Invest Ottawa's extensive range of programs and services to help you launch, grow and scale your business.
Real-world guidance from experienced business experts specific to your business needs and challenges.
A training program for Ottawa-based, non-tech entrepreneurs who have launched or are ready to launch a new business.
Secondary and post-secondary students learn the skills and knowledge needed to start up a successful business.
Validate a tech startup idea and establish a solid foundation to build your business on.
Access to early-stage advisors, cost-saving start-up perks, and a network of like-minded peers.
Expert guidance to help you establish and grow your business in multiple markets.
For high-growth, Ottawa-based technology firms that have reached $2 million in revenue or capital and are on track to generating $100 million or more.
Access funding and expert support to protect, manage, and grow your business through intellectual property.
Learn how to pitch your business and secure investment with SheBoot, a women-led program for women founders jointly established by Invest Ottawa and the Capital Angel Network.
Tips, advice, programs, services and other resources to help all women succeed in business.
For businesses seeking to expand their global footprint in Ottawa and those already established in the city scale up their enterprises.
Discover why Ottawa’s multinational giants, homegrown successes, and high-growth startups are the ideal spot to secure your future.
Real-world guidance from experienced business experts specific to your business needs and challenges.
A training program for Ottawa-based, non-tech entrepreneurs who have launched or are ready to launch a new business.
Secondary and post-secondary students learn the skills and knowledge needed to start up a successful business.
Validate a tech startup idea and establish a solid foundation to build your business on.
Access to early-stage advisors, cost-saving start-up perks, and a network of like-minded peers.
Expert guidance to help you establish and grow your business in multiple markets.
For high-growth, Ottawa-based technology firms that have reached $2 million in revenue or capital and are on track to generating $100 million or more.
Access funding and expert support to protect, manage, and grow your business through intellectual property.
Learn how to pitch your business and secure investment with SheBoot, a women-led program for women founders jointly established by Invest Ottawa and the Capital Angel Network.
Tips, advice, programs, services and other resources to help all women succeed in business.
For businesses seeking to expand their global footprint in Ottawa and those already established in the city scale up their enterprises.
Discover why Ottawa’s multinational giants, homegrown successes, and high-growth startups are the ideal spot to secure your future.
Our expansive facility at Bayview Yards equips the most promising entrepreneurs and technology firms with technical, business and market capabilities to take on the world.
Accelerate the market readiness of your tech solution at Area X.O, a technology-rich, secure R&D complex for next-gen smart mobility, autonomy and connectivity technologies created for all-weather experimentation.
Explore the inspiration, actionable insight and impact that helps make Ottawa a world-class tech hub and thriving, inclusive business community.
Keep up to date with all the industry, startup, and community news, as well as features profiling some of Ottawa's leading success stories.
Invested in Our New Reality features an intimate one-on-one conversations with the leaders of some of the country’s fastest-growing companies
Read about the programs and services that help fuel the growth and success of the entrepreneurs, community and companies we serve, and our collaborative economic impact.
We are here for all women. Invest Ottawa is determined to move the dial and to create long-lasting change.
We are together on this critical journey. Invest Ottawa is here for you and all members of our community.
Workshops, networking events, and community events supporting our local entrepreneurs and businesses.
Browse Invest Ottawa's complete calendar of both local and international events.
Multi-day events that bring together the best business minds world-wide in one place.
If you have an event which may fit, please submit and it will be reviewed within two business days.
Whether you are looking to host a special event or meeting, Bayview Yards offers a bright and energizing environment, perfect for any occasion.
Subscribe to our newsletter receive updates in your inbox
Take a step closer to building an amazing career—and an even better life—in Ottawa.
Ottawa offers some of the best tech jobs in the world – and one of these opportunities might be a life-changing career for you.
Learn about one of the most diverse tech hubs in North America, ranked #1 in North America for tech talent concentration in 2020.
Downloads and online resources to help when considering an international career change.
Explore why Ottawa is a center of innovation and globally recognized as innovative, future-ready, and the best place to work and live.
Invest Ottawa helps you accelerate your growth and success in one of the fastest-growing global tech hubs.
See how we drive job creation and economic growth in our nation’s capital.
Our plan for creating new high-value jobs, attracting new investment, and driving the growth of Ottawa’s economy
Find your success in Ottawa.

← Back to Starter Company Plus
![]() |
New Frontiers in skin health – with Frontier Skincare |
|---|

Co-founded by Zak Lewis and Andrew MacDonald, Frontier Skincare is making waves in the men’s skincare market with a mission to integrate skincare into every man’s daily routine.
“Our mission is to demystify skincare and empower men to take charge of their routines with confidence,” co-founder Zak Lewis explained. “So, whether you’re new to skincare or a seasoned pro, we’re here to help you look and feel your best.”
Since being founded in 2022, its innovative approach, focus on sustainability, and commitment to quality in men’s skincare have quickly earned Frontier Skincare a loyal customer base in Ottawa and beyond.
Next, they’re looking to expand their product line by introducing a high-quality facial sunscreen to further provide products that meet the unique needs of their customers.
“Our ultimate goal is to introduce a high-quality facial sunscreen that’s perfect for active, outdoorsy lifestyles,” Zak explained. “We know how important it is to protect against the sun’s UV rays, which are a major cause of early aging.”
Finding and accessing the entrepreneurial community – through Starter Company Plus
According to Zak, participating in the Starter Company Plus program provided essential knowledge and networking opportunities that have been instrumental to the company in its early stages.
Made possible by the Ontario government, the Starter Company Plus program helps new and aspiring entrepreneurs to start, expand, or purchase an early-stage, non-tech business.
“The curriculum and professional connections were invaluable,” Zak wrote.

“The program structure was fantastic, and the staff were incredible, but the real benefit of the program was the connection with local entrepreneurs,” he added. “We have several small groups that meet regularly to talk about everything from social media strategy to boxing ideas. The community is so supportive and inspiring.”
For any aspiring entrepreneurs that might be on the fence and are considering joining Invest Ottawa’s next cohort of Starter Company Plus, Zak had a few words of wisdom:
“If you can do it, you absolutely should,” he exclaimed. “The classes were informative and forced us to spend some time focusing on aspects of the business that would have otherwise been left by the wayside as we spent our energy on the ‘fun stuff.’ We found the financial planning module and the pitching your business sessions to be particularly useful.”
As for what’s on the horizon for Frontier Skincare, Zak emphasized the company is committed to helping more men understand the need for a good skin healthcare routine – and finding ways to give back to the community.
“Whether it’s through our 1% for the Planet commitment or partnerships with organizations dedicated to men’s health, we want to make a positive impact,” he said.
"*" indicates required fields
"*" indicates required fields
Embedded software in high demand with Crank Software:
Crank Software helps easily develop and embed UI designs. With over 350 clients from startups to Fortune 500 companies, Crank Software has helped launch 500 million UIs. A day in the life of a Software Developer at Crank Software includes becoming an expert on its award-winning platform, Storyboard, and developing interface layers from UI to backend code. Taking home an award as one of Ottawa’s best places to work at the 2018-2019 Employee’s Choice Awards, a career at Crank Software is sure to be fun and rewarding.
DevOps are in high demand with these companies:
Evidence Partners is changing the way researchers work. Its systematic literature review system, DistillerSR, helps deliver reviews up to 60% faster than spreadsheet-based processes. The SaaS company is exploding with growth, outgrowing its last office in just four months and taking home a Best Ottawa Business (BOB) award in 2019. This growth is driving Evidence Partners to look for Fullstack Developers and DevOps Engineers that are passionate about streamlining research in the academic and medical fields. Full benefits from day one and flexible work options are just a few of the perks you get working at Evidence Partners.
K
ivuto helps schools go digital. Kivuto Cloud streamlines the management of educational resources such as e–texts and license keys, saving 20K+ schools an average of $50K. Kivuto partnered with educational giant Pearson in 2019 to bring digital education resources to academic institutions. A passion for education paired with skills in .NET Core Web API, AWS, Azure, React, SQL, and other tools and technologies make Kivuto a great place to grow your DevOps or Fullstack Engineering career.
Rewind Backups provides automated backup services, so businesses don’t lose their hard work. The development team at Rewind is made up of four teams of two to three people. Developers implement, test, document, and maintain back-end systems for high-traffic back-up services, delivering quality code and improving the development and deployment processes using AWS. A day at Rewind on the development team could look like anything from supporting Shopify’s new bulk APIs to creating Rewind-Connect; a wrapper for AWS SSM for connecting to Rewind staging and production systems. As the winner of the Ottawa Business Journal’s Employee Choice Award two years in a row, Rewind is an ideal place to work and grow.

Recently securing $10M in financing, Tehama is on the cutting edge of developing tools for the remote workforce. Tehama’s service delivery platform enables organizations to easily onboard, manage and scale a distributed workforce in a secure way. 150 companies are using Tehama. 600,000+ hours of IT services delivered. Zero breaches. Under the leadership of VP Engineering, Jacopo Toccacieli, you’ll be working as part of Tehama’s agile development team and immersed in developing new features for its cloud-based solutions. This will include helping define company-wide API standards, working in React and Angular, and having the ability to work with SQL. You’ll have the option to work remotely or at Tehama’s beautiful offices in the heart of Westboro, steps from some of the best shopping, coffee shops and restaurants in Ottawa.
Mobile developers are in high demand with these companies:

Field Effect monitors cyber threats. Amongst many organizations who trust Field Effort to safeguard their cybersecurity, Canadian Internet Registration Agency (CIRA) teamed up with this scaling Ottawa firm to deploy its new API. Talents with an agile and test-driven approach as well as skills in C/C++, Objective-C, and Java are invaluable in helping build and improve Field Effect’s key security products: Covalence, Cyber Range, and Noble. As one of the top Ottawa employers who scored the highest in the Employee Net Promotor Score Initiative commissioned by Invest Ottawa’s Scale-Up program, Field Effect is appreciated by its employees for its commitments to transparency, trust and openness.
Foko Retail helps retail stores manage tasks. Used by 60+ of the largest names in retail including Nike and Dyson, Foko Retail’s mobile-based task management software is easy to use from operations to visual merchandising. With a growing user base, Foko Retail is looking for mobile developers that are adaptable and passionate about retail and SaaS. While Foko Retail’s culture can be relaxed with office dogs and casual attire, it means business when it comes to its team, customers, and products. A competitive salary and benefits package doesn’t hurt either.
Shoebox enables hearing care around the world. It creates, sells, and supports products that help clinicians identify hearing loss. The maker of Shoebox, Clearwater Clinical, hit a huge milestone in 2018 when they entered a strategic partnership with international hearing device company Sivantos. Shoebox lives by the work hard play hard ethos, and offers an array of benefits, team sports, bean bag chairs, and video games at their Glebe Annex office. If you want to be part of a team that does well by doing good, Shoebox is looking for developers with first-hand experience in AWS hosted solutions.
Full stack developers are in high demand with these companies:
BitHeads builds custom software solutions. With an impressive roster of over 500 projects delivered to Fortune 1000 companies, a career with BitHeads is dynamic with so much room to learn and grow. You could be working on projects ranging from designing an interface for a leading forensic ballistics company to building support for a mobile game with 10 million active users— it’s truly different every day. Whether you are a full stack, server-side, or front-end developer, or prefer to validate developed software, BitHeads is in constant need of skilled resources to build games, apps, and backend support.

Field Effect monitors cyber threats. Amongst many organizations who trust Field Effort to safeguard their cybersecurity, Canadian Internet Registration Agency (CIRA) teamed up with this scaling Ottawa firm to deploy its new API. Talents with an agile and test-driven approach as well as skills in C/C++, Objective-C, and Java are invaluable in helping build and improve Field Effect’s key security products: Covalence, Cyber Range, and Noble. As one of the top Ottawa employers who scored the highest in the Employee Net Promotor Score Initiative commissioned by Invest Ottawa’s Scale-Up program, Field Effect is appreciated by its employees for its commitments to transparency, trust and openness.
Rewind Backups provides automated backup services, so businesses don’t lose their hard work. The development team at Rewind is made up of four teams of two to three people. Developers implement, test, document, and maintain back-end systems for high-traffic back-up services, delivering quality code and improving the development and deployment processes using AWS. A day at Rewind on the development team could look like anything from supporting Shopify’s new bulk APIs to creating Rewind-Connect; a wrapper for AWS SSM for connecting to Rewind staging and production systems. As the winner of the Ottawa Business Journal’s Employee Choice Award two years in a row, Rewind is an ideal place to work and grow.
Recently securing $10M in financing, Tehama is on the cutting edge of developing tools for the remote workforce. Tehama’s service delivery platform enables organizations to easily onboard, manage and scale a distributed workforce in a secure way. 150 companies are using Tehama. 600,000+ hours of IT services delivered. Zero breaches. Under the leadership of VP Engineering, Jacopo Toccacieli, you’ll be working as part of Tehama’s agile development team and immersed in developing new features for its cloud–based solutions. This will include helping define company-wide API standards, working in React and Angular, and having the ability to work with SQL. You’ll have the option to work remotely or at Tehama’s beautiful offices in the heart of Westboro, steps from some of the best shopping, coffee shops and restaurants in Ottawa.
Data scientists utilize their analytical, statistical, and programming skills to collect, analyze, and interpret large data sets. They then use this information to develop data-driven solutions to difficult business challenges. Data scientists commonly have a bachelor’s degree in statistics, math, computer science, or economics. Data scientists have a wide range of technical competencies including: statistics and machine learning, coding languages, databases, machine learning, and reporting technologies.
Companies currently hiring data scientists
Transforming our data-driven world takes talent, and MindBridge is where it’s happening. This is where you’ll take artificial intelligence to enable and inspire humans to do more and be better. Our people, our customers, and our investors agree: No one else is accomplishing what we’re doing with data-driven AI right now. Learn more and Apply.
On the most basic level, software engineers write, debug, maintain, and test software that instructs a computer to accomplish certain tasks, such as saving information, performing calculations, etc. A software engineer will convert what needs to happen into one of many programming languages, the most common of which being Java, C++ and Python.
While many are self taught, most software engineers have obtained an undergraduate or graduate degree in computer science or computer engineering. The career of a software engineer typically follows one of two primary paths: they either progress through greater responsibility and ownership over technical architecture and systems or they progress into managing teams of software engineers and help orchestrate larger projects and help develop and mentor more junior engineers.
Companies currently hiring front-end developers
Tehama is enabling the digital workplace of the future. 150 companies are using Tehama. 600,000+ hours of IT services delivered. Zero breaches. The company’s head office is in the heart of the highly desirable Westboro neighborhood of Ottawa where you have your pick of the best of Ottawa’s cafes, restaurants and shops. Prefer to work from home? Tehama offers remote working options and flexible core hours. Join a team of the best and brightest and enjoy competitive salaries, benefits and a commitment to YOUR long-term success. Learn more and Apply.
Spartan Bioscience aspires to unleash the power of DNA testing for everyone. Like the Spartan warriors of Ancient Greece, our smart, hard-working, and honorable team members get things done. Learn 10 reasons for joining Spartan and apply today.






