Tag: Accelerator Centre

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Intellijoint Surgical receives $550,000

Intellijoint Surgical has received up to $550,000 from FedDev Ontario to develop and commercialize the company’s innovative Intellijoint HIP™ sensor system for orthopaedic surgery. The announcement was made by MP Peter Braid on site at Intellijoint on Tuesday March 6th, as part of a larger FedDev funding announcement.

“We are extremely grateful for the FedDev Ontario Investing in Business Innovation initiative and its continued support for great start-ups like Intellijoint Surgical”, says Armen Bakirtzian, CEO of Intellijoint. “With FedDev Ontario’s support we are able to accelerate the commercialization Intellijoint HIP™.”

Intellijoint HIP™ is a miniaturized system consisting of two disposable sensors and a display unit. It is designed to help orthopaedic surgeons in the selection and positioning of orthopaedic implants during hip replacement surgery. “Intellijoint Surgical’s technology has been leveraged by surgeons in hundreds of surgeries in Canada. Now the company is  expanding into new markets,” said Peter Braid, MP for Kitchener-Waterloo. “In fact, in September of last year, Massena Memorial Hospital in New York became the first hospital in the United States to use the technology.”

Intellijoint Surgical was one of three companies to receive FedDev investment, with Auvik Networks and Dejero also receiving funding rounds as part of the announcement. Overall, FedDev committed $1,775,000 to the three companies, which is anticipated to allow for the creation of up to 55 new jobs in Waterloo Region.

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The Accelerator Centre joins Canada's Start-up Visa Program

The Accelerator Centre® (AC), an award-winning centre for the cultivation of technology entrepreneurship located in Waterloo, Ontario, today announced it has been selected by the Canadian Association of Business Incubation (CABI) to join Canada’s Start-up Visa Program. The AC becomes one of a select group of certified technology incubators and accelerators across the country who can help foreign entrepreneurs with strong business ideas establish their businesses in Canada.

Canada’s Start-up Visa Program, established in 2013 by Citizenship and Immigration Canada, is a first of its kind and first in the world program, linking immigrant entrepreneurs with experienced private sector organizations that have expertise working with start-ups.  Under the program, a foreign entrepreneur can facilitate immigration to Canada with support from a designated Canadian organization such as a venture capital fund, angel investor group, or business incubator.

“The Canadian Association of Business Incubation (CABI) is excited to have the Accelerator Centre become one of the Start-up Visa Program designated organizations. The Accelerator Centre is a world-class facility that has had great success supporting some of Canada’s top talent,” says Gail Gillian-Bain, President of CABI.

“Innovation and entrepreneurship knows no geographic boundaries,” says Paul Salvini, CEO of the Accelerator Centre.  “The Accelerator Centre is celebrated the world over for its world-class incubation program and mentorship, and now, we are on a mission to attract the very best entrepreneurial talent and brightest technology start-ups from around the world to our doorstep. As a certified member of Canada’s Start-up Visa Program, we can help more fledgling companies move from business concept to global leadership.”

Interested parties can learn more about the Accelerator Centre’s Start-up Visa Program here.

About the Accelerator Centre

The Accelerator Centre® (AC) is dedicated to building and commercializing technology start-ups. The AC provides an essential combination of mentorship, educational programming, professional office space, networking, and access to funding, with a goal of building successful companies. Over a two- to three-year period, we help entrepreneurs move from start-up to scale-up, accelerate their time to market, and attract customers, investment and revenue.

Since 2006, the Accelerator Centre has developed and nurtured over 130 early-stage technology start-ups, creating 1100+ new jobs, generating more than $350 million in revenue and funding. Forty-three companies have graduated from the Accelerator Program, and more than 85 percent of these companies have remained in Waterloo Region. For more information visit www.acceleratorcentre.com.

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Waterloo's R&T Park featured in the Financial Post

University research and technology parks — the product of a successful partnership between government, academia and industry — are a critical engine for innovation and entrepreneurship in Canada. However, the tremendous economic momentum built through research parks is at risk of slowing, even stalling, if we don’t come together to make the necessary investments in the future.

Canada’s 26 R&T parks, which employ more than 65,000 people, generate $4.3-billion in gross domestic product. In the next five years, those numbers are expected to rise to $6.4-billion in GDP, nearly 100,000 employed, with an average of 33% of them holding an advanced Masters of PhD degree.

R&T parks provide a powerful attraction for offshore corporations looking to establish a Canadian presence, providing essential services, critical mass, and ready access to university research and a highly trained workforce. At the other end of the spectrum, 75% of the parks also offer accelerators and services for startups, helping to foster Canada’s next wave of innovation and business growth.

The economic ripples created by an R&T park impact all parts of a local economy. In Waterloo region, the David Johnston R+T Park has attracted global technology brands such as Agfa, Google, OpenText, and SAP. It is also home to the world renowned Waterloo Accelerator Centre, which houses upward of 40 young technology startups at any point in time. It is truly a success story that showcases what is possible when government, a university and the business community are united through a common vision for economic prosperity.

The brainchild of the current Governor General, the honourable David Johnston, the R+T Park broke ground in 2004 and welcomed its first corporate tenant later that year, with a mandate to foster radical innovation; providing Waterloo region with a compelling source of commercial advantage derived from technological leadership.

In the past decade, it has facilitated more than 6,400 jobs; generated $602-million in spending; and contributed $428-million to Waterloo region’s GDP. More than 50% of its tenants plan to launch a spin off in the next five years, and 87% of business ventures incubated at the Accelerator Centre, plan to remain in Waterloo region. Perhaps most astounding, 70% of the world’s GDP runs on software created by companies that are located within the park.

To view the article, click here.

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An inside look at the Accelerator Centre for the Entrepreneurship Society at UWaterloo

When you are a part of an Entrepreneurship Society in a city as innovative as Waterloo it sometimes feels like the society just runs itself. The Accelerator Centre is located minutes from campus and a great resource for the entrepreneurial minded. 

accelerator-centre

Success Starts Here

The Waterloo Accelerator Centre (AC), located within the David Johnston Research + Technology Park, is an award-winning facility dedicated to developing and commercializing technology startups. The Waterloo AC provides its startup clients with an essential combination of executive mentorship, educational programming, facilities, networking, and access to funding and facility services. The goal of the AC is to build successful companies within Waterloo Region’s ecosystem.

What makes the Waterloo AC unique?

Our in-depth programming, unique accountability model, and long-term view distinguish the Waterloo AC from other accelerators and incubators within the Canadian commercialization landscape. While other incubators tend to work in sprints – putting a startup through an intensive program of several weeks or months, the AC’s approach to its clients is very different. Our focus is on building long-term relationships with businesses – helping entrepreneurs move from startup to scale-up, accelerate their time to market, attract customers, and drive revenue as well as investment.

The average client entering the Accelerator Centre’s program will spend as much as three years with us, working their way through various milestones of achievement set out within our structured programming and guided by intensive, ongoing coaching. A newly established Momentum program also serves as a starting point for companies who do not yet meet the AC’s criteria for acceptance, and offers its own structured programming around market validation and initial business plan creation.

Securing funding for a startup is always a top of mind priority for the CEO of any fledgling company.

Clients who successfully graduate the Accelerator Centre’s program are fully formed, sustainable businesses. Indeed, a number of graduates from the AC, including Axonify, Clearpath Robotics, CrossChasm, Intellijoint, Kik, Miovision, Magnet Forensics are highly respected, multi-million dollar businesses and are becoming significant employers within the Waterloo Region.

To read the full blog post click here.

To learn more about the Entrepreneurship Society at UWaterloo you can visit their main website at www.uwesociety.com

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The Accelerator Centre enters into a five year partnership agreement with University of Wollongong's iAccelerate

AC Bullet OnlyWaterloo (Ontario), CANADA, Wednesday September 17, 2014 – The Accelerator Centre® (AC), an award-winning centre for the cultivation of technology entrepreneurship located in Waterloo, Ontario, announced today it has entered into a five-year memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the University of Wollongong to provide programming and mentorship to iAccelerate, a University of Wollongong initiative aimed at helping young technology companies and entrepreneurs achieve sustainable business growth in the Australian start-up landscape.

The MOU sets out the terms on which the Accelerator Centre team in Waterloo will collaborate with the University of Wollongong to further develop iAccelerate serving Australia’s greater Illawarra Community, and provides iAccelerate with full access to the Accelerator Centre’s world-class programming and methodologies, as well as deepens the ongoing knowledge sharing between Accelerator Centre and iAccelerate staff and each organization’s in-house team of mentors.

The agreement between the two accelerators further enriches a longstanding commitment between the University of Waterloo and the University of Wollongong. University of Waterloo currently offers study abroad opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students with the Australian University.

iaccelerate_logo“We have long admired the entrepreneurial spirit and technology ecosystem in Waterloo Region, with UW as its centerpiece,” says Elizabeth Eastland, CEO of iAccelerate and Director of Innovation and Commercialization Research, University of Wollongong. “We are incredibly excited that discussions with the AC team, which began a few years back, have now culminated in this agreement. The opportunity to leverage the AC’s world-class programming and learn from the team’s hands-on experience in building great companies is truly wonderful, and will allow us to fast track program delivery, establish iAccelerate as a peer and partner in the global incubation market, and ultimately develop new opportunities for start-up success in our own country.”

“We warmly welcome the University of Wollongong and iAccelerate into our now global, growing Accelerator Centre family,” says Paul Salvini, CEO of the Accelerator Centre. “This agreement allows both sides to learn and share our respective knowledge while working together to create a compelling worldwide environment for sustainable business success.”

2014 AC Client Showcase

Join clients, graduates and staff of the AC, various partners and dignitaries from the Waterloo Region for the AC’s 2014 Showcase, taking place 4-7 PM on Wednesday, September 17, 2014. Elizabeth Eastland, CEO of iAccelerate will be in Waterloo for the event and will deliver a keynote address at the event speaking to the continuing relationship forged with the AC. The event will introduce more than 40 AC clients, and provide guests with the opportunity to discover more about their entrepreneurial determination, and the products and services that are driving them towards commercialization at the AC.

About the Accelerator Centre

The Accelerator Centre® (AC) is dedicated to building and commercializing technology start-ups. The AC provides an essential combination of mentorship, educational programming, professional office space, networking, and access to funding, with a goal of building successful companies. Over a two- to three-year period, we help entrepreneurs move from start-up to scale-up, accelerate their time to market, and attract customers, investment and revenue.

Since 2006, the Accelerator Centre has developed and nurtured over 130 early-stage technology start-ups, creating 1100+ new jobs and generating over $120 million in revenue. Forty companies have graduated from the Accelerator Centre, and more than 85 percent of these companies have remained in Waterloo Region. For more information visit www.acceleratorcentre.com.

Social Media Links
Follow us on Twitter @AC_Waterloo
Join us on LinkedIn

For further information, please contact:

Ellyn Winters-Robinson
Communications Mentor/Advisor
Accelerator Centre
Cell: (519) 574-2196
E-mail: ewinters-robinson@acceleratorcentre.com

 

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Accelerator Centre CEO, Client and Grads featured on 570 News #TechHour

Mix together a CEO 6 days on the job, one AC Grad, one soon-to-be AC Grad, and one AC Client, and you’ve got yourself one fantastic #TechHour!

On Tuesday September 2nd, the Accelerator Centre was a hot topic on the 570News Midday Show with Eric Drozd.  Listen in as Dr. Paul Salvini, CEO of the Accelerator Centre; Terry Frey, COO of BigRoad; Sam MacDonald, COO of DeepTrekker; and Rini Gahir, co-founder of Mozzaz chat about the role the Accelerator Centre plays in the startup community.

Listen to the full broadcast here.

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Prime Minister Announces Advancing Selections for Canada Accelerator and Incubator Program

Source: Prime Minister News Release

Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the organizations that have been chosen to advance in the selection process for the Canada Accelerator and Incubator Program (CAIP) which is designed to help outstanding small- and medium-sized Canadian enterprises to grow, prosper and create jobs. He made the announcement at Communitech, a hub for the commercialization of innovative technologies in Waterloo, Ontario. The Prime Minister was joined by Ed Holder, Minister of State (Science and Technology), Peter Braid, Parliamentary Secretary for Infrastructure and Communities and Member of Parliament for Kitchener-Waterloo, and Stephen Woodworth, Member of Parliament for Kitchener Centre.

The following organizations have been chosen to advance in the selection process under the CAIP:

  • BC Technology Industry Association (BCTIA) (Accelerator)
  • Bioenterprise Corporation (Accelerator)
  • Centre d’entreprises et d’innovation de Montréal (CEIM) (Incubator)
  • Centre for Drug Research & Development (CDRD), in collaboration with CDRD Venture Inc. (Accelerator/Incubator)
  • Communitech Corporation, in collaboration with University of Waterloo Velocity, Laurier LaunchPad and the Waterloo Accelerator Centre (Accelerator/Incubator)
  • Corporation Inno-Centre du Québec (Accelerator/Incubator)
  • GrowLab Ventures Inc., in collaboration with Extreme Startups (Accelerator)
  • Invest Ottawa, in collaboration with Wesley Clover, PARTEQ Innovations and InnovationPark at Queen’s University (Accelerator/Incubator)
  • Manitoba Technology Accelerator (MTA) (Incubator)
  • Prince Edward Island BioAlliance Inc. (Incubator)
  • Propel ICT (Accelerator)
  • Ryerson University, in collaboration with Simon Fraser University and University of Ontario Institute of Technology (Accelerator/Incubator)
  • The Next 36 (Accelerator/Incubator) University of Alberta, in collaboration with TEC Edmonton and Innovate Calgary (Accelerator/Incubator)
  • Wavefront Wireless Commercialization Centre Society (Accelerator/Incubator)
    – See more at: http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/news/2014/06/20/pm-helps-canadian-start-companies-grow-and-prosper#sthash.bmwzBFRz.dpuf

Read the full news release here

Check out a 24 SEVEN exclusive video on Why Accelerators Matter here

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Accelerator Centre Client Tyromer Selected a TiE50 Winner at TiEcon 2014

 

Tyromer Inc. is excited to announce that it has been selected a Winner for the prestigious 2014 TiE50 Awards Program at TiEcon, the TiE annual entrepreneurial conference in Santa Clara, California, on May 16, 2014. TiEcon is ranked alongside TED and World Economic Forum among top conferences for innovators and this year attracted more than 4000 technology professionals, entrepreneurs and investors from around the world.

The TiE50 Awards Program is open to all technology companies worldwide and the Winners represent the 50 hottest tech start-ups as chosen by TiE Silicon Valley. “This year the TiE50 Awards Program screened more than 2800 companies from 27 countries. The finalist pool is represented by early through late stage companies. A star attraction of the conference is TiE50 Finalist presentations. Audiences are treated to great ideas and amazing technologies” said Ram K. Reddy, the program chair. The TiE50 track record since its inception in May 2009 shows that 94% of the winners and finalists have received billions in investment.

To determine the winners, a panel of experts screened the companies to create a short list of the “2014 TiE50 Top Startups.” This list was further screened by a committee of deep domain experts to select the best of the breed companies as the elite TiE50 Finalists. Finally, the TiE50 Finalists were judged by a panel of highly accomplished team of serial entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, angel investors, CEOs and well-rounded technology experts to determine the winners. Companies were evaluated on three parameters: Business Model, IP Value and Leadership team.

“In the six short years since inception, the TiE 50 program has become a global brand that attracts thousands of companies worldwide for this recognition,” said Venktesh Shukla, president of TiE, Silicon Valley. “It is unique in terms of rigor of selection and the broad scope of companies that it reviews for this award and is one of TiE Silicon Valley’s most successful programs. It is also worth mentioning that this is the only awards recognition in technology to be held by a large global non-profit organization. ”

“We were so honoured about ten days ago when the TiE50 judges selected us a Finalist for the Award. Being named a 2014 Winner of TiE50 under the CleanTech category is another level of recognition that all of us at Tyromer did not expect. We believe this recognition will help us secure financing to complete the construction of our first production line in our lead customer’s facility. We are confident that we
will not disappoint the judges as we begin to implement our socially responsible and ecologically sustainable solution to the global management of scrap tires,” said Sam Visaisouk, CEO of Tyromer.

The inventor of the Tyromer rubber devulcanization technology, Professor Costas Tzoganakis of the University of Waterloo, was interviewed after the announcement.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uD1N6mCBbc

About TiEcon:
TiEcon is the world’s largest conference for entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs with loyal participation from top technology companies, leading venture capital firms, and global service providers. Every year TiEcon attracts thousands of attendees from across the world – including CEOs of established companies to first-time entrepreneurs creating new companies, to leading investment professionals and corporate executives. TiEcon was listed by Worth Magazine in their September 2011 issue to be among the 10 Best Conferences for Ideas and Entrepreneurship along with TED and the World Economic Forum. For more information on TiEcon, visit http://tiecon.org/.

About TiE:
TiE is a global not-for-profit organization fostering entrepreneurship through mentoring, education, and networking. We consider entrepreneurship to be the single most powerful instrument to advance global prosperity. Our greatest strength is our network of over 60 chapters in 17 countries with a worldwide membership exceeding 14,000 that includes successful entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, corporate executives, and aspiring entrepreneurs. For more information on TiE, visit www.tie.org.

Source: http://www.tyromer.com/_files/file.php?fileid=newsngYcRGUYbG&filename=file_Tyromer_TiE50_Winner.pdf

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Accelerator Centre Client Eyedro keeps eye on hydro usage

Written by: Terry Pender
Source: The Record

eyedro.comKITCHENER — Auston Gough figures he saved about $50 a month on electricity bills this past winter after he installed devices that measure his hydro usage by the second and relay the information to his tablet.   Gough lives in a two-bedroom apartment above King Street in downtown Kitchener and was spending about $400 for electricity every two months this past winter. His place is heated with electric baseboards and has a dishwasher.

Gough spent $129 for a kit from Eyedro Green Solutions Inc., a new company in the Communitech Hub. He clamped sensors on the main line feeding the electrical panel, and then hooked up a small box that sends detailed information on electricity consumption to his tablet.

Gough used to keep one baseboard heater cranked up high and the other three almost turned off. He quickly learned that doing that was hugely inefficient. He changed the settings so that all the heaters run intermittently.

Gough learned that the four light bulbs in the bathroom used as much hydro as his dishwasher. So he switched to high-efficiency bulbs. He only runs his dishwasher when electricity rates are lower.

“I just made some fairly minor changes and I was using less power, which is great,” Gough said.

The downtown bartender is an early adopter of the technology developed by Eyedro. The company already has customers — residential, institutional and industrial — in 10 countries.

The more electricity a building uses, the higher the potential savings. Brick Brewing says using Eyedro sensors and software helped the company reduce the power it uses in its 50,000-square-foot bottling and distribution facility in Kitchener by 117,000 kilowatt hours a year.

“That works out to more than $14,000 a year in savings,” said John Cowles, the brewery’s maintenance manager. “Total installation time was probably about two-to-four hours.”

Read the full article at therecord.com