Daly Brown spent more than a decade in defence, building battlefield networks and aerospace systems designed to work when failure isn’t an option. Now he’s applying that expertise to Canada’s critical infrastructure.
“These are high-consequence, high-stakes environments where functional safety is paramount.”
Daly Brown,
Metropolitan Technologies
His Ottawa startup, Metropolitan Technologies, co-founded with longtime colleague Nick Foubert, has developed a platform designed to securely connect industrial systems in sectors like mining, energy, water treatment, transportation, and manufacturing. When those essential systems—the ones we rely on every day to keep the lights on, the water clean, and the goods moving—fail or get compromised by a cyberattack or security breach, people can get hurt.
“These are high-consequence, high-stakes environments where functional safety is paramount,” said Brown.
If building a startup is hard, building a cybersecurity startup is harder still. The product has to work, but proving that takes time. Even once you do, finding product-market fit—who to sell to, how to reach them, and how to earn their trust—takes longer.
For Brown and his team, figuring out how to navigate these challenges was just as important as building the product. “It’s a long sales cycle involving long-term relationship building, and it’s not going to happen overnight.”
Brown and Foubert are recent graduates of Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst’s Cyber Challenge, an eight-month program for cybersecurity startups in Ontario.
Delivered in partnership with the Canadian Cyber Threat Exchange (CCTX) and supported in part by the Government of Ontario, the Cyber Challenge is designed to help startups transition from obstacles to market-ready solutions. The program begins with a prep stage in which founders identify and validate a concrete cybersecurity challenge, building toward a pitch in the second stage. In the second stage, selected startups receive $20,000 in non-dilutive funding and participate in an intensive cycle of mentorship and curated programming, working closely with industry experts to refine go-to-market strategies. The program is designed to connect founders with mentors, industry partners, and peers who understand the space.
For Metropolitan Technologies, that last part mattered most. Being part of an ecosystem that understands the realities of the market they operate in is extremely valuable. Brown found that most accelerators are geared toward software companies that sell directly to their customers. “That’s not how our industry works.”
Startups in this space have to work with two audiences at once. End users are the mines, pipelines, and utilities that need the technology. But they don’t buy directly. They buy from system integrators, large firms that package products into complete solutions. While end users care about security and compliance, integrators have different priorities–namely, ease of product integration and speed to market.
High-profile ransomware attacks and geopolitical tensions have made the risks harder to ignore.
Brown and Foubert had the technical credentials. What they needed was a better understanding of market dynamics: what motivates system integrators to partner with a startup, and how best to approach them.
“We were able to put together a narrative and a story around us, to position our product and speak the language,” Brown said.
The program also offered validation. Building in a specialized market with long sales cycles means feedback can be slow, making it hard to know if you’re on the right track. For Brown and team, being surrounded by people who understood the space provided the data points they needed to continue.
“When we were talking about [operational technology], zero trust, network segmentation, containment, they understood,” he said. “It was reassuring that other people are thinking about this as well. We’re not crazy.”
While still in its early stages, Metropolitan Technologies is gaining momentum. The strategy from day one was to start in defence, where Brown and Foubert already had relationships, then use that credibility to expand into civilian infrastructure. Defence giant CAE is now both an investor and partner. The startup is piloting with the federal government and has ongoing projects with Thales, a global aerospace and defence firm. Brown expects the team to double this year, with a potential seed round planned for the fall.
Canada, he believes, has what it takes to build successful companies delivering digital solutions for infrastructure and defence. “We have a ton of expertise here,” Brown said.
The timing is right, too. High-profile ransomware attacks and geopolitical tensions have made the risks harder to ignore. Governments are tightening cybersecurity requirements, and policies like Ontario’s Buy Ontario Act are creating opportunities for domestic companies. A year ago, Brown had to explain why this work mattered. Now, those conversations are different.
“We didn’t predict that was going to happen, but people care a lot more about what we have to say now,” he said. “We hope to be part of that success story long term.”
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Applications for the final Cyber Challenge cohort (kicking off this May) are open until February 16. Learn more and apply here.
Feature image courtesy Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst.