Media & entertainment startups in Toronto

Menashe Kestenbaum (founder)

Founded 2014; a Toronto-HQ'd gaming media, content and esports company across three pillars (media, entertainment, esports). Owns the Luminosity Gaming esports org and ran the EGLX expo; formerly owned Destr...

Matt Golden (founder & managing partner)

Toronto seed-stage VC founded 2011; the definitive local backer of the content/media/edtech cluster. An early investor in Wattpad (its stake returned more than the entire first fund on Naver's ~US$660M buyou...

Tal Hayek (co-founder/CEO)

Toronto-HQ'd advertising-technology company (formerly AcuityAds) offering the illumin journey-advertising and programmatic platform. Publicly traded (TSX/Nasdaq), a veteran of Canada's adtech/media-tech scene.

industry association

25+ year non-profit trade association uniting Ontario's video game and interactive digital media community; advocates on tax credits (OIDMTC), showcases studios globally and connects the ecosystem. Core comm...

Canada's largest educational publisher

Toronto-HQ'd, Canada's largest K-12 and higher-ed educational publisher, increasingly a digital-learning and courseware provider. An established anchor and channel partner in the local edtech ecosystem (e.g....

Chris Overholt (CEO) & Adam Adamou

Toronto-HQ'd esports and entertainment company operating the Toronto Ultra (Call of Duty League), Toronto Defiant (Overwatch League) and MAD Lions franchises, with operations in Madrid and Berlin. Opened a 1...

Vitaly Pecherskiy, Ildar Shar, Yang Han

Founded 2014 in Toronto; AI-powered programmatic advertising / demand-side platform. ~1,300 employees across 19 markets. In Feb 2025 secured US$235M led by Ontario Teachers' Venture Growth at a ~US$2.5B valu...

Allen Lau, Ivan Yuen

Founded 2006 in Toronto; storytelling/social-publishing platform with a large creator community and a data/IP-licensing (Wattpad Studios/Webtoon) business. Acquired by South Korea's Naver in 2021 for ~US$600...