SciNet

Name

SciNet

Legal name

SciNet High Performance Computing Consortium at the University of Toronto

Website

https://scinethpc.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

SciNet is a non-profit high-performance computing consortium at the University of Toronto operating one of Canada's most powerful academic supercomputers, providing free GPU/CPU compute, secure enclaves, storage, and training to Canadian academic researchers across multiple disciplines.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

High-Performance Computing Services

NAICS

Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518210), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (5415), Other Computer Related Services (541519), Computer Training (611420), Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (6113)

SIC

Electronic Computers (3571), Computer Storage Devices (3572), Computer Communications Equipment (3576), Services-Computer Processing & Data Preparation (7374)

akta.pro primary industry

HPC Clusters & Scale-Out Compute (x86/ARM) (HDACAOAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

High-Performance Computing (HPC) Cluster Nodes & Systems (HDACABAH), Storage Networking & Connectivity (Fibre Channel, iSCSI, HBAs, Switches) (HDACACAF), Research Computing & High-Performance Computing (HPC) User Support (EDALAMAK), Technical & Scientific Expert Networks (BPAHALAH), Confidential Computing & Hardware-backed Protection (TEE/HSM) (HDADAFAJ)

Keywords

• High performance computing
• Academic research computing
• Supercomputing services
• HPC infrastructure
• Scientific computing training

Headquarters

HQ city

Toronto

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Government Funding: Funded by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED), the Digital Research Alliance of Canada, the Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities, and the University of Toronto
2. Commercial Usage Fees: Former academics and collaborators can continue using HPC infrastructure at a competitive fee. Commercial users receive 40 dedicated Neptune nodes and same level of support as academic users.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

SciNet operates large-scale high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure and provides the associated expertise to enable Canadian academic research at scale. Core offerings include the Trillium supercomputer (241,056 cores, 252 GPUs), the Balam GPU cluster (41 NVIDIA A100 GPUs), a CMMC 2.0 Level 2-compliant S4H secure enclave for sensitive data, a 90 PB HPSS tape-backed hierarchical storage system, and Open OnDemand for browser-based scientific application access. SciNet also delivers a training and education program comprising certificate programs, graduate courses taught with UofT departments, summer schools, and a Teach Cluster configured for instruction.

Product overview

SciNet is a supercomputing consortium at the University of Toronto providing Canadian researchers with computational resources and expertise for research at scale. The core product is the Trillium supercomputer (241,056 cores, 252 GPUs), complemented by the Balam GPU cluster (41 Nvidia A100 GPUs). Additional offerings include S4H (a CMMC Level 2-compliant secure enclave for sensitive data), the High Performance Storage System (90 PB tape-backed storage), and Open OnDemand for browser-based access to applications. Training and education services include a Certificate Program (Scientific Computing, HPC, Data Science), Graduate Courses in partnership with UofT departments, the Teach Cluster for instruction, Compute Ontario Summer School, and the International HPC Summer School.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Trillium Supercomputer A 241,056-core, 252-GPU supercomputer consisting of a 1,224-node CPU subcluster (AMD Turin) and a 63-node GPU subcluster (AMD Genoa with 4 NVIDIA H100 GPUs each), connected via NDR InfiniBand at 400/800 Gb/s with 29 PB VAST NVMe storage and 34 PF theoretical peak performance. One of the most powerful supercomputers in Canada available for academic research; designed for large parallel jobs of 1,024 cores or more.
• Balam GPU Cluster GPU cluster featuring 41 NVIDIA Tesla A100 GPUs, operated by SciNet on behalf of the Acceleration Consortium at the University of Toronto for GPU-accelerated research workloads.
• S4H Secure Enclave

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 13 million jobs completed on Niagara and Mist clusters
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Digital Research Alliance of CanadacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSciNet provides resources for the Digital Research Alliance of Canada (formerly Compute Canada), advancing Canada's position in advanced research computing, research data management, and research software.
• University of TorontocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSciNet is hosted at UofT, which co-funds the consortium and provides administrative support and facilities.
• Compute OntariocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNot-for-profit supporting advanced computing in Ontario through central strategies, planning, and advocacy. Partners with SciNet, SHARCNET, CAC, and HPC4Health.
• SHARCNETmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOntario HPC consortium collaborating on Compute Ontario Summer Schools and joint training programs.
• Centre for Advanced Computing (CAC)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOntario HPC consortium collaborating on Compute Ontario Summer Schools and joint training programs.
• SOSCIP (Southern Ontario Smart Computing Innovation Platform)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch and development consortium pairing academic and industry researchers with advanced computing tools. SciNet hosts SOSCIP resources.
• UofT Department of PhysicsmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership led to creation of PHY1610H Scientific Computing for Physicists course, taught by SciNet HPC analysts.
• UofT Institute of Medical SciencemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership led to MSC1090H Introduction to Computational Biostatistics with R course.
• UofT Scarborough - Department of Physical and Environmental SciencesmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership led to EES1137H Quantitative Applications for Data Analysis course taught by SciNet analysts.
• VAST DatamajorTechnology or IntegrationVAST Data's AI Operating System deployed across SciNet supporting large-scale GPU workloads for diverse research disciplines.
• UofT Department of AstrophysicsmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGraduate course partnership for computational astrophysics education.
• UofT Department of ChemistryminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGraduate course partnership for computational chemistry education.
• UofT Department of Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGraduate course partnership for computational biology education.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves11 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC): US Department of Energy flagship HPC facility at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. Larger and broader than SciNet, but highly comparable in mission (science-at-scale compute for academic researchers) and infrastructure-as-public-utility positioning.
• Argonne Leadership Computing Facility (ALCF): US DOE leadership-class HPC facility. Larger incumbent operating Aurora and Theta-class systems for open science. Comparable in scale-tier ambition and academic user community.
• Digital Research Alliance of Canada: The national umbrella organization that channels funding and allocations to SciNet and other regional consortia. Operates as the broader incumbent coordinating Canadian advanced research computing, with SciNet functioning as one of its core regional delivery arms.

Direct peers

• Calcul Québec: Quebec counterpart to SciNet within the Digital Research Alliance of Canada, providing HPC resources to Canadian academic researchers across CPU and GPU clusters. Operates under the same national allocation framework with similar user base and academic mandate.
• Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (PSC): Joint Carnegie Mellon–University of Pittsburgh HPC center serving US academic researchers with large CPU/GPU systems. Comparable scale, mission, and bridge-HPC-and-research support role.
• San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC): US academic supercomputing center at UC San Diego providing large-scale compute and storage to researchers across disciplines. Comparable in operating model, training programs, and role within a national HPC ecosystem (XSEDE/ACCESS).
• Compute Ontario: Ontario not-for-profit coordinating advanced computing strategy across SciNet, SHARCNET, CAC, and HPC4Health. Direct peer in coordinating body role and Ontario HPC ecosystem governance.
• SHARCNET: Ontario-based HPC consortium that co-runs the Compute Ontario Summer School with SciNet and serves the same Canadian academic research community with shared CPU/GPU compute resources. Directly comparable in mission, funding model, and user base.
• Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC): Major US academic HPC center operating flagship systems (Frontera, Stampede) for open scientific research. Directly comparable in mission, scale, and academic user base; SciNet has already collaborated with TACC on stellar convection simulations.

Regional players

• PRACE (Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe): European pan-national HPC partnership allocating tier-0 compute to academic researchers across EU member states. Comparable in consortium-based academic HPC delivery model and co-organizes IHPCSS with SciNet.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@scinethpcattheuniversityof8962
• Xx.com/scinethpc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/scinet-high-performance-computing-consortium

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about SciNet