Why Canada Is the Smarter First Move for European Startups Going to North America

By Toronto Business Development Centre (TBDC)

North America, and specifically the US, has become the assumed destination for European deeptech founders ready to scale. Given that 50% of European deeptech’s growth capital already comes from outside the continent, most of it from the US, the logic isn’t wrong. The question is whether the US is the right first entry point.

The US looks accessible from Europe. You can run demos on Zoom, close early customers remotely, and build US ARR without leaving home. But deeptech is different. Enterprise buyers in regulated sectors want in-person relationships. They want to know you have local presence, local support, and they are not going to be your experiment.

We’re not saying don’t go to the US. We’re saying don’t go there first.

The Problem with the Default Plan

The North American market is not a monolith. Canada, the US, and Mexico each operate differently. Within each country, buyer expectations, procurement culture, and pain points vary significantly by region, sector, and company size. What lands in Toronto’s financial services sector won’t land the same way in Houston’s energy sector or Boston’s biotech corridor. The practical question isn’t “how do I enter North America”; it’s “where do I start, with whom, and how do I earn trust and start getting referrals?”

The founders we work with tend to arrive thinking of Canada as the cautious choice. Most leave thinking of it as the smart one.

The US market rewards companies that already have North American logos on their pitch deck. Canada is where you earn those logos.

What “Soft Landing” Actually Means

TBDC has been supporting entrepreneurs since 1990. Our work with international founders began with the launch of Canada’s Startup Visa program, and since early 2025 we’ve focused specifically on European deeptech companies through Horizon.

Here’s what that looks like in practice.

Before you arrive: We spend eight weeks with you before you ever get on a plane. Our team works with you to develop a market intelligence report — positioning, competitors, pricing benchmarks, regulatory and compliance landscape, go-to-market strategy. We match you with a Canadian or US specialist in your specific sector. If you’re working in aerospace, you’re receiving advice from someone who’s actually in aerospace. Not a generalist consultant.

When you arrive: We build a custom sprint week in Toronto around your company’s specific goals. If you’re looking for pilot project partners, we pre-shop your solution to decision-makers across our network and get you in the room with people who are ready to have a real conversation. If you’re trying to raise North American capital, we prepare your deal memo and connect you directly with VC partners and family offices. We organized almost 350 individualized meetings for 23 companies in one cohort alone.

After you leave: We provide fractional executive support to keep your pilot project momentum going while you’re back running your company from Lisbon or Warsaw or Tallinn. We’re not handing you a report and wishing you luck.

Why the EIC Connection Matters

TBDC was the first Canadian organization accepted into the European Innovation Council’s Business Acceleration Services catalog, a program that vets service providers globally and approves only those with demonstrated results. Being listed means the EIC has reviewed our track record and trusts us with their portfolio companies.

If you’re an EIC-backed founder, the funding mechanisms to support your North American expansion may already be available to you. The EIC’s Access to Market services can cover a meaningful portion of the cost of working with us, which means your runway stays intact while you’re building out new ground.

For the 2026 cohort, we’re looking specifically for deeptech companies in sectors where Canada has real enterprise buyer demand: AI and machine learning, fintech and financial services infrastructure, clean energy and grid technology, aerospace and defence, advanced manufacturing, and healthtech.

What Founders Who’ve Done It Say

Ask the founders who’ve been through Horizon what surprised them most. The answer is almost always the same.

Not the city, not the pace of business, not even the buyer relationships, though all of those come up. What founders name most often is the moment they realized their messaging didn’t travel. The terms they’d been using to describe their product simply didn’t exist in the North American market. They’d built the right thing. They just needed to learn how to talk about it here, and you can only learn that by being in the room.

The other thing that comes up consistently: network. Founders arrive knowing they need customers. They left understanding that what they actually needed first was someone to open the right doors, and to brief the people on the other side before they walked through them.

The best way to understand what Horizon does is to hear from the people who’ve done it. Watch here.

The Practical Case for Canada First

A few things worth knowing before you make your decision:

Talent costs. Canadian engineering and technical salaries run roughly half to a third of US equivalents, and two to four times lower than Central European peers. That means your runway goes further here while you’re proving North American traction.

Setup speed. Federal incorporation in Canada is straightforward — online filings typically process within a day. Compare that to the US, where standard visa processing for founders runs seven to nine months, and even with premium processing, the costs and qualification bar add friction that most early-stage companies aren’t ready for.

Proximity to the US. Toronto is 90 minutes from New York. Once you have Canadian customers, a Canadian address, and a North American support structure, crossing into the US becomes a growth move instead of a survival bet.

Government relationships. TBDC is funded by all three levels of the Canadian government. We can open doors to regulatory guidance, government procurement pathways, and R&D funding that most private accelerators simply can’t access. For deeptech companies with longer commercialization timelines, that matters.

Who Horizon Is Built For

We work with founders who have built something real. You have IP that’s validated in your home market. You have some commercial traction. You’re ready to expand, but you’re not ready to make an expensive mistake in an unfamiliar market.

If that’s you, and if your next move is North America, we’d like to talk.

Applications for the TBDC Horizon November 2026 cohort are open now. We work with a small number of companies per cohort by design, because individualized attention is the only thing that actually moves the needle.

Apply Now to join the November Cohort! Applications accepted until August 1st.

TBDC – Toronto Business Development Centre is a not-for-profit accelerator funded by the City of Toronto, the Province of Ontario, and the Government of Canada. We’ve been helping companies launch, scale, and grow since 1990. Learn more here.