Accelerator Centre set to host Client Showcase Sept. 17

The Accelerator Centre will shine the spotlight on its companies at next week’s Client Showcase event, held at the main location in Waterloo.

“We want to give the clients a chance to talk briefly about who they are and what they do,” says Andrew Jackson, Vice-President of Client Services at the Accelerator Centre.

On Wednesday, Sept. 17 from 4-7 p.m., you can expect to see “Five to eight Momentum and at least 35 Accelerator Centre clients,” Jackson says.  Momentum is a program designed for companies at a slightly earlier stage than typical Accelerator Centre clients.

Each company at the Showcase has a minute to present and highlight the innovation happening in the building. From edtech and gaming to software and hardware, the diversity of AC startups speaks to its ability to tailor its program to different industries.

“We’ve done the Client Showcase once before, two years ago, and it was a great success then,” Jackson says.

The AC hosts graduation events throughout the year for companies that complete the program, but there wasn’t an opportunity for current companies to show progress as they develop.

“We decided it was time to renew [the Showcase] and it will become and an annual and main event that we will be asking the public and various stakeholders to attend,” he says.

Aside from bringing all companies in from the program’s different locations in the region, including the Stratford campus, it’s an opportunity to highlight the AC’s newest addition, Momentum. The program is proving to be an early success, according to Jackson.

“We’re getting applications coming in on a daily basis, and our hope is to have a full 15 companies in there by the end of the calendar year,” he says.

An event like this is a large undertaking for the relatively small team that runs the centre.

“We think it’s important for them to have a voice,” Jackson says of the AC’s clients, adding that, “We want to make sure various stakeholders, be it government or the general public, see who the companies are and the great things they are starting to do.”