10 Toronto Tech Startups and Founders to Watch

Not only is Toronto North America’s fastest-growing tech market, it’s home to almost 50 tech-focused business accelerators and incubators and has the third-largest tech talent pool in Canada and the U.S. It’s also Canada’s largest hub of innovation, making it an ideal place for the tech industry to do business—and to launch the next great idea. Here are 10 Toronto-based startups and founders to watch.

Raquel Urtasun is driving autonomous trucks into the future

A renowned expert in self-driving vehicles, Raquel Urtasun is pioneering the next generation of autonomous trucking powered by generative artificial intelligence (AI). As founder and CEO of Toronto-based Waabi, she’s aiming to save lives and create a more sustainable future. Her startup recently inked a deal with Volvo Autonomous Solutions to accelerate the adoption of self-driving trucks. The former Canada Research Chair in Machine Learning and Computer Vision has won a host of awards, including an NSERC E.W.R. Steacie Award, two NVIDIA Pioneer Research Awards and three Google Faculty Research Awards, to name just a few.

Xanadu is taking the chill out of quantum computing

Xanadu, founded by former University of Toronto (U of T) researcher Christian Weedbrook, is developing a commercially viable quantum computer that will be capable of operating at room temperature. This novel solution could disrupt the industry, since today’s quantum computing chips require temperatures colder than those found in deep space to preserve their fragile state. As part of the Creative Destruction Lab seed-stage accelerator at the Rotman School of Management, the company has developed a prototype of a quantum computer called Aurora.

Diana Virgovicova is making waves with clean water

When she was just 17, Diana Virgovicova used quantum chemistry to model a molecule that could help clean polluted water in the presence of sunlight. Now, she’s founder of Xatoms, a startup that uses a combination of AI and quantum chemistry to deliver water-purifying molecules that could help two billion people on the globe who don’t have access to clean water. Virgovicova, a 776 Climate Fellow who made the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, has been garnering international attention for her work, including funding from Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian, while her company was selected for the Compute for Climate Fellowship from the International Research Centre on Artificial Intelligence, an organization backed by UNESCO.

Cohere is improving the accessibility of AI for businesses

Cohere, founded by former Google researcher Aidan Gomez, is a Toronto-based company providing natural language processing solutions for businesses that don’t require costly development. By providing a toolkit for developers, this startup is making AI more accessible for enterprises looking to develop real-world applications. Cohere is committed to ethical use of AI: They were one of 15 tech companies to agree to voluntary White House measures on testing, reporting and researching its risks and they’ve signed Canada’s voluntary AI code of conduct.

Geoffrey Hinton a.k.a. the “Godfather of AI” is spreading his knowledge of deep learning

Geoffrey Hinton is a global pioneer in the field of deep learning and is widely regarded as the “Godfather of AI” for his revolutionary work that earned him a Turing Award and the Nobel Prize in Physics. The British-Canadian computer scientist started researching neural networks at the University of Toronto in 1987, when it was largely considered fringe science. Later, his theories were proven correct, and his work has since provided foundational breakthroughs in AI. Today, he’s a University Professor Emeritus at U of T and chief scientific advisor of the Vector Institute.

Hydrostor is drawing on clean energy even when wind or sun isn’t in ample supply

Renewable energy can help to address climate change and energy resiliency, but what happens when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine? Toronto’s Hydrostor came up with a solution: technology that stores energy for eight hours or more to reliably power grids around the world. Its Goderich Energy Storage Centre is the world’s first commercially advanced compressed air energy storage facility—a step toward cutting carbon pollution at scale. The startup, which was founded by Curtis VanWalleghem and Cameron Lewis, has an extensive pipeline of projects in the works, which will allow grid operators and large energy users to draw on clean energy even when the weather isn’t cooperating.

Sheida Shahi is helping to build more sustainable buildings

The CEO of Adaptis wants to make decarbonization more accessible and affordable to the building industry. Sheida Shahi’s Toronto-based startup offers lifecycle carbon assessments that are 20 times faster than traditional consulting—at a tenth of the cost. Using Adaptis’ AI platform, architects, developers and real estate owners can reduce their carbon footprint, design for reusability and optimize both retrofits and new builds. In 2024, this platform helped more than 350 companies avoid 108,000 tonnes of carbon emissions. As an architect with a PhD, Shahi has worked on multiple award-winning net-zero carbon buildings across Canada, receiving the Energy Council of Canada Fellowship for Sustainable Energy Innovation.

Borrowell is assisting Canadians in taking control of their finances

An EY Entrepreneur of the Year award winner, Eva Wong is co-founder and COO of Borrowell, a Toronto-based fintech with a single goal: to make financial prosperity possible for all Canadians by providing access to credit education and innovative digital tools. As one of the largest consumer-fintech companies in Canada, Borrowell is using next-gen AI to transform the industry and empower consumers—from automating financial services to enabling more personalized customer experiences through tools like an AI-powered credit coach.

Emma Todd is solving real-world problems with blockchain

As CEO of MMH Technology Group, board member of the Canadian Blockchain Consortium and member of the Crypto Sustainability Coalition at the World Economic Forum, Emma Todd is a force in the world of blockchain. As an advocate for the use of blockchain to solve real-world problems, her startup specializes in creating enterprise-level blockchain solutions to help organizations improve their operations and enhance their customer experiences—including for some of the world’s largest banks, such as JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and HSBC.

Kiwi Charge is eliminating EV range anxiety

Interested in more sustainable travel methods? This Toronto startup, founded by Abdel Ali, aims to make electric vehicle (EV) charging more accessible and affordable with portable chargers. This not only offers convenient overnight charging for EV owners; it eliminates expensive upgrades for residential and commercial building owners. Additionally, it provides a solution for charging deserts where fixed infrastructure can’t be deployed and can even be integrated into the power grid to manage power distribution. Next up? Kiwi Charge, a cohort of the 2024 Black Founders Network, is working on a self-navigating robot to charge customers’ vehicles.