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 three-month training program for 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.
Connect with a community of more than 100 women leaders from Ottawa’s tech ecosystem.
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 three-month training program for 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.
Connect with a community of more than 100 women leaders from Ottawa’s tech ecosystem.
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.
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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.
Tell us about your business
We are a growing online furniture shop providing modern, well-made, recycled furniture. We fill the gap between mass-produced, environmentally-unfriendly furniture and bespoke designer pieces that not everyone can afford.
We choose quality vintage furniture, and redesign it with modern colours and new hardware. We take the guilt out of redecorating by offering an eco-conscious solution to making your own home beautiful.
It was a home-based business started during COVID that, with the help and guidance of Starter Company Plus, has since grown to be a fully incorporated company with a commercial space and consistent month-over-month growth.
What did you learn from your Starter Company Plus program experience?
Starter Company Plus (SC+) basically took 6 or 12 months of online research on how to start a business and provided it in comprehensive lessons over the course of one week. They had amazing guest speakers and lessons throughout the months that really, honestly, share the ‘need to know’ essentials on each of the topics.
With SC+, we quickly learned the key decisions to make when starting a company and then, we were able to understand the impact of what we chose for the long run of our business. For us, we always wanted to grow and be a leading local provider of furniture, so we set up the systems and structure we needed to do that.
The grant money provided us with the ability to pay a lawyer to properly incorporate, pay an amazing web designer to set up our Shopify store better than we could have done ourselves – and we bought a piece of equipment to improve the air quality when painting.
What advice would you have for other entrepreneurs?
Honestly, joining SC+ put us about 12-18 months ahead of where we would have been starting the business all alone.
Now we are into our second fiscal year of operations, and we’re improving processes and systems – not fixing them, as we would need to have done if we had tried to set up our business alone.
What’s next for your business?
For us the key is growth and getting more items recycled and onto our website. We are already seeing positive results from Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Google, so, one day we will be an everyday option when you need “new” furniture for your home!