University of Waterloo officially opened Innovation ArenaA new collaborative space located in the heart of Kitchener’s innovation district that will empower businesses, founders and community partners to mobilize researchers and entrepreneurs to solve local, national and global health challenges.

Innovation Arena will have a new home SpeedThe university’s flagship startup incubator. The arena hosts advanced business support for founders, state-of-the-art product development labs, production equipment and collaboration spaces.

Located on the University of Waterloo Health Sciences Campus, the Innovation Arena will help accelerate the Region of Waterloo’s growing health technology sector. The space builds on recent collaborations such as: CareNext Coalition – A partnership between local hospitals and the University aimed at bringing health technology innovations directly to hospital bedsides and improving patient experiences. The arena will also work alongside existing centres. Medical Innovation Exchange (MIX) to support More than 100 health technology companies We already operate in the Region to facilitate new ideas from research to commercialization.

“The Innovation Arena is the new home of entrepreneurship in Waterloo and will be a nexus for healthcare innovation,” said Vivek Goel, president and vice-chancellor of the University of Waterloo. “Building on the momentum from the Waterloo initiatives Smart Joint Surgery And KA Imagingand with resources for high-tech startups and access to partners in the healthcare industry, the facility will accelerate Southwestern Ontario’s push to become Canada’s epicenter of healthcare innovation and entrepreneurship.”

Velocity’s new home at Innovation Arena was designed with early-stage startups in mind. Going beyond a singular focus on healthtech, it will build on Velocity’s success of supporting founders in deep tech, cleantech, automotive and manufacturing for over 15 years. Velocity will build on its history of building successful companies and enhance its programming with community-based learning and labs that will turn prototypes into products.

“The Innovation Arena will streamline commercialization paths for businesses, accelerate the deployment of health technologies and drive Canada’s next wave of economic growth,” said Velocity Executive Director Adrien Cote. “As the startup world undergoes rapid transformation, the Innovation Arena is poised to create tangible social and economic opportunities. “Founders are excited, University of Waterloo students and researchers are excited, and the Velocity team is excited to increase our support for new talent and getting ideas to market faster.”

The Innovation Arena includes 90,000 square feet of innovation space, with 20,000 square feet dedicated to hardware, including chemistry and biology building tools. A variety of partners from hospitals, local businesses, academia, nonprofits and government agencies are invited to be a part of Arena’s journey in the community.

The University of Waterloo and Velocity are proud to acknowledge financial support from the Government of Canada. Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), the Government of Ontario and the City of Kitchener to advance our vision of advancing healthcare innovation and entrepreneurship in Canada. The University is also grateful for the support of philanthropic partners, including local entrepreneur and angel investor Mike Stork.

quotes

“Congratulations to the University of Waterloo on the grand opening of the Innovation Arena at Kitchener. The Innovation Arena will be Velocity’s new home and will support Waterloo Region’s growing health technology sector. The Government of Canada is committed to supporting hard-working innovators in our health technology sector and moving towards a healthier future for all Canadians.” — The Honorable Filomena Tassi, Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario

“This Innovation Arena is a collaborative space that will help southern Ontario’s health technology sector grow and thrive while improving the health of Canadians with innovative solutions. “We congratulate the University of Waterloo team on this important milestone.” — Bryan May, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Small Business and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario and Member of Parliament for Cambridge

“As we continue to grow Ontario’s life sciences sector, the Innovation Arena will play a key role in accelerating the development and commercialization of Ontario-made innovations while driving economic growth and job creation in Kitchener and Waterloo. We congratulate the University of Waterloo on the official launch of this collaborative space and look forward to seeing more Ontario start-ups bring their ideas from the laboratory to the market.” — The Honorable Vic Fedeli, Ontario Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade

“The City of Kitchener is thrilled to welcome the new UW Innovation Arena to Downtown Kitchener as our first investment post-pandemic as part of our new Make It Kitchener 2.0 economic development strategy. Our federal and provincial funding partners and this amazing space at the University of Waterloo are committed to Kitchener’s Building on ‘s world-renowned culture of innovation, it will support the growth of new small and scale businesses in Kitchener and create impacts in Ontario, across Canada and beyond. I’m excited to see the incredible work that will come out of this cutting-edge, collaborative space in health technology and transform people’s lives. developments that will change.” — Mayor Berry Vrbanovic, City of Kitchener

media contacts

David George Cosh
Senior Manager, Media Relations
University of Waterloo
[email protected]
416-294-2471

Edward Hutchinson
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario
[email protected]

About the University of Waterloo

The University of Waterloo is a leading global innovation hub that drives economic and social prosperity for Canada and the world. We are home to the world’s largest collaborative education talent pool of more than 42,000 students, game-changing research and technology, and a unique entrepreneurial culture. Together these create partnerships and solutions to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow. Find out more at: uwaterloo.ca.

About FedDev Ontario

For 15 years, the Canadian Government FedDev OntarioHe has worked to advance and diversify the economy of southern Ontario through financing opportunities and business services that support innovation, growth and job creation in Canada’s most populous region. The agency has achieved impressive results, which can be seen in southern Ontario businesses that are creating innovative technologies, increasing productivity, increasing incomes, creating jobs and driving the economic advancement of communities across the region. To learn more about the impact the agency is making in Southern Ontario, investment profilesours Southern Ontario Agendaand FedDev Ontario X, Facebook, instagram And LinkedIn.