Velocity logoThe University of Waterloo's newest incubator — its first specifically for hardware, materials and life sciences startups — officially opened its doors today, creating opportunities for the next great Canadian invention.

The Velocity Foundry is an 11,000-square-foot space where startups can develop, test, implement and commercialize their innovative ideas. It is located just steps from the Velocity Garage, UWaterloo's incubator for software startups, and doubles the size of Velocity's incubation space.

Students are mentored in Velocity Foundry

"Entrepreneurship has long been a pillar of the University of Waterloo," said Feridun Hamdullahpur, president and vice-chancellor of Waterloo. "This expansion of our internationally recognized and established Velocity program means increased opportunities for entrepreneurial activity and learning, and further demonstrates our commitment to experiential learning and innovation. It is my pleasure to welcome the resident startups to their new home, and I look forward to seeing them grow as companies."

More than 20 startups work in the new space. Velocity provides mentoring from successful entrepreneurs, as well as opportunities to collaborate with peers and share knowledge and expertise.

"The Velocity Foundry was created to provide space for the increasing number of hardware, material and life sciences companies being created by University of Waterloo students," said Mike Kirkup, director of Velocity.  "It provides a great landing space for companies from our Velocity Science program and we are delighted to provide the equipment and facilities to support the specific needs of these companies."

A student works with a prototype device

Velocity is a free, not-for-credit program. Velocity runs the Velocity Garage and Velocity Foundry incubation spaces in downtown Kitchener, where more than 50 startups operate today; the Velocity Residence at the UWaterloo main campus, which houses another 70 entrepreneurial students; an on-campus Velocity Science lab and workspace; a Velocity Fund, which awards more than $300,000 in grants to startups each year; and weekly on-campus programming to provide students from any Faculty access to entrepreneurship workshops and networking opportunities. More than 100 startups have been created thanks to Velocity, including Kik, Pebble and Thalmic Labs.

For more information about Velocity, please visit http://velocity.uwaterloo.ca.

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