Come visit VentureStart at OCE Discovery May 14 & 15!

May 10, 2012 - PRLog --  
Mississauga, ON - The VentureStart program, supporting entrepreneurs who have developed technology innovations or ideas for business start-ups, will be present at OCE Discovery on May 14 and 15, 2012. We encourage you to stop by our booth! VentureStart is designed to enhance the success rate of start-up enterprises in Southern Ontario through business training for technology entrepreneurs, and an opportunity of matching seed financing up to $30,000 to launch their new venture.
 
To be eligible for the VentureStart program, the entrepreneur must be a university or college graduate of a science, technology, engineering or mathematics program, and must reside in southern Ontario. Full details of the program and sign-up forms are available at www.venturestart.ca.
 
The program comprises two phases, a Business Skills Development phase and a Business Launch Support phase. For entrepreneurs who successfully complete the first phase, RIC Centre and its partners from the Ontario Network of Excellence (ONE), will provide mentoring by their Entrepreneurs in Residence, together with an extensive portfolio of the key support services that are typically required for the successful launch and operation of a new business.  

To qualify for seed financing, the entrepreneur must complete the business training program, which provides the foundation for creating a business development plan for their new venture. They must also complete a Critical Factor Assessment (CFA), which evaluates their plan against 42 factors that have been identified as critical for venture success. The CFA identifies flaws to be addressed in order to provide the venture the best likelihood of succeeding. 

VentureStart has already approved 1/3 of its total funding to 60 successful applicants. About 66% of applicants are technology based companies in the IT space, while the rest cover industries including Life Sciences, Healthcare, and Cleantech.

“The $30,000 of funding SMARTeacher.ca received from VentureStart was monumental in helping us super-charge our commercialization efforts by hiring 2 new employees, and solidifying our product for a launch earlier than we would have ever been able to otherwise,” explains Rohan Mahimker, Co-CEO of successful applicant SMARTeacher.ca. “The VentureStart training was like an entire entrepreneurship course condensed into 2 days, and was overflowing with great information for new entrepreneurs.  I would highly recommend this program to any entrepreneurs or visionaries looking to accelerate their businesses - thank you VentureStart!”

RIC Centre and the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) are excited at the demand that VentureStart has received since its launch mid-March. With another 25 applicants awaiting the business training, the Program is seeing very strong traction. The program expects to train as many as 450 entrepreneurs over 15 months, and provide as much as $4 million in seed financing to qualified applicants.
 
  

About RIC Centre
 

Peel Region’s hub for innovation and entrepreneurship, the Research, Innovation, Commercialization (RIC) Centre was launched in 2008 as a not-for-profit organization supporting the development of innovation and entrepreneurship in Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon. RIC Centre provides commercialization support to help new entrepreneurs and seasoned business people take technical innovations to market, with experienced advisors and Entrepreneurs in Residence who guide its clients every step of the way.

The Centre's mission is to build an innovation ecosystem to support community prosperity across Peel Region.

 

Contact:

Sarah Lenarcic, VentureStart Coordinator

289-373-3022

www.venturestart.ca