Techstars is officially coming to Canada.
Real Ventures is excited to help make it happen!
Today, Techstars is announcing that they will soon be bringing their accelerator program to Canada and we are really excited to be playing a part.
Since its inception in 2006, Techstars has successfully operated more than 100 accelerator sessions, in 18 cities and now has more than 1,000 companies in its portfolio. Techstars Toronto will soon be added to the global line up!
Techstars Toronto will directly connect the Toronto — Waterloo/Kitchener region into the Techstars network. We will make sure that it also has significant spillover benefits into Montréal and the rest of Canada.
David Brown, co-founder of Techstars and a Canadian native himself summed it up: “The Toronto-Waterloo/Kitchener startup market is full of innovation, mentors and capital and these are the exact ingredients needed for a successful accelerator program.”
As successful as Techstars might be, a large part of our motivation to support their Canadian ambitions was driven by a shared alignment around the importance of strong startup ecosystems in company creation and growth; and similarly the importance of connectivity between these ecosystems.
Since 2011, when we first launched FounderFuel, our Montréal based accelerator, we have seen the impact that this type of program can have and we are sure that the presence of Techstars Toronto will contribute significantly to the Toronto-Waterloo/Kitchener startup ecosystem and complement other programs and initiatives in the region such as Creative Destruction Lab, Ryerson’s DMZ, Communitech’s Rev and Next AI (amongst many others).
A dedicated Techstars Toronto team will soon be officially appointed and will be responsible for running the same program that is run in other Techstars cities around the world. The Real Ventures team, particularly those based in Toronto, as well as members of the FounderFuel team, will contribute their local networks and resources to help get things up and running and then be actively engaged in mentoring participating companies.
Techstars and Real Ventures will provide the investment capital for the program.
Our team first visited Boulder, Colorado, the home of Techstars, in 2009. Since then we have invested in Techstars graduating companies and co-invested alongside Techstars Ventures into several companies, including great Canadian startups selected by Techstars programs. Collaborating on establishing Techstars Toronto presents a really special opportunity to work more closely with an amazing group of people. We are really happy to contribute to this new chapter of the Techstars story!
Application and program details for Techstars Toronto will be announced later in 2017.
