May 12, 2020
AC’s COVID-19 Support and Recovery Cohort
Two Waterloo students receive $30K in funding for their new venture
The Accelerator Centre (AC) recently announced their new COVID-19 Support and Recovery Cohort of its AC JumpStart program, and two Waterloo students, Jaden Pereira and Aaron Paul, were selected to receive $30,000 in seed funding and $10,000 in-kind business supports to accelerate the launch of their startup TyltGo.
TyItGo was founded by Pereira, a biology student, and Paul, studying management engineering, to provide fast, local delivery solutions to businesses. The startup allows retailers to offer their customer's same-day and on-demand delivery for orders purchased online, over the phone or in-store.
“TyltGo’s courier service is based out of the Tri-Cities area and offers same-day delivery for retail businesses by using crowdsourced drivers,” says Chris Leclerc, AC’s coordinator of programs and client experience. “Their relevance to the COVID-19 JumpStart program is twofold. Firstly, their current partnerships with large retail pharmacies will allow for same-day delivery of essential medications to facilitate and encourage the extended self-isolation of vulnerable populations. And secondly, through partnership with small non-essential businesses, TyltGo’s service will provide a means to drive revenue and position the local economy for renewed growth once the pandemic subsides.”
In total, eight startups were selected to be part of this special cohort because of their innovative solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic, including MobiStream, co-founded by Waterloo alumni Jason Musy (MMSc ’10). With COVID-19 sending both the public and private sectors into a scramble to work from home or in isolation, many organizations have turned to consumer tools and communication technologies, exposing them to security, privacy and data risks. MobiStream is building secure communication tools in partnership with Blackberry to support business continuity, as well as health care and first responders in the age of COVID-19.
Over the next ten months, the cohort participants will receive 60 hours of remote one-to-one mentorship with business leaders in areas such as intellectual property strategy, manufacturing and supply chain management, marketing, human resources, finance, sales and more. They will also get assistance with access to market research and connections to investors.
About the program
The Accelerator Centre is Canada’s top-ranked private business accelerator, but has deep roots with the University of Waterloo. The new COVID-19 Support and Recovery Cohort includes entrepreneurs and researchers who are actively working on solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic and is funded by the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario).
“The AC JumpStart program has been an essential source of capital for 277 startups in southern Ontario since 2015. We are incredibly thankful to have a partnership with FedDev Ontario to help accelerate the health and economic recovery of the province,” says Paul Salvini, Accelerator Centre’s CEO and associate vice-president of commercialization at Waterloo. “We’re ready to drive innovative business growth to not only support Ontario’s recovery during this time, but to also enable economic expansion following the pandemic.”
