Accelerator Startup Reseau shortlists 35 B2B Indian Startups for Bridge Canada Program

Reseau, a startup accelerator by Ajay Ramasubramaniam and Sweta Tiwari, has announced that it has shortlisted 35 Indian startups. The 35 startups will participate in the inaugural cohort of Startup Bridge Canada (SBC). Further, the inaugural edition of Startup Bridge Canada received 276 applications from which 35 startups make up the cohort. The program will run virtually. Startup Reseau announced a 6-week pre-market entry startup program for growth-stage Indian startups. They aimed to help startups access and understand Canada and build their strategy for North America foray.

The 35 founders in the cohort have cumulatively raised more than $26Million. They run an ARR of over $16.5Million. The average team size of one-thirds of the cohort is 40 team members. Further, 3 startups also have team sizes exceeding 100 members. “Having been in the Canada – India corridor for almost 12 years, I can confidently say that this is by far the strongest group of Indian startups being exposed to the Canadian market and its stakeholders, ” adds Ajay Ramasubramaniam, CEO and CoFounder, Reseau.

The shortlisted startups operate in a wide variety of industries. These include financial services, infrastructure, large enterprise accounts and ESG. Over 50% of the cohort applies fast-growing technologies like AI-ML. The virtual programme will further take place over the course of six weeks beginning on February 15, 2021.

The 35 startups who have made it to the Reseau program are:

With its proximity to major US business hubs, Canada presents a stable economy. It has large corporations and their innovation and R&D centres. It also has great talent, a strong tech ecosystem, ease of doing business. The country has favourable business immigration terms and a startup visa program. Thus, to further facilitate entry of Indian startups in Canada, Startup Réseau has tied up with the Government of Alberta, Government of British Columbia, Government of Ontario and economic development agencies including Toronto Global, Montreal International to help a cohort of Indian entrepreneurs grow, scale, and promote their businesses in Canada, and access the larger North American geography.

Ajay also says, “As an organisation, we are always looking to unlock global market opportunities for Indian startups seeking to expand internationally, by way of structured market access programs. With a strong focus on being a developer of the startup ecosystem in emerging markets, we continue to remain bullish about prospects for Indian startups in mature markets such as North America and Europe.”