Prime Minister Stephen Harper has announced the organizations selected 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.
Business accelerators and incubators provide innovative, early-stage entrepreneurs with resources, facilities and expertise to help them develop their business plans and seek follow-on financing. They play an important role in the venture capital system, helping innovators gain strategic advantage in a competitive international marketplace.
In 2013, the Government of Canada established CAIP to help accelerators and incubators deliver their services to promising Canadian firms. CAIP is delivered on behalf of the Government by the National Research Council’s Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP), which evaluated all proposals based on strict eligibility and selection criteria. Eligible proposals were then presented to the independent Canadian Venture Capital Expert Panel for their review and recommendations. NRC-IRAP is conducting a thorough due diligence process to establish contribution agreements with the selected organizations.
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 Innovation Park 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)
More information on the process is available here.