Waterloo (Ontario), CANADA, December 12, 2013 – World renowned for its cultivation of technology entrepreneurship, Waterloo’s Accelerator Centre announced that personalized fashion e-retailer, Rose Athena, is the latest company to graduate from The Accelerator Program®. The award-winning Program has successfully graduated 34 companies into the marketplace since 2005, creating more than 1000 jobs, and contributing more than $100 million in revenue to the Waterloo Region economy.
Rose Athena is the brainchild of Bushra Dirir and Lily Wong, two fashionistas turned entrepreneurs who longed for a more personalized way to shop for dresses. Using the finest quality fabric and products, and building on the hottest fashion trends, Rose Athena allows its style-savvy customers to personalize a dress, choosing from an assortment of styling elements from color, to neckline, to sleeve length and hemline, producing a unique form-fitting garment built to an individual’s form and liking. The final product is then shipped directly to the customer’s door.
“Rose Athena’s success is yet another showcase example of our world-recognized Accelerator Program at work. We take a long-term view with respect to our Clients, offering them intensive business advice, education and mentorship that spans years, not months. So when companies graduate from our program, they are as equipped as they can be to enter the marketplace and operate as a self-sustaining business. Rose Athena’s management team took full advantage of all our program had to offer, and their graduation today is a testament to their hard work and commitment,” says Tim Ellis, CEO of the Waterloo Accelerator Centre and Accelerator Program Inc.
About the Accelerator Centre
The Accelerator Centre, located within Waterloo’s David Johnston Research + Technology Park, is a world-renowned, award-winning facility dedicated to developing and commercializing technology start-ups. Through The Accelerator Program, early-stage companies benefit from in-depth business coaching and seamless support services, including access to office facilities, coaching and mentoring, education, connections to capital, networking, R&D support and outreach, talent recruitment, technology transfer assistance, and commercialization expertise, enabling technology start-ups to move to market faster, create jobs and stimulate economic activity.
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For further information, please contact:
Ellyn Winters-Robinson
Communications Advisor
Accelerator Centre
Phone: 519-624-2402
Email: ewinters-robinson@acceleratorcentre.com
@ellynjane