Three Years of Innovation Highlights
As is tradition every fall, the Northwestern Ontario Innovation Centre unveiled their new infographic highlighting client success at this year’s annual general meeting. This infographic represents data from the 3-year period from 2015-2017. Collected from the annual survey completed by the Innovation Centre’s clients the data demonstrates the economic impact on our region and helps the Innovation Centre tailor services and programs to the needs of the entrepreneur.
There has been no shortage of new products and services in our region over the last couple of years, whether it be the latest app, a new food product, a new service provider, or a tech start-up. The Innovation Centre’s clients have brought a total of 251 new products and services to market. Many people come through the doors at the Innovation Centre with a great idea but are not sure of the next steps to get it to market. With help from FedNor, the Innovation Centre offers a variety of programs that help bridge that gap. Whether it is assistance with commercializing a product, developing an ecommerce site, or creating branding and marketing materials, the Next Level program can help fund key activities. Or perhaps they need extra hands working in their business, getting out and building relationships, making sales calls, and developing the brand. These are activities the Go Global program focuses on by providing companies with a business development representative whose main goal is to build sales and access new markets.
Northwestern Ontario has seen 22 new companies started from 2015-2017 as a result of the programming and services offered by the innovation Centre. One of the programs is the Costarter program. Costarter is a 3-month accelerator program run in in partnership with the Thunder Bay CEDC. It began in 2015, and has been running annually ever since. The program selects 5 start-ups to take part in the program, where they are given mentorship, training, and investment to get their business off the ground. This program has been great for our community as it has directly impacted the local economy by helping them get started and create jobs right here in their own backyard.
The Innovation Centre has always been a key connector by assisting clients in accessing capital. A key factor in launching and then scaling up innovative companies is cash. Northwestern Ontario is fortunate to have programs such as the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC), the Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP), local Community Futures organizations, and the BDC. These partners have been vital in providing support to our innovators. One challenge in accessing this financing is the requirement for a % of matching investment; this is where our local angel community continues to make a difference. These local investors make themselves available to listen to pitches, provide feedback and often take the risk themselves to provide the capital needed. The Innovation Centre can then help leverage this investment with other potential funders. It is exciting to see financing come together. Innovation Centre clients have reported that they have leveraged over $14 Million in financing over the past three years. However, there is more work to be done. The limited number of local angels result in a limited pool of capital. Often Northwestern Ontario companies are under financed as they attempt to scale into new markets. The coming challenge will be to grow our local investment community and expand the pool. In addition, our community needs to continue to support our high potential companies as they scale up and provide a return on investment to the private sector investors and to our economy.
