{"id":2305,"date":"2022-06-13T21:20:10","date_gmt":"2022-06-13T21:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/?p=2305"},"modified":"2022-10-18T17:00:12","modified_gmt":"2022-10-18T17:00:12","slug":"a-10-million-bet-on-100-startup-founders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/2022\/06\/13\/a-10-million-bet-on-100-startup-founders\/","title":{"rendered":"A $10 million bet on 100 startup founders"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"text-block-container speakable-text-block-container\">WATERLOO REGION \u2014 Jay Krishnan is looking for the right chemistry among founders and their teams for a new startup incubator.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-block-container speakable-text-block-container\">The chief executive officer at the Waterloo Accelerator Centre has just launched the Venture Studio program \u2014 the first incubator of its kind in the country, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-block-container\">\u201cYou really focus on the individuals,\u201d said Krishnan.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-block-container\">Traditional incubators usually focus on new technology that solves a problem. The Venture Studio approach will focus on the entrepreneurs first: the ones that show more potential get more resources as they move through the program. <\/p>\n<p class=\"text-block-container\">With $10 million in federal funds, the studio program wants entrepreneurs to focus on three areas of technology with the potential to effect big changes in people\u2019s lives \u2014 medtech, nanotech and cleantech.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-block-container\">\u201cAt a very high level the avenues for bringing change to communities come down to sustainability, cleantech and healthtech,\u201d said Krishnan.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-block-container\">Interesting ideas are necessary, but the right chemistry among the team is absolutely vital and the main criterion for selection.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-block-container\">Each startup accepted into the Venture Studio program receives $20,000. Another $30,000 will be invested in the 50 startups that survive the first phase of the program. After three years, the 25 startups that are most ready for massive growth in multiple markets will each receive a further $50,000. <\/p>\n<p><span id=\"contentMiddleBreakPoint\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"text-block-container\">The aim is to support 25 new tech firms employing more than 500 people three years from now<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-block-container\">\u201cThe classic analogy \u2014 do you bet on the horse or do you bet on the jockey? Often times the market bets on the horse, but really it is jockey. It is the same things with founders,\u201d said Krishnan.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-block-container\">\u201cThe solution takes a bit of a back seat, it is usually always people,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-block-container\">Southern Ontario has an \u201cinsane amount\u201d of patents among universities, colleges and innovation hubs. The Accelerator Centre will oversee the Venture Studio Program but work with five other tech organizations: Waterloo Region-based Uvaro, WEtech Alliance, Innovate Niagara, SnapPea Design, Conestoga College and others.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-block-container\">Those organizations will steers founders and their teams to the Venture Studio Program, provide mentors, marketing, advice on patents and industry connections.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-block-container\">\u201cWe have the ingredients,\u201d said Krishnan.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-block-container\">The deadline for applications is July 1.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-block-container\">\u201cThink of an opportunity when a venture or an idea from Niagara sees an opportunity to scale up through Waterloo, expand around Ontario and become the next big Canadian tech story,\u201d said Krishnan.<\/p>\n<p><span id=\"contentEndBreakPoint\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"text-block-container\">\u201cThere is no model today that allows for it,\u201d he added. \u201cIf it happens, it happens organically through the journey of the individual. This platform has a script that allows for it.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"author-endnote-container border-bottom\" data-lpos=\"article|author|bottom\"><a class=\"author-endnote-container__author-img-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thestar.com\/authors.pender_terry.html\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-author-badge author-endnote-container__author-img\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-author-badge__img\" src=\"https:\/\/images.thestar.com\/AR4bspQykk0P00zN9-6Vjh8ueK0=\/100x100\/smart\/filters:format(webp)\/https:\/\/www.thestar.com\/content\/dam\/therecord\/uploads\/Pender_%20Terry_logo2019.JPG\" alt=\"Terry Pender\" aria-hidden=\"true\" \/><\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"share-label-text\">SHARE:<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WATERLOO REGION \u2014 Jay Krishnan is looking for the right chemistry among founders and their<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2305"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2305"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2305\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2306,"href":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2305\/revisions\/2306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}