Vaughan, Markham’s ventureLab partner to help entrepreneurs

Initiative will bring ‘new services’ to Vaughan city hall

Yorkregion.com
October 25, 2019
Dina Al-Shibeeb

To help more entrepreneurs, the city of Vaughan and the Markham-based local tech incubator ventureLAB have decided to partner up.

“VentureLAB is looking forward to expanding our programs and services across Vaughan and York Region to better support tech entrepreneurs,” said Melissa Chee, president and CEO of the incubator, said.

The partnership will bring “new service offerings,” starting November at Vaughan City Hall.

The incubator will collaborate with the city’s Economic and Cultural Development department to offer “better access to professional coaching, mentoring and strategic advice from an experienced growth adviser for Vaughan-based businesses," the city said in a statement.

It added, “Founders and entrepreneurs can take part in specialized support services and workshops, like an Investment Readiness Clinic.”

This comes after Vaughan Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua recently signed a memorandum of understanding between the city, ventureLAB, York University and Mackenzie Health to collaborate in hopes of giving local health solutions as well as exporting technology globally.

“Small business remains the backbone of Vaughan’s thriving economy -- representing over 80 per cent of all local job creators,” he said.

“On the occasion of Small Business Week, Vaughan looks forward to working closely with ventureLAB to build on the city’s success and commitment to help entrepreneurs pursue their aspirations, reach their goals and achieve unrivalled success.”

Each October, the city’s Economic and Cultural Development department’s Small Business and Entrepreneurship team takes part in Small Business Week -- a national initiative by the Business Development Bank of Canada.

Since 2011, Chee said the staff at ventureLab have “supported over 2,000 entrepreneurs building and scaling their businesses and have helped over 100 companies raise over $110 million in investment and create over 3,500 jobs.”

She added, “We look forward to working with the city of Vaughan to broaden our reach and support more entrepreneurs.”