Located on the University of Waterloo Health Sciences Campus in downtown Kitchener, the Innovation Arena is the future of health and innovation
The University of Waterloo has officially opened the Innovation Arena, a new collaboration space in the heart of Kitchener’s innovation district which will empower businesses, founders and community partners to engage researchers and entrepreneurs in solving local, national and global health challenges.
The Innovation Arena will be the new home of Velocity, the University’s flagship startup incubator. The Arena houses enhanced business supports for founders, state-of-the-art product development labs, manufacturing equipment and collaboration spaces.
Located on University of Waterloo’s Health Sciences Campus, the Innovation Arena will help accelerate Waterloo Region’s growing health tech sector. The space builds on recent collaborations like the CareNext Coalition – a partnership between local hospitals and the University which is aimed at bringing health tech innovation directly to hospital bedsides and improve patient experiences. The arena will also work alongside existing hubs like the Medical Innovation Xchange (MIX) to support the more than 100 health tech companies already operating in the Region to facilitate new ideas from research to commercialization.
“The Innovation Arena is the new home for entrepreneurship at Waterloo and will be a nexus for health innovation,” said Vivek Goel, president and vice-chancellor of the University of Waterloo. “Building on the momentum from Waterloo startups like Intellijoint Surgical and KA Imaging, and with resources for advanced technology startups and access to partners in the health care sector, the facility will accelerate Southwestern Ontario’s drive to become Canada’s epicentre of health innovation and entrepreneurship.”
Velocity’s new home in the Innovation Arena has been designed with early-stage startups top of mind. Moving beyond a singular focus in health tech, it will build on Velocity’s success of supporting founders in deep tech, clean tech, automotive and manufacturing for more than 15 years. Velocity will build upon its history of launching successful companies and grow its programming with community-based learning and labs that will turn prototypes into products.
“The Innovation Arena will streamline commercialization pathways for businesses, fast-track the delivery of health technologies and drive Canada’s next wave of economic growth,” said Velocity’s Executive Director Adrien Cote. “As the world of startups undergoes rapid transformation, the Innovation Arena is poised to create tangible social and economic opportunities. Founders are excited, University of Waterloo students and researchers are excited, and the Velocity team is excited about scaling up our support for new talent and ideas getting to market faster.”
The Innovation Arena contains 90,000 square feet of innovation space and includes 20,000 square feet of space dedicated to hardware including chemistry and biology building tools. Partners ranging from hospitals, local businesses, academia, non-profit organizations, and government bodies are welcome to be part of the Arena’s journey in the community.
The University of Waterloo and Velocity are proud to acknowledge financial support from the Government of Canada through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), the Government of Ontario and the City of Kitchener, to propel our vision of advancing health innovation and entrepreneurship in Canada. The University is also grateful for the support of philanthropic partners including local entrepreneur and angel investor Mike Stork.
Entrepreneur, angel investor and philanthropist Mike Stork shares his reasons for supporting the Innovation Arena in remarks for the Grand Opening event on November 15, 2024.
“Congratulations to the University of Waterloo on the grand opening of the Innovation Arena in Kitchener. The Innovation Arena will be the new home for Velocity, and will support Waterloo Region’s growing health tech sector. The Government of Canada is committed to supporting the hard-working innovators in our health tech sector and moving towards a healthier future for all Canadians.” — The Honourable Filomena Tassi, Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario
“This Innovation Arena is a collaborative space that will be instrumental in helping southern Ontario’s health tech sector grow and thrive while improving the health of Canadians with innovative solutions. Congratulations to the team at the University of Waterloo on this major milestone.” — Bryan May, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Small Business and to the Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario and Member of Parliament for Cambridge
“As we continue to grow Ontario’s life sciences sector, the Innovation Arena will play a key role in accelerating the development and commercialization of made-in-Ontario innovations, while driving economic growth and job creation in Kitchener and Waterloo. We congratulate the University of Waterloo on the official opening of this collaborative space and look forward to seeing more Ontario start-ups bring their ideas from lab to market.” — The Honourable Vic Fedeli, Ontario Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade
"The City of Kitchener is thrilled to welcome the new UW Innovation Arena to Downtown Kitchener as the first investment we made coming out of the pandemic from our new Make It Kitchener 2.0 economic development strategy. Working collaboratively with our federal and provincial funding partners and the University of Waterloo, this amazing space will build on Kitchener’s world-renowned culture of innovation, supporting the growth of new small and scaling businesses in Kitchener, with impacts across Ontario and throughout Canada and beyond. I’m so excited to see the incredible work and advancements in health tech that will come out of this cutting edge, collaborative space and change people’s lives ." — Mayor Berry Vrbanovic, City of Kitchener
David George-Cosh
Senior Manager, Media Relations
University of Waterloo
dgeorgecosh@uwaterloo.ca
416-294-2471
Edward Hutchinson
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario
Edward.Hutchinson@feddevontario.gc.ca
University of Waterloo is a leading global innovation hub that drives economic and social prosperity for Canada and the world. With more than 42,000 students, we are home to the world's largest co-op education talent pipeline, to game-changing research and technology, and to an unmatched entrepreneurial culture. Together, these create partnerships and solutions to tackle today’s and tomorrow’s challenges. Find out more at uwaterloo.ca.
For 15 years, the Government of Canada, through FedDev Ontario, has worked to advance and diversify the southern Ontario economy through funding opportunities and business services that support innovation, growth and job creation in Canada’s most populous region. The Agency has delivered impressive results, which can be seen in southern Ontario businesses that are creating innovative technologies, improving productivity, growing revenues, creating jobs, and in the economic advancement of communities across the region. Learn more about the impacts the Agency is having in southern Ontario by exploring our investment profiles, our Southern Ontario Spotlight, and FedDev Ontario’s X, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
