Creative Destruction Lab

The Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) is a seed-stage acceleration program founded in 2012 at the Rotman School of Management in Toronto, Canada. It is dedicated to supporting massively scalable, science- and technology-based ventures by providing a unique coaching process focused on specific objectives. CDL connects startups with experienced entrepreneurs and leading scientists across various sectors, including artificial intelligence, healthcare, quantum computing, blockchain, energy, and cleantech. The program has expanded its reach, operating in six cities: Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal, Halifax, and New York City, and emphasizes the commercialization of scientific and technological advancements.

Malcolm Fraser

Associate

Dennis Kavelman

Founding Partner

Anthony Lacavera

Founding Partner

Past deals in Vancouver

Lucent Biosciences

Non Equity Assistance in 2021
Lucent Biosciences specializes in the development of innovative biofertilizers aimed at enhancing agricultural sustainability. The company offers a unique class of micronutrient fertilizers that promote higher crop yields and nutrient levels while being environmentally friendly. Their products are designed to improve soil health and sequester carbon, contributing to climate-positive farming practices. By utilizing sustainable bioactive crop nutrition, Lucent Biosciences enables farmers to cultivate nutrient-dense crops without polluting groundwater, thereby supporting regenerative agriculture and reducing overall costs per hectare.

VodaSafe

Seed Round in 2020
Vodasafe Inc. develops AquaEye, a handheld waterproof device for rescuers. Its device uses sonar to scan body of water to locate submerged persons, as well as records various rescue data and connects via Bluetooth to various identified devices. The company is based in Kelowna, Canada.

Craver Solutions

Non Equity Assistance in 2020
Craver is a platform for restaurant mobile apps. Using Craver, restaurants can increase their revenue using features such as mobile ordering, skip the line, rewards and loyalty, gift cards, and more.

BarrelWise

Non Equity Assistance in 2020
Developer of a wine barrel management technology designed to enhance production and analysis. The company's system allows barrel topping, sampling, sulfating and chemical analysis to occur in one interaction, all without ever opening the barrel, enabling wineries to simplify the process of barrel management and increase operational efficiencies.

Covalent

Non Equity Assistance in 2020
Covalent Research & Development Inc. designs and develops a data analytics suite to maximize transparency and accountability in cryptocurrency and token offerings. It offers its suite for wallets, DeFi taxes, and network analysis. It also provides API to bring transparency and visibility to assets across various blockchain networks. The company was incorporated in 2018 and is based in Vancouver, Canada.

LearningBranch

Non Equity Assistance in 2020
LearningBranch is an automated conversational-based AI assessment and training platform that helps hire and train employees who will perform. The communication and language assessments focus on real-world people skills: empathy, active listening, proactive assistance and language proficiency taking into account social, cultural, linguistic and international perspective. Our situation based evaluations are bias-free and data driven. In addition, monitor and up-skill your existing hires and create benchmarks on the skills that drive performance. Our platform enables you to replace interviews, increase speed to hire, and increase speed to proficiency. The platform provides assessment and training tools focusing on the live spoken and written soft skills for customer service, sales and teamwork.

Lumen5

Grant in 2019
Lumen5 is a video creation platform designed for brands and businesses to produce engaging video content for social posts, stories, and ads. Our goal is to enable anyone without training or experience to easily create amazing videos in minutes. Our technology enables marketing teams to focus on the story and narrative while relying on our system to do the heavy lifting.

Sonic Incytes

Pre Seed Round in 2019
Sonic Incytes Medical Corp is a medical device company based in Vancouver, Canada, focused on developing handheld ultrasound solutions for the assessment and monitoring of chronic liver diseases. Incorporated in 2012, the company aims to enhance routine liver health evaluation through non-invasive methods that provide reliable diagnostic accuracy. Its portable ultrasound devices are designed for point-of-care diagnostics and procedure guidance, enabling healthcare practitioners to improve the standard of care in quantifying conditions such as fatty liver disease. Through its innovative technology, Sonic Incytes seeks to facilitate better management of liver health for patients.

Loft47

Non Equity Assistance in 2019
Loft47 is an application that automates real estate commission management to streamline the real estate back office operations.

LifeBooster

Non Equity Assistance in 2019
LifeBooster is a predictive analytics company focused on health and safety, utilizing wearable technology to help self-insured industrial workforces reduce preventable workplace injuries. Their primary offering, ErgoSenz, consists of wireless motion capture sensors and a cloud-based risk analytics engine. This system enables health and safety professionals to identify and assess risk factors associated with musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), which account for a significant percentage of workplace injuries and result in substantial financial costs to businesses. ErgoSenz provides an objective evaluation of workforce biomechanics, allowing companies to tailor training and risk mitigation strategies to specific needs. In addition to proactive injury prevention, the system facilitates comprehensive incident analysis, enabling safety professionals to reconstruct events surrounding injuries. By shifting the focus from reactive to proactive health and safety measures, LifeBooster aims to eliminate preventable injuries in the workplace.

Beatdapp

Non Equity Assistance in 2019
Beatdapp is a United States-based company founded in 2018 that develops music streaming software designed to assist labels and artists in tracking their music and collecting royalties. The company provides a tracking system that authenticates, verifies, and validates media streamed in real-time, addressing discrepancies between Digital Service Providers and rights holders. This technology increases royalty revenue for rights holders while reducing the legal risks associated with royalty disputes for Digital Service Providers. Beatdapp effectively functions as a comprehensive solution for accurately monitoring music play counts.

Metaspectral

Non Equity Assistance in 2019
Compression.ai is an information technology company that specializes in the fields of machine learning and web services. The company has developed encoding and decoding capability for images using machine learning, which achieves on-average about 95% compression rates of a raw image without significantly losing its quality.

Click Materials Corp.

Non Equity Assistance in 2019
Click Materials Corp., now known as Miru Smart Technologies, is a Vancouver-based company specializing in advanced materials and innovative thin film production. Founded in 2011, the company focuses on manufacturing films that enhance energy efficiency, particularly through products like electrochromic windows, which can switch between clear and opaque states using electricity. This technology is designed for smart home applications and aims to lower power consumption. With a foundation in over a decade of academic and industrial research, Miru Smart Technologies is advancing its fabrication processes and establishing strategic partnerships across residential, commercial, and automotive sectors to optimize performance while reducing manufacturing costs.

FIND

Non Equity Assistance in 2019
FIND AI brings the power of predictive AI to retailers reducing over and under-buying, promoting ideal product allocation, and increasing their customer's lifetime value through personalized, relevant, and customer-centric messaging. They are Building AI-powered sustainable, predictive, and collaborative inventory sales planning tools requiring minimal IT commitment that increase margins and reduce retail waste.

Naegis

Non Equity Assistance in 2019
Naegis Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a Canadian biopharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative small molecules to treat serious inflammatory diseases, particularly those affecting the eyes. Chronic inflammatory diseases pose significant health challenges, especially in an aging population, impacting both quality and quantity of life. Naegis's research team is dedicated to creating new therapies that target the underlying inflammatory processes associated with these conditions. The company’s initial focus is on serious eye diseases that can damage the back of the eye, aiming to block the synthesis of pro-inflammatory mediators. By designing a series of compounds that can be delivered to the retina through eye drops, Naegis seeks to provide safer and more effective treatment options for conditions that are leading causes of blindness.

Addy

Non Equity Assistance in 2019
Developer of a real estate investment platform designed to revolutionize the market by making property ownership accessible. The company specializes in crowdfunding properties, allow individuals to invest in real estate for as little as one dollar and handles all the details, from contracts to maintenance, enabling customers with the opportunity to own property and share in the risks and rewards of real estate.

GenXys Health Care Systems

Pre Seed Round in 2018
GenXys Health Care Systems Inc. specializes in precision prescribing software and pharmacogenetic solutions aimed at enhancing patient safety and medication efficacy while reducing healthcare costs. Based in Kelowna, Canada, the company’s innovative software analyzes interactions among medications, genetic factors, and health information to prevent adverse drug reactions. These reactions are a significant cause of morbidity, ranking as the fourth largest contributor to mortality in the United States, and many patients do not respond effectively to standard treatments. By addressing these critical issues, GenXys aims to promote personalized medicine, envisioning a future where its technology supports every prescription worldwide.

CTO.ai

Non Equity Assistance in 2018
CTO.ai is a serverless infrastructure designed for the needs of fast moving development teams who want to measure what the business cares about. Our Commands, Pipelines, Services and Insights provide all of the tools you need to easily integrate your GitOps and ChatOps workflows, so that you can workflow smarter, not harder.

Ionomr

Angel Round in 2017
Ionomr Innovations Inc., based in Vancouver, Canada, specializes in the design and manufacture of advanced ion-exchange membranes and ionomer solutions. Founded in 2013, the company focuses on providing innovative materials for various applications, including water treatment and purification, grid-level energy storage, and clean energy generation under the brand Aemion. Ionomr's products are distinguished by their alkaline stability, strength, and versatility, enabling seamless integration into electrochemical systems. By replacing harmful fluorinated chemicals used in traditional materials with environmentally friendly hydrocarbon alternatives, Ionomr aims to enhance performance while reducing pollution at the source. The company is committed to promoting sustainable and resilient systems that support the renewable energy and circular chemical economies, ultimately contributing to the decarbonization of the planet.

Nano-Lit

Non Equity Assistance in 2017
Nano-Lit Technologies design and create Smart Lights that significantly reduce energy consumption, and improve health and well-being in humans and the environment. Their objective is to increase the productivity and engagement of people in industries and locations as diverse as government, off-shore, general office workplace, and healthcare.

Creatus Biosciences

Non Equity Assistance in 2017
Creatus Biosciences Inc. engages in the production of genetically engineered species of micro-organism to produce compounds from xylose sugars with applications in industries, such as biofuels and food additives. The company uses genetic engineering techniques that enable micro-organism to produces commercial chemicals with applications across many industrial markets. Creatus Biosciences Inc. was incorporated in 2014 and is based in West Vancouver, Canada.

Human in Motion Robotics

Non Equity Assistance in 2017
Human in Motion Robotics

Dooly

Non Equity Assistance in 2017
Dooly Research Ltd. is a Canadian company that specializes in developing an artificial intelligence-driven sales enablement platform designed to enhance the efficiency of sales teams. Founded in 2015, the Vancouver-based company offers software that automates the customer relationship management process by capturing, sharing, and organizing essential customer information. The platform facilitates the synchronization of digital notes, fields, and tasks directly with Salesforce, allowing sales and customer success teams to minimize time spent on administrative duties. By streamlining the flow of information from meetings and customer interactions, Dooly enables teams to focus more on closing sales and achieving core business objectives.

Routific

Non Equity Assistance in 2017
Routific, Inc. is a Vancouver-based company that offers a route optimization platform designed to enhance vehicle routing and scheduling for small and medium-sized enterprises both in Canada and globally. The platform focuses on optimizing routes for last-mile delivery fleets, enabling businesses to achieve significant savings in time and fuel, reportedly up to 40%. Leveraging a proprietary algorithm, Routific combines efficiency with a user-friendly experience, positioning itself as a leading solution in the route optimization market. The company has garnered investment from notable entities such as Techstars Chicago, Pallasite Ventures, Firestarter Fund, and Axiom Zen.

Careteam Technologies

Non Equity Assistance in 2017
Careteam is a personal care platform for patients and their family caregivers can use to care for their acutely ill, recovering or aging loved ones at home. Careteam provides a care coordination platform based on a care plan that enables healthcare providers, the patient and family caregivers a single mobile and web location to see all the information required to care for a person and to message the other care team members securely based on access permissions for their role. Careteam provides a virtual binder of key health information that patients can access as they transition from one heath care setting to another. Our customers are health care organizations who are responsible for the cost of caring for patient recovering at home following discharge from hospital, in the transition to community care or those aging at home.

Elevated Signals

Non Equity Assistance in 2017
Elevated Signals Inc., founded in 2016 and based in Vancouver, Canada, offers a digital cultivation management platform designed to enhance controlled environment crop production. The platform utilizes wireless IoT sensors and data science to optimize cultivation processes. It includes features for seed-to-harvest compliance with Health Canada’s Good Production Practices and Good Manufacturing Practices, cultivar-specific workflow management, and high-resolution environmental monitoring linked to individual plant identifiers. Additionally, the platform provides reporting and analytics capabilities, enabling users to make informed decisions throughout the cultivation cycle.

Mesentech

Non Equity Assistance in 2017
Mesentech Inc. is a regenerative medicine company based in Vancouver, Canada, that specializes in developing therapeutics for bone-related diseases. The company employs a unique prodrug platform to selectively deliver bi-specific small-molecule therapeutics, targeting both specific tissues and molecular sites. This targeted delivery minimizes side effects associated with systemic drug exposure. One of its notable products, MES1007, is a bone-targeted prodrug of a prostaglandin mimetic designed to potentially reverse bone loss associated with conditions such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy and osteoporosis. Mesentech's proprietary bone targeting system addresses the challenges of treating bone due to its hard surface and low porosity, which complicate drug delivery. Pre-clinical studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of this technology, positioning Mesentech as a key player in the development of innovative treatments for difficult-to-treat bone diseases. The company was incorporated in 2013.

Hack Capital Ventures

Non Equity Assistance in 2017
Hack Capital Ventures, Inc. operates a platform that helps digital companies to hire, train, retain, and motivate software engineers to do the work using developers operations. The company provides CTO.ai, an intelligent developer operations infrastructure to help companies measure and improve their innovation cycles. It also offers CRO.ai, an intelligent revenue operations infrastructure to help companies measure and improve their sales cycle. The company was founded in 2016 and is based in Vancouver, Canada.

Alavida

Non Equity Assistance in 2017
Alavida Health Ltd. provides alcohol treatment programs. Its treatment is based on cognitive-behavioral framework. The company is based in Vancouver, Canada.

Clir Renewables

Non Equity Assistance in 2017
Clir Renewables Inc. develops cloud based renewable energy asset management and reporting software. Its software-as-a-service platform assists asset managers and owners in enhancing annual energy production and domain expertise, monitoring asset health, and managing financial and technical risk. The company was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada with an additional office in Glasgow, United Kingdom.

Scoop Solar

Pre Seed Round in 2017
Access powerful data, people and projects at your fingertips with the world's most intuitive mobile solution. Scoop Solar is a flexible platform optimized for web and mobile, which enables office and field staff to work in real time together while being data-driven. Eliminate email chains, paper-based forms, slow communication and unclear status updates by consolidating the steps in your work processes into one, easy-to-manage platform. [ SCOOP SOLUTIONS ] Solar Installation: Speed up your contract-to-cash timeline by reducing frustrations due to missing customer data, skipped steps and guesswork. Equip your installation crews with all the details and mobile form steps they need assure quality and increase customer satisfaction! Solar O&M: Help your O&M team get steps right the first time, every time by providing them with remote support, offline access to historical data and standardized steps through mobile-optimized smart forms. Scoop's 1-click reporting feature also helps you deliver results to your customer faster. Solar Sales: Eliminate manual steps, lower admin work and save repeated truck rolls! Keep your rate of cancellation down by increasing data integrity through mobile forms that standardize your sales reps' data collection process. [ SCOOP FEATURES ] Enable faster communication, better data collection and less administrative work with features such as: - A drag-and-drop app builder - Automatic syncing - Task assignment and tracking - Multimedia capabilities - Mobile-optimized smart forms - Flexible integration options into other project management, CRM, asset management software - 1-click report generation, and more! (See more features at https://www.scoop.solar) Solve your challenges in streamlining, managing and tracking projects in solar installation, O&M and sales functions. Scoop's flexible platform can be catered to create solutions that don't uproot your existing processes. Get started quickly with one of our solar industry best-practice app templates - free for your whole team - at https://www.scoop.solar/solar-app-store/

Intuitive AI

Non Equity Assistance in 2017
Intuitive Inc

Mangrove Water Technologies

Non Equity Assistance in 2017
Mangrove Water Technologies Ltd. manufactures wastewater desalination system. Its technology is used for the treatment and purification of contaminated well water and converts saline waste-water and waste-gases into desalinated water and oil and gas field chemicals for on-site utilization. The company was incorporated in 2017 and is based in Vancouver, Canada.

Damon Motors

Convertible Note in 2017
Damon is unleashing the full potential of personal mobility for the world’s commuters. With its proprietary electric drivetrain, the company has developed the world’s safest, smartest, fully connected electric motorcycle platform employing radical innovations in battery propagation resistance, sensor fusion and AI. Designed as a platform for worldwide line extension, Damon motorcycles will ship direct to consumer on subscription plans to drive scale. Based in Vancouver, Canada, Damon is a Techstars Mobility company founded by serial entrepreneurs Jay Giraud and Dom Kwong. Damon’s investors include Round 13 Capital, Techstars, Fontinalis, Extreme Venture Partners and Pallasite Ventures.

Orbitless Drive

Non Equity Assistance in 2017
ORBITLESS™ is the first novel drivetrain technology in generations. The patent pending ORBITLESS™ Drive can be used in a variety of applications from Motion Control, Robotics, Electric vehicles, Wind Power or really anywhere gear motors are used . It can be an alternative to a Planetary Drives, Harmonic (strain-wave) or Spur Gearsets, or used in combination to derive the desired ideal gearbox. Available in single stage, multi-stage, high and low ratio configurations, the possibilities are endless. We work with leading innovative gearhead, power transmission, and gearmotor companies that are looking to maintain their competitive edge. Our company provides a technical consultancy service and a support network, to offer external clients transmission design, analysis, build and test engineering.

VoltSafe

Pre Seed Round in 2017
VoltSafe is a manufacturer of innovative electrical power connectors designed to enhance the charging experience for vehicles. The company's flagship product, the VoltSafe Winter power plug, features a unique design that uses magnets for easy connection and disconnection. This intuitive technology allows the plug to automatically engage the electrical current when connected and to turn off instantly when detached, ensuring complete safety for users. By integrating advanced hardware and software, VoltSafe aims to revolutionize the way people interact with electricity, promoting both convenience and safety in various applications, including smart city infrastructures.

HeadCheck Health

Pre Seed Round in 2016
HeadCheck Health is focused on improving concussion management in sports by providing a comprehensive solution for testing and protocol implementation. Their mobile application simplifies the process of conducting pre-season baseline tests, post-injury evaluations, and tracking recovery towards return-to-play. The platform employs scientifically-backed methods to assess ten concussion indicators, including symptoms, cognitive function, and balance. It allows teams and organizations to make informed decisions regarding athlete safety and enhances communication among parents, coaches, and medical professionals. HeadCheck also offers onboarding services, compliance reporting, and customized injury reports to ensure adherence to concussion protocols. By enabling sport-focused clinics to adopt standardized concussion care practices, HeadCheck aims to increase brand loyalty and expand its user base, ultimately striving to become the industry standard for concussion management in sports.

nourished babe

Non Equity Assistance in 2016
nourished babe is a wellness platform that helps moms-to-be achieve the healthiest pregnancy outcomes for themselves and baby through adequate nutrition. With nourished babe, moms can track their nutrient intake and receive delicious curated meal suggestions based on their actual consumption; the only prenatal mobile health product to provide this dynamic guidance. Moms will feel confident knowing that they’re getting all of the critical nutrients that they (and baby) need during pregnancy. It’s prenatal nutrition made simple!

Plantiga

Non Equity Assistance in 2016
Plantiga provides human movement intelligence, a deep insight into health based on the way people move. Its platform is built to optimize health, prevent injury, and monitor recovery by detecting changes in functional movement patterns that the eye cannot see. The company was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia.

A&K Robotics

Non Equity Assistance in 2016
A&K Robotics Inc., founded in 2015 and headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, specializes in designing and building innovative robotic systems. The company focuses on developing intelligent navigation systems that enhance robots' ability to collaborate with humans. A&K Robotics creates electric micro-mobility platforms and self-driving robotic pods, which aim to improve quality of life and promote environmental sustainability. Their products are intended for use in large facilities such as airports, malls, and museums, as well as in crowded urban areas and future smart cities, providing individuals with greater freedom of mobility. Through its advancements in robotic technologies, A&K Robotics seeks to push the boundaries of the industry and explore practical applications that can significantly benefit society.

FoodMesh

Non Equity Assistance in 2016
FoodMesh is a B2B marketplace that matches surplus food to a verified network of businesses and charities.

HAVEN IAQ

Non Equity Assistance in 2016
TZOA (pronounced 'zoa')is the creator of Haven, the complete solution to indoor air quality in your home (residential) or building (commercial).

FTSY

Pre Seed Round in 2016
FTSY is a footwear matching platform that simplifies the process of finding the right shoes for customers both in-store and online. By leveraging proprietary artificial intelligence, FTSY delivers size and style recommendations that mimic the expertise of experienced sales personnel. The platform enhances the shopping experience, driving sales while reducing return rates and fostering customer loyalty. FTSY integrates seamlessly with major point of sale, ecommerce, and customer relationship management systems, allowing footwear brands to implement its technology quickly and efficiently. Users can easily match shoes by taking a photo, eliminating the need for cumbersome quizzes or physical measurements. Founded in 2015 and based in Vancouver, Canada, FTSY's team comprises specialists in retail, ecommerce, computer vision, and AI, dedicated to creating distinctive and engaging experiences for both brands and consumers.

Starling Minds

Non Equity Assistance in 2015
Starling Minds Inc. provides digital mental health therapy. The company also offers disability management, treatment, and absence management services. It offers solutions in the areas of business, disability management, education, healthcare, insurance providers, and workers compensation. The company was founded in 2013 and is based in Vancouver, Canada.