Waterloo Region – July 26, 2013 – Communitech announced today that it is fine tuning its startup accelerator HYPERDRIVE to provide greater support for early-stage technology companies.
While already one of the most successful seed-accelerators in Canada, Communitech continues to innovate and iterate to ensure that it remains globally competitive.
Since its creation just over a year ago, HYPERDRIVE has admitted 18 companies to its first two cohorts. These companies have successfully raised $3.7M, made significant revenue and created over 70 jobs.
“We have realized for a while that traditional seed-accelerators don’t go far enough. Companies need to transition into a sales and marketing mindset as soon as they have validated their business model – which is why we are extending the program to 6 months.” Doug Cooper, HYPERDRIVE Managing Director said.
“We have also increased the use of best of breed tools like Steve Blank’s business model canvas and Startup Genome to increase the effectiveness of the program and allow ourselves to be more data driven.
And finally, we have realized that companies need more opportunity to meet, build relationships and get feedback on their businesses from the investment community -- right from the beginning of the sprint. This is why we are making the following program changes.” Cooper concluded.
In summary:
- The program is being extended to six months – making it unique in Canada. The first three months is a sprint that concludes in a Demo Day and a potential investment of $150,000. The final three months will focus on sales and marketing growth. The extended program also includes elective programming. Companies can stay in residence at Communitech for the full six months.
- There will be a second Demo Day in the critical adjacent market of Toronto to engage a broader group of potential investors.
- The existing one-week trip to New York City to meet funders, partners and potential customers will be moved to after Demo Day, to better align with the increased sales and raising capital focus of the program.
- A HYPERDRIVE Advisory Group composed of world-class founders has been formed to ensure the program remains globally competitive.
At the end of six months, HYPERDRIVE companies transition to the comprehensive programming Communitech has developed over the past 15 years -- services and programs that are designed to assist tech companies through every stage of their lifecycle (startups, mid-size to large multinationals). These programs specifically focus on helping tech companies attract talent, raise capital, and tap into the Communitech network of hundreds of successful entrepreneurs, investors, academic partners, service providers and companies such as OpenText, Christie Digital, Google, Canadian Tire, BlackBerry, Desire2Learn and many more.
About Communitech
Founded in Waterloo Region by a group of dedicated entrepreneurs in 1997, Communitech is the regional hub for the commercialization of innovative technologies, supporting and building a tech cluster of nearly 1,000 companies that generates more than $30 billion in annual revenue.
A member of the Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs, which is funded by the Ontario government, Communitech supports tech companies at all stages of their growth and development—from startups to rapidly-growing mid-size companies, to large global players. Its goal is to create greater numbers of successful global businesses for Ontario and Canada.
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