Creative Destruction Lab

Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) is a nonprofit organization established in 2012 at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. CDL aims to enhance the commercialization of science for the betterment of humankind by delivering an objectives-based program tailored for massively scalable, seed-stage, science- and technology-based companies. The program involves mentorship from select entrepreneurs and angel investors, intensive full-day sessions every eight weeks, and opportunities to raise capital. CDL’s objective-setting process helps technical founders improve their performance by learning from experienced entrepreneurs. The program is designed around five full-day objective-setting sessions where mentors assist founders in refining their three most important objectives over an eight-week interval. CDL operates 20 streams, including Advanced Therapies, Ag, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain/Web3, Climate, Compute, Digital Society, Energy, Fintech, Health, Manufacturing, Matter, Minerals, Oceans, Prime, Quantum, Risk, Space, Supply Chain, and Blockchain/Web3, which act as focus areas typically centered on emerging technologies or mission-driven goals. CDL has 13 global locations, including Atlanta, Berlin, Calgary, Estonia, Halifax, Melbourne, Montreal, Oxford, Paris, Seattle, Toronto, Vancouver, and Wisconsin, and operates five sites in Canada, three in the United States, four in Europe, and one in Australia. CDL-Melbourne, launched at Monash Business School, connects founders to leaders in biotechnology, advanced manufacturing, and critical minerals, while CDL-Vancouver’s Minerals stream supports technologies in mineral exploration, ore body definition, mining, and remediation. CDL measures success through equity value creation, with participating companies generating over CAD$28 billion in equity value. The organization also offers a partners program for organizations to connect and collaborate with both active and alumni founders and ventures, and an Apprentice Program to support young women-identified individuals interested in STEM and entrepreneurship. CDL’s program is complementary to other support networks for early-stage ventures and can be participated in concurrently with other programs. CDL’s mentors include numerous investors who often invest in portions of the participating cohort. While the program is designed for early-stage, science-based technology companies, all applicants are considered based on their potential to scale and the viability of their product.