10 Things Happening on the Canadian Tech Scene

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I was reading Curbed.com’s Lockhart Steele’s presentation on Ten Things Happening on the New York Tech Scene in ’10 and I thought we shouldn’t be left out. So I started to compile a list of things that I’ve been tracking about the Canadian tech scene leading in to 2010.

10 Things Happening on NYC Tech Scene in ’10

View more presentations from lockloct.

So here’s my list of what’s going on in the Canadian tech startup scene in no particular order (and I know I’ve a few things like cloud with enomaly and vm6). I probably need to do a little more analysis to get this down to a regional analysis, i.e., Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Waterloo, Calgary, Vancouver.

What else did I miss?

10. The Changing Funding environment

Quebec moneys begin to flow, I’m looking at your Roger Chabra at Rho Ventures and Chris Arsenault at iNovia and others
New entrant: Rogers Ventures
New class of angels with @wmediaventures and Boris Wertz and Jordan Banks at Thunder Road Capital
Emerging incubators/accelerators: Flow Ventures, Basecamp Partners, Extreme Ventures, Bootup Labs, Montreal Startup

9. Existing Players aka the Big Guys

8. Open Data

7. Social Analytics

6. Social Gaming

5. Social Media Channels and Advertising Networks

4. Real-time data and analysis

3. Mobile

2. Blogs

StartupNorth
TechVibes
Bootup Labs
Rick Segal
StartupCFO (thanks Geoff, can’t believe I left Mark off the list)
Ben Yoskovitz’s Instigator Blog
StartupOttawa
Mondoville
The Mark News

1. Social Places

Canada techscene

Comments

43 responses to “10 Things Happening on the Canadian Tech Scene”

January 14, 2010

mastermaq

There are lots of great things happening in Edmonton! Here are a few:

My blog: http://blog.mastermaq.ca
Local events & social media: http://www.shareedmonton.ca
Incubator/accelerator: http://www.startupedmonton.com

Reply
January 14, 2010

mastermaq

There's lots of great things happening in Edmonton! Here are a few items for your lists:

My blog: http://blog.mastermaq.ca
Local events & social media: http://www.shareedmonton.ca
Incubator/accelerator: http://www.startupedmonton.com

Reply
January 14, 2010

Geoff D.

Hey, great list!

I would suggest putting something in there about VEF; a staple of Vancouver's tech scene. And maybe on the funding scene, Yaletown Venture Partners closed a big fund late last year; that dough needs to be deployed. Lastly, maybe a head's up on the forthcoming Stratford Institute digital media centre being developed in conjunction with Univ of Waterloo.

On your blog list, I would maybe add StartupCFO blog on there.

Good stuff! CDN Tech 4ever.

Reply
January 14, 2010

Kevin S.

Great list! Thanks for putting it together. I have a couple of startups from the West to suggest:

Ad Networks: Connect13 (http://connect13.ca)
Mobile: Tagga (http://tagga.com)

Reply
January 14, 2010

Boris Wertz

Thanks for putting this together, David – great summary!

Some more “big guys”:
– Nexopia: http://www.nexopia.com
– Suite101: http://www.suite101.com

Some more social analytics:
– Tynt: http://www.tynt.com

Reply
January 14, 2010

Mack D. Male

There are lots of great things happening in Edmonton! Here are a few:

My blog: http://blog.mastermaq.ca
Local events & social media: http://www.shareedmonton.ca
Incubator/accelerator: http://www.startupedmonton.com

Reply
January 14, 2010

Mack D. Male

There’s lots of great things happening in Edmonton! Here are a few items for your lists:

My blog: http://blog.mastermaq.ca
Local events & social media: http://www.shareedmonton.ca
Incubator/accelerator: http://www.startupedmonton.com

Reply
January 14, 2010

Geoff D.

Hey, great list!

I would suggest putting something in there about VEF; a staple of Vancouver’s tech scene. And maybe on the funding scene, Yaletown Venture Partners closed a big fund late last year; that dough needs to be deployed. Lastly, maybe a head’s up on the forthcoming Stratford Institute digital media centre being developed in conjunction with Univ of Waterloo.

On your blog list, I would maybe add StartupCFO blog on there.

Good stuff! CDN Tech 4ever.

Reply
1. January 14, 2010
  
  Mark MacLeod
  
  Thanks Geoff!
  
  Reply
  1. January 15, 2010
    
    davidcrow
    
    Embarrassed that I missed having including Mark on the first pass.
    
    Reply
January 14, 2010

Kevin Swan

Great list! Thanks for putting it together. I have a couple of startups from the West to suggest:

Ad Networks: Connect13 (http://connect13.ca)
Mobile: Tagga (http://tagga.com)

Reply
January 14, 2010

Mark MacLeod

Nice list David! Canadian startups rock!

Reply
January 14, 2010

Mark MacLeod

Thanks Geoff!

Reply
January 14, 2010

Boris Wertz

Thanks for putting this together, David – great summary!

Some more “big guys”:
– Nexopia: http://www.nexopia.com
– Suite101: http://www.suite101.com

Some more social analytics:
– Tynt: http://www.tynt.com

Reply
January 14, 2010

Mark MacLeod

Nice list David! Canadian startups rock!

Reply
1. January 15, 2010
  
  Jevon
  
  Startup CFOs rock *ALMOST* just as much.
  
  Really,. I have a post coming to celebrate startup CFOs and outlines why you guys are the next important step in the Canadian scene.
  
  Reply
January 14, 2010

Jevon

Startup CFOs rock *ALMOST* just as much.

Really,. I have a post coming to celebrate startup CFOs and outlines why you guys are the next important step in the Canadian scene.

Reply
January 15, 2010

davidcrow

Embarrassed that I missed having including Mark on the first pass.

Reply
January 15, 2010

OfficeSearchToronto

Great, another Bookmark that I will have to keep coming back to!

I'm surprised how few “shared” / Social Places there are in Toronto. Aren't we one of the larger start-up communities in Canada?

Reply
January 15, 2010

Benjamin Yoskovitz

Lets hope that we can follow this post up in the near future with a list of successful exits as well. There's a fair amount of momentum, which is great, but successful exits will really propel things further. And “successful” doesn't have to mean $200MM exits either. But it does mean people exiting and then shortly thereafter contributing back into the startup scene – as angels (we're seeing them organize more in NY for example), advisors, etc.

Reply
January 15, 2010

alainwong

Nice list, David!

The startup scene in Montreal is pretty happening too 🙂
We'll be announcing some exciting news in early 2010 in the social gaming space at http://akoha.com

Reply
January 15, 2010

Chris Fyvie

Great, another Bookmark that I will have to keep coming back to!

I’m surprised how few “shared” / Social Places there are in Toronto. Aren’t we one of the larger start-up communities in Canada?

Reply
1. January 18, 2010
  
  davidcrow
  
  My guess is that it’s an effect of the quantity of office space available in relatively close proximity to others. Does it matter that you’re King & Portland, Queen and John, or Adelaide near York. Probably not. Secondly, it is incredibly difficult to justify the plus services on $21+/sq ft rent. As a startup, unless there is a strong reason like CSI I can accomplish much of the same effectiveness by being in the area.
  
  It’s too bad there is a need for a co-working space.
  
  Reply
January 15, 2010

William Mougayar

Great list. Also, we're aggregating 30-35 articles/day on the Canada Tech super aggregator across 11 regions, tracking 151 companies, 68 VC's, 53 people, 37 sub-topics, etc. http://portal.eqentia.com/canadatech or @canadatechnews

Reply
January 15, 2010

Benjamin Yoskovitz

Lets hope that we can follow this post up in the near future with a list of successful exits as well. There’s a fair amount of momentum, which is great, but successful exits will really propel things further. And “successful” doesn’t have to mean $200MM exits either. But it does mean people exiting and then shortly thereafter contributing back into the startup scene – as angels (we’re seeing them organize more in NY for example), advisors, etc.

Reply
January 15, 2010

Alain Wong

Nice list, David!

The startup scene in Montreal is pretty happening too 🙂
We’ll be announcing some exciting news in early 2010 in the social gaming space at http://akoha.com

Reply
January 15, 2010

William Mougayar

Great list. Also, we’re aggregating 30-35 articles/day on the Canada Tech super aggregator across 11 regions, tracking 151 companies, 68 VC’s, 53 people, 37 sub-topics, etc. http://portal.eqentia.com/canadatech or @canadatechnews

Reply
January 16, 2010

Amrita

You missed many of the companies on IDC's 10 Canadian Cloud Companies to Watch list. http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=CA4TIW9

Including one that I work for that is much better known in the US/Europe than in Toronto where we are headquartered

Reply
January 16, 2010

Amrita

You missed many of the companies on IDC’s 10 Canadian Cloud Companies to Watch list. http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=CA4TIW9

Including one that I work for that is much better known in the US/Europe than in Toronto where we are headquartered

Reply
1. January 18, 2010
  
  davidcrow
  
  There is definitely an emerging cloud component to the Canadian scene (enomaly, vm6, opalis, asigra). What I find strange is the grouping of these Canadian companies in the Cloud Solutions to Watch. Yes they are SaaS solutions but I’m not sure I’d define them as IaaS or PaaS.
  
  Reply
January 16, 2010

dannyrobinson

We're honored to be included on the list. thanks Dave. Canada might be a bit late to this “internet” thing, but we can and will catch up fast. 2010 is going to be a big year and a great time to lay down a solid foundation.

Reply
January 16, 2010

dannyrobinson

We’re honored to be included on the list. thanks Dave. Canada might be a bit late to this “internet” thing, but we can and will catch up fast. 2010 is going to be a big year and a great time to lay down a solid foundation.

Reply
1. January 18, 2010
  
  davidcrow
  
  @dannyrobinson,
  
  I hear mobile internet is where it’s at for 2010. Maybe you and Boris can get me some of that?
  
  Reply
January 16, 2010

bsharwood

Great list. Just makes us want to work harder to get onto the list. And maybe being in a sexier tech industry… 😉 (and good reading list, my regular RSS feeds)

Reply
January 17, 2010

bsharwood

Great list. Just makes us want to work harder to get onto the list. And maybe being in a sexier tech industry… 😉 (and good reading list, my regular RSS feeds)

Reply
January 18, 2010

davidcrow

My guess is that it's an effect of the quantity of office space available in relatively close proximity to others. Does it matter that you're King & Portland, Queen and John, or Adelaide near York. Probably not. Secondly, it is incredibly difficult to justify the plus services on $21+/sq ft rent. As a startup, unless there is a strong reason like CSI I can accomplish much of the same effectiveness by being in the area.

It's too bad there is a need for a co-working space.

Reply
January 18, 2010

davidcrow

There is definitely an emerging cloud component to the Canadian scene (enomaly, vm6, opalis, asigra). What I find strange is the grouping of these Canadian companies in the Cloud Solutions to Watch. Yes they are SaaS solutions but I'm not sure I'd define them as IaaS or PaaS.

Reply
January 18, 2010

davidcrow

@dannyrobinson,

I hear mobile internet is where it's at for 2010. Maybe you and Boris can get me some of that?

Reply
January 27, 2010

chris sukornyk

Hey David, nice post. Feel the need to chime in 🙂

I second motion to add Tynt.com to social analytics. I'll also suggest Chango.com under section 5) or a new section on real-time bidding across ad exchanges. Would be a pretty lonely category I think 🙂

Reply
January 27, 2010

chris sukornyk

Hey David, nice post. Feel the need to chime in 🙂 nnI second motion to add Tynt.com to social analytics. I’ll also suggest Chango.com under section 5) or a new section on real-time bidding across ad exchanges. Would be a pretty lonely category I think :)n

Reply
January 27, 2010

chris sukornyk

Hey David, nice post. Feel the need to chime in 🙂

I second motion to add Tynt.com to social analytics. I’ll also suggest Chango.com under section 5) or a new section on real-time bidding across ad exchanges. Would be a pretty lonely category I think 🙂

Reply
February 19, 2010

» Acceptance is the last thing you really need | StartupNorth

[…] Weâ€™ve made progress as a startup community in Canada. I donâ€™t have to tell you that a lot of things have changed in the last few years and there is now a supportive and powerful set of networks across the country that have made building a startup sexy again. David has chronicled some of it recently. […]

Reply
February 19, 2010

» Acceptance is the last thing you really need | StartupNorth

[…] We’ve made progress as a startup community in Canada. I don’t have to tell you that a lot of things have changed in the last few years and there is now a supportive and powerful set of networks across the country that have made building a startup sexy again. David has chronicled some of it recently. […]

Reply