Enactus (SIFE) Ryerson & Canadian Association of Business Incubation Collide

 

Last weekend, 2 Enactus StartMeUp members were invited to visit the Canadian Association for Business Incubation Conference in Saskatoon for their involvement with Ryerson’s incubator, the Digital Media Zone. Jonathan Aellen, the Director of Ryerson’s StartMeUp program and Dana Abou Shackra, the StartMeUp-Digital Media Zone Liaison attended the three day conference which was titled “Incubation by Design – A World of Possibilities” and covered topics such as…

• Client Services and Key Metrics
• Innovation and Commercialization

It is evident that business incubation has provided a channel for entrepreneurs and markets to come together and create meaningful products & services. Helping businesses succeed plays a key element in the overall success of a nation’s economy and incubators are constantly evolving and embracing new methods to ensure businesses succeed. Some of the great incubators & business centers around Canada include…

• Innovacorp in Halifax
• Saskatoon Ideas Inc.
• The Entrepreneur Forum
• Ryerson’s Digital Media Zone
• Mars Discovery District
• Extreme Ventures Seed Accelerator
• Communitech
• Wilson Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence in Saskatchewan 

“What’s awesome about incubators is that they inspire potential in people, and with the wave of low capital, high growth internet companies, incubators have seen younger entrepreneurs with a great understanding of tech culture. These younger entrepreneurs are able to generate ideas that are relevant to the needs and desires of current markets.” Dana

As members of StartMeUp, Dana and Jonathan currently overlook the process which connects young entrepreneurs with opportunities for education, resources and funding to facilitate their business ideas. 

 

One portion of the StartMeUp program, the Idea Consultation, is required before students can have a chance to be admitted to The Digital Media Zone. “The Idea Consultation has proven to be a huge value-add for entrepreneurs, because validating the idea is crucial before money and time is invested.” – Jonathan. The incubators are a place where life long lessons are made and contact networks are formed. Students can collaborate, envision and work towards creating meaningful change through business. The Digital Media Zone sees students graduating with a degree in one hand and a business or IP in the other, a serious achievement and worthwhile investment of their time.

 

StartMeUp encourages other universities across Canada to work with the incubators near them. “Students truly have the most innovative and awesome ideas, so we want to help other SIFE (Now Enactus!) teams & students groups realize this and find out what incubators lay near by!” You too can create a channel between students & incubators, for information about incubators in your city, please contact Dana at dana@startmeupryerson.com.