Students Guide to the University of Waterloo startup ecosystem
A Comprehensive List of Resources/Information for Waterloo students.
A Little Bit About Me…
Hello 👋
I’m Jonny, a final year student studying in the Science and Business co-op program at the University of Waterloo. I am specializing in Biochemistry and doing a minor in Economics. I used all my co-ops to explore industries from finance, to consulting, to renewable energy and venture capital. Along the way, I found my passion for working with startups and being in VC. After finishing up an internship this summer at Esplanade Ventures, a HealthTech focused VC in Canada, I moved down to Silicon Valley. I got lucky enough that all my courses are still online and I wanted to come immerse myself in this awesome startup ecosystem.
So you’ve decided to come to the Kitchener/Waterloo region… whether you’re a student here at Conestoga, Laurier or Waterloo, or perhaps working for a startup, you just can’t seem to avoid hearing things like:
“Waterloo is the best place to be for startups”
”Waterloo is the Silicon Valley of Canada”
”Waterloo is one of the most innovative and entrepreneurial hubs in Canada”
But then this is all you see when you move here…
Quiet, empty streets with a bunch old houses and the occasional apartment buildings. That’s how I felt when I moved to Waterloo back in 2017 from beautiful British Columbia.
In this guide, I try my best to map out all the resources, communities and information you will need to know to tap into the startup ecosystem at the University of Waterloo. I’ll also add some of my two cents on how you can best get involved in the ecosystem.
This article was inspired by Sinjon Santos (connected through Dom and the RippleX fellowship) after we had a chat and he shared with me this student’s guide to the UC Berkeley startup ecosystem. I wish this article could be as long and detailed as the UC Berkeley one, but the startup ecosystem in Canada and Waterloo specifically, is not there yet. In a few years, it will be.
Funding
In this section, you will find plenty of funding resources. Some of these resources are specific only to students at the University of Waterloo and some are open to anybody. The range and type of funding available also varies drastically. From $5K, non-dilutive cheques to potentially $1M+ in venture funding. It is extremely important to understand the differences between the types of funding you apply for as it could have major affects on your business. Not every company has to become a venture back-able company, taking angel cheques and giving up equity in your company puts your company on a much different trajectory than if you funded your business through non-dilutive sources.
Note - all titles with underlines hyperlink you directly to each organizations website
Open to All
1. Front Row Ventures
FRV is Canada’s first student run venture fund that invests specifically in student entrepreneurs across Ontario and Quebec. FRV is backed by Real Ventures, and invests $25K cheques in the form of a SAFE. The investment team is composed of 16 associates across Ontario and there are always a few associates from Waterloo!
Submit an application for funding here!
2. Velocity Incubator
Velocity is a pre-seed fund and an incubator linked with the University of Waterloo. Velocity invests $50K into each startup that is accepted into their incubator.
Companies that get an investment from Velocity also get FREE access to their facility which includes tons of resources such as:
Office spaces
Co-working spaces
Labs
and more…
For technical founders building or doing anything in chemistry, biology, physics, mechanical engineering etc. Velocity is honestly the best. Velocity houses 5,000+ square feet of flexible development lab spaces. I’m talking about…
Wet chemistry labs (equipped to support synthetic chemistry, solvent-based operations etc.)
BSL-2 lab for higher risk biological development
Lab “lite” space for lower-risk operations
And access to a bunch of very expensive instruments, tools, equipment, machines that are shared and accessible to lab users.
Velocity’s portfolio of companies also has some inspirational unicorns such as Faire and ApplyBoard.
3. Velocity HealthTech Fund
Velocity also has a new focus on HealthTech companies. FedDev Ontario recently invested $6.5M for Velocity to continue building out a pipeline for health innovation. In addition to the $50K that they offer to their pitch competition winners, Velocity will also make $50K investments to support founders working in areas such as: medical devices, therapeutics, diagnostics, digital health and emerging health sector. Startups could potentially walk away with $100K in funding total.
4. Waterloo GTAN
GTAN (Golden Triangle Angel Network) is one of the more active Angel groups in Ontario. They hold pitch meetings ever-so-often but you can always apply to present here on their site.
5. Student Venture Fund
The School of Accounting and Finance has a Student Venture Fund with $1M AUM and invest in cheque sizes of $25K-$50K into pre-seed and seed stage companies.
Unfortunately, if you wanted to join SVF as an investor, one of the requirements is that you have to be in the Accounting and Financial Management program, or an MBET (Master of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology) student.
*Self plug here* - FRV is open to all students in Canada, keep an eye out for recruitment every February if you’re interested in learning about VC :)
6. Maple Leaf Angels
Another Angel group that is based in Toronto but does frequently make investments in Waterloo. They have invested over $41M across 92 companies.
7. Contrary Capital
A venture fund that invests up to $2M in a small number of startups across North America each year. They have a team of about 100 student Venture partners located on nearly every major research university across America, and they also have Venture Partners in Waterloo as well.
Find out who they are and reach out to them.
Campus-Specific (Must be a Waterloo Student)
1. Concept
Concept hosts $5K pitch competitions once every semester for students to come and pitch their ideas. Usually there are 4 winners that are EACH awarded $5K (non-dilutive). You should also subscribe to the Concept newsletter as they often host FREE workshops on all things startup related (business plans, 1 on 1 coaching sessions, design thinking, marketing, strategy etc.)
Concept also offers a “micro-incubator” experience through the Cornerstone program. If you have an idea, you can apply to join and the program will take you through a bunch of scheduled workshops to help you refine your business plan, work on your problem statement, work on pitching etc.
2. Quantum Valley Investments: Problem Pitch Competition
A pitch competition where teams of students (unfortunately only open to Waterloo students) come together and choose an industry problem to address, present their ideas and get the chance to win up to $15K in R&D funding to try and solve the problem.
3. GreenHouse
GreenHouse is located in St. Paul’s University College, it is a Social Impact fund that invests $5K into students building companies looking to achieve some sort of social impact. They host a pitch competition three times a year and is also only open to Waterloo students.
4. Enterprise Co-op
This is more of a program resource. Waterloo is most known for their co-op program, and if you are enrolled in a co-op program, you will need to obtain co-op credits in order to graduate. Did you know that you can take a co-op term to work on your own startup/side project and still get awarded a co-op credit?
You can apply to work on your own startup and do an “E co-op”. At the end of your term, you will even have the chance to pitch for $5K! Every term they give out up to $25K.
Conferences
1. Hack the North
This is Canada’s largest hackathon with ~$40K in prizes and awards to winning teams. The Hack the North team also usually manages to pull some awesome keynote speakers such as: Chamath Palihapitiya, Vinod Kholsa and Garry Tan. Awesome event for all things tech. In 2020 they had BOTH Chamath and Vinod on the same interview! Mind blown.
2. UW BioTEC
Student run Biotechnology and Bioengineering conference. Usually it’s a 2 day event packed full with speakers across various areas of research. There is a pitch competition during the conference that is focused on BioTech, Life Science and Therapeutic startups with ~$6K in funding awarded to 4 teams.
Even more exciting is that the judging panel for this pitch competition usually has judges from BioTech, HealthTech or Therapeutic focused VC’s to help you build your network. This year they brought in judges from Velocity, Esplanade Ventures, Lumira Ventures and AmorChem.
Student Clubs - Waterloo Specific
Joining students clubs is a great way to grow your network and get more immersed in the startup/entrepreneurial ecosystem! Below are a list of a few on-campus clubs related to entrepreneurship, tech and VC.
1. Entrepreneurship Society
I think the name of the club is self-explanatory here. They host a bunch of events to help you meet more people and get more immersed in the ecosystem at Waterloo.
2. ACE Consulting Group
Pro-bono, student run consulting group that works specifically with startups in the K/W region. Great way to meet other people that are interested in tech/startups as well as meet founders (as they will be your clients). As a personal example, when I was on ACE, I got the chance to work with the CodeGem team and Stephanie Mills (founder), who went on to be a recipient of the Thiel fellowship.
3. UW BioTEC
Yes, remember that pitch competition I mentioned above? Somebody had to organize it and pull in all the sponsors and it was all students! Joining the conference to help organize it can be a great way to interact with the speakers and other sponsors.
4. WatSolve
Pro-bono, student run consulting group that also works with startups in the K/W region. WatSolve focuses more on BioTech and Science based business as their clients.
5. UW Blueprint
Student group that partners with non-profits and helps them build and integrate technology services (e.g. websites, mobile apps, analysis tools etc.).
6. 16 Weeks
A student-led initiative where students film a vlog detailing out their intership experiences. Another way to meet really cool students working in different sectors of tech.
You can watch my video here where I talked a little bit about what it was like working with Esplanade Ventures this summer!
7. Enactus Waterloo
Enactus is a community of entrepreneurial leaders who see business as a way to address social issues. They work on entrepreneurial projects throughout the year, assess the impact they’ve had on the community and compete in Regional and National competitions against other Enactus chapters across the world.
Being a part of Enactus also grants you access to their abundance of career support (resume critique’s, workshops, interview opportunities etc.).
Fellowships/Communities
Fellowships are great way for structured learning outside of school and also helps with building your network. These are not specific to only Waterloo students.
1. RippleX Fellows
Copied and pasted from their website:
“The RippleX Fellowship is a 16-week extra curricular program powered by Ripple Ventures. Throughout the school term, students are coached and taught the intricacies of venture funds, startup operations, and financing. It is a remote program that connects students from Canada & the United States with a common interest of becoming better equipped as aspiring VC’s, Founders, or employees at tech startups. It builds the skillset, knowledge, and experience that otherwise are rare to acquire as a student.”
Outside of the knowledge and skills that you obtain, you also tap into a global network of like-minded peers. It’s another great way to build your network + get free swag (shirts, water bottle, hats etc.) too :) !
2. OnDeck
Another awesome program with a learning curriculum + enabling you to tap into a global community. FYI - it can get pretty expensive as you have to pay to be a fellow at OnDeck.
cc’ing some of the OnDeck folks that I know, I am sure they would be open to you reaching out to them to learn more about the experience: Kaito Cunningham, Aashna Kumar, Amee Kapadia
3. CansBridge Fellowship
Fellows accepted into the CansBridge program are awarded $6K. The program involves a one week long bootcamp in Silicon Valley before they help set you up with an internship working in Asia.
4. GenZ VC’s Slack Channel
An online community of ~11,000 GenZ’s and other individuals who are interested in VC, technology and startups. It’s a great way to find resources on what to read, what opportunities are open and again, build your network.
5. Communitech
An innovation hub/organization based in Waterloo, they host awesome events such as the Tech Jam (+ a bunch of other resources for trying to find a job at a startup).
Other Ways to Get Involved
Below will be a few of my random thoughts on how else you can get involved in the ecosystem and broaden your perspective on the startup landscape.
My recommendation is to take a co-op term and go work at a startup. There are tons of startups that post on Waterlooworks (internal job board at Waterloo) but even if there isn’t a startup that you are interested in, reach out to them!
Moreover, the Canadian government does a decent job subsidizing the wages of interns. This could be a plus if you really want to work at a startup that’s just not hiring
Do something different with every single co-op term you have. There is no other time in your life where you can hop from job to job every four months and try something different. Use this precious co-op time to go and explore different industries, work with different types of organizations both large and small and figure out what you’re interested in and what you’re not interested in.
Reach out to alumni. There are plenty of Waterloo alumni that are out in the depths of the startup ecosystem doing some awesome stuff. Send out cold emails to alumni’s that you are interested in connecting with using the subject line “Waterloo Student Reaching out for…” and you’d be surprised how many responses you will get.
Go study abroad. Waterloo has an awesome exchange program set up where you pay your normal fees to study at Waterloo but go to any one of their exchange program partners that they have across the world. It’s not specific to Waterloo but I strongly believe that building a global perspective will benefit you no matter what you do in life (startups or not)
Additional Resources
FRV ecosystem resources - lists a ton of startup/entrepreneurial resources, clubs, classes, programs etc. for Universities all across Canada.
HockeyStick puts out quarterly reports specifically on the Waterloo tech ecosystem. It is great for a top down view of the Waterloo space.
A similar list breaking down the Waterloo ecosystem compiled by the folks over at Contrary Capital
FoundersBeta article on startup events in Waterloo (not sure if it is still up to date)
University of Waterloo Innovation Portal - visit this link if you have a startup idea and don’t know where to start.
If this article was useful for you, please subscribe and share with 3 Waterloo friends!
I personally have been involved with numerous organizations that I have listed above in this article including: Front Row Ventures, RippleX Fellowship, WatSolve, ACE Consulting Group, Enactus Waterloo, UW BioTEC, 16 Weeks, Concept (as a judge) and Student Venture Fund (have numerous friends in the AFM program that are in SVF or have previously been apart of it). Feel free to reach out to me if you have any specific questions about any of those opportunities at jonnyhsu12@gmail.com