City welcomes new innovation space at Pierre Berton Resource Library

Municipalinfonet.com
July 15, 2021

Today, the City of Vaughan, in partnership with Vaughan Public Libraries (VPL) and ventureLAB, hosted a virtual ribbon-cutting event to celebrate the official opening of a new innovation space in Vaughan. ventureLAB’s new satellite location at the Pierre Berton Resource Library will provide resources and advisory support to local technology startups.

With the support and space provided by VPL at Pierre Berton Resource Library, ventureLAB will leverage this new entrepreneurship development site to further support Vaughan-based entrepreneurs with technology-driven programs and services. Entrepreneurs can book desk space through ventureLAB’s Innovation Hub Membership. Once in Step 3 of the Province of Ontario’s Roadmap to Reopening framework, the innovation space capacity will be limited. COVID-19 safety protocols will be in place. Eventually, as more restrictions are lifted, entrepreneurs can access the site to co-work, connect with other innovators, gain advisory support, and attend workshops and other events.

ventureLAB is a leading global founder community for hardware technology and enterprise software startups and scaleups, located in the heart of Ontario’s innovation corridor in York Region. Through its growth-oriented initiatives focused on raising capital, talent retention, commercializing technology and IP, and customer acquisition, ventureLAB has enabled thousands of companies to create more than 4,000 jobs and raise more than $200 million in investment capital.

Working in collaboration with the City’s Economic and Cultural Development department, this partnership expands ventureLAB’s reach across the region to offer better access to professional coaching, mentoring and strategic advice from an experienced growth advisor for Vaughan-based businesses. In addition, founders and entrepreneurs can access tailored support services and workshops, such as an Investment Readiness Clinic.

Earlier this year, ventureLAB and VPL partnered with the City on a first-of-its-kind innovation program in Ontario, Activate!Vaughan. Under the Activate!Vaughan innovation challenge series, the City launched a Smart City Challenge, calling on entrepreneurs to present technological solutions that further enhance the quality of life in Vaughan. Activate!Vaughan is a problem-based innovation program that provides local startups and scaleups mentorship, co-development and collaboration opportunities with industry-leading enterprises, accelerating the development and commercialization of cutting-edge technologies.

The City is also working with ventureLAB to undertake a collaborative effort to transform an 82-acre parcel of land at Jane Street and Major Mackenzie Drive into the Vaughan Healthcare Centre Precinct. A memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed in October 2019 between the City of Vaughan, York University, Mackenzie Health and ventureLAB to identify transformational opportunities to maximize the best use of lands surrounding the site of Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital through a feasibility study. Part one of the study was completed and released on vaughanbusiness.ca in July 2020.