in Canada |

10 Things Happening on the Canadian Tech Scene

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

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

1. Social Places

David Crow focused on product design, customer development and go-to-market implementation on $0. He is available as a consultant. He is a mentor at UW VeloCity, Jolt and FounderFuel. Follow him on Twitter @davidcrow or at DavidCrow.ca

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41 Comments

  3. 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.

  8. 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.

  15. 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.

  16. 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.

  18. 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?

  20. 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.

  22. 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?

  24. 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.

  29. 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.

  30. 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.

  31. 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)

  32. 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)

  33. 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.

  34. 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.

  35. @dannyrobinson,

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

  36. 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.

  37. 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.

  38. @dannyrobinson,

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

  39. 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 :)

  40. 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

  41. 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 :)

Comments are closed.

Webmentions

  • » Acceptance is the last thing you really need | StartupNorth January 27, 2010

    […] 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. […]

  • » Acceptance is the last thing you really need | StartupNorth January 27, 2010

    […] 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. […]