IMPACT Startup Visa Accelerator

IMPACT Startup Visa (ISV) Accelerator Program is a comprehensive 4-month program that combines traditional business acceleration with processes, support, and a community to help you solidify Canada as the home base for your business. 

Our team at Spring comes from diverse backgrounds and we know immigration and moving countries can be a challenge, especially if you’re taking your business with you. Let us help you make it easier so you can create an even bigger impact as an entrepreneur working to address the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals!

Operating under the banner of Canada’s Start-Up Visa (SUV)—a program that supports entrepreneurs seeking to immigrate to Canada to accelerate innovation and job creation in the country—our online Impact Startup Visa Program combines the training, mentorship, opportunities, and connections you need to help unlock growth and crystallize your company’s impact on people and the planet.

The program focuses on five key objectives: 

• Providing you with pre-program support on setting up the right foundation for your business in Canada
• Introducing you to the Canadian entrepreneurship ecosystem and to our consumer and business cultures 
• Delivering training and mentorship that cover all aspects of doing business, with a focus on Canada
• Helping you maximize your impact on the world through better impact definition and measurement
• Teaching you the process and providing the tools you need to successfully raise capital to fuel your efforts

About the IMPACT Startup Visa Program

In 2013, the Canadian Government launched the Start-up Visa Program to attract foreign entrepreneurs with the skills and potential to build businesses in Canada that:

• Are innovative
• Can create jobs for Canadians
• Can compete on a global scale

Before being eligible to apply for the Start-up Visa in Canada, businesses must first get support and approval from one or more designated organizations vetted by the Canadian Government.

Here’s where we come in!

At Spring Activator, we’re one such designated organization, passionate about empowering and developing entrepreneurs through our IMPACT Startup Visa Accelerator (ISV) Program. 

Twice a year, we select up to 15 impact-driven startups from applicants worldwide who want to make a difference while making Canada their home base. We then coach and develop these entrepreneurs and serve as the designated business incubator supporting their Canadian Permanent Residency applications. How do we stand out? At Spring, we added an additional layer to the admission process—one that’s a core feature of who we are and what we stand for. That’s IMPACT! 

A key component of our admission criteria revolves around ensuring applicants and their business models are motivated by having a positive impact, whether social or environmental, directly through their product or service or in how they operate. As such, our accelerator program is the only one that is impact-focused and one of the few that accepts businesses from all industries.

We work closely with the companies for four months, helping them:

• Adapt their existing business models to Canadian standards
• Understand, measure, and increase their positive impact
• Refine and nail their pitch to investors

What makes the Impact Startup Visa Program more unique is that it doesn’t end with the last day of sessions. Spring’s broad network of staff, alumni, and key players in the Canadian startup and investment ecosystem continue to help founders throughout the lifespans of their companies and beyond.