Promising to bring the world’s brightest business minds to the capital, a new incubator and accelerator for enterprise software opened its first application process Monday.
The venture, dubbed L-SPARK, is a partnership between Wesley Clover International and Invest Ottawa. Its managing director, Leo Lax, called the project unique.
“We focus solely on entrepreneurs who have a concept or product designed for existing and emerging enterprises,” he said in a statement.
OBJ360 (Sponsored)
The value of an Algonquin College degree: Experiential learning, taught by industry experts
Zaahra Mehsen was three years into a biology degree at a local university when she realized she wanted to take a different path. “I realized that it’s not my thing,”
The Ottawa Hospital’s Campaign to Create Tomorrow enters important next phase
For Ginger Bertrand, some of her earliest childhood memories in Ottawa are centred around healthcare. “I grew up across the street from what was originally the General Hospital,” she explains,
Mr. Lax said this includes companies migrating to the cloud, using the software as a service (SaaS) model or moving to virtualize all aspects of running their business.
L-SPARK, to be housed at 340 Legget Dr. in Kanata, is pledging to build businesses rather than just enabling them. To that end, it will not provide a one-time injection of cash for a short-term launch. Instead, its accelerator process will last nine months, with the possibility of $360,000 in funding spread throughout that period.
The goal, according to a release, is to create “stand-alone companies that truly appeal to institutional investors.”
Shopify CPO Harley Finkelstein, an L-SPARK advisor, said this is just what entrepreneurs in Ottawa have been waiting for.
“L-SPARK is truly going to fuel the creation of next-generation enterprise software companies and continue building Ottawa’s reputation as a hotbed for innovation,” he said in a statement.
L-SPARK will provide mentorship, business advisers and sector-focused venture capital firms and angel investors, while exploiting the technological innovation reputation of the region.
Invest Ottawa president and CEO Bruce Lazenby promised L-SPARK will “provide unprecedented mentorship.”
Once the accelerator application process is complete, the top applicants will be brought to Ottawa for a “Pitchfest” where they will compete for one of the six spots available.
L-SPARK’s first incubator session is expected to launch later this year.
Wesley Clover International chairman Terry Matthews said he’s confident L-SPARK will get its job done.
“I feel sure that L-SPARK will generate many successful technology companies in our society and play a key role in the Canadian entrepreneurial landscape,” he said in a statement.
