Dear ventureLAB Community,
2025 was a year of focused and deliberate growth for ventureLAB. After recalibrating our mission in 2024 and demonstrating our ability to deliver more with the resources we had, we entered this year with a clear commitment to powering hardtech founders to build and scale globally competitive ventures that advance Canada’s knowledge-based economy.
We advanced our three core sector initiatives in semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and MedTech, areas where Canada holds strong global advantage and where founders continue to show remarkable potential. Our priority was to ensure founders had stronger commercialization pathways, deeper technical expertise, and the right networks at the right time to progress from early traction to global impact.
Expanding Global Reach and Strengthening Strategic Alliances
We expanded our national and international reach through alliances across 22 countries, broadening access for founders seeking customers, partners, and investment. We were honoured to co-host the G7 Semiconductor Point of Contact group with the Government of Canada, strengthening our role in global semiconductor collaboration. Our HardTech Summit welcomed 1,700 attendees and reaffirmed ventureLAB as a leading convener of the hardtech ecosystem.
Powering Founders to Meet Emerging National Priorities
Throughout the year, founders remained at the center of everything we do. As national priorities shifted in response to global tensions, the Canadian government placed greater focus on technologies with dual-use potential that can serve both commercial markets and defence needs. Canada must build more resilient and competitive companies in these areas, as deeptech and hardtech innovations underpin the systems countries rely on for security and economic independence. ventureLAB’s ability to scale and support founders at every stage has become even more essential in this environment.
With this in mind, we reached out to our founder community to identify technologies that already support emerging national priorities or hold potential to do so. More than 70 companies responded, demonstrating the breadth of Canadian innovation. Their work spans life sciences, smart sensing, physical AI, advanced materials, and technologies that strengthen agriculture and the food supply chain. All are working in areas with clear dual-use potential, including applications that can reinforce Canada’s defence and industrial capabilities. Our founders are stepping forward to meet this moment, offering solutions that can contribute to the country’s prosperity and stability in the years ahead.
Looking ahead to 2026, we will deepen our support for founders, strengthen Canada’s position in critical technology sectors, and ensure ventureLAB grows in step with the country’s evolving priorities. Together, we will continue powering ventures that reinforce Canada’s resilience and global competitiveness.
Yours sincerely,
Hugh Chow
CEO, ventureLAB
Meet the Dual Use Companies
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Our Impact - Our Highlights Q1 - Q3
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Launching a Province-Wide Engine for AI Adoption and Adaptation with Ontario Centre of Innovation
In 2025, ventureLAB became the only AI-focused Technology Development Site within the Ontario Centre of Innovation’s new Critical Industrial Technologies (CIT) network, expanding our impact to the scaling and legacy SMEs that drive Ontario’s industrial economy.
Launched in Q2, the program saw immediate momentum. SMEs turned to ventureLAB for support in scaling AI-enabled technologies through high-performance compute, technical advisory, and advanced feature development.
The CIT initiative helps companies move from early experimentation to real-world implementation by providing shared expertise in compute optimization, data governance, and deployment strategies. This work strengthens the service layer needed for industrial modernization and improved productivity across the province.
Early projects already show how transformative this foundation can be. Companies in advanced manufacturing, construction, agri-food, and mining began addressing challenges that once seemed out of reach, improving robotics performance, enhancing quality systems, and developing new sustainability intelligence tools. These outcomes signal meaningful commercial and economic impact in the program’s first year.
Learn more about CIT initiative here: https://www.venturelab.ca/venturelab-technology-development-site
A Snapshot of Momentum Through 2025
- NordSpace & Obruta Space Solutions (Hardware Catalyst Initiative): Two Hardware Catalyst Initiative innovators awarded $1 million by the Canadian Space Agency to accelerate next-generation space technologies and strengthen Canada’s growing space sector.
- ELO Gaming (Hardware Catalyst Initiative): Raising over $800K CAD through a six-week Kickstarter campaign and moving rapidly to market with retail placement in T.M. Lewin (TM:RW) stores in Times Square, marking a major commercial milestone for the gaming hardware startup.
- Blumind (Hardware Catalyst Initiative Alumni): Securing a $20M CAD Series A to build an analog AI chip designed for ultra-efficient, always-on intelligence and reimagining the future of edge AI hardware.
- Hyperlume (Hardware Catalyst Initiative Alumni): A breakout year for the optical-interconnect pioneer, acquired by San Jose based Credo just seven months after its nearly $18M CAD seed round, bringing its microLED-powered connectivity technology for AI data centers into a global semiconductor portfolio.
- Litus Inc. (Investment Readiness Program Alumni): Delivering a breakthrough pilot of its LiNC lithium-extraction technology in Texas, demonstrating a faster, cleaner, and more scalable pathway to unlocking critical minerals for the global energy transition.
Holiday Closure
We're closing the ventureLAB office for a few days over the holidays to give our team some much-needed R&R. The ventureLAB office will be closed for the holidays beginning Wednesday, December 24, 2025 and will reopen on Friday, January 2, 2026.
