WATERLOO – The Lazaridis Institute at Wilfrid Laurier University is looking for 10 companies to join its next cohort of Canada’s most promising scale-ups. Through the Lazaridis ScaleUp program, selected companies and their teams receive the expert mentorship and support they need to succeed at a global level — at no cost and giving up no equity. The next cohort runs from November 2022 through October 2023. Applications open June 8 and close August 15.
“Coming out of COVID-19, companies are facing an unprecedented set of new challenges,” said Kim Morouney, managing director of the Lazaridis Institute. “Lazaridis ScaleUp provides these companies with a year of customized access to a world-class set of mentors and speakers who will guide and advise them through whatever opportunities and obstacles they encounter.”
ScaleUp matches founders and their teams with experts who bring real value: professionals who have architected and led the success of companies like Shopify, LinkedIn, Apple, Nest, the Fogarty Institute, the Gap, PointClickCare and many more.
“Besides really enjoying the quality of presentations, speakers and choice of topics, I think we’ve benefited most from the mentorship options,” said Val Novikov, co-founder and CTO of FISPAN. “Our mentor consistently went above and beyond, helping us connect dots that we wouldn’t have otherwise and suggesting experts and resources that would benefit us most at different stages in our business. It basically feels as if he’s been a part of our team.”
In addition to mentorship, members of the cohort participate in peer groups that provide a tight-knit community of founders and executives who support each other throughout the program. These peer networks span the country, connecting founders with founders, bringing together sales executives and product people, and in the process strengthening Canada’s tech ecosystem from coast to coast.
“My peer group has been incredible – even better than I thought it would be,” said Josh Domingues, CEO of Flashfood in Toronto. “We were able to talk openly about our funding rounds, different investors, negative experiences – things that are deeply personal and rarely talked about in the business world. Learning through others’ lived experiences has been invaluable. I think we’ll do this group forever, even after the program ends because of the quality of the people in the group.”
Lazaridis ScaleUp works with a broad range of tech and tech-enabled companies. Artificial intelligence and cleantech are more prevalent among the program’s cohort companies and more promising than ever before. Platforms that power the sharing economy are scaling up and, in the process, shaking up traditional business models. The founders and executive teams behind these innovative companies are also increasingly diverse.
“Canadian companies are building global businesses, and so many of these success stories are ScaleUp alumni,” said Morouney. “Forty-one ScaleUp companies have raised $2 billion in the past five years.”
ScaleUp alumni companies include Jane Software and Terramera in B.C.; Symend and Zayzoon in Calgary; Vendasta and 7shifts in Saskatoon; Sheertex and wrnch (now Hinge Health) in Montreal; RVezy and Tehama in Ottawa; eSSENTIAL Accessibility, Maple and Hi Mama in Toronto; Diva and DarwinAI in Kitchener; and Mysa and BreatheSuite in St. John’s.
The next Lazaridis ScaleUp cohort runs from November 2022 through October 2023. Applications open June 8 and close August 15. Visit applytoscaleup.com.
Lazaridis ScaleUp does not take equity; the program is free to Canadian companies. All costs are covered by the Institute, through the generosity of Mike Lazaridis. The program is sponsored by Boast.AI.
ABOUT THE LAZARIDIS INSTITUTE
Housed in the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Canada, the Lazaridis Institute combines scholarly research, real-world market analysis and industry best practices to identify obstacles to global competitiveness and optimize the management of high-growth technology companies.
