PiinPoint, a location analytics startup, has become the latest company from University of Waterloo incubator Velocity, to participate in the Y Combinator accelerator program in Silicon Valley.
The startup was one of four $25,000 winners at the Velocity Fund Finals in November.
Co-founders Jim Robeson and Adam Saunders set up offices at Velocity in Kitchener, Ontario in January, and moved to Mountain View, California soon after to participate in Y Combinator. They plan to return to Velocity in April.
PiinPoint is the seventh company from Velocity to participate in the Silicon Valley-based accelerator to rapidly develop their business.
“Y Combinator is widely accepted as the world’s leading technology accelerator and we are extremely proud that great startups like PiinPoint are building on their Velocity experience in Silicon Valley,” said Mike Kirkup, director of Velocity. “There is a special connection between Waterloo and Silicon Valley. The fact that PiinPoint is the seventh in a line of Velocity companies to be accepted to Y Combinator shows that something really exciting is happening here.”
Michael Arrington, editor of the popular TechCrunch website, said that Y Combinator “captures the essence of Silicon Valley”. Twice a year, Y Combinator invests in startup companies that move to Silicon Valley for three months where Y Combinator partners help participants prepare their companies and refine their pitches to investors.
Each cycle culminates in Demo Day, when the startups present their business plans to an investor audience. PiinPoint is set to pitch at the Y Combinator Demo Day on March 25.
Robeson is a graduate of Waterloo’s Master of Business, Entrepreneurship, and Technology program at the Conrad Centre. Saunders is a current student in the Faculty of Environment.
Previous Velocity startups to participate in Y Combinator include reebee, Thalmic Labs, BufferBox, Couple, Vidyard and Pebble.
Startup incubator Velocity provides University of Waterloo students with opportunities for funding, free workspace, workshops, networking opportunities and access to mentors. Velocity takes no intellectual property rights or equity in return.
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In just half a century, the University of Waterloo, located at the heart of Canada's technology hub, has become one of Canada's leading comprehensive universities with 35,000 full- and part-time students in undergraduate and graduate programs. Waterloo, as home to the world's largest post-secondary co-operative education program, embraces its connections to the world and encourages enterprising partnerships in learning, research and discovery. In the next decade, the university is committed to building a better future for Canada and the world by championing innovation and collaboration to create solutions relevant to the needs of today and tomorrow. For more information about Waterloo, please visit www.uwaterloo.ca.
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