Waterloo – Companies that got their start in the Waterloo Region took the startup world by storm this month. Impressive Kickstarter campaigns by Voltera and Pebble, Docker’s acquisition of Kite, a new $1.2 million funding round for Kira Talent, an important partnership for Chalk.com and an impressive update from PumpUp headline the developments.
Mike Kirkup, director of Velocity, an entrepreneurship program from the University of Waterloo, argues that the success of Waterloo entrepreneurs is a result of the fundamental elements of the surrounding ecosystem and the support programs in place.
“Waterloo Region is succeeding in creating new business, new employment in the face of a dramatically changed workforce model for the area, and is revitalizing the economy of the city. There is clear recognition that the spokes in the wheel need to work together to create the momentum that will attract the best ideas and, in turn, grow new businesses. From the municipal government and our education institutions, to an emphasis on incubators, accelerators and discovery spaces, this region has created a network and community that is pivotal to the success that our startups are seeing.”
Kirkup is also an entrepreneur and he is not shy about his first entry into the startup space. It didn’t go well, but he learned to get back up and try again with his newest startup Score More Baseball. His experience combined with the help of the University of Waterloo and the Velocity team, has resulted in one of the largest and most comprehensive startup programs in North America.
This weekend in the New York Times, Sam Altman, president of Y Combinator, identified Waterloo as the top school in North America for producing students and graduates whose ideas take off.
http://www.exchangemagazine.com/morningpost/2015/week11/Tuesday/15031704.htm#anchor
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