York Region Entrepreneurship and Innovation Fund
The Entrepreneurship and Innovation Fund encourages innovation towards business continuity and business recovery efforts by supporting promising early stage start-ups, accelerators, incubators, and community partners. With an annual commitment of $100,000 from York Region until 2023, the fund will support the development of the innovation network in York Region.
This joint initiative provides an opportunity to increase innovation in two streams:
Stream One: Qualified Community Partners receive up to $10,000 in funding for activities or initiatives that promote, support, or enhance entrepreneurship or innovation in York Region.
Stream Two: Qualified Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs receive up to $15,000 in funding to support the growth of your innovative business and/or to provide additional support towards business continuity and recovery efforts post-COVID.
Stream One of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Fund program provides qualified community partners with up to $10,000 in funding for activities or initiatives that promote, support, or enhance entrepreneurship or innovation in York Region.
The definition of innovation is relative and dynamic and we look for projects that engage and generate excitement to drive innovation and elevate sustainability in York Region while expanding inclusion, diversity, and accessibility.
A Review Committee, comprised of ventureLAB, Regional Staff and key innovation stakeholders, will evaluate the applications based on the following areas:
Stream Two of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Fund program provides qualified small businesses and entrepreneurs with up to $15,000 in funding to support the growth of your innovative business and/or to provide additional support towards business continuity and recovery efforts post-COVID.
A Review Committee, comprised of ventureLAB, Regional Staff and key innovation stakeholders, will evaluate the applications based on the following areas:
Please fill out and submit the application form with the required documents by August 28, 2020.
Call for applications will be issued once a year.
Stream 1:
Applicant organizations/entities are limited to one application/project each round. Previously funded recipients must put forward a net new project or initiative in order to apply for another round of funding and previously funded recipients will not be eligible for two consecutive rounds of funding.
Stream 2:
Applicants are limited to one application each round, and previously funded recipients will not be eligible for a second round of funding.
Please refer to the “Selection Criteria” section for your respective streams.
Every applicant organization/company will be notified of their status, whether successful or not, by the end of October 2020 .
Successful Applicants must complete the following requirements within 30 days of award notification:
The project will be activated upon completion of the above requirements. The start date of the project will be by default the date of activation and may not be changed.
These are 1:1 matching funds, meaning successful Applicants are required to provide proof of matching funds of the amount requested, as well as provide ventureLAB with the necessary banking information for the funds to be transferred through a direct deposit. More related information will be sent to the Applicant upon project approval.
Awarded funds will be disbursed after the signing of the Funding Agreement, within 10 business days.
To prove matching funds, the applicant is required to submit a current bank statement dated within 30 days of the award notice. For this bank statement to be accepted, it must show the matching funds stated in the approved application.
Projects must be completed within ten months, and the completion of a Final Project Report would be required. Details and instructions on report submission will be sent to the Applicant upon project activation.
Besides the Final Project Report, recipients are expected to provide a Letter of Support for ventureLAB and York Region, outlining the impact of funds on their business. Both documents must be received by ventureLAB within 30 days of project completion.
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Seneca HELIX is dedicated to developing the entrepreneurial mindset by providing knowledge, mentorship, sessions, workspace, access to like-minded peer community, and experiential opportunities. | |
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York Region Arts Council is the leading York Region-wide nonprofit charitable arts service organization focused on capacity building, creative placemaking and community engagement in support of artists, arts organizations and creative entrepreneurs. | |
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YSpace is York University’s community innovation hub that supports high potential innovators in both the technology and consumer packaged goods space. They help a growing number of entrepreneurs, community members, and youth build and scale their sustainable and impactful businesses in the York Region. |
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BIOSA Technologies is an eco-friendly polymer-based biotechnology company headquartered in Markham. BIOSA has developed a unique, proprietary technology platform for the optimization of both enzymes and chemicals. | |
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Memory & Company provides bespoke, specialized care to suit different needs – the world’s first Premium Day Program and Respite Resort for people living with Memory Loss, and the Gold Standard in Memory Care. | |
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Stan A.I. is the first A.I. assistant for residential property managers that uses artificial intelligence to respond to all resident inquiries. And, it works all by text message, with no apps or software needed. Stan reduces a property manager’s emails by 30% in 16 days by responding to condo residents in seconds, 24/7 with a 98% accuracy rate. |
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York Angels provides a linkage between entrepreneurs seeking early and mid-stage capital, investors committed to supporting the entrepreneurial spirit of their community, and partners that can support the growth of these startup companies through their products and services | |
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York Farm Fresh Association (YFF) is a not-for-profit representing York Region farms offering direct from farm gate sales and farmers markets. YFF exists to connect customers and community to York Region grown local food, beverages and products at farms, farmers markets and farm experiences by joint marketing, promotion and education initiatives with a goal to increase revenue for members. |
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Bionic-i has developed patent pending implantable sterilizable optics with circuitry, and leverages over 16 years of core expertise in designing clinical and surgical sterilization protocols and spaces, services, products, and proprietary research. | |
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Phyxable is an online solution for physiotherapy, chiropractic and occupational therapy care with our end-to-end virtual rehab platform. With the help of telemedicine, virtual 1-on-1 video chat, self-help exercise prescription with machine learning, and augmented reality motion detection, Phyxable is reinventing how physical rehab should be delivered. | |
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Studio 1 Labs is a global leader in advanced fabric systems. Pivoting during Covid to supply PPE fabrics to the Government of Canada, and modernizing education with remote tools for real-time feedback between professors and students. | |
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TakuLabs The future of retail is about selling wherever your customer is. Whether they want to buy in your store, online or on social media, TAKU lets you handle it all in real-time. TAKU is the most flexible and cost-effective unified commerce platform for established or growing retailers. | |
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TIEIT AI offers a unique all-in-one platform that helps support growing businesses become more efficient and scale up in today’s environment by bringing them closer to their customers and helping them to grow by empowering them with the ability to easily organize and view their CRM, marketing, analytics, finance and sales with TIEIT’s built-in applications |
If you have any questions regarding the fund, please contact yrfund@venturelab.ca.