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Velocity is one of Canada’s most successful university-based startup incubators and an integral part of the Waterloo startup ecosystem. Its success helped the Ontario government see university incubators and accelerators in a whole new way, leading to the creation of a multimillion-dollar program across the province to fund “campus-linked accelerators.”
It had an unlikely beginning 10 years ago. On this week’s show, Sean Van Koughnett talks about how the idea for Velocity came about, how it found supporters and avoided resistance while launching on a shoestring budget and how he sees student entrepreneurship in the broader context of student experience and student success — an area he now oversees as Dean of Students and Associate VP at McMaster University.