Stuart Mercer, Validus Research Inc.: "We were able to get down to business in no time. The Accelerator Centre has been the perfect place for us to launch our Canadian subsidiary."
About Us | CEO Message
Tom Corr on "the measure of our success"
Chief Executive Officer
We are aptly named because we are all about accelerating the growth and success of our client companies. The sooner they get to market — and in the process create jobs and economic activity — the better.
The support services and mentoring we provide within the Accelerator Centre are unlike anything you will find elsewhere in Canada. The competition to get in is stiff — only the best of the best make the cut. But the good news for potential applicants is that our capacity will almost double in late 2008.
The Accelerator Centre was made possible by the funding and support provided by the Federal and Provincial Governments, the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, the City of Waterloo and the University of Waterloo, along with our industry and academic partners. The recently announced financial support from the Ontario Centres of Excellence, as well as ongoing support from the Ministry of Research and Innovation, are critical to the fulfillment of our mandate: to become a world-renowned centre for the cultivation of technological entrepreneurship through the creation, growth, and advancement of sustainable new technology and companies. Through this activity, we hope to create a model that can be replicated throughout Ontario and beyond. The research that is carried out in our region and in Ontario is world-class, and the success stories, including university spin-offs, speak to the fact that our region is in the forefront of technology commercialization in Canada.
The support that we receive from our community is key to the mentoring that we provide to our client companies. This support is provided in many ways, including our Entrepreneurship Council, which currently numbers over 30 successful entrepreneurs and domain experts.
We are fortunate to house some of our partners, including the Ontario Centres of Excellence and National Research Council's IRAP; two organizations who work hard to leverage and support the activities of the Accelerator Centre and our clients. Beyond the financial support that they provide to many of our clients, they also provide the knowledge they have gained through their many years of experience in commercialization and innovation. Other partners include Communitech, an organization that has done much to drive the growth and success of the Waterloo Region tech sector, along with the Canadian Innovation Centre that provides assistance to early-stage innovators, as well as the Centre for Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology, and Schlegel Centre for Entrepreneurship that provides support and training for our entrepreneurial client companies. We are also pleased to have the Infusion Angels Innovation Centre, sponsored by Microsoft, located within our facility. Although Microsoft has sponsored Innovation Centres in many different countries, this is the first of its kind in Canada.
Best Wishes,
