digital transformation accelerates across industries in Canada, companies are looking to build a much stronger digital foundation to fundamentally change the way their business works. Artificial Intelligence (AI), hybrid cloud and quantum computing are playing a significant part in helping private and public organizations further advance and contribute to...

A national, bilingual, not-for-profit organization, Mitacs empowers Canadian innovation through effective partnerships that deliver solutions to the world’s most pressing problems. This effort is supported by the Government of Canada, the Government of Ontario, and other provincial and territorial governments. By driving economic growth and productivity, Mitacs creates meaningful change...

Amplify Capital is a Canadian-based investment fund that provides early-stage companies long-term equity solutions and strategic support to develop their business to solve challenges affecting our future. Led by veteran private equity executive Kathryn Wortsman, Amplify Capital invests exclusively in impact ventures that demonstrate significant, measurable impact alongside market-rate returns....

Peak Power is a Canadian climate tech company at the forefront of the energy transition. We are the only company bringing together batteries, grid-interactive buildings, and bi-directional electric vehicles into one technology platform, Peak Synergy. This technology enables our commercial and industrial real estate partners to achieve net-zero goals, cut operating...

The key to innovation is seeing opportunity in unlikely places. For Antibe Therapeutics, the place is a cloud of noxious gas; the prize is a new generation of painkillers. In the wake of the opioid crisis, there is an urgent need for safer analgesics. Almost one-in-10 Canadians prescribed opioid medications...

Accelerated by the COVID-19 crisis, families are in dire need of home care, but labour shortages make accessible home care a challenge for most people in Canada and many suffer in silence. Take for example Mr. Jones*, who sustained a spinal cord injury in a car accident. After spending several...

Exact Imaging was incorporated in Ontario in 2013, and is the world’s leader in high resolution micro-ultrasound systems enabling real-time imaging and biopsy guidance for the prostate.   Exact Imaging’s ExactVu™ micro-ultrasound system, operates up to 29 MHz and enables a new level of resolution compared to conventional urological ultrasound...

At BlueRock, our mission is to create authentic cellular medicines to reverse devastating diseases, with the vision of improving the human condition.   Built on the research of some of the world’s foremost experts in induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) biology, BlueRock has revolutionized and scaled methods for creating authentic...

For the past 15 years, Techstars has been running 3-month tech accelerators across the world. Names such as SendGrid, Digital Ocean, Latch, Classpass, Remitly and Kepler Aerospace are some of the 3000 alumni companies to have graduated from a Techstars program.   For 5 years Techstars has operated in Toronto....

Chronic pain affects approximately 1 in 5 people and is one of the most difficult to treat chronic conditions. It’s a leading reason people seek healthcare, use opioid medication, and go on disability. Often referred to as the silent epidemic, the burden of chronic pain carries immense costs to individuals,...

Innovation is about harnessing change, testing boundaries, and deciding to lead instead of follow. True, the process is rarely simple (let alone straightforward), but those who take the risk get a chance to write their futures. There’s no “right” path to innovation. As our experiences at KPMG’s Ignition Center reveal...