The Accelerator Centre works with community partners to facilitate high-value events to support the development of new business ideas.
Join us for a fireside chat with globally successful entrepreneur and innovation community builder, Jay Krishnan, as he shares his vision for the AC and its role in the Waterloo innovation ecosystem
What is an environmental value prop and how can it help you create excitement around your cleantech/sustainable venture?
Think you've got your pitch down pat? Think again.
As a startup, hiring your c-suite is a critical milestone. Learn how to take important step from one of Canada's top executive search firm.
Calling your team to action
Your IP strategy: What it really costs and how long it takes to file and enforce your IP.
Where to start with D&I in your organization
Customers buy based on hope, but they stay based on the experience they have with your brand. Are you doing enough to keep your customers?
Developing a culture that supports diversity
Your clients want to know they're safe with you. That means passing a vendor review. Don't risk failing the test and losing a customer.
Building a medical device company? Learn how to engage your whole company in the quality process in part 3 of this 3 part series.
Build the foundation of your D&I strategy
Building a medical device company? Put quality at the center of your medtech startup with QMS strategies in part 2 of this 3 part series.
Building a medical device company? Discover the quality management considerations you need to know in part 1 of this 3 part series.
Virtual Fireside Chat with with Miovision Cofounder and AC Specialist Mentor, Tony Brijpaul
AC clients are invited to join us for January's Founder Hour with Mary Pat Hinton of Emmetros and Ronen Benin of Glissner
Discover the top 5 things every organization can do protect against cyber threats.
How do we create real positive change with respect to DE&I and social justice in our organizations?
What is Psychological Safety? A team feels psychologically safe to its members when they share the belief that within the team they will not be exposed to interpersonal or social threats.
The COVID-19 pandemic has proven innovation in the health space is not only possible, but imperative.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused communities around the world to reinvent education.
Join us and our friends at Ernst & Young (EY) to learn about what it takes to build a global workforce.
Join our expert panel of media professionals and learn what you need to know to get press coverage and media attention for your startup.
Join us as we explore the startup journey of Clearpath Robotics with CEO Matt Rendall to discuss some winning strategies for landing and maintaining those first customers and for getting the early stage funding you need to launch and grow your venture.
Founder Hour gives AC clients the opportunity to learn more about their peers to initiate and heighten collaboration and overall awareness within the AC community. Once a month, two founders will share a little bit about themselves, their companies, and their experiences. All AC clients are invited to join us this month as we hear from Lyn Chen of LayerCI and Evelyn Allen of Evercloak.
Support your team's mental health and help build resiliency. Mental health experts predict an “echo pandemic” of mental illness and mental health as a result of COVID. Industry experts like our partners at Cowan Insurance are starting to see impact through an increase in requests for mental health supports from employees and employers. Join us for a conversation with Karen Williamson, Cowan Benefits Consultant as she shares some free resources available to you as you help your team manage their mental health and build resiliency. This session will be conversational and include ample time for Q&A. Please bring your questions and feel free to share your own experience with the group.
Exclusive monthly meeting for AC clients to learn more about your peers, collaborate with them and gain a thorough understanding of what's happening in the AC ecosystem! Once a month, we will be asking two founders to share a little bit about themselves, their companies, and their experiences. Join us this month as we hear all about two AC client founders’ companies and experiences: Miguel of The Owl Solutions and Ryan from LumenED!
Do you know what flow state is? Have you found yours? Research has shown that those who work from flow state experience higher levels of productivity, creativity and happiness for up to three days longer than those who don't.Jackie Lauer, Culture and Leadership Mentor at the Accelerator Centre, will discuss the research behind flow, ways to find your own flow and the importance of leading others to find their flow.
Join Conestoga College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning for this virtual information session to learn more about Conestoga's broad range of programs and how "Partnering with Conestoga" can support the growth and development of your organization, business processes and talent pipeline. During the session you will have the opportunity to learn about the funding available for Applied Research as well as funds to support student and graduate hiring and recruitment support. The session will highlight Conestoga's interactive learning labs and opportunities to partner with students on capstone projects and field placements.
Join us as we hear from Don Thompson and Steve Fyke as they explore how to create a project management system that works for you, your team, deliverables and product.
As regions start to open up again, people will gradually begin to go back to working in their offices. In just a few months, best practices and etiquette have changed. These lifestyle changes not only apply to our personal lives, but to the workplace as well. Returning to work after COVID-19 may be scary, awkward and jarring. To ease the transition, leaders and HR teams will need to make changes to policies, the physical workplace, and their approach to employee relations. Join AC mentor Jackie Lauer and her guest Jill Zappitelli as they take you through some requirements and suggestions. Bring your questions as the latter half will be interactive.
The Government of Canada’s Student Work Placement Program (SWPP) has temporarily made its funding more flexible. Join the virtual information session on June 11 to talk with SWPP partners and learn more about their COVID-19 updates and flexible funding options for hiring students.
Join us as we hear from Kristina McDougall, founder and president of Artemis Canada, as she explores some best practices for the virtual hiring process.
Come ready with questions for our a virtual fireside conversation with AC Grad Kurtis McBride, Co-Founder and CEO of Miovision.
In this session, AC Leadership and Culture Mentor Jackie Lauer and Marketing and Communications Mentor Ellyn Winters-Robinson talk about the yin and yang of great brands, and how even the smallest of startups can benefit from early exploration of brand values across market, culture and product boundaries.
Join us virtually as we hear from AC grad Carol Leaman, President and CEO of Axonify, to learn about her journey raising seed money and managing growth alongside investment.Axonify is the world’s first eLearning platform that delivers knowledge in a fun, bite-sized and personalized way. Its unique approach identifies and closes critical knowledge gaps in real time, improving long-term retention and achieving significant financial outcomes for customers.
Join us as we learn from Kevin Hood, Accelerator Centre's sales mentor as he walks us through how to build your sales playbook. Defining and documenting your sales process is crucial. Kevin Hood will share his methodology and be your ultimate guide to building your playbook and a framework for closing those deals!
Join us as we tackle product development in a crisis with the Accelerator Centre's product management mentor, Don Thompson. Learn project management communication strategies, how to communicate with your team in a crisis and planning tactics for managing business execution.
Opportunities, problems and attention to detail regarding traffic, social traffic, paid traffic, and websites in this new world. Bring your questions and assumptions and let's take advantage of this unique time with Rob Farnham, the Accelerator Centre's digital demand mentor. Join us virtually with plenty of time for Q&A.
Join us with the Accelerator Centre's very own sales mentor Kevin Hood as he teaches us the ins and outs of overcoming objections, focusing on BANT, and ultimately closing the sale! Join us via Zoom.
In this Zoom fireside chat, the AC’s communications and PR mentor Ellyn Winters will lead a group discussion around the current communications dynamics and communications and PR best practices. Bring your questions and we’ll learn together.
You have been invited to an online meeting, powered by Amazon Chime. This workshop is designed to provide founders, leadership teams, as well as production and engineering teams background on designing conversational experiences in order to be adaptable, personal and relatable while also providing information on the processes, tools, SDKs, products, and services available to build a delightful customer experience with voice.
Join Accelerator Center mentor Jackie Lauer and her guest speaker Robin Bender, founder of Mega Health at Work, for this one hour session focused on mental health and providing tools and strategies to self regulate during times of stress.
This online webinar will take place over 90 min, to cover the foundations of remote work, and some best practice tips for the ways we lead, and participate, in these spaces.
Accelerator Centre clients are invited to an exciting Lunch & Learn with the incredible Carol Leaman: AC grad and President + CEO of Axonify.
Join us as we hear all about two AC client founders’ companies and experiences: Hugo of The Owl Solutions and Jamie of Derisk!
Are you currently stationed at an incubator or accelerator? Is your space starting to feel a little cramped? It may be time for a move... David Hussey, COO of SolveCOO, is here to help guide you through that process.
Come learn how an Advisory Board can be your secret weapon to bring essential insights, advice, experience, and connections to your startup while providing you with important confidantes, mentors and coaches. Find out how to attract all-star advisors, how much to compensate them, and common mistakes made by many entrepreneurs.
Join us as we celebrate and showcase the diversity and high potential of startups across southern Ontario during our annual showcase event.
Costing $200,000.00 on average, 60% of small businesses go out of business within 6 months of being hacked.
Workshop Session with Gowling to get all your Startup Legal Questions ANSWERED
The marketing and sales funnel as a growth model is broken, we'll work on understanding the process of developing a flywheel model to grow your startup better and faster.
Mandatory event for all Phase 2,3 and 4 clients.
Government and business tax incentives; sources of financing and preparation of forecasts and cash-flow projections.
Join the Accelerator Centre and Cowan Insurance Group for this 2 Part Workshop Series!
Learn about strategies to move closer to leadership in the sector and inspiring stories of companies who are leading the way.
The session will have tips and examples provided by Rick Findlay and discussions and Q&A with the participants throughout the session.
Accelerator Centre and Communitech clients are invited to attend this presentation and networking opportunity to learn about funding programs and resources to hire postsecondary students.
Back by popular demand, another lunch and learn with Louise Kaiser, Commercial Relationships Director at Clearpath Robotics
EY’s ESG and Climate risk lunch and learn will look at the current landscape of risk, the impacts on business and what can be done to turn challenges into opportunities.
As part of this session, we'll discuss the evolution of TD's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) work over the years, as well as some of the successful (and not so successful) initiatives they've taken on in an effort to build a successful CSR strategy and communicate core values to employees, customers and to the general public.
We’ll spend some time reviewing the scientific approach stepping through planning with hypothesis led product management. We will discuss the fundamentals of the Lean Startup movement as it relates to software or hardware product development and how we can dovetail these methods into our next launch to support growth.
A group of service line specialists from EY Waterloo Region will be joining us to take an in depth look at the business life cycle, investment alternatives and making yourself ‘financing ready’
This interactive session, presented by our partners at Gowling WLG, will focus on fundamental legal challenges faced by every start-up.
Building a hardware product can be more complex than it seems. Come learn about what it takes to take your hardware product to mass production, how long that will take and how to avoid the common pitfalls.
Join us for a special screening event of Brene Brown’s Netflix special Call to Courage and a facilitated group discussion with Jackie Lauer, Accelerator Centre HR and Leadership Mentor.
Join us for an insightful look at the world of government and business tax incentives; financial reporting; corporate tax compliance; and financing readiness. The session will provide the crucial details to ensure your business is prepared for the next step in your corporate lifecycle.
At this event clients will be giving pitches in order to advance to Phase 2. The speakers for this event will be Marium Kirmani and all of the mentors.
At this event Kevin Hood and Marium Kirmani will provide feedback to clients on their PowerPoint and pitch.
Commercial management is the common thread that runs through the business life-cycle of strategy, sales, procurement, marketing, negotiation, contracting, commitments, cost and revenue, profit and loss, risk and change management, and opportunity identification.
This event will provide you with information and insight on who you need to know and approches on how to make these connections. The speakers for this event will beTrish Barrow and Kevin Elop.
Have you ever wondered what you should do first, second and third when it comes to raising funds from governments? Come on out and learn from an expert on the art of cultivating excellence when it comes to building government support.
EY will take a specific focus on business and tax incentives for small and start-up companies. During the session, EY will focus on the benefits and incentives available not only to startups but specifically for startups in the environmental technology space.
This event will provide you with informaion on different aspects of intelectual property. The speakers for this event will be Alexis Black and Jim Hinton.
This event will focus on marketing for startups, more specifically your company's brand and culture. The speakers for this event will be Ellyn Winters-Robinson and Jackie Lauer.
At this event each company will give a short update in their research thus far and then we will discuss what requirment 3 should look like. The speakers for this event will be Kevin Hood and Marium Kirmani.
Join us for a lunch and learn with Brock Dickinson to learn about some of the simple, cost-effective ways to reach into and develop US markets. We will also discuss some of the support structures and programs that can help you along the way.
At this event you will gain insights on design strategy and design lead product development. The speaker for this event will be Steven Fyke and Dayton Pereira.
This event is a product session that will include information on Lean startup methodology, product requirments, development intorduction and much more.
The topic of this event will be an introduction to marketing and sales. The speakers for this event will be Kevin Hood and Marium Kirmani.
This event will focus on the concept of thinking big. This will involve leadership for new entrepeneurs and designing a fundable company.
Introductions will be given by Paul Salvini and Clinton Ball. The Speakers for this event will be Marium Kirmani and Kevin Hood.
This event will focus on different approaches and techniques to gather research. The speakers will be Kevin Hood and Marium Kirmani.
We’re making a big move towards a greener, more sustainable future and we want you to be a part of it. Join us for the Grand Opening of evolvGREEN, the region’s first innovation hub for sustainability and the clean economy.
After this interactive lunch session, you will have a much better understanding of how to approach getting a pilot up and running to support your drive to commercialization and specific tools that you can put to immediate use.
Join us to celebrate the incredible startup journeys of Expeflow and Rapid Novor as they graduate from The Accelerator Program. Light refreshments and a beer and wine bar will be provided.
Join us for a special announcement with FedDev Ontario as we celebrate and showcase the diversity and high potential of startups across Southwestern Ontario during our annual AC JumpStart showcase event
This high-intensity day provides an immersive hands-on design experience for post-secondary school students of any background (or discipline) to tackle complex challenges through design.
This workshop is designed to help startups understand who their customers are, how to communicate to them, and best practices for establishing a strong foundation for sales and marketing. Led by Corey Dolik from HubSpot, he will also cover some practical tools for implementing these strategies.
Join us for a lunch and learn session with entrepreneur and finance leader, Eugene Bomba, for insights into building a funding strategy for your startups.
Please join Carlos Perez, Product Designer at Kiite to learn about designing your own career as a designer!
Join us for a lunch session with our partners from Gowling WLG to discuss the common mistakes founders make early on and learn best practices to avoid those problems.
LeadBlox in the cleantech industry and DaDJ in the music industry have partnered up to host a networking event, with a twist. There will be some fun interactions, and you will be able to learn about Cleantech, before the DJs start playing. Pizza will be provided.
Join us for an interactive training workshop that will leverage the tech ecosystem’s appetite for change and demonstrate the value of combating unconscious bias in the workplace and provide practical advice on implementing best practices.
This event will focus on different approaches and techniques to gather research. The speakers will be Kevin Hood and Jordan Parker.
In this session, learn how to successfully navigate and avoid common pitfalls with an IP strategy designed to secure the full value of your IP rights and lead to a successful commercial launch.
Please join us for an information session the University of Waterloo and Conestoga College to learn about their co-op programs and how you can utilize student resources.
At this event Kevin Hood and CEC will provide feedback to clients on their PowerPoint and pitch.
