Starting a business doesn’t have to mean draining your savings. In fact, some of the best startup tools on the market are completely free — and they can help you move from idea to launch with speed and clarity.
At INWEST Ventures, we work with dozens of early-stage founders every year, many of whom are preparing to enter Canada through the Start-Up Visa (SUV) Program. We've curated a list of 10 essential (and free!) tools that we recommend to every founder — whether you're validating your idea, building your MVP, or pitching to investors.
Whether you're organizing your business plan, tracking goals, building a team wiki, or structuring investor decks, Notion is a flexible and collaborative platform.
Great For: Task management, content planning, documentation
Need to create pitch decks, social media posts, or branded materials? Canva provides templates for everything from logos to business cards, without needing graphic design skills.
Great For: Branding, visual content, pitch design
Validate your startup idea with real feedback. Use Google Forms to create simple surveys and questionnaires to gauge market interest and gather insights from early adopters.
Great For: Idea validation, customer interviews, sign-up forms
Want to test demand or create a “coming soon” page? Carrd lets you build beautiful, one-page sites without coding. Perfect for MVP tests and email capture.
Great For: Landing pages, lead generation
🌐 carrd.co
Running a startup means managing a lot of moving pieces. Trello gives you a visual task board that
Great For: Project management, team coordination
Need to explain your product, walk through a prototype, or onboard a teammate? Loom allows you to record quick screen-share videos with voice a startup founder’s secret weapon.
Great For: Product demos, investor updates, internal training
🌐 loom.com
Figma is a favorite among product teams for wireframing and UI design. Even non-designers can mock up screens, share ideas, and build prototypes collaboratively.
Great For: MVP design, prototyping, app mockups
Whether you’re collecting waitlist emails or sending investor updates, Mailchimp’s free plan is great for early audience-building and basic automations.
Great For: Email marketing, newsletters, early traction
Validate your idea by understanding what people are searching for. AnswerThePublic gives you real-time queries, questions, and topics based on keyword searches.
Great For: Market research, content strategy, idea discovery
Need help brainstorming names, drafting website copy, writing investor emails, or understanding business frameworks? ChatGPT can be a powerful tool for early-stage founders doing it all solo.
Great For: Ideation, writing, productivity hacks
You don’t need a full team or a $50K budget to start building. What you do need is clarity, focus, and the right set of tools.
At INWEST Ventures, we help founders from around the world navigate early-stage challenges and prepare to launch in Canada. Whether you're applying for the Start-Up Visa or building a venture from scratch having the right tools can save you time, money, and mistakes.
