CMC Microsystems Celebrates Creation of 250 Canadian Tech Start-Ups Over Twenty-Five Year Period

CMC Microsystems, Canada's hardware technology facilitator, recently completed a report on their work over a 25-year span which indicated that the organization has supported the creation of 250 Canadian technology start ups.

In the last five years alone, CMC has helped create 74 companies. All but one are still in business, at 95% survival over 5 years this is far better than the typical success rate for start-ups over the same period which is approximately 45%, according to Statistics Canada.1

Gordon Harling, President and CEO of CMC, commented on the report saying CMC's model of creating and helping technology start-ups is unique. "Our focus is providing individuals and teams with the infrastructure and the tools to design, fabricate, and test their hardware products. Proving the validity of the hardware product is the cornerstone of start-up success and has tremendous impact on business viability."

The report also indicates that 50% of the 250 start ups are still active and operating in Canada. The other 50% includes companies that are still active but may have been acquired or merged, their underlying technology is still providing revenue and jobs for Canadians.

“CMC was essential in providing tools and technology access for us to prove the Ultra-WideBand technology now commercialized by SPARK Microsystems. Being able to show that our physical hardware could provide orders of magnitude improved performance in low power, low latency, high data rate, and acute positioning connectivity made it much easier to attract customers and investors” said Fares Mubarak, CEO of SPARK Microsystems, a fabless semiconductor company based in Montreal, QC.

There are 20 universities in six provinces represented in the report where teams of researchers supported by CMC and who self-declared their start-up was crucially enabled by CMC services.

CMC's focus is on creating a vibrant advanced technology manufacturing ecosystem in Canada with hardware design and manufacturing on highly targeted products that can be manufactured here and marketed to the world.

Geared for entrepreneurs and start-ups

To serve our growing community of entrepreneurs and start-ups, CMC launched the VIE Program – the Virtual Incubator Environment.

Designed for start-ups, the VIE program provides access to state-of-the-art tools for design and simulation at extremely competitive rates - perfectly aligned with CMC’s mission of lowering barriers to technology adoption. VIE has proven crucial for entrepreneurs and start-ups access to the most powerful tools on the market to drive innovation.

To learn more about the VIE program, visit www.cmc.ca/vie/

About CMC Microsystems:

CMC Microsystems works with researchers and industry across Canada’s National Design Network® (CNDN). We provide access to world-class platforms for Computer Aided Design (CAD), prototyping and manufacturing services (FAB), training and support (LAB) for researchers, entrepreneurs, and industry. Our services are geared for microsystems, nanotechnologies, photonics, and support innovative sectors of the next-generation economy. CMC reduces barriers by offering simplified access to the right tools to create tomorrow’s technologies. Our network is made up of over 10,000 entrepreneurs and researchers at over 60 post-secondary institutions across CNDN.

© 2021 and Reg. TM – CMC Microsystems. All rights reserved


1 *After 10 years, the business survival rate for the goods-producing sector was 47.8 percent, compared with 42.9 percent for the service producing sector. Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Data Development and Economic Research, National Accounts Longitudinal Microdata File. Key Small Business Statistics, January 2019: https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/061.nsf/eng/h_03090.html#point1-3