Top 100 Ontario Startups to Watch in 2026
Ontario's startup scene is a major part of Canada's technology landscape. The region is home to a wide range of companies, from enterprise software to deep tech.
Companies like StackAdapt and Assent have secured over $500 million each in funding. Newer players like AI video generator Moonvalley raised $154.1 million in its seed round.
Below is our list of 100 Ontario startups worth keeping an eye on.
Failory's Top 10 Picks
Ada develops an AI-powered platform for automating customer service conversations. Their chatbots are designed to resolve customer issues instantly, freeing up support teams to focus on more complex inquiries.
| Year Founded | 2016 |
| Founders | David Hariri, Mike Murchison |
| Funding Amount | $192.4M |
| Startup Size | Large Team (251-1,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Grant |
| Top Investors | Accel, Bessemer Venture Partners, Spark Capital, Giant Ventures, Tiger Global Management |
MDA Space develops a range of space technologies, from satellite systems and robotics to geointelligence solutions. They are particularly known for the iconic Canadarm robotic arms used on the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station.
| Year Founded | 1969 |
| Founders | John S. MacDonald |
| Funding Amount | $3.9M |
| Startup Size | Major Organization (1,001-5,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Grant |
| Top Investors | Canadian Space Agency |
League offers a consumer experience platform that helps companies manage their employee health and benefits programs. The technology unifies disparate health services, insurance plans, and wellness resources into a single front door for employees.
| Year Founded | 2014 |
| Founders | Dan Galperin, Daniel Leibu, Michael Serbinis |
| Funding Amount | $271.1M |
| Startup Size | Large Team (251-1,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Venture Round |
| Top Investors | Workday Ventures, Foundation Capital, OMERS Ventures, BDC Venture Capital, Manulife Financial |
Moonvalley develops generative AI models that create cinematic videos from simple text prompts. Their platform is designed to support filmmakers and creative teams, giving them powerful new tools for visual storytelling.
| Year Founded | 2023 |
| Founders | John Thomas, Mateusz Malinowski, Naeem Ahmed |
| Funding Amount | $154.1M |
| Startup Size | Mid-Size Team (51-250) |
| Last Funding Status | Seed |
| Top Investors | CoreWeave, General Catalyst, Bessemer Venture Partners, Khosla Ventures, Y Combinator |
StackAdapt offers a multi-channel programmatic advertising platform that helps agencies and brands run campaigns across various digital channels. Their platform uses machine learning to help advertisers improve performance and maximize their return on ad spend.
| Year Founded | 2014 |
| Founders | Ildar Shar, Vitaly Pecherskiy, Yang Han |
| Funding Amount | $536.6M |
| Startup Size | Major Organization (1,001-5,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Private Equity |
| Top Investors | Summit Partners, Teachers’ Venture Growth, Plaza Ventures, Intrepid Growth Partners, MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund |
Assent offers a supply chain sustainability management platform that helps complex manufacturers collect and manage their compliance data. The SaaS solution provides deep visibility into product compliance, trade compliance, and ESG, enabling companies to bring responsible products to market.
| Year Founded | 2010 |
| Founders | Matt Whitteker, Robert Imbeault |
| Funding Amount | $533.6M |
| Startup Size | Large Team (251-1,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Secondary Market |
| Top Investors | Vista Equity Partners, Business Development Bank of Canada, Warburg Pincus, Volition Capital, Blackstone Group |
LemFi offers a financial platform that gives users bank accounts in both their country of residence and their country of origin. This dual-account system simplifies how people manage their money across borders for personal and business needs.
| Year Founded | 2020 |
| Founders | Olalere Ridwan, Rian Cochran |
| Funding Amount | $86.9M |
| Startup Size | Mid-Size Team (51-250) |
| Last Funding Status | Series B |
| Top Investors | Y Combinator, Endeavor Catalyst, Goodwater Capital, Highland Europe, Palm Drive Capital |
Rocket Doctor built a telemedicine marketplace that enables physicians to offer patients care through virtual appointments and in-home visits. Their platform provides the tools for a comprehensive digital practice, effectively bringing the doctor's office directly to the patient.
| Year Founded | 2020 |
| Founders | Adam Teitelman, Harry Cherniak, Justin Losier, William Cherniak |
| Funding Amount | $3.8M |
| Startup Size | Lean Team (11-50) |
| Last Funding Status | Seed |
| Top Investors | Plug and Play, f7 Ventures, Archangel Network of Funds, Emergent Medical Associates |
9. LUCID
LUCID develops digital therapeutics that use AI-powered music to help people manage their mental health. Their first product, VIBE, delivers personalized audio experiences designed to reduce symptoms of acute anxiety in real-time.
| Year Founded | 2017 |
| Founders | Aaron Labbé, Zachary McMahon, Zoe Thomson |
| Funding Amount | CA$3.6M |
| Startup Size | Lean Team (11-50) |
| Last Funding Status | Pre-Seed |
| Top Investors | Amplify Capital, Next AI, Ontario Centre of Innovation, MEDTEQ+, NEXT Canada |
Xanadu builds photonic quantum computers, offering access to its hardware through a dedicated cloud platform. The team also created PennyLane, a popular open-source software library for quantum machine learning and programming.
| Year Founded | 2016 |
| Founders | Christian Weedbrook |
| Funding Amount | $268.3M |
| Startup Size | Mid-Size Team (51-250) |
| Last Funding Status | Debt Financing |
| Top Investors | Alumni Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, Radical Ventures, Business Development Bank of Canada, OMERS Ventures |
90 Additional Ontario Startups Worth Following
Our top 10 picks are just a small slice of what’s happening across the province. Founders are tackling big problems in areas like AI and energy, and have raised over $10 billion combined.
Many more companies are building, hiring, and growing right now. Here’s a look at the other startups that make Ontario’s tech scene one to watch.
| Startup | Industry | Year Founded | Amount Raised | Last Funding Round |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Terrestrial Energy | Energy | 2013 | $106.6M | Venture Round |
 Waabi | AI | 2021 | CA$375M | Series B |
 Lake | Marketplace | 2023 | $2.6M | Pre-Seed |
 MindBridge | Analytics | 2015 | $102.3M | Private Equity |
 Mycroft | AI | 2024 | $3.7M | Seed |
 Tailscale | Security | 2019 | $276.4M | Series C |
 Stablecorp | Crypto | 2019 | $7.3M | Venture Round |
 Vena Solutions | Enterprise | 2011 | $272.8M | Debt Financing |
 Cority | Healthcare | 1985 | $100M | Venture Round |
 Hyperlume | Other | 2022 | $12.5M | Seed |
 Wealthsimple | Fintech | 2014 | CA$1.1B | Private Equity |
 Loopio | SaaS | 2014 | CA$263M | Private Equity |
 Figment | Crypto | 2018 | $164M | Venture Round |
 Avison Young | Real Estate | 1978 | $359.2M | Debt Financing |
 1Password | Security | 2005 | $920.1M | Series C |
 Relay | Fintech | 2018 | $51.6M | Series B |
 Ledn | Fintech | 2018 | $203.9M | Debt Financing |
 Hydrostor | Energy | 2010 | $2.3B | Debt Financing |
 Bench IQ | AI | 2023 | $7.4M | Seed |
 Motion | Analytics | 2021 | $42M | Series B |
 Modern Campus | Education | 1999 | $59M | Debt Financing |
 NinePoints Partners | Fintech | 2017 | $33.5M | Series B |
 Smile Digital Health | Infrastructure | 2016 | $65M | Debt Financing |
 Viral Nation | Marketing | 2014 | CA$250M | Private Equity |
 BinSentry | AgTech | 2017 | $79.7M | Series C |
 Axonify | Education | 2011 | $35.2M | Debt Financing |
 Azelis | Manufacturing | 2001 | CA$600M | Debt Financing |
 Boosted.ai | AI | 2017 | $69.5M | Venture Round |
 BioRender | Design | 2017 | $17M | Series A |
 Ollama | Infrastructure | 2021 | $125k | Pre-Seed |
 Kepler Communications | Infrastructure | 2015 | $177.1M | Series C |
 BluWave-ai | Energy | 2017 | CA$14.7M | Series A |
 Astrus | AI | 2023 | $11.1M | Seed |
 Prophix Software | Analytics | 1987 | CA$10M | Debt Financing |
 Augmenta Inc. | Design | 2018 | $25.6M | Seed |
 Keep | Fintech | 2021 | $88.1M | Debt Financing |
 FutureVault | AI | 2015 | $5.3M | Venture Round |
 Ataccama | Analytics | 2008 | $150.5M | Venture Round |
 407 ETR | Media | 1999 | CA$3.3B | Debt Financing |
 Geotab | Analytics | 2000 | — | — |
 Porter Airlines | Travel | 2006 | CA$135M | Grant |
 ONT | Mobility | 2012 | $32.7M | Grant |
 HostPapa | Enterprise | 2007 | $130M | Debt Financing |
 Helius | Crypto | 2022 | $31.3M | Series B |
 Cengn | SaaS | 2014 | $45M | Grant |
 Chickapea | Food | 2015 | $10.5M | Venture Round |
 Promise Robotics | AI | 2020 | CA$23.3M | Debt Financing |
 Cordelio Power | Energy | 2018 | $771M | Debt Financing |
 Tenstorrent | Hardware | 2016 | $1B | Series D |
 RLDatix | Healthcare | 1997 | $2B | Debt Financing |
 MolecuLight | Healthcare | 2013 | $65.2M | Venture Round |
 Ribbon | Other | 2022 | $8.2M | Seed |
 Fusion Fuel Cycles | Energy | 2024 | $34.5M | Debt Financing |
 Kap Paper | Other | 1992 | $59.9M | Debt Financing |
 BoomerangFX | Healthcare | 2021 | $20M | Series B |
 Zafin | Fintech | 2002 | $47.2M | Series B |
 BenchSci | AI | 2015 | $164.1M | Series D |
 Wisedocs | AI | 2018 | CA$24.6M | Debt Financing |
 GoBolt | Retail | 2017 | $178.3M | Series C |
 Rose Rocket | Hardware | 2015 | $63M | Series B |
 BlueRock Therapeutics | Biotech | 2016 | $225M | Series A |
 BlackBerry QNX | Hardware | 1980 | $40M | Grant |
 Fable | SaaS | 2018 | $37M | Series B |
 RideCo | Logistics | 2012 | CA$20M | Series A |
 Solink | Analytics | 2009 | $94.1M | Series C |
 Field Effect | Hardware | 2016 | $89.8M | Venture Round |
 Gold Candle | Manufacturing | 2015 | $94M | Venture Round |
 Rewind | Infrastructure | 2015 | $80.1M | Series B |
 PointClickCare | Healthcare | 1995 | CA$297M | Secondary Market |
 Vosyn Inc. | AI | 2023 | $6.5M | Series A |
 ChargeLab | Mobility | 2016 | $65.4M | Series A |
 Bridgit | Data | 2014 | $41.9M | Venture Round |
 Ideogram | AI | 2022 | $96.5M | Series A |
 Common Wealth | Fintech | 2015 | CA$33.9M | Grant |
 Flybits | Analytics | 2013 | $44.1M | Series C |
 Arteria AI | AI | 2020 | $40.9M | Series B |
 Together | Enterprise | 2018 | $1.5M | Venture Round |
 telMAX | Infrastructure | 2017 | CA$110M | Debt Financing |
 Axelar Network | Crypto | 2020 | $93.8M | Initial Coin Offering |
 SWTCH | Environment | 2016 | $48.9M | Grant |
 Financeit | Fintech | 2007 | $570.6M | Debt Financing |
 On Time Bride | SaaS | 2024 | CA$100k | Pre-Seed |
 Voices | Marketing | 2005 | $21.3M | Private Equity |
 Optimity | Healthcare | 2014 | $5M | Series A |
 Power Dime | AI | 2024 | CA$220k | Pre-Seed |
 FlipGive | Marketing | 2012 | $11.7M | Series B |
 Aypa Power | Energy | 2016 | $2.7B | Debt Financing |
 Flipp | Marketing | 2006 | $62M | Private Equity |
 eSentire | Security | 2001 | $411.2M | Secondary Market |
 Peakhill Capital | Real Estate | 2019 | $225M | Debt Financing |
