LP Maurice

Entrepreneurship in Montreal

100+ resources in our city to get started as an entrepreneur

LP Maurice
LP Maurice
Sep 11, 2013 · 7 min read
Notman House.

Sure, there are a lot of resources to learn about entrepreneurship in general on the web. But what about learning about entrepreneurship in Montreal specifically?

As I mentioned in a recent post on Becoming an Entrepreneur, developing your human network — especially in the startup ecosystem of your city — is a key part of making it as an entrepreneur.

It turns out that, really, there is a ton of great stuff happening in Montreal:

  • Want to see demos from interesting Montreal companies? Montreal New Tech has been hosting demo nights for 5 years now and showcases 3–5 different businesses each month in a casual setting.
  • Looking to meet like-minded tech startup people? Startup Drinks is a great local monthly event that brings together folks from all corners of the Montreal startup community. Startup Grind is a monthly meetup held in 50 cities (recently now in Montreal) that features fireside chats interviews with local startup leaders.
  • Looking to meet a co-founder? Founder Dating is a great resource. Also try CoFoundersLab. Or maybe just try hanging out in Notman House.
  • Are you an early riser? Try the Montreal Startup Breakfast Club.
  • Are your free on weekends? Check out Startup Weekend marathon to collaborate with others to build a business in 48 hours. Lean Startup Machine Montreal is also an interesting option to learn how to apply the lean startup methodology and business principles to solve problems.
  • Looking to learn about fundraising or building skills? The SAJE, JCCM, CEIM, YES, Prêt à Entreprendre, the Fondation de l’Entrepreneurship, the Fondation Montreal inc., SDEVM and local CLDs all offer a multitude of programs, events, grants and mentoring opportunities to help budding entrepreneurs learn new skills and get their idea off the ground. Startup Canada is increasingly playing a role to build bridges between startup communities in Canada at this level.
  • Have an idea you want to accelerate? Founder Fuel is the leading startup accelerator in Montreal that funds emerging entrepreneurs and helps them accelerate their business through a network of mentors. The Founder Institute, a Silicon Valley led initiative now in 50+ cities, has also opened a chapter in Montreal to accelerate the development of ventures while letting entrepreneurs remain in their jobs until launch. The NEXT program powered by Google for Entrepreneurs is happening in Montreal. EO also has an accelerator progam.
  • Looking for a venture investment? Check out active early stage investors like Real Ventures, iNovia Capital, Rho Ventures, BDC Venture Capital
  • Looking for angel investment? Check out angel group Anges Québec. There are also many other individual angels that can help fund your idea. You can find them using AngeList filtering for Montreal.
  • Looking for other types of funding? Fundica may also help you identify funding sources for your business, including grants, tax credits and loans. You should also read up on SR&ED, a very important way for startups to finance their innovative engineering work.
  • Want to meet a cross-section of growing startups? The best event of the year remains the International Startup Festival that happens every summer in Montreal, which attracts out-of-town speakers and attendees. Events such as GrowTalks, Accelerate or Capital Innovation forums are also great if you can get a ticket. MTL Startup Talent also holds events that connect MTL’s tech talent with startups.
  • Looking for a full list of Montreal startups? Heri updates a pretty comprehensive list of active startups in his Montreal Startup Guide. If not, the Built in Montreal page is also helpful. If you prefer maps, Startup Genome Montreal (the local branch of the international organization) has built a great map of startups present here in the city. Find a startup in your neighbourhood to work for!
  • Still in school? You definitely need to check out The Founder Project. It’s making waves across Canada. Also check out The Next 36 project. For the younger crowd, Jeunes Entreprises might be present in your high school. Your college or university most likely has entrepreneurship centers, such as the District 3 incubator at Concordia, the Dobson Centre at McGill, the Centre d’Entrepreneurship HEC-Poly-UdeM, Startup Campus, Pléaide Capital at the University of Montreal, Centech at ETS or the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education at Dawson College. Most schools also hold startup or business plan competitions, such as the Dobson Cup at McGill. Finally, your college or university holds career fairs, some of which are focused on startups. For example, check out the McGill startup career fair led by the MES. Drop by! Many startups look for smart entrepreneurial students at such fairs.
  • Are you technical? Startups groups like Cocoa Heads, Node MTL, Montreal.rb, Montreal Python, JS Montreal, PHP Quebec or many others can help you hone your language-specific skills. There are also additional recurring meetups on broader topcis, such as the Montreal E-Commerce meetup. Startupifier runs hackatons on a regular basis. Confoo is a larger multi-technology gathering you probably shouldn’t miss.
  • Are you more the creative type? Check out Creative Mornings, TEDxMontreal, Les Inspirés or Tout le Monde UX to discuss new and interesting ideas. You might also want try to get invited to the amazing C2-MTL conference.
  • Are you a woman? Montreal Girl Geeks is a great place to start for tech, skill-building and networking opportunities. Ladies Learning Code now also runs workshops in Montreal. Yes Montreal offers a Women in Technology program for women interested in exploring a career in technology. Other resources include Femessor and Reseau des femmes d’affaires du Quebec.
  • Into gaming? Check out Execution Labs.
  • Want to use promising technology based on academic research? Try Tandem Launch, Univalor, Gestion Valeo and MBSi Valorisation.
  • Looking for a place to work out of? Notman House is expanding and will shortly be offering office space for startups. La Gare is based in the Mile-End. Ecto, Station C, Nexus and Espace 360 provide co-working environments for freelancers and small groups.
  • Want to see how startups work? Startup Open House Montreal is an annual event that lets you visit startup offices and meet startup people in their natural habitat. In 2013, 1,200 participants visited 50 startups.
  • Are you a founder looking to meet other active entrepreneurs? Entrepreneurs Anonymes (EA) holds free monthly social meet-ups where you can socialize with other entrepreneurs about common challenges in a very casual setting. Entrepreneurs Organizations (EO) also has a Quebec chapter that connects members of growing businesses (application required).
  • Are you a founder looking to get some free advice on your challenges? Comité pour Entrepreneurs is a great volunteer group of young professionals that provides advice to startups.
  • Looking to make connections in the US? The CTA@NYC is a great option in New York. The C100 also organizes its famous 48 Hours in the Valley trips twice a year to Silicon Valley.
  • Looking to connect with journalists and media people? The RC Lab is a great ressource. As an innovation hub, they get pretty nice processes to solve media problems. Their team is a good way to start connecting with the media business.

I’d like to say a quick but heartfelt thanks to all the very generous people volunteering their time to throw events and help support others. Our ecosystem is becoming increasingly vibrant because of you.

The folks at Notman House (pictured above) also have a regularly updated calendar of events happening in Montreal.

Are there other groups or events I’ve missed? Email me to let me know and I’ll add them to the list!

ps. If you’re looking for more general entrepreneurship resources on the web, check out:

Photo: Notman House