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Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) is an early-stage science and technology company acceleration program founded in 2012 at the University of Toronto. The non-profit organization helps high-potential startups move from the lab to the marketplace through intensive, goal-oriented mentoring provided by seasoned entrepreneurs, academic experts and investors. Backed by an international network of affiliated sites at prestigious universities (in Canada, the USA, Europe and Australia), the CDL offers some 20 thematic streams - e.g. AI, healthcare, space, climate - enabling each startup to benefit from specialized coaching. This model has already proved its worth, incubating such notable successes as quantum startup Xanadu (first demonstration of quantum supremacy in 2022) and medical AI company Atomwise, illustrating the CDL's impact in the global technology ecosystem.

Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) is a non-profit organization founded in 2012 at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. Its mission is to accelerate the commercialization of breakthrough science and deep tech by helping seed-stage startups turn scientific advances into scalable businesses. CDL focuses on high-potential companies built on cutting-edge research and disruptive innovation. The program spans roughly nine months and consists of five in-person sessions, each several weeks apart. In these meetings, startup founders present their progress to mentors—accomplished entrepreneurs, investors, scientists, and academics—who help them set a small number of concrete, measurable goals for the next session. This goal-oriented approach helps ventures clarify their strategy, validate their business model, and prepare for investment and growth. CDL is free to participate in and takes no equity from the startups. Since its inception, CDL has expanded globally. It now operates from a dozen university-affiliated locations including Oxford Saïd Business School, HEC Paris, Georgia Tech, Monash University, and others. Each location hosts one or more "streams"—focused domains such as artificial intelligence, health, space, climate, energy, quantum computing, agri-food, and fintech. CDL Prime, the generalist stream, welcomes science-based startups across any field. To date, over 2,900 startups have gone through CDL, generating more than CAD $46 billion in equity value. Standout alumni include Xanadu (quantum computing), Kepler Communications (space communications), Atomwise (AI drug discovery), and BenchSci (biomedical AI). These ventures highlight the CDL’s ability to connect science with business and support ventures that shape the future of technology.

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