From Poutine to Pitch Decks: Montreal’s Thriving Tech Scene
The tech community is always on the lookout for its new hotspot of technological innovation.
These hotspots are energized not only by the newest tech companies, they also host the brightest minds who bring these companies to life. While the United States has many tech hubs including Silicon Valley, New York, and Boston, Canada’s booming tech spots have thus far been in Toronto/Waterloo, Vancouver, and Ottawa. This seems to be changing, however, as Montreal’s tech scene experiences a booming rise in activity.
Montreal, which has long been known for its poutine, recently appeared on the radar as a fresh, vibrant community for companies trying to get off the ground. In Q1 of 2020, companies based in the city raised $204 million in funding, more than four times the amount raised in Q1 of 2019 (not a bad way to start the year).
But then came the pandemic, taking 2020 in a direction nobody could have predicted. Our way of life fundamentally changed and the economy took a severe beating. Major companies also faced global outages, including Zoom, Slack, Microsoft, and Google. But despite all odds, Montreal continued on its trajectory towards cultivating a thriving technical community. Startups based in the city raised a record-breaking $566 million in Q2 2020, begging the question: where is all the money going?
To answer that, we need to take a step back. Firstly, the tech scene in Montreal includes a wide range of industries. For example, a good portion of the funds raised in Q2 2020 — $230 million to be exact — was for Sonder, a hospitality company.¹
Originally founded in Montreal, Sonder has since moved its headquarters to San Francisco. Last month, the company confirmed it will be opening an office in its founding city after reaching a deal with the Quebec government. The new office will see the creation of 700 jobs by 2025.²
Montreal is also a major player in video game production, which is why GlobalStep, a technology solutions firm for the gaming industry, chose the city for its new Center of Excellence for games. The company invested in a 17,000 sq ft custom designed facility, citing the vibrant ecosystem of clients and local talent as reasons for the move, and is also planning for a mix of work from home and in-office methodologies post-pandemic.³
In addition to gaming, the city has also become a hotspot for Artificial Intelligence (AI). Several players including Google, Microsoft, and Facebook operate research labs in Montreal⁶ and last month, the Servier Group, a global pharmaceutical company, announced the opening of its worldwide AI Hub in the city. Servier has partnered with Centech, an incubator, on the initiative, and the hub will be located inside their Collision Lab. Servier hopes the partnership with Centech will accelerate its application of AI to speed up discovery, development, and deployment of new therapeutic solutions for patients. Since Montreal boasts a robust ecosystem for life sciences, it was a natural choice to serve as Servier’s AI hub.⁴
All this leads me to wonder whether Montreal will make it back into Startup Genome’s Top 30. The firm analyses startup ecosystems globally and ranked Montreal #15 in 2015 but #36 in 2020, tied with Copenhagen, Melbourne, Delhi, and Dublin.⁵ The rankings are based on a number of factors including funding, talent, and knowledge. While it remains to be seen if 2021 will be the year Montreal makes its way back into the Top 30 list, one thing is for certain: we’re going to be indoors for the next few months, so make sure your home internet game is strong.
“Glory to the holy Wi-Fi!” Ki-Taek, Parasite (2019)
References:
[1] https://betakit.com/montreal-sets-new-funding-record-with-two-massive-travel-tech-deals-in-q2-2020/
[2] https://ca.news.yahoo.com/sonder-create-700-jobs-quebec-170725974.html
[3] https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/globalstep-expands-into-new-17-000-square-foot-facility-in-montreal-s-mile-end-846646932.html
[4] https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/12/14/2144572/0/en/The-Servier-Group-opens-a-worldwide-Artificial-Intelligence-Hub-in-Montreal-in-partnership-with-Centech.html
[5] https://startupgenome.com/reports/gser2020
[6] https://blog.mtl.org/en/montreal-world-leader-artificial-intelligence
