重口味SM

OCE Business Development Manager Shantanu Mittal, Hazem Danny Al Nakib, Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie, Deep Saini, Harinder Takhar and Nicola Lacetera (photo by Ryan Cerrudo)

I-Cube, on-campus accelerator for student entrepreneurs, opens at UTM

I-CUBE, a new accelerator designed to help student entrepreneurs take a new product or process to market, opened February 10 at the 重口味SM Mississauga.

The accelerator, housed within the Institute for Management & Innovation in the Innovation Complex, was established with $110,000 of U of T鈥檚 $3 million in funding from the Government of Ontario through Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE), a member of Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs (ONE).

鈥淎t U of T Mississauga, we are committed to creating a culture of innovation, and I-CUBE offers our student entrepreneurs the chance to brainstorm, develop viable concepts and proceed through the early stages of commercialization,鈥 said Professor Deep Saini, vice-president of U of T and principal of U of T Mississauga. 鈥淥ur students will benefit from the expertise of faculty, alumni and local industry as they learn life-long skills and develop their potential to be the next global innovation leaders.鈥

I-CUBE will offer early-stage business development and commercialization services, in the form of a physical space where innovative students and community partners engage in entrepreneurial activities. It's the latest example of the ever-increasing network of supports, programs and opportunities for entrepreneurship and startups offered across the university. (.)

鈥淔ostering the entrepreneurial spirit among students is a key component of Ontario鈥檚 Youth Jobs Strategy, through programs that help transfer their ideas and skills to the marketplace while creating rewarding careers,鈥 said Reza Moridi, Ontario鈥檚 minister of training, colleges and universities, and minister of research and innovation.

鈥淏y partnering with colleges and universities to support entrepreneurship, we are ensuring our province鈥檚 business leaders of tomorrow are getting the support they need to succeed today.鈥

At I-CUBE, students can apply to work on their concept at the accelerator, and will have their ideas assessed by local business and innovation leaders, and alumni.

鈥淥ntario Centres of Excellence is pleased to be able to deliver this project as a trusted partner of the Government of Ontario,鈥 says Tom Corr, president and CEO of ONE. 鈥淚 look forward to putting our years of experience in connecting academia and industry, and our on-going support of young entrepreneurs to good use in making this initiative a tremendous success.鈥 Announced by the government of Ontario in 2013, the Campus-Linked Accelerators and On-Campus Entrepreneurship Activities form an integral part of Ontario鈥檚 Youth Jobs strategy.

Professor Nicola Lacetera is a specialist in strategic management and the I-CUBE鈥檚 faculty lead.

鈥淩esearch tells us that new businesses are one of the major sources of new job creation and of many of the innovations we see that make our lives better,鈥 said Lacetera. 鈥淭his is important for society, for Ontario and for Canada.鈥

Teams with an idea deemed to have potential will have access to an entrepreneur-in-residence, IMI faculty, programming designed especially to assist them in developing their ideas and volunteer mentors from the Mississauga business community. Students will receive guidance about creating a business plan, developing a prototype and sourcing funding options.

鈥淭he future growth of business in Ontario, and right here in Mississauga is dependent on new, innovative entrepreneurs鈥, said Harinder Takhar, MPP for Mississauga-Erindale, who previously headed the Ontario Ministry of Small Business and Entrepreneurship. 鈥淓ntrepreneurship is a driving force for the economy and making these investments in our youth, and their new ideas, makes sense in every region of our great province.鈥

Hazem Danny Al Nakib is a fourth-year business management specialist and the student director and president of I-CUBE.

鈥淭he accelerator is a partnership between faculty, staff and students,鈥 Al Nakib said. 鈥淭his collaboration remains one of I-CUBE鈥檚 major strengths in delivering the right direction and guidance for student entrepreneurial affairs, business development and experiential learning.

We plan to provide outstanding service to students and hands-on learning to equip them to be future industry and community leaders.鈥

Pam Banks, executive director of the Mississauga-based Research, Innovation, Commercialization Centre, anticipates that the accelerator teams will approach her organization once their businesses move closer to commercialization. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really important that we have a strong connection with academic partners,鈥 said Banks. 鈥淯niversity leaders provide new ideas and concepts to students, who are open receptors and may combine information in ways we haven鈥檛 thought of before.鈥

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