Through its Horizon<\/a> program, the non-profit organization works closely with European founders to navigate market entry and build traction quickly, compressing a process that can usually take years into just a few months. The idea is simple: attract international innovators to help grow Ontario\u2019s innovation economy.<\/p>\n TBDC now spans more than 20 sectors and runs eight programs dedicated to scaling startups. Since 1990, it has supported over 10,000 domestic and newcomer founders. More recently, the focus has shifted to attracting innovators that can make a positive impact on Ontario in key sectors such as defence, AI, and AgTech,\u00a0 to name a few.\u00a0<\/p>\n BetaKit spoke with three European participating founders in TBDC Horizon to understand why they chose to establish in Canada over other North American options.<\/p>\n Authologic: Verifying a market for digital IDs<\/p>\n According to TBDC, 28 percent of European founders in its Horizon program said they chose Canada due to its welcoming policies. For Warsaw, Poland-headquartered Authologic<\/a>, those policies extend far beyond tax incentives.<\/p>\n Authologic offers an API to simplify the increasingly complicated process of identity verification for regulated businesses in FinTech, betting, and banking, among others. The company\u2019s product aggregates various methods of ID checks, including government-issued digital IDs, digital wallets, and traditional document verification, to help businesses reduce fraud and stay compliant.<\/p>\n According to Authologic\u2019s product marketer Bartek Kuban, growing in Canada was very intentional.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cCanada is fascinating because it feels like it\u2019s at an inflection point,\u201d Kuban said. \u201cMany organizations are still relying on legacy, fragmented onboarding methods, but there\u2019s a clear push toward fully digital solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n That push includes Canada\u2019s Pan-Canadian Trust Framework, which sets out rules and standards for digital identity services. It also includes recent conversations between Canada and the European Union focused on strengthening their digital partnership, which includes a memorandum of understanding on digital credentials and trust services, signed<\/a> in December.<\/p>\n \u201cCanada is fascinating because it feels like it\u2019s at an inflection point.\u201d<\/p>\n Kuban said this recent momentum toward digital ID solutions made it an \u201cexciting moment\u201d for Authologic to make inroads. \u201cThe market is ready, the ambition is there, and the energy is great,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n TBDC Horizon helps European founders identify opportunities like this through the first phase of its program: Scout. During this initial phase, Authologic mapped out the digital ID opportunity in Canada. The Horizon program also arranged meetings with potential partners during the program\u2019s Sprint Week, where Kuban connected with potential customers directly.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Horizon Program basically compressed a year of business development into a single week,\u201d Kuban said. \u201cWe had a full calendar, packed with meetings with exactly the right partners and potential customers.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt reinforced our belief that Canada is ready for this next phase of digital identity adoption,\u201d he added. \u201cYou can really feel that this transformation is coming, and it\u2019s exciting to be part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n BraveX: Charting a flight path for drone use cases<\/p>\n European founders participating in Horizon also pointed to Canada\u2019s business-friendly environment as a big draw. As high-growth firms look outward, many are seeking clear market signals, helpful feedback, and accessible entry points. That was the case for BraveX<\/a>.<\/p>\n Founded in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, BraveX designs and manufactures drones for a wide range of applications, including security, defence, and environmental monitoring, among others. That breadth is so large because the company specializes in both fixed-wing and vertical-takeoff-and-landing drones, which means they can operate in both long-distance and limited-space environments.<\/p>\n The startup was keen to explore new and dual-use cases for its drones and assess the needs of potential customers in Canada. Thanks to the help from TBDC Horizon, it did both.<\/p>\n Sprint Week, part of Horizon\u2019s modular program, is a five-day process that guides founders on market readiness and ecosystem access. Over the course of \u200b\u200ba week packed with masterclasses and networking, participants connect one-on-one with the program\u2019s mentors to develop their sales and customer acquisition strategies and familiarize themselves with new regulatory regimes. This fast-paced phase also puts startups directly in front of potential customers, partners, and investors.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cExploring the Canadian market was really good for us.\u201d<\/p>\n It was during those meetings that BraveX learned \u201cthere is a strong need to cover large areas of land, either for critical infrastructure or environment monitoring, defence, or security surveillance,\u201d said Mircea V\u0103dan, their co-founder and co-CEO.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cExploring the Canadian market was really good for us as we learned about the various needs and use cases related to long-range drones for monitoring and surveillance directly from potential clients,\u201d V\u0103dan added.<\/p>\n BraveX is now working to raise funding, develop production capabilities in Canada, and secure its first Canadian partner. So far, V\u0103dan is encouraged by what he has seen from the country\u2019s business environment.<\/p>\n \u201cI appreciate a lot the willingness of people for dialogue and feedback,\u201d V\u0103dan added. \u201cThe business community is very open to foreign startups, and it\u2019s so easy to get new contacts. It seems like Canada is an ideal place to start a company in North America with a lot of resources at hand to kick off operations.\u201d<\/p>\n Fluosphera: Getting biotech into the field<\/p>\n Another factor attracting European startups is Canada\u2019s strengths in applied research. Canada is well known for commercializing breakthroughs from its many universities, including McGill University, the University of Toronto, and the University of British Columbia.\u00a0<\/p>\n TBDC found that 18 percent of founders in the Horizon program cited Canada\u2019s diverse and highly educated talent pool as a basis for their decision to expand here. That is what attracted Fluosphera<\/a> to Canada.<\/p>\n The Geneva, Switzerland-based healthtech startup has built a drug testing platform that uses 3D models of human biology to show how drugs actually behave. Its goal is to help drug developers quickly decide whether or not to move forward with specific candidates.<\/p>\n \u201cCanada is a particularly strong environment for translating breakthrough science into scalable platforms, with a rare concentration of talent across life sciences, advanced imaging, and translational research,\u201d said Flusphera co-founder and CEO Clelia Bourgoint.<\/p>\n \u201cCanada is a particularly strong environment for translating breakthrough science into scalable platforms.\u201d<\/p>\n After the team identified an opportunity to bring its preclinical testing solution to Canada, Fluosphera worked with Horizon program experts to sharpen its messaging for drug developers and test its market fit.<\/p>\n \u201cThe market insights and feedback loops were particularly valuable in sharpening how we communicate value,\u201d Bourgoint added.<\/p>\n Today, Fluosphera is specifically focused on building relationships with contract research organizations, which Bourgoint said could make the platform accessible to a broader set of drug developers.<\/p>\n \u201cThe biggest impact was the quality of market access and the practicality of the [Horizon] program,\u201d Bourgoint added. \u201cThe curated meetings accelerated our customer discovery significantly and helped us pressure-test our positioning with the right stakeholders.\u201d<\/p>\n Building strength at home<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Authologic-1024x576.jpg\" "\\"Authologic")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/BraveX-Aero-1024x509.png\" "\\"BraveX")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/FluoSphera-1024x576.jpg\" "\\"FluoSphera")
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/image3.jpg\" "\\"TBDC")
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