Dispatches from CCI's Innovator Exchange: What Float and Xanadu Taught Us About Scaling in Canada

Canada doesn't have a talent problem. It has a capital-and-courage problem. That was the message we heard loud and clear from the panelists at the Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI) Innovator Exchange on September 23, 2026, hosted by the Ontario Securities Commission and TMX.

CCI exists to advocate for high-growth, scaling Canadian companies, and this panel put two of them on stage. Moderated by Daniel Perry of CCI, the panel brought together Rob Khazzam, co-founder and CEO of Float, Christian Weedbrook, founder and CEO of Xanadu, and Dani Lipkin of TMX, to talk about what it really takes to raise, scale and go public from Canada.

Let Everyday Canadians Back Canadian Growth

The panel opened on retail investors. More individuals are participating in markets than ever, and the speakers want that energy pointed at Canadian companies, and at earlier stages.

The lever they kept returning to was tax policy. Lower capital gains on investments in domestic growth companies would give individuals a real reason to back homegrown innovators. As one panelist framed it, retail capital isn't a nice-to-have. It's part of how you move an entire economy.

Xanadu: Going Public to Build the Future

Xanadu is a quantum computing company listed on both the TSX and Nasdaq. Weedbrook was direct about why: access to capital.

Quantum is a long game. It takes years and serious money, and private rounds alone (Xanadu had reached a Series C) only go so far for something this capital-intensive. Weedbrook argued that public investors who think in decades, the value-investing mindset, are a natural fit for futuristic technology.

Being public brought benefits beyond the cheque:

• Hiring. Liquid equity is a far stronger recruiting tool than illiquid private shares.
• M&A. Public stock makes acquisitions much easier to structure.

When Is the Right Time to List?

The panel's answer: the window can open fast, so be ready before it does. Readiness is the competitive advantage. Founders who have done the work can be opportunistic when markets turn.

The TSX Venture Exchange came up as an underrated on-ramp. The panel pointed to Kraken Robotics, the ocean-tech company from Newfoundland, as proof that you don't need to wait for scale: the example discussed was a listing with a smaller revenue and relatively small valuation.

Float: Coming Home to Build

Khazzam wanted to start a company back in 2014. Instead he joined Uber and worked abroad, and that's where it clicked: Canada had so much to build, and so much talent to build it with. He came home, and Float has since raised a Series C.

The later stage is getting better

Khazzam sees real progress in later-stage private funding. New growth capital from firms like Radical Ventures helps Canadian companies scale without leaving.

The early stage is still a gap

The bigger problem sits earlier. Khazzam described a huge deficit of domestic capital before Series B. Float, like many peers, relied heavily on American investors in its early rounds.

That creates a hidden tax on Canadian founders. Before they can raise, they have to educate US investors on the Canadian market, regulation and talent pool. It's slow and hard work.

The consequence is familiar. When the money isn't here, founders follow it south. Without a stronger early-stage ecosystem, the brain drain continues.

Weedbrook's prescription for Canadian VCs: adopt American-style thinking. Make decisions faster, pay higher valuations and take bigger risks.

Government: Big Bets, and Small Ones Too

The panel gave credit where it's due. Minister Evan Solomon recently announced federal quantum funding that Weedbrook described as larger than its US counterpart, and Xanadu is among the recipients.

They also nodded to the federal Major Projects Office, built to fast-track the “whales”: nation-building infrastructure and resource projects. The ask from the stage was memorable. Canada also needs a minor projects office, one that moves just as fast for the startups and scale-ups that will become tomorrow's major projects.

Culture: Ask What Could Go Right

The theme that ran through the whole conversation was risk tolerance. Canadians tend to ask what could go wrong. The panel wants us asking what could go right.

One speaker named a very Canadian habit: rounding deadlines down, then moving slower than we need to. Speed is a choice, and it compounds.

Interestingly, Canada already has a high-risk culture in one sector: mining. Our capital markets are comfortable funding exploration that may never pay off. The panel's challenge is to bring that same appetite to technology.

It starts young. We need to tell students and young people, early and often, that starting a company is a real path.

Friction with the US as a Catalyst

Tension with the United States has had an unexpected upside. Interest in Canadian technology has grown because of its sovereign nature, momentum is building, and conversations with Europe are picking up.

Pay It Forward

The panel closed on the flywheel. Founders who have done it before owe the next generation their advice, and many on stage credited those who helped them.

Public listings matter here too. When companies like Wealthsimple go public, early employees get liquidity. Some of them will go on to found companies of their own, often backing others along the way. Every Canadian IPO is a seed for the next wave of startups.

What It Means for Founders

At Unicorn Rocket Marketing, I work with ambitious startups looking to take their marketing to the next level, as they grow. Here's what I'm taking from CCI's Innovator Exchange:

• Build public-market readiness early. Windows open fast. Your story, metrics and governance should be ready before you need them.
• Don't overlook the TSX Venture Exchange. Listing early is a real option, not a last resort.
• Tell your story to the right investors. Whether you're educating US VCs on Canada or pitching long-horizon public investors, clear positioning shortens every raise.
• Lean into the sovereign moment. Interest in Canadian technology is rising, at home and in Europe. Make it part of your narrative.
• Ask what could go right. Then take action.

The founders who are ready to tell their story now will be the ones who ride that momentum.

Scaling a Canadian company and want your story to land with investors, customers and talent? Get in touch with me.

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