Canadian founder says YC's initial ban on Canadian startups was justifiable

Hassan Ismail cofounded West Tek Defense to build smart rifles, leaning on a physics background that helped with everything from design to propellant chemistry. After about three years of work, the team concluded the project wouldn’t succeed—mainly because of regulation.

Finding procurement contacts involved dead links and chasing high officials, and Canadian rules meant they couldn’t get a BFL until they had a contract. The BFL requirement chained startups to contractors: any manufacturer they subcontracted to also needed a BFL, which made scaling impossible for a cash-strapped team.

A 3D-printed demo drew pity from law enforcement, manufacturers kept folding or saying they had no budget, and Canadian investors consistently lacked the risk appetite to back an unproven defence startup. American investors showed interest but mostly for US defence opportunities and faced compliance barriers to investing in a foreign defence firm.

Canada

yc ban, y combinator, hassan ismail, west tek, smart rifles, bfl, procurement, canadian rules, canadian investors, american investors