Lazaridis Institute, Hockeystick launch scale-up data platform

The Lazaridis Institute for the Management of Technology Enterprises at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo has launched a national scale-up data platform to capture and track growth metrics for Canadian companies. Powered by Hockeystick, this platform will be available for every innovation organization—incubator, accelerator, scale-up and startup—across Canada. Free memberships are available as of today. 

“For the first time, it will be possible to obtain a comprehensive picture of the evolution of Canadian companies from early to late stages, giving Canada a world-leading competitive advantage in innovation, and invaluable insights into why companies fail or succeed,” said Kim Morouney, executive director of the Lazaridis Institute and associate dean in the Lazaridis School of Business & Economics. “By standardizing the collection and tracking of data across every incubator and accelerator, the platform will provide normalized data over the long term.”

The platform will also provide an effective tool for resource-strapped startups and scale-ups to find programs and apply for funding opportunities in less time than it takes now. The platform is intended to make it easier for accelerators to identify startups that meet their program parameters, and to provide provincial and federal governments with requisite detailed metrics.

“Our solution has already been adopted by top funders wanting insight into their portfolio companies,” said Raymond Luk, founder and CEO of Hockeystick. “With this initiative, the Lazaridis Institute has enabled every innovation organization to do the same. This will have far-reaching benefits to enable innovation and growth in Canada.” 

The platform will capture comprehensive, standardized data, facilitating application, selection and reporting processes for a wide variety of programs, and will provide a direct feedback loop to its users over a secure network. Users will have the option to share private data in order to gain visibility with potential sources of support and investment with no added cost in time or effort.

The Honourable Bardish Chagger, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister of Small Business and Tourism, and Member of Parliament for Waterloo, announced today that the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), through a non-repayable contribution, will provide funding of up to $2.5 million to the Lazaridis Institute for the national data scale-up platform. “In addition to creating over 150 jobs in our communities, the platform will help provide entrepreneurs across Canada with the tools they need to reach their full potential, become investment-ready, and compete on the global stage,” said the Honourable Bardish Chagger, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Minister of Small Business and Tourism and Member of Parliament for Waterloo. 

“We are pleased to receive the support of the Government of Canada in order to help capture, standardize, streamline and make accessible the rich data from innovation organizations across the country,” said Micheál Kelly, dean of the Lazaridis School of Business & Economics. “Together we share a vision of a stronger Canada through the growth of more internationally competitive Canadian enterprises, which are able to flourish here and remain to build a stronger economy.”

Key Details:

* Top Canadian funders and over 12,000 companies already use Hockeystick’s software.

* The Hockeystick platform ensures data security and privacy and provides each organization with full control over how their data is being shared.

* This initiative expands the breadth of private company data available through Hockeystick, enabling greater insight into Canadian company performance.

* The Lazaridis Institute is using this platform for its Scale-Up Program applicant management, data collection and reporting.

* Bytown Consulting has been engaged by the Lazaridis Institute to create the logic and analysis framework for their Scale-Up Program which guides what data are collected, which metrics are important, how the collected data are analysed into meaningful results, and how those results are tracked and reported over time.

* L-SPARK, NEXT Canada, Volta, Propel ICT, Highline Beta and OneEleven have already signed on to use the national scale-up data platform.

Innovation organizations and Canadian companies can apply for their Hockeystick account today.