In the heart of Canada’s technology and innovation ecosystem, you’ll find LatAm Startups helping grow innovative entrepreneurs and their international technology companies in Canada.
As an accelerator that works exclusively with international companies and as a designated organization for Canada’s Start-up Visa Program, LatAm Startups has developed a special connection and understanding of international companies’ challenges when entering a new market.
Located right next to one of Canada’s most famous landmarks – the CN Tower, while sharing office space with the Ontario Centre of Innovation, LatAm Startups continues to advocate technology and entrepreneurship.
LatAm Startups began as a not-for-profit corporation in 2016. The team recognized that the current market lacked international founders, and those present weren’t getting the right support. Newcomer international companies didn’t have enough connections or an understanding of how to insert their companies into the Canadian startup ecosystem.
Having founded companies in Colombia and Canada, CEO of LatAm Startups, Miryam Lazarte, had pushed through challenges herself as an entrepreneur. Recognizing that international companies would face similar challenges, the initial programs were created to tackle them and better prepare companies for their softlanding entry to North America.
Each year, the LatAm Startups’ program has evolved based on understanding the new challenges startups face and their opportunities to grow in international markets.
LatAm Startups has provided a variety of programs to help companies grow in new markets. LatAm Startups’ flagship 3-Phase Startup Program brings international companies with intellectual property and traction in their home markets to Canada. Companies progress in each phase, making adjustments to their business and building a strong foundation to grow in Canada and North America.
It’s through organizations like LatAm Startups that we as a country attract world-class entrepreneurs to Canada to drive our economic growth.”
– Claudio Rojas, CEO of NACO Canada
LatAm Startups takes pride in the startup community and partnerships built in Canada, and has facilitated bootcamps in collaboration with regional hubs of innovation, including the economic development offices of the City of Hamilton, Niagara region, and the City of Kingston, introducing each region’s resources to international companies.
Besides helping international companies kickstart their growth journeys in Canada, LatAm Startups has also been helping Canadian companies. The Newcomer Entrepreneur Accelerator Program is one of them, delivered through funding from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP), to support services for small and medium-sized businesses led by newcomer Canadian entrepreneurs to help accelerate their current growth in Canada. Another program designed to help Canadian companies is the Canada Tech Expansion Program delivered in support by the City of Toronto and StartUp Here Toronto, introducing innovative technology companies to Latin America’s markets. This program prepares Canadian technology companies to expand to Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Chile, Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay.
Since its creation, LatAm Startups has supported 120 companies across its different programs. What began as one program has now grown to become at least five new programs every year.
The annual LatAm Startups Conference is often a highlight for the community to engage in different perspectives of the startup ecosystems of Canada, the Pacific Alliance, and Mercosur. The most recent 2021 8th edition of the conference brought together attendees from 38 different countries and 20+ speakers from around the world.
LatAm Startups has outgrown its name over the past five years, going beyond regions of Latin America and embracing companies from other emerging markets. LatAm Startups has evolved to become a community of global startups, reflecting the core vision to help companies scale globally.
With plans to continue developing global partnerships and working with local partners in Canada, LatAm Startups will continue to guide companies to adapt more efficiently to the North American market and set them up for success.
The City of Toronto from the beginning of this event [LatAm Startups Conference] has been a proud supporter, and it’s in recognition of what LatAm Startups has done for prosperity and job creation”
– John Tory, Mayor of Toronto
