Stratford Accelerator Centre to join University of Waterloo

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An innovative collaboration will provide University of Waterloo students and entrepreneurs the opportunity to work together when Stratford's Accelerator Centre relocates to the University of Waterloo Stratford Campus this spring.

"This initiative of the Stratford Accelerator Centre and the University of Waterloo creates a unique opportunity—a community based on the networking and collaboration so critical to entrepreneurial success, with the added benefit of being housed within the highly innovative culture that exists on our campus," said Ginny Dybenko, executive director of the Stratford Campus. "We’re creating and supporting an environment that will help startups reach their goals through interaction with our students, and our students will benefit through direct access to these entrepreneurs."

With its unique Master of Digital Experience Innovation (MDEI) and Global Business and Digital Arts (GBDA) programs, the campus supports business, technology and arts students who have projects that are ideal for commercialization. The move will give the campus direct access to the Accelerator Program^®, an award-winning incubation program for technology startups, with its entrepreneur in residence, mentors and programming support to provide a ready pathway to transform research into commercial reality.

"We are incredibly excited by the potential of blending our startups, experienced team and in-house mentors with Stratford’s students in an on-campus setting," said Tim Ellis, CEO of the Accelerator Centre. "The interactions and exchange of ideas that will come from this initiative will strengthen the bond on both sides, providing students with another important avenue for applying their learning, and offering startups access to cutting-edge, digital arts expertise, and a pipeline of strong, up-and-coming talent."

The startups from the Stratford Accelerator Centre are expected to move to the campus at the end of March.

About the University of Waterloo

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.

About the Stratford Accelerator Centre

The Stratford Accelerator Centre is a ground-breaking facility dedicated to developing and commercializing technology start-ups. Through The AcceleratorProgram®, early-stage companies benefit from in-depth business coaching and seamless support services including access to office facilities, coaching and mentoring, education, connections to capital, networking, R&D support and outreach, talent recruitment, technology transfer assistance, and commercialization expertise, enabling technology start-ups to move to market faster, create jobs and stimulate economic activity.

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