MDA Space is launching MDA Space LaunchPad Ventures, a program that will make direct investments in Canadian small and medium-sized businesses developing space and defence technology, the company said Thursday.
The program has identified 25 focus areas tied to what MDA calls Canada’s sovereign priorities, capabilities the country can build and maintain without relying on allies, aimed at equipping and modernizing the Canadian Armed Forces and allied defence forces. MDA did not name the focus areas.
Businesses seeking investment can apply through an online form. Organizations that want to work with the program without seeking funding can contact Shawn Roy, MDA’s senior director of corporate development, who also manages the company’s existing LaunchPad portfolio companies.
MDA first launched a program called LaunchPad in 2018, offering Canadian small and medium-sized businesses a way to collaborate with the company on technology development. SpaceQ asked MDA how LaunchPad Ventures differs, and whether Thursday’s announcement amounts to a relaunch.
“The original LaunchPad was focused on collaboration with Canadian SMBs on technology development and integration,” a spokesperson said. “MDA Space LaunchPad Ventures is a significant evolution and expansion of that original program, where we are now making direct investments in the companies where we see innovation aligned to customer and market priorities, with a specific focus on technologies that strengthen Canada’s sovereign defence and space capabilities.”
MDA has made a direct investment in a Canadian space company before: $10 million in Maritime Launch Services last November, becoming a shareholder in the Spaceport Nova Scotia developer. The release does not attach a dollar figure to LaunchPad Ventures, or say whether its investments will typically be equity, as in that deal, or another structure, such as a loan or a grant.
The program come as Ottawa pushes to grow Canada’s defence-industrial base. When MDA launched 49North, its defence subsidiary, in February, it cited the federal Defence Industrial Strategy, saying it could unlock about $180 billion in direct procurement over the next decade, with a government goal of steering seven in 10 of those dollars to Canadian firms.