International Startups, welcome to Toronto
Earlier this month U.S President Donald Trump issued a discriminatory executive order and quickly, the Canadian technology community united to produce a response. The Canadian Accelerator and Business Incubator Association (CABI), aims to preserve the diversity of the global technology community. Sunil Sharma, EVP’s Managing Partner and the Chair of CABI, delivered CABI’s response to the executive order and what it means for International entrepreneurs looking abroad.
Amid the uncertainty in the U.S, an increasing number of international businesses are looking to Canada. Here at Extreme Accelerator, we house innovative Canadian and International companies, and are incredibly proud of the myriad of startups our setup has allowed us to connect with. Diversity is essential to any company’s growth and it is easily one of our greatest assets.
Fulfill.io and Vetelia, are two international startups currently working in our space under the Canadian Start-up Visa Program. This visa program allows international entrepreneurs with innovative businesses to fast track entry into Canada within weeks for the purpose of creating new jobs and for Canadians to compete on a global scale. To qualify for this, startups need a Canadian venture capital fund, angel investor or incubator, such as Extreme Accelerator, to invest in their business.
Sharoon Thomas, co-founder of Fulfil.io, says the company chose Canada over the U.S because of the difficulty in navigating through the U.S system.
“There’s a lot of things uncertain about a startup and you don’t want one more thing on your list to be worried about, so I think that stability is a big factor.”
We understand how difficult it can be to run a startup, let alone a business in a brand new country. Our start-up visa companies have the benefit of joining a close-knit community right where they work.
We could not imagine our space without Fulfill.io and Vetelia. The diversity, innovation and perspective international startups bring is what makes Toronto the booming technology hub it is today.
https://www.thebalance.com/canada-s-new-start-up-visa-for-entrepreneur-immigrants-2948206
