Not yet announced · Not yet announced
Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) is a non-profit, objectives-based seed-stage program for massively scalable, science- and technology-based companies, founded in 2012 by Professor Ajay Agrawal at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. The program pairs founders with mentors, including experienced entrepreneurs, angel investors, scientists, and business students, who help set new short-term objectives every eight weeks across a nine-month cycle. CDL has since expanded to 17 sites across 10 countries, each affiliated with a local university, and now runs 26 specialized streams spanning technology areas such as artificial intelligence, health, climate, space, and defence, alongside a general stream for ventures that have not settled on a specific vertical. Companies that have gone through the program have collectively created over CAD $60 billion in equity value since CDL’s founding. In 2026, Time magazine ranked CDL 15th on its list of America’s best incubators and accelerators.
Frequency
1x/year
Duration
9 months
Investment
None — CDL does not invest directly in participating ventures.
Equity
None — equity-free program.
Program fees
None
Where
Australia, Canada, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Qatar, Spain, UK, USA
Sectors
AI/ML, AgriTech, Climate Action, DeepTech, Defence, Enterprise, FinTech, HealthTech, Maritime, Sector Agnostic, Space, Web3
Stages
Seed
Eligibility
• Strong technical/scientific founding team
• Must have a formal legal business entity (sole proprietorship, partnership, or corporation) to apply
• Willingness to commit to the full 9-month program with aggressive 8-week objectives
• Companies that fail to meet objectives at any session are eliminated from the program
Selection process
• Ventures may indicate up to five preferred CDL locations and streams
• Shortlisted applicants are interviewed before admission decisions are made by each site’s selection committee
• Selected ventures are paired with CDL Mentors
• Companies that don’t meet objectives at any of the 5 sessions are eliminated; graduates receive investment and mentorship
Benefits
• Guidance from a carefully selected group of exited entrepreneurs, angel investors, and partners from leading venture capital firms
• Stream-specific specialized coaching matched to the venture’s technology area
• No fee and no equity taken by CDL itself
• Potential investment from CDL Mentors, at their own discretion, for ventures that meet their milestones
Notable alumni
Network
University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, founding site, with affiliated business schools at each of CDL’s 17 global sites. Corporate and philanthropic partners include Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, Novartis, General Motors, Barclays, CIBC, and American Family Insurance. Government backing includes a CAD $25 million Strategic Innovation Fund grant received in 2018 and additional provincial and federal support for specific site streams.
Portfolio
7,500+ founders and 4,000+ ventures have participated in CDL since 2012; over 1,700 have graduated.
Funds raised
Unreported — no aggregate alumni capital-raised total published separately from CDL’s own equity-value-creation metric; see about for the CAD $60B aggregate equity value created figure.
🕐 Sep 2026
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