QueerTech has revealed the first cohort of its 2SLGBTQIA+ accelerator program, which includes a range of mostly software and artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled early-stage startups.
The 12-week QT Founders Catalyst Program kicked off this week and includes 18 companies from across Canada, eight of which incorporate AI into their product offerings. Participants include Vancouver-based food tech company BetterTable, Calgary-based digital productivity platform Flowva, and Osoyoos, BC-based inclusive video game studio Simply Sweet Games.
The cohort includes 18 companies from across Canada, eight of which incorporate AI into their product offerings.
Montréal-based nonprofit organization QueerTech announced the new program in January alongside the appointment of Virtual Gurus CEO Bobbie Racette as its board chair.
This follows QueerTech’s early 2024 acquisition of Toronto-based Gradient Spaces, an organization that ran a three-month incubator for queer founders.
The program aims to give participating 2SLGBTQIA+ entrepreneurs a leg up with resources and networking opportunities to scale their companies. The program offers startups weekly sessions, personalized mentorship opportunities, access to potential investors, and a final pitch day. It’s delivered virtually with in-person networking opportunities in Toronto, Montréal, Calgary, Halifax, and Vancouver.
QueerTech says that the program was conceived in part to address a funding gap that exists for 2SLGBTQIA+ founders. In the United States, they received only 0.5 percent of venture funding in 2023, according to the StartOut Index.
Despite the low proportion of funding, the study indicates that startups with 2SLGBTQIA+ founders achieved 44 percent more successful exits and filed 114 percent more patents.
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“These statistics aren’t just impressive—they reveal a systemic underinvestment in one of the most productive founder demographics in tech,” Eustacio Saldaña, co-founder and COO of QueerTech, said in a statement.
The federal government supports the QT Founders Catalyst Program through the 2SLGBTQI+ Entrepreneurship Program, which falls under Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada and is administered by the Canadian Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. The initiative includes an $8-million ecosystem fund that provides funding to non-profit business support organizations to deliver projects that help entrepreneurs access entrepreneurial tools and resources.
Founded in 2016, QueerTech started as a meetup group in partnership with MTL NewTech (now ElanTech) to connect queer professionals within the local tech industry. The organization has claimed, since then, that it has helped over 10,000 professionals who identify as 2SLGBTQIA+ via professional development and mentorship, and hosted over 125 events.
Feature image courtesy QueerTech.