![\"Canada](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/72766f9b95d989bd40f0c5317ce776a4.jpeg\")
A Canadian and American flag along the Detroit River in Windsor, Ont. (Credit: Dan Janisse\/Windsor Star files) <\/p>\n A Canadian and American flag along the Detroit River in Windsor, Ont. (Credit: Dan Janisse\/Windsor Star files) <\/p>\n
An Ottawa-based developer behind a self-driving platform spacecraft that\u2019s been named as one of the country\u2019s most promising startups<\/a> says foreign interest has driven demand for its tech despite Canada\u2019s accelerated defence<\/a> and dual-use innovation push.<\/p>\n The federal government\u2019s recent announcements, including the Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS) and the Space Launch Act, a blueprint for building sovereign space launch capabilities, have been \u201cgame changers,\u201d said Kevin Stadnyk, co-founder and chief executive of Obruta Space Corp., which on Wednesday was named one of 27 Top Moonshot Ventures of 2026 by the National Angel Capital Organization (NACO).<\/p>\n But he said the \u201cpull to move to the U.S.<\/a> and (European Union) has been very real,\u201d given that nearly all the demand and investor interest in his company has come from U.S. and European investors and companies.<\/p>\n Obruta raised a pre-seed round from several U.S. venture-capital<\/a> firms and family offices, while Quebec\u2019s Aventure Capital led a convertible note to cap off startup\u2019s pre-seed round last January. It also participated in a U.S. startup accelerator program supported by U.S. defence giant Booz Allen Hamilton Inc.<\/p>\n Obruta plans to expand internationally and launch subsidiaries, but hopes to keep its headquarters in Ottawa. It also expects to secure a commercial contract before inking one with the Canadian government, though it is pursuing both routes, Stadnyk said.<\/p>\n \u201cFor us as a dual-use company, it is important to have boots on the ground for face-to-face meetings, for integrating hardware and working directly with our customers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Among the 27 other early stage startups on track for Series A funding picked by NACO, an industry group representing more than 4,000 individual investors and 100 member networks, were two defence and dual-use companies. The startups have collectively raised more than $140 million to date.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the first Moonshots cohort where defence and dual-use technologies are a distinct grouping, reflecting Canada\u2019s first-ever DIS,\u201d NACO chief executive Claudio Rojas said in a statement on Wednesday.<\/p>\n But Stadynk said Canada needs to increase the amount of later-stage capital to keep innovative defence and dual-use tech companies in the country.<\/p>\n \u201cThe early stage investment market exists within Canada, but it trails off once you start moving past Series A (funding rounds) into Series B and C,\u201d he said. \u201cLarge $100-million-plus rounds that deep-tech companies need to be raising simply don\u2019t occur all that often within Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n Stadnyk said he is seeing the first signs of growing interest in Canada due to government\u2019s recently announced policies and initiatives such as the Defence Industry Assist, which has earmarked $240 million for small and medium-sized businesses developing dual-use tech, and the Ideas program, which provides funding for companies solving a problem for the Canadian Armed Forces.<\/p>\n These programs have become \u201ca lot more relevant\u201d for Obruta, he said, with the company now eyeing developing sovereign space and defence applications for Canada.<\/p>\n \u201cCanadian investors are now looking at these kinds of infrastructure technologies, and companies are having a bit more appetite for what we\u2019re doing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n