Canada Rocket Company (CRC), a Toronto-based space launch startup, has emerged from stealth after securing C$6.2 million ($4.5 million) in seed funding, as it seeks to develop domestic light- and medium-lift rocket capabilities for Canada amid rising government investment in the space sector.
The round was co-led by the Business Development Bank of Canada and Garage Capital, with participation from Ripple Ventures, Panache Ventures, Northside Ventures and Cold Capital. CRC said it also received backing from Canadian founders and angel investors linked to companies such as Shopify and Kepler Communications.
CRC was founded late last year in response to what Chief Executive Hugh Kolias described as a rapidly shifting policy and funding environment in Canada. Ottawa has stepped up its space ambitions in recent months, including a record contribution to the European Space Agency in November and the launch of the “Launch the North” challenge, which commits C$105 million in public funding to help establish sovereign launch capabilities.
“The window of opportunity is small,” Kolias said, noting that the government programme favours companies that can demonstrate a credible path to reaching low Earth orbit by 2028. “You have to move fast enough: where you have enough progress that you’re further ahead than the rest of the world, and you’re also economically competitive,” he said.
To meet the timeline, CRC plans to build a scalable launch architecture centred on a methane-liquid oxygen engine known as E-1, while relying on high-technology-readiness subsystems sourced from Canadian and European suppliers. The company aims to develop and test the E-1 engine in the first half of next year, with a turbo-pump configuration planned for early 2028.
CRC’s initial launch vehicle, R-1, is a light-lift rocket powered by a single E-1 engine and designed to deliver about 700 kilograms to low Earth orbit or 400 kilograms to sun-synchronous orbit. While positioned as a technology demonstrator, the rocket is also intended to meet government requirements for a mobile, responsive system capable of launching within 96 hours. A larger, reusable medium-lift vehicle, R-2, would use seven E-1 engines and target payloads of up to 6,500 kilograms to low Earth orbit.
The company plans to grow to around 15 employees by the end of the year, focusing on experienced hires, including expatriates returning to Canada. CRC’s early team includes former SpaceX engineers, such as Chief Technology Officer David Tenny and head of avionics Eric Kupp.
CRC enters a small but growing field of Canadian launch ventures. Other players include NordSpace, Reaction Dynamics and Maritime Launch Services, which supported a suborbital launch by Dutch firm T-Minus Engineering from Nova Scotia last November.
