The University of Waterloo is pleased to announce that Thalmic Labs has launched from the VeloCity startup program
WATERLOO, Ont. (Wednesday, July 24, 2013) – The University of Waterloo is pleased to announce that Thalmic Labs has launched from the VeloCity startup program.
Thalmic Labs is the brainchild of University of Waterloo graduates Stephen Lake, Aaron Grant, and Matthew Bailey who conceived of the idea of the MYO gesture control armband during their time in the VeloCity business startup program.
While at VeloCity, Thalmic Labs generated more than $4 million in pre-orders, raised over $15 million in funding, and grew their staff to over 25 employees.
“Thalmic Labs founders Stephen Lake, Aaron Grant, and Matthew Bailey are a splendid example of startup success within the tech hub of Waterloo Region and the University of Waterloo’s VeloCity startup program,” says Feridun Hamdullahpur, president and vice-chancellor of the University of Waterloo. “Waterloo is known as one of the world’s top innovation universities and the success of Thalmic Labs proves what a special place this is.”
Thalmic joined the VeloCity program in May 2012 and received initial funding of $25,000 through the VeloCity Venture Fund in October 2012. They later received the additional $15 million+ in funding from Spark Capital, Intel Corp’s investment arm Intel Capital, and a number of angel investors in Toronto and Waterloo.
“We’ve had an amazing year building our business at VeloCity,” says Stephen Lake, Thalmic’s CEO. “The VeloCity program gave us the funding and support we needed as students to make our big idea a reality in the marketplace. We are grateful for our time at VeloCity and look forward to further growth as we move on from the program.”
Thalmic’s staff finalized their move out of VeloCity this week, making room for new University of Waterloo startups to be announced Thursday at the VeloCity Venture Fund Finals & Demo Day.
“We couldn’t be more proud and excited for Thalmic as they move on from VeloCity and continue to build this amazing company in their own space in the Kitchener-Waterloo area,” says Mike Kirkup, Director at VeloCity.
Thalmic moved to a temporary office space, with plans or a more permanent location in Kitchener-Waterloo later this year.
More information, including a video of Thalmic’s departure from the VeloCity garage, can be found on the VeloCity blog.
