Canadian Space Focused Businesses

The Wall Street Journal yesterday posted an online article on Canadian Space focused company COM DEV under the headline “COM DEV revs up 2009 Rev Growth Guidance on Record 2Q Growth.” The article states that:

The Cambridge, Ont. company earned C$4.9 million or 7 Canadian cents a share in the latest quarter, up from C$2 million or 3 Canadian cents in the year-earlier second quarter.

Revenue rose to C$64.1 million from C$54.2 million a year earlier, with 58% of revenue in the latest quarter coming from the commercial market segment, 26% from civil, and 16% from military. Analysts were projecting earnings of 7 Canadian cents a share and revenue of C$61 million in the second quarter.

In essence, space focused businesses are profitable, even in the midst of a recession. So what are these businesses and how do we find them?

That’s easy. Most of them are listed in the Canadian Space Directory. Maintained by the Canadian Space Agency, this list is a pretty good introduction to the companies and organizations working directly with the CSA on space focused activities.

Some of the larger firms on this list include Telesat, McDonald Dettwiler and Associates (MDA), COMDEV International and Magellan Aerospace. A look at the history of these firms will reward policy makers and potential entrepreneurs by providing useful lessons on the underlying mechanisms and policies needed to effectively grow the aerospace and newspace industries in Canada.

If I was going to build a space focused company in Canada from scratch, I’d also want to make friends with some of the following companies and organizations:

• The Canadian Venture Capital Association with 600 plus venture capital firms and angel investors who are always interested in new business opportunities even in the present economic times.
• The National Angel Organization which bills itself as “Canada’s voice for angel investors.”
• Canadian based CRA SR&ED credit financing firms like Goldeye Capital, Expert Solutions, SR&ED Funding Consultants and other firms involved with this sort of government funded innovative development which is the single largest source of federal government support for industrial R&D.
• Organizations focused on the commercialization of basic science like PreCarn Incorporated, the MaRS Discovery District Innovation Center and others. Most of these firms would also have connections in universities doing basic space focused R&D.