Kanata-based CENGN receives $45M in federal funding for new test lab network

December 11, 2024

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A Kanata-based organization that aims to speed development of 5G networking and other cutting-edge technologies has landed $45 million in federal funding for a series of new R&D facilities across Canada. The Centre of Excellence in Next Generation Networks announced the new investment from the federal government’s Strategic Innovation Fund earlier this week. The money, which will be spread out over the next several years, will help fund the creation of eight “living labs” in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec where startups from across the country can test, validate and certify emerging technologies and IP, Jean-Charles Fahmy, the organization’s president and CEO, told Techopia in an interview Wednesday. Telecom giants Ericsson, Nokia and Rogers will provide state-of-the-art infrastructure such as advanced 5G networking and cloud technology for the test labs. Fahmy said they will bring together “like-minded” partners from industry, post-secondary institutions and the startup community to commercialize new products. CENGN said it hopes to assist more than 100 Canadian startups and scaleups through the program, which will focus on areas such as smart mobility, smart buildings, advanced manufacturing, robotics, smart agriculture and network technologies. Entrepreneurs will also have a chance to test their products in “real-world” environments such as manufacturing plants, Fahmy explained. Companies will be placed in one of two streams – those with “innovation projects” that are new to the market and those with “adoption projects” that are working with potential customers to test and validate their solutions. Each innovation project will receive up to $250,000 in funding from the program, while adoption projects will be eligible for as much as $500,000 in funding. “We’re going to be able to support startups from coast to coast to coast,” Fahmy said. Founded in 2014, CENGN receives federal and provincial funding as well as financial support from industry partners. Fahmh said more details about the new program, including the locations of the labs and the selection process for participants, will be announced in the coming months. While the labs will be located in three provinces, Fahmy said locally based companies and organizations such as Invest Ottawa will play a major role in the program, adding CENGN plans to hire more employees in the National Capital Region. “The Ottawa ecosystem is one of the centres of gravity for advanced networking ecosystems in Canada,” he said. “A lot of our partners are based here, and that allows us to have close collaboration with them. We look forward to being able to continue that.”