The Most Complete Guide to Starting a Startup in Toronto

ERIC RAFAT, FOUNDERSBETA (AUG 22, 2019)

Planning to start a startup in Toronto? FoundersBeta has launched a new series on Startup City Guide across the world bringing you all the startup resources you need to know in Toronto.

There are plenty of Toronto startups and exciting companies in the city. Toronto is Canada’s largest city with a population of over 2.5 million people and an annual growth rate of 0.86%. This urban city is a host to the CN Tower, the Toronto Maple Leafs, diverse restaurants, and cultural performances leaving individuals from every walk of life attracted to this city. Let’s dive in and learn about some of these startup resources:

Startup Meetups

Toronto is full of new startup and tech meetups. It’s safe to say there’s no shortage of meetups as there’s always something happening. Here’s the list of active meetups in Toronto:

Conferences and Annual Events

Here’s the list of all annual startup conferences and events that occur in Toronto. There are some great conferences here on this list:

Startup Competitions

Startup Competitions are a great way to win some non-dilutive funding. Non-dilutive sources of funding can give your startup not only a great boost but also you can get exposure to these startup pitches. In addition to the list below, you can check out our Startup Competition page to see the upcoming ones.

Startup Courses

If you’re looking to learn about Entrepreneurship check out the courses we currently offer.

FoundersBeta Startup Courses

Startup Jobs

If you’re looking to break into some startups we have all startup job listing here including Y Combinator startup jobs feed. You can also join our Facebook Group Startup Jobs here.

Startup Coach

Talking with a startup coach can accelerate your startup at the speed of light. You can book a time to talk with us here. We can help in terms of Growth hacking, Building an MVP, Finding a cofounder, Breaking into Startups, and much more!

Cofounders

If you’re looking for a cofounder join our FoundersCoffee to meet with potential cofounders. Additionally, you can post your opportunity on our Facebook group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/foundersbeta/

Beta Testers

Finding beta testers is one of the biggest challenges you will face. You can post it on our forum here and also our Facebook group and we can help connect with our audience: https://www.facebook.com/groups/foundersbeta/

Startup Accelerators and Incubators

Toronto has a huge number of startup incubators and accelerators. Some tend to be university-affiliated, while others focus on specific industries. But what exactly is the difference between startup incubators and accelerators? Startup incubators tend to focus on early-stage while an accelerator focuses on fuelling the growth and expansion of a startup. Whether you think you might need an incubator or not depends where you are with your startup. Some incubators and accelerators can a lot of value while others tend to be useless and won’t add much value. Here’s the complete list of startup incubators and accelerators in Toronto:

Startup Funding

Funding is always challenging at the beginning of a startup. Usually, because it takes a while to generate sales but also support yourself. Check out this list of startup funding.

Here’s a list of all venture capital in Toronto. Some focus on certain industries such as Fintech or software-related products.

Venture Capital Firms

Alex Norman @alexandernorman
Hussien Fazal @hussein_fazal
Ameet Shah @ameetshah
Ken Nickerson, iBinary @kcnickerson
Chris Ye @cye
Mike Serbinis @mserbinis
Dennis Kavelman @dkavelman
Andrew D’Souza @andrewdsouza
Ameet Shah @ameetshah
Alkarim Nasser @alkarim
Derek Szeto @derekszeto
Alex Black @WaterlooAlex
Fahd Ananta @fahdananta
Randall Howard @randallh
Jesse Rasch, Hedgewood
Dominic Bortolussi @dombort
Greg Wolfond, Blue Sky Capital
Daniel Debow, @ddebow
Jevon MacDonald, @jevon
Jonas Brandon @jonasbrandon
Ben Yoskovitz, @byosko
David Ossip, @dossip
David Stein @dstein
Dennis Bennie, XDL Capital
Mark Skapinker @markskapinker, BrightSpark
Nick Koudas @koudas
Anand Agarwala @anandx
Chris Eben @ceben
Tom Williams @tomwilliams
William Mougayar @wmougayar
Chris Carder @KineticCafe
Larry Innanen Linkedin
Mike Stork
Bruce MacLellan
Todd Finch @toddmfinch
Allen Lau @allenlau & Eva Lau @MrsEvaLau
Albert Lai @albertsupdates
Jennifer Lum @lum
Nigel Stokes @MindAngler
Chris Erickson
Marzio Pozzuloi @MarzioPozzuoli1
Mark Ruddock @MarkRuddock
Brian Sharwood @bsharwood

Hackathons

Women Entrepreneur Resources

Student Organizations

If you’re a student looking to get involved on your campus check out these entrepreneurship clubs to get started for potential events or opportunities.

Entrepreneurs Awards

Being a founder is the most challenging yet rewarding work. These awards celebrate entrepreneurship in Canada.

About the Author:

In Pursuit of World-Class Excellence. Eric is founder of FoundersBeta with a wealth of expertise in startups, building high-performing teams, and product development. He is a top ranked tennis player and always up for a conversation about startups. Check his projects at www.ericrafat.com

Source:

https://www.foundersbeta.com/toronto-startups/the-most-complete-guide-to-starting-a-startup-in-toronto/