The National Angel Capital Organization (NACO) has announced Canada's Top Moonshot Ventures of 2026, a cohort of 27 emerging companies that are building transformative solutions across artificial intelligence, healthtech, biotech, cleantech, defense and dual-use technologies, quantum, and other sectors.
Record-Breaking Cohort
This year's cohort is the largest in the program's history, expanding from 23 ventures in 2025 to 27 in 2026. Collectively, these ventures have raised more than $140 million CAD to date, with 25 of the 27 actively raising or planning to raise capital. The cohort spans eight provinces and territories: Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Manitoba, Prince Edward Island, and Yukon. Notably, Prince Edward Island and Yukon are represented on the Moonshots Stage for the first time.
Diversity and Innovation
Approximately 41% of the cohort is women-led, underscoring a commitment to diversity in entrepreneurship. The cohort also introduces a sector first: a quantum venture presenting for the first time on the Moonshots Stage.
Selection Process
The ventures were selected through a rigorous, member-driven process. NACO invited its more than 100 member organizations—including Canada's leading angel groups, incubators, accelerators, and early-stage venture funds—to nominate the highest-potential ventures in their networks. Nearly 100 high-calibre nominations were received this year, prompting the expansion of the cohort.
Showcase at NACO Summit 2026
The selected ventures took the Moonshots Stage at a closed-door showcase at the National Arts Centre during NACO Summit 2026, before an invitation-only audience of angel investors, venture capitalists, and senior leaders.
Strategic Importance
The 2026 cohort arrives at a defining moment for Canadian innovation policy. The federal government's first-ever Defence Industrial Strategy, the $900 million National Quantum Strategy, the $750 million Budget 2025 commitment to address early growth-stage funding gaps, and the ongoing Canada–U.S. trade environment have placed early-stage capital formation and domestic deep-tech commercialization at the centre of the national conversation. Several of this year's Moonshots sit directly in the path of these priorities.
"Canada's most ambitious founders are no longer waiting for markets to come to them; they are building toward AI and defence sovereignty, energy security, and the country's quantum industry," said Claudio Rojas, CEO of NACO. "The 2026 Moonshots cohort is a direct reflection of that ambition. It is also the largest cohort in the program's history, with twenty-five of twenty-seven ventures actively raising capital. NACO's role is to make sure that capital, and the strategic networks that fuel our founders, finds these companies before they are forced to look elsewhere."
