Manitoba Innovates revs up already bustling new HQ

A new organization dedicated to supporting Manitoba startups is celebrating its new Winnipeg headquarters and the small businesses already working in it.

Manitoba Innovates has 85 startups occupying its office spaces at 423 Main St. in different capacities — everyone from “a single entrepreneur with a slide deck and a vision to companies of 80 or 90 employees,” said Paul Card, the group’s chief executive officer.

“We’re really here to build a community around growth, job creation and investment. And those aren’t always easy to do, but it’s easier to do on average, through a large community,” Card told the Free Press at Thursday’s launch event.

“There will be some wins and there’ll be some losses, but en masse, what we’re hoping to do is make all those things happen.”

Manitoba Innovates was initiated in March 2025 and began moving into the building in October.

Thursday’s lineup included a showcase of some of the startups working out of the building and words of encouragement from civic and federal leadership — mainly, encouraging upcoming business leaders to see Winnipeg as a place to grow.

“The benefit that we have in Winnipeg, that you don’t have in some of the bigger cities like Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, is how tight knit and close the community is. And this is an example of where there’s a tremendous degree of support that exists at the grassroots level that will help catapult and elevate the work that everybody, collectively, is doing,” said MP Ben Carr (Winnipeg South Centre).

Mayor Scott Gillingham noted with turbulent economic and political times, and “reliable trading partners that aren’t as reliable anymore,” there also comes opportunity.

“Winnipeg’s economy over the last three years has outperformed — a little bit — but has outperformed Manitoba’s economy and Canada’s economy as well,” said Gillingham.

“So there’s some stability that’s happening here, and the future for our community really is going to depend upon people like yourself and other innovators who see the moment, see what we can do together, and build upon it.”

Manitoba Innovates spent the last year connecting its members to resources and offering a loan program “trying to match startups with reasonable amounts of working capital when it’s critically needed,” Card said.

The loan program handed out around $2 million dollars and plans to offer similar funding this year, he added. “If you’re going for a loan from the bank, and it’s taking time to get that, we can cover those gaps in between.”

As of now, Manitoba Innovates works with companies primarily in the tech sector. Card said he’d like to see the number of industries it represents grow.

“We’re looking into the new year: how do we take this and apply it to trades? How do we apply it to the arts? What does this look like in the manufacturing space?”

For Sophia Seo, who is just weeks into beta testing for her startup business KorraMind, Thursday’s event was a chance to introduce people to her one-stop shop for artificial intelligence-designed business marketing.

KorraMind takes product photos from brands and turns them into styled photo and video content for social media, along with offering performance insights and one-on-one support. She said she was inspired to launch the tool by her past work in e-commerce.

“Every time when I had to create social media content, I had to juggle between at least five different tools, it takes up to five hours. Sometimes, when I need to edit straight from video, it takes me all day, I’d spend all night,” she said. “But right now, everything is in one platform.”

Winnipeg’s business community has already responded, Seo said, noting she has an upcoming meeting with long-time local clothing brand Mondetta Clothing Inc.

Manitoba Innovates and the support of its members has helped get her there, she said. “Of course, as a founder, I see great potential, but as I talk to many different potential investors, they see the potential in our software, and I’m very confident about it.”

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca