Canada Start-up Index – July 2008

The Start-up Indexes are a monthly ranking of start-ups based on an average of Alexa and Compete rankings. Originally inspired by Marcelo Calbucci’s Seattle Startup Index, I’ve been producing Techvibes’ Start-up Indexes for half a year now. First started as an offhand post idea, the Indexes were well received, appealing to every geek’s inner motivation to appear on high score lists. Starting with just two, Vancouver and Toronto, we responded to demand and suggestions and last month posting Indexes for nine cities/regions. A Canada-wide index had been requested a number of times, so coinciding with today, the one hundred and forty-first anniversary of confederation of the Dominion of Canada, I’m pleased to post our first Canada Start-up Index. The criteria for companies to appear on the list:

• Located in Canada
• Less than five years old
• Not a public company
• Is a tech company; either hardware, software, web app/service, or mobile

The Index is intended as a jovial comparison of Canadian companies. Comprehensive traffic data is difficult to obtain, and neither Alexa or Compete’s numbers are perfect; we average them to smooth out bias. Further, web traffic isn’t necessarily a relevant measure of success, nor is it even an indication of having a practical business model. I’m sure many Seattle web companies experience feelings of inadequacy in ranking below the Seattle Index’s #3 site, I Can Haz Cheezburger. If you know of a company that would qualify for the list, please post a comment and we’ll see to including it in the next edition (and relevant local editions). Enjoy, don’t make lose sleep or make financial decisions over it, and Joyeuse Fête du Canada!