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. With a sector-agnostic strategy, Techstars Toronto has made more than 50 investments to date. Alumni companies include Cinchy, Tread, Balance, Korapay, Quidax, Proof, Mayday, Babbly, Treepz and many more. Techstars Toronto alumni are estimated to be worth close to $1B already.
While being a core part of the Toronto tech ecosystem, Techstars Toronto has adopted a highly global and international investment focus. Of the 50 most recent investments, companies have been sourced from countries including Poland, Ukraine, India, Pakistan, Vietnam, Azerbaijan, Turkey, The Netherlands, UK, USA and a remarkable 11 investments from Africa. With Toronto’s global reputation for openness to immigration and diversity, Techstars Toronto has been able to leverage its accelerator program to become a magnet for some of the world’s best entrepreneurs.
Techstars Toronto is led by Sunil Sharma, a former Canadian diplomat with a deep-rooted passion for startups and who has brought his international perspectives to the world of tech investing. Prior to launching Techstars, Sunil was a partner in an active Canadian venture capital fund and has been the person behind the Toronto chapter of the Founder Institute, the world’s largest pre-accelerator.
Techstars Toronto Accelerator – Designed to be Global Techstars Toronto has thrived in a city that has quickly become a destination for founders, investors and innovators from around the world in part due to the strong country brand that is Canada. Immigration has played an incredibly important role in Canada and in Toronto in particular with more than 50% of the city’s population being foreign-born. That has led to a recruitment strategy that focuses on the diversity of entrepreneurs both in Canada and from abroad.
Techstars is also proud to be a designated entity for Canada’s Startup Visa Program, a movement that encourages immigrant founders to build their businesses in Canada. Techstars has invested in multiple foreign start-ups and made it possible for them to immigrate to and build their businesses in Canada, should they desire.
Investment Thesis
Globally each year, Techstars invests $120,000 USD into approximately 500 early-stage companies and then offers an intensive 3-month, mentorship-driven accelerator followed by a “Techstars-for-Life” core commitment. Techstars has carefully curated the world’s largest and highest performing network of mentors who are at the core of the Techstars offer to founders. Techstars is widely regarded as the world’s most active investor in startups and has a global portfolio value in excess of $65B.
In Canada, Techstars is the most active foreign-based investor with more than 150 investments into Canadian startups and growing by about 50 per year. With newly secured funds, Techstars is just getting started, and Techstars Toronto has expanded into two programs per year from one, and has more than doubled its investment allocation each year to 24 companies.
Techstars Mission
We believe entrepreneurs can change the world.
We believe collaboration drives innovation.
We believe great ideas can come from anywhere.
We give first.
We act with integrity.
We treat others with respect.
We are here to start a movement.
What Is The Techstars Offer?
Upon acceptance to a Techstars Accelerator, companies receive:
• Three months mentors-based accelerator program with personal mentorship
• Access to Techstars resources for life
• You will be offered a $100,000 convertible note. Techstars contributes $20,000, which is commonly used as a stipend (for a total of $120K USD)
• Access to hosting, accounting and legal support plus other credits and perks worth more than $1M per company.
• Fundraising opportunities and investors connections. Based on past data, Techstars companies go on to raise on average $2M of outside capital after the program.
Techstars Toronto accepts applications in two batches per year, with application deadlines posted on the Techstars website www.techstars.com
