The Canadian startup landscape is filled with innovative small businesses that are revolutionizing myriad industries, disrupting the status quo by turning research ideas into market-ready products and technologies.

But what does this impact look like and how do you get there as a small business owner?

Here are 5 Canadian SMEs that overcame key business challenges—and made a difference.

 

iClassifier Inc. (Edmonton)

A market leader in farming technology, this Alberta-based small business offers AI-powered health-assessment solutions for livestock, allowing dairy farmers to quickly, easily, and accurately classify their herds, and evaluate the health and body condition of their cattle by measuring 25 different traits.

“Our goal is to increase profits for producers, save the planet through efficiency, and most importantly, take care of animal welfare and animal health,” says co-founder Ghader Manafiazar.

Finding niche talent allowed the iClassifier team to expand its research potential, and broaden the scope of its technology to include additional traits and species in the future. “Mitacs really facilitates these relationships in a way that we can rely on,” says co-founder Reza Sabbagh.

Start your own AI project >>

 

Innova Cleantech Corp. (Calgary)

Decarbonization and reducing greenhouse gases is vital across industry, and Innova has developed patent-pending technology that uses natural gas to produce high-purity hydrogen gas and graphite. The company’s novel emission-free process helps reduce reliance on imports, minimizes the environmental impact often associated with conventional extraction/synthesizing methods, and is redefining the possibilities of cleantech.

 “Mitacs cultivates talent and fosters groundbreaking ideas,” says CTO Ehsan Abbasi. “Our four current Mitacs interns are the engine of the company.”

While Innova works to power the planet, Mitacs helps power Innova: top-ranking students participate in research projects where they run experiments, develop models, and analyze data, all of which are critical to the company’s success.

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Juno Technologies (Montreal)

This award-winning med-tech startup has developed a first-of-its-kind discreet wearable patent-pending technology that adheres to the abdomen, using heat and microelectronics to alleviate menstrual cramping and pain. The brainchild of co-founders Nanette Sene and Lynn Doughane, the medication-free device is poised to provide long-lasting relief for millions of women.

“We’re creating a solution for something that affects us directly. We wouldn’t bring something to market that we wouldn’t use ourselves,” Sene says. “Mitacs’s support was critical. It helped us define the first steps of product development, meet new partners and investors, and bring awareness to the under-served problem of menstrual pain.”

Juno Technologies was one of five winners of the 2023 Mitacs Entrepreneur Award.

Start your own bioscience project >

 

Ribbit (Toronto)

Delivery of goods and supplies to remote, rural, and/or coastal communities across Canada is getting an upgrade. Co-founded by researcher-turned-entrepreneur Jeremy Wang, Ribbit has developed Canada’s first pilotless cargo planes. These autonomous aircraft remove both pilot- and airport-driven scheduling barriers, allowing faster, cheaper, and more reliable transport of civil, defence, or humanitarian cargo.

“We’re not talking about shuttling executives from city to city,” Wang says. “We’re talking about providing basic access to reliable transportation, so that people living in rural and remote communities can get necessities like food and medicine on time.”

And he acknowledges the important role Mitacs played in his concurrent success. “Mitacs orchestrated the bridge between academia and industry,” he says, “allowing me to work as an intern at my own company while I simultaneously completed my degree.”

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SBQuantum (Sherbrooke)

The quantum physicists, data scientists and software developers at this Quebec-based startup are creating groundbreaking innovations in magnetometry, producing leading-edge quantum-sensing hardware that detects and understands magnetic-resonance lines with unparalleled specificity. In August 2024, the company announced new projects with the European Space Agency and Canadian Space Agency.

“My wildest desire was to be able to use [our] diamond-based magnetometer to solve societal issues in a way that was previously impossible,” says CEO and co-founder David Roy-Guay.

Finding sector expertise through Mitacs has helped the team enhance its data collection and preliminary testing, driving their work forward. “Mitacs truly allowed me to gain autonomy in innovation and to advance a technology concept to assessment of market potential.”

Start your own quantum project >

 

Feeling inspired?

“Mitacs has been carrying Canadian innovation commercialization on its shoulders for years,” says Kyle Briggs in a CanInnovate report. “It provides at least 1:1 leverage on every dollar spent by the startup on R&D, allowing scarce resources to go much farther than would otherwise be possible.”

 Let’s work together to turn your business goals into meaningful impact.