Why is Canada investing C$195m in its largest quantum manufacturing project ever? 🇨🇦 @XanaduAI, a Toronto-based company, is betting that quantum computing will be a bigger revolution than artificial intelligence. These computers can solve certain problems that could take a conventional computer millions of years, with potential use cases ranging from developing new life-saving drugs to designing new materials. I spoke with @_cweedbrook, CEO and founder of Xanadu, about building large-scale quantum computers in Canada and what that could mean for the world. Read the 20th Explorer Spotlight on @TheCadExplorers: canadianexplorers.ca/p/xanad…

The world’s fastest supercomputer would have taken 7 million years to solve a problem that @XanaduAI’s Borealis solved in two minutes. 🇨🇦 Read the full conversation with founder and CEO @_cweedbrook tomorrow on @TheCadExplorers: “Building Canada’s Quantum Future.”

The 20th spotlight on CanadianExplorers.ca launches tomorrow. @XanaduAI @_cweedbrook

Reaction Dynamics, a Canadian rocket company, unveils its new medium-lift rocket, Borealis, with its first launch targeted for 2031. 🇨🇦 I spoke with Bachar Elzein on @TheCadExplorers Live about the announcement of its medium-lift vehicle. @Reactiondyn is helping Canada reach orbit on its own terms. Borealis, designed to deliver 6 tonnes of payload capacity to low Earth orbit, builds on Reaction Dynamics’ light-lift foundation with Aurora, whose first orbital flight from Canadian soil is targeted for Q4 2028. This leverages Reaction Dynamics’ recent transition to liquid propulsion. The company focuses on non-cryogenic propellants that can be stored at ambient temperature, simplifying ground infrastructure, extending readiness and improving flexibility. Reaction Dynamics is targeting an eventual Borealis launch capacity of 24 missions per year. Since its 2017 founding, the company has secured around C$50m in funding and commitments, and developed a commercial pipeline representing more than US$5 billion in potential launch opportunities. Through 2031, they plan to raise an additional C$350m in private investment, move from 68 to more than 350 employees, and plan approximately 375,000 square feet of manufacturing and integration capacity in Quebec.

Pelagos has signed its first customer purchase order for Vantage, a compact autonomous underwater vehicle. 🇨🇦 I spoke with co-founder and CEO Samuel Scrivens on @TheCadExplorers Live about the announcement and what comes next. The startup’s ambition is to make underwater ISR as deployable as a quadcopter Built in Waterloo, Ontario, @Pelagosfrontier's Vantage is designed to fit in a backpack and be rapidly deployed by a single operator, dramatically reducing the cost and complexity of maritime reconnaissance in coastal environments

There is no other option but to build for Canada. 🇨🇦 Mike Nelson, CEO and Founder of TACTIQL. Full interview: canadianexplorers.ca/p/tacti…

October’s Highlighted Startup Opportunities ⠀ Strategy & Operations Co-op (Winter 2027) at Canada Rocket Company: ats.rippling.com/canada-rock… ⠀ Engineering Intern (Labs) at @csmc_space: csmc.bamboohr.com/careers/51 ⠀ Electrical Engineering Co-op (May 2027) at @gx_space_: gx.space/careers/electrical-… ⠀ Embedded Software Engineering Intern (January 2027) at Kepler Communications: jobs.lever.co/kepler/2ad02ce… ⠀ Launch Systems Engineering Intern at @Nord_Space: secure.collage.co/jobs/nords… ⠀ Mechanical Engineering Intern – Fluid Systems (Winter 2027) at @Reactiondyn: datocms-assets.com/166697/17… ⠀ Product Manager at ANVIL: anvil.bamboohr.com/careers/8… ⠀ Director, Business Development at Daedal Systems: careerspage.io/daedal-system… ⠀ Mission Autonomy Development Engineer at @DominionDynamic: jobs.ashbyhq.com/Dominion%20… ⠀ Project Manager at @NV_Dynamics: jobs.ashbyhq.com/northvector… ⠀ See all 68 jobs in the full October roundup on The Canadian Explorers: canadianexplorers.ca/p/canad…

Don't chase venture capital. Focus on the customer. Despite investor interest, TACTIQL is willing to stay bootstrapped to protect its mission. The startup was founded by a 4th-generation @CanadianForces veteran in 2022, before defence was cool. Full interview on @TheCadExplorers: canadianexplorers.ca/p/tacti…

Canadian military data is often segmented and communicated through radio and manual entry. After 13 years in the Canadian Armed Forces, Michael Nelson, a fourth-generation veteran, left to solve a problem that he couldn’t address in uniform. TACTIQL was founded to make sensor data usable across different military systems. “We cannot keep up with the pace of change in the modern battlespace.” Read the 19th The Canadian Explorers Spotlight, “The Data Between the Machines”: canadianexplorers.ca/p/tacti…

A Canadian 4th-generation veteran left the Canadian Armed Forces to bootstrap his own defence startup. 🇨🇦 Now, as a founder, he feels he serves just as much, if not more, than he did in the military. Mike Nelson, founder and CEO of TACTIQL. Full interview tomorrow on @TheCadExplorers. CanadianDynamism.ca

Today, @TheCadExplorers reached 500 subscribers on Substack. The voice for the founders operating in Canada's most critical industries. Thank you to everyone who has been supportive of the mission. Excited to see how far I can take it before the year is finished. CanadianDynamism.ca

Which Canadian defence and deep-tech startups are hiring? 🇨🇦 @TheCadExplorers is highlighting openings across 24 of Canada’s most ambitious companies, including internships, co-ops and early-career opportunities. canadianexplorers.ca/p/canad…

“A lot of people are chasing the Arctic, and that’s fantastic, but we’re not an Arctic planet. We’re an ocean planet. We think about archipelagos. If you can prove it in British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest, you’ve pretty much proven it for most of the planet.” Meiz Majdoub Jr., founder of Mostar Labs. canadianexplorers.ca/p/mosta…

The Canadian Explorers is bragging about startups being built in Canada’s most critical industries. CanadianExplorers.ca @TheCadExplorers

Does anyone in Canada want to get involved in a robot fight?

Canada has the longest coastline in the world. Uncrewed platforms are needed to monitor and protect it. 🇨🇦 Mostar Labs is building Lilypad, a modular floating platform designed to charge electric vessels, power remote equipment and support maritime surveillance. The platform can be deployed as a standalone unit or scaled “like LEGO” depending on demand. Founder and CEO Meiz Majdoub Jr. spent 26 years as a naval engineering officer in the Royal Canadian Navy and founded the Navy’s technology management program. Now, he is building to address the gaps that he saw during service. “I found it difficult as a veteran to watch from the sidelines. I wanted to contribute where I could.” Bootstrapped since 2022, Mostar Labs is now preparing for its first capital raise. Read the 18th Explorer Spotlight, “Power Beyond the Dock”: canadianexplorers.ca/p/mosta…

Today, ENVGO and @OceanRobotics signed an MOU at DEFSEC Atlantic in Halifax to advance Canadian uncrewed maritime surveillance. 🇨🇦 The collaboration will connect ENVGO’s high-speed hydrofoiling vessels and Open Ocean Robotics’ long-endurance, solar-powered vessels through XplorerView, a shared command-and-control platform. I previously spoke with ENVGO CEO Dr. Mike Peasgood for The Canadian Explorers: Flying Sea Drones | Dr. Mike Peasgood, ENVGO — Explorer Spotlight #5 canadianexplorers.ca/p/envgo…

The Canadian Explorers is proud to announce Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP as a Supporting Partner. As one of Canada's leading business law firms, Blakes advises companies across the defence ecosystem through a multidisciplinary team that combines legal excellence with firsthand military and government experience. Thank you to Matthew McLeod and the entire Blakes team for making this partnership possible. Learn more: canadianexplorers.ca/p/partn… @BlakesLaw @TheCadExplorers