Small to medium enterprises (SMEs) – businesses with fewer than 500 employees – represent the overwhelming majority of economic activity in Canada. These businesses are agile, innovative, and helping to create jobs throughout the Canadian economy. As a result, the government of Ontario has deployed services and programming to support
Innovation Factory (iF) is a Hamilton, Ontario-based Regional Innovation Centre (RIC) that provides startup resources, programming, and mentorship to early-stage companies. Since 2011, it’s helped innovators commercialize their ideas and reach the next level of success while also supporting a more collaborative business community. As a member of the Ontario
Establishing your tech business in Ontario can be challenging, but there are many startup resources to support entrepreneurship, including the Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs (ONE). ONE is a vast network of mentors, innovation centres, and other entrepreneurs that you can use to establish and grow your business. ONE Centres include
Waterloo, Ontario-based social messaging application Kik has become one of three Canadian companies to be valued at $1 billion or more. This valuation comes after the company received an investment of $50 million (USD) from Chinese internet giant Tencent. With over 240 million registered users around the world, Kik has gained
In 2013, the Accelerator Centre (AC) in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario piloted a program, called JumpStart, to mentor startups and entrepreneurs.This year, the program receives a full launch alongside $8M in funding. The AC JumpStart program is a four-year partnership between the Accelerator Centre and three post-secondary institutions: Conestoga College, the University
MaRS Embark Funding is a wage subsidy offered through MaRS and your local Regional Innovation Centre (RIC). Embark offers up to $20,000 in funding to hire a young professional (between the ages of 22-29) for a business role who will work with the venture to help reach specific goals or
Start-up funding small business grants offered through the new Youth Accelerator Fund offers financial support for youth under 30 to bring their innovative products to market.
Youth Accelerator Start-up Funding for Small Businesses Canada
The Youth Accelerator Fund is particularly interested in funding opportunities for youth who have participated in college or
Communitech, located in Kitchener, Ontario is one of Ontario’s Network of Excellence (ONE) Research Innovation Centres (RIC). The Ontario Network of Excellence consists of member organizations with commercialization experts that may include:
Tech-savvy advisors
Experienced entrepreneurs
Sector-specific organizations
Colleges and university
Specifically, Communitech is an association that represents more than 800 technology companies in the
The Laurier Innovation & Technology Club’s annual event, Entrepreneur’s Exchange is quickly approaching. This is a free event being held at Communitech, a not-for-profit organization that supports hundreds of technology companies located in the Waterloo Region.
Entrepreneurial Event Overview: Entrepreneur’s Exchange
The Laurier Innovation & Technology Club, the host of this unique
The MaRS Cleantech Fund is one of the most recent program additions by the MaRS Organization to provide funding for small business in the clean technologies sector. The program is funded through the highly regarded MaRS Discovery District, which provides equity investments to small business and start-up organizations looking to