Montreal’s startup ecosystem declined by 17% over the past two years, according to the Global Startup Ecosystem Report (GSER) 2025 which was released today.
While that drop outpaced the global average, the city remains a leader in academic research and public investment, particularly in artificial intelligence and life sciences, where it continues to build long-term infrastructure.
What’s clear from the report is that Montreal is not competing for attention. It’s building on decades of research strength, public investment, and coordinated action in sectors like artificial intelligence and life sciences. The city’s startup economy reflects depth rather than acceleration, shaped by global partnerships and steady capital flow.
Released today, the Global Startup Ecosystem Report (GSER) 2025 ranks Montreal 39th worldwide. The city recorded $9 billion in venture funding from 2020 to 2024 and maintains five active unicorns, placing it above the global average on multiple indicators.
Its ecosystem value from H2 2022 to H2 2024 reached $27 billion, which represents a 17% decline (the global average drop was 14%).
On the funding side, Montreal’s median Series A round is $10.9 million, placing it ahead of the global average of $6.8 million. The city also posted $914 million in early-stage funding and 85 deals over the same period, including a median seed round of $1.5 million.
See how Montreal ranks relative to other Canadian cities, and learn more about the ecosystem in this podcast. This podcast summary is entirely generated and voiced by AI.
Artificial intelligence as economic infrastructure
Montreal is considered Canada’s flagship hub for artificial intelligence. The city’s AI sector is backed by a combination of academic research, applied industry collaborations, and global partnerships.
Mila, the Quebec AI Institute founded by Yoshua Bengio, continues to serve as a global reference point for deep learning.
Scale AI, a federally funded supercluster headquartered in Montreal, announced $96 million in project funding across 22 initiatives in the past year. It also introduced a $30-million fund to support commercial AI adoption in Canadian companies.
Private sector investment is also expanding.
In 2024, IBM unveiled plans for a Cloud Multizone Region in Montreal, offering enterprises access to secure, sovereign infrastructure for AI and data-intensive applications. AI-focused companies in Montreal raised a combined $630 million in the past year, with standout deals including $210 million by Blockstream and $150 million by Valsoft Corporation.
Montreal’s AI and data ecosystem includes strengths in enterprise software, fintech, cybersecurity, and quantum computing. The city is also home to major international events like ALL IN and World Summit AI. Large firms such as Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Samsung operate alongside a growing number of AI startups.
While the AI ecosystem is deep, the city faces growing competition from other hubs with faster private-sector scaleup activity.
The GSER also points to ongoing gaps in follow-on capital, which could limit the city’s ability to convert early-stage AI companies into global leaders.
Research, life sciences, and cleantech form a broader platform
Montreal aims to be among the top five North American hubs for life sciences by 2027.
The city is already home to two major expansion projects: Inspire Bio Innovations, a new research campus, and Biotech City, which hosts Moderna’s vaccine facility. These projects support collaboration between universities, early-stage companies, and global firms.
In total, the province attracted more than $1.5 billion in venture capital in life sciences over the past four years.
Key strengths in the sector include health technologies, personalized medicine, rare diseases, oncology, and biomanufacturing. The Health Technology Catalyst and Centech, a top-ranked deep tech incubator, play a central role in connecting talent, capital, and clinical research pathways.
Cleantech in Montreal is closely linked to Quebec’s position as the top renewable energy producer in North America.
More than 99% of electricity in the province comes from renewable sources, primarily hydropower. This provides the foundation for innovation in transport electrification, building decarbonization, agtech, and energy storage.
The city also hosts Lab-à-la-Start-up, a cleantech consortium, and Espace Aéro, part of the province’s broader innovation zone framework.
These zones are located across Quebec and include Sherbrooke’s DistriQ for quantum science, Bromont’s Technum Québec for semiconductor manufacturing, and Trois-Rivières’ Energy Transition Valley for clean energy development.
A support system built for scale
Montreal ranks in the top 10 ecosystems in North America for affordable talent, according to the report.
The average salary for a software engineer is $68,000, compared to the global average of $52,000. The city is also recognized as North America’s top student city and has world-class universities focused on research, including McGill, which ranked 29th globally. These institutions support talent pipelines across AI, life sciences, aerospace, and creative industries.
The city’s ecosystem benefits from a collaborative model between startups, research centres, public agencies, and investors.
The province recently renewed the Impulsion PME capital program with a $200 million commitment to support scaleups. Espace Ax.C, a new innovation hub opening in downtown Montreal in June 2025, will provide a central space for founders, accelerators, and public partners to collaborate.
Montreal also hosts five of Canada’s top 10 investment funds and is home to Espace CDPQ, the country’s largest venture capital community, where 26 VC funds operate under one roof.
The GSER flags a shortage of follow-on investment capital as a key barrier. Without increased scale-stage funding and exits, Montreal risks building infrastructure faster than it can commercialize it. Still, the city’s institutional strength and sector depth offer a potential path forward if capital alignment can catch up.
Startup ecosystems unpacked
Digital Journal has published in-depth coverage of the 2025 Global Startup Ecosystem Report, including key findings and local analysis. Explore:
This article was created with the assistance of AI. Learn more about our AI ethics policy here.
