The Accelerator Centre is open and operating under a business-as-virtual model. This page contains everything that you need to know about the intersection between the AC and COVID-19, including information on Ontario's COVID-19 Support & Recovery Cohort.
Implemented mandatory work from home for all staff and mentors and cancelled all upcoming events at our facilities until further notice as of March 14, 2020.
Are running all programs 100% remotely (and yes, applications are open!).
Introduced free webinars to assist entrepreneurs and startup staff coast to coast navigate this trying time.
Launched Ontario's COVID-19 Support & Recovery Cohort of AC JumpStart to help entrepreneurs, researchers and companies bring solutions and products to the public at an accelerated rate.
We need innovation now more than ever. We’re here to help bring your pandemic-inspired products and services to as many people as possible, as quickly as possible. Clients in this exclusive 10-month cohort of our AC JumpStart program will improve universal circumstances during the COVID-19 pandemic, while paving the way for an enhanced, healthier tomorrow.
We help you to define your market clearly and decide how to talk to your potential customers. Using our proven, structured market validation process, you gather data and use it to explore, research, and refine your concept. You become investment ready.
With a solid blueprint in place, we help you focus on the factors that are most important for the success of your business. With guidance from our mentors, you navigate business fundamentals like branding and human resources. You move forward with the right business model.
With the right people and research in place, you have a sustainable business model. We help you focus on where you are going next. What is your one-year plan? What is your five-year plan? Do you have the right people in the right positions to get you there?
Our final stage before graduation is all about achieving a scaleable business model. We will teach you what investors are looking for and how to pitch to them. When you are ready, the AC mentors will introduce you to a variety of funding and investment sources including angel and venture capital investors.
Grow your business with $30,000 in seed capital (funds must be matched by grant recipients)
Receive 60 hours of remote one-to-one mentorship with dedicated and knowledgeable business leaders in the areas of IP strategy, manufacturing and supply chain management, marketing, HR, finance, sales, and more
When you're ready, we'll make warm introductions to angel investors and VCs
Tap into our international network of programming and funding partners
We welcomed applications from all companies, entrepreneurs, innovators, and researchers who were ready to offer solutions to the COVID-19 outbreak by pivoting or accelerating their business growth to help Ontario recover during—and thrive following—the pandemic.
Applications were encouraged from a wide range of sectors, including but not limited to:
Automation
Distance education
Food supply
Labour force retraining
MedTech
Personal protective equipment
Public Health
Remote Work
Applications closed April 28, 2020 at 11:59 p.m.
The program is funded by FedDev Ontario and is delivered in partnership with Conestoga College, the University of Guelph, the University of Waterloo, and Wilfrid Laurier University.
We help you to define your market clearly and decide how to talk to your potential customers. Using our proven, structured market validation process, you gather data and use it to explore, research, and refine your concept. You become investment ready.
With a solid blueprint in place, we help you focus on the factors that are most important for the success of your business. With guidance from our mentors, you navigate business fundamentals like branding and human resources. You move forward with the right business model.
With the right people and research in place, you have a sustainable business model. We help you focus on where you are going next. What is your one-year plan? What is your five-year plan? Do you have the right people in the right positions to get you there?
Our final stage before graduation is all about achieving a scaleable business model. We will teach you what investors are looking for and how to pitch to them. When you are ready, the AC mentors will introduce you to a variety of funding and investment sources including angel and venture capital investors.
In 1590, Shakespeare utilized a shutdown of theaters to refocus his energy and wrote some of the world’s most famous poems. During the outbreak of 1665, when the University of Cambridge was forced to close, Sir Isaac Newton discovered a little thing known as gravity. More recently, the recession of 2008 gave birth to two of the world’s biggest startups: Airbnb and Uber, launching the shared economy as we know it today.
Hard times are a catalyst for innovation. What will you create, do, discover? Whatever it is, we’re here to help you make it happen. Apply today to our virtual Accelerator Program, designed to get you from the idea phase to global operations.
History is waiting to be made. Let’s get to work.
Apply to The Accelerator Program and let us help you build a business that thrives.
