VANCOUVER, BC (December 10, 2014) – The BC Technology Industry Association (BCTIA) and entrepreneurship@UBC (e@UBC), a unique program that delivers an unprecedented combination of education, venture creation, and seed funding to maximize the creation of commercial and social ventures, today announced a strategic partnership to deliver comprehensive programming that will support emerging tech companies from concept to commercialization.

Over the past year, the e@UBC and BCTIA teams have worked together to develop common training and mentoring platforms with the goal of seamlessly transitioning graduates of the e@UBC program to the BCTIA Centre4Growth program and the new Innovation Hub. Entrepreneurs of the e@UBC Lean LaunchPad Accelerator program will now experience the benefit of spending a portion of their cohort time as residents of The Hub where they will have access to the full range of Centre4Growth services and support delivered there.

“This partnership recognizes the importance of supporting companies throughout their stages of growth. By partnering with e@UBC, we can combine the best of our programs to provide the connections, advice and support needed to grow successful companies,” said Bill Tam, BCTIA President & CEO.

The Hub is a 26,000 square foot collaboration space that will be home to entrepreneurs and early-stage tech companies committed to growing their companies. In addition to state-of-the-art infrastructure and a multitude of offices, hot-desks, meeting rooms and collaboration space, entrepreneurs will access valuable Centre4Growth programs and services.

e@UBC’s entrepreneurship initiatives range from access to a vast alumni mentor network to an entire ecosystem of integrated programs that can easily be accessed by UBC students, faculty members, alumni, and staff. Through the BCTIA Centre4Growth, a focused incubator program that delivers customized support and resources to fit each company’s needs and stage of growth, e@UBC saw an opportunity to provide its ventures with a seamless transition from a university based program into BC’s growing technology community.

“Over the past year, e@UBC was instrumental in advancing 240 new ventures from seven different faculties through the e@UBC Accelerator and other entrepreneurship programs,” said Andrew Talbot, Executive Director, e@UBC. “Our partnership with BCTIA provides these ventures with the next step they need to grow their customer and revenue base.”

To download the complete media release, click here.
For more information about the BCTIA Innovation Hub, visit www.bctia.org/thehub.