Laurier’s Lazaridis biz school teams up with CATAAlliance

Ottawa-based innovation lobby group Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance (CATAAlliance), has selected Laurier’s Lazaridis School LaunchPad as a partnership focus for its summer 2016 ‘Business Acceleration: Customers, Markets, and Media Outreach initiative,’ a welcome infusion of resources made available to student and alumni led startup enterprises.

As CATA CEO John Reid states, “Through cooperation, mentorship, and sharing of resources, one plus one often equals three or more. Our big goal is to forge alliances with HUBS across Canada in order to help their startup companies boost competitive edge and marketplace success, and we have the resources to do so”. CATAAlliance often uses the metaphor of “plug in” to describe their value add to existing startups and leverages the power of networking to connect forward thinking, innovative members with entrepreneurs needing an additional kick – start.

LaunchPad provides Laurier students and alumni with access to a vast network

LaunchPad provides Laurier students and alumni with access to a vast network of experienced entrepreneurs and mentors who actively guide executives through business building process of building. LaunchPad startups have access to our workspace available in the Communitech Hub in Kitchener-Waterloo, and are also able to apply for special access to funding opportunities.”

“Laurier’s LaunchPad is an experiential learning opportunity for students and alumni to discover, validate, and launch an innovative new venture. It has played a large role in helping our students’ entrepreneurship goals become a reality,” according to Micheál Kelly, dean, Laurier School of Business & Economics and also member of CATA’s Innovation Leadership Council.

“CATAAlliance has experience in working with Canadian technology companies and together, we will be better able to take an in-depth look at what it will take for Canadian companies to compete in the tech industry on a global scale,” he adds.