Designated Organizations for the Start-up Visa Immigration
The Start-up Visa Program targets entrepreneurs and innovative business people. It is a federal immigration program for those who intend to immigrate to Canada, and their destination is anywhere but the province of Quebec. A vital component of the Start-up Visa program is to receive a Letter of Support from a designated organization by IRCC (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada). These organizations fall into three major groups:
- Venture capital funds – According to bdc.ca, “a venture capital (VC) fund is a sum of money investors committed for investment in early-stage companies. The investors who supply the fund with money are designated as limited partners. The person who manages the fund is called the general partner. The general partner decides which early-stage companies the fund will invest in based on criteria established by the fund partners.” A valid letter of support from a designated venture capital fund means they agreed to invest your idea in a minimum amount of CAD 200,000.
- Angel investor groups—A group of angel investors creates an angel investor group. According to bdc.ca, angel investors “are wealthy, experienced business people who invest their time and money in your high-growth business in exchange for equity.” IRCC expects a minimum of CAD 75,000 and a letter of support from a designated angel investor group to consider the letter acceptable.
- Business incubators—According to bdc.ca, “a business incubator is a program that gives very early-stage companies access to mentorship, investors, and other support to help them get established.” Business incubators usually do not invest capital in a business but offer their services to it. Acceptance by a business incubator and a letter of support without any investment is good enough for IRCC.
You only need one letter of support from one designated organization. For example, if you receive a letter from an incubator, you do not need a venture capitalist or angel investor letter.
The following lists show the existing designated organizations for the Start-Up Visa program. I copied them verbatim from the IRCC website on December 9, 2018, and updated the list on December 27, 2020. Please visit their website for the official version. The following list is not official and is not endorsed by IRCC.
Venture Capital (VC) Funds
- 7 Gate Ventures
- Alt Ventures
- Amplitude Ventures Inc.
- Apex Innovative Investments Ventures
- Arete Pacific Tech Ventures (VCC) Corp
- BCF Ventures
- BDC Venture Capital
- Extreme Venture Partners LLP
- Golden Venture Partners Fund, LP
- INP Capital
- iNovia Capital Inc.
- Intrinsic Venture Capital
- Lumira Ventures
- Invest Nova Scotia
- PRIVEQ Capital Funds
- Real Ventures
- Red Leaf Capital Corp
- Relay Ventures
- Tangentia Ventures
- Top Renergy Inc.
- Vanedge Capital Limited Partnership
- Version One Ventures
- WhiteHaven Venture
- Westcap Management Ltd.
- Yaletown Venture Partners Inc.
- York Entrepreneurship Development Institute (YEDI) VC Fund
Angel Investor Groups
- Canadian International Angel Investors
- Ekagrata Inc.
- Golden Triangle Angel Network
- Keiretsu Forum Canada
- VANTEC Angel Network Inc.
- York Angel Investors Inc.
Business Incubators
- Alacrity Foundation
- Alberta Agriculture and Forestry
- Alberta IoT Association
- Altitude Accelerator
- Bhive
- Biomedical Commercialization Canada Inc. (operating as Manitoba Technology Accelerator)
- Brilliant Catalyst
- DMZ Ventures
- Empowered Startups Ltd.
- Extreme Innovations
- Foresight Cleantech Accelerator Centre
- Genesis Priority processing
- Global Startups Accelerator
- Highline BETA Inc.
- Innovate Calgary
- Innovate Eastman
- Innovation Cluster – Peterborough and the Kawarthas
- Innovation Factory Priority processing
- Interactive Niagara Media Cluster o/a Innovate Niagara Priority processing
- Intrinsic Innovations
- Invest Nova Scotia Priority processing
- ISM Arts & Culture Ltd
- Knowledge Park o/a Planet Hatch
- Launch Academy – Vancouver
- LaunchPad PEI Inc.
- Millworks Centre for Entrepreneurship
- NEXT Canada
- Niagara Business & Innovation Fund
- North Forge Technology Exchange Priority processing
- Pacific Technology Ventures
- Platform Calgary Priority processing
- Pycap
- Red Leaf Capital Corp
- Roseview Global Incubator
- Spark Commercialization and Innovation Centre
- Spring Activator
- The DMZ Priority processing
- Think8 Global Institute
- TiE Toronto
- Toronto Business Development Centre (TBDC)
- Treefrog
- TSRV Canada Inc. (operating as Techstars Canada)
- University of Toronto Entrepreneurship Hatchery
- ventureLAB Innovation Centre Priority processing
- VIATEC Priority processing
- Waterloo Accelerator Centre Priority processing
- York Entrepreneurship Development Institute
- YSpace (York University)
Read the following article for more information about Star Up visa immigration.
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*Note: For the official list of designated organizations for the Start-up visa program click here.
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Al Parsai, LLM, MA, RCIC-IRB
Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant
Adjunct Professor, Queen’s University Faculty of Law
Instructor, Ashton College, Immigration Consulting Program
Author of 88 Tips on Immigration to Canada and Inadmissibility to Canada for Human Rights Violations
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