Student entrepreneurs in Ontario have a lot to cheer about this month.
The Honorable Reza Moridi, Ontario’s Minister of Research and Innovation, was in London on April 24 along with London North Centre MPP Deb Matthews to announce a $51 million investment in five programs to help young people start companies and create jobs.
The announcement was part of Ontario’s Youth Jobs Strategy. Included in the announcement are the following programs:
On Campus Entrepreneurship Activities program
Campus Linked Accelerator
The SmartStart Seed Fund
Youth Business Acceleration Program
Talent Edge
The announcement came just a couple of weeks after London’s brightest student entrepreneurs brought their ideas to life with engaging pitches at the annual Seed Your Startup business pitch competition took place on April 9.
Seed Your Startup, organized by BizInc, is designed specifically to formalize student-initiated entrepreneurial ideas. More than 40 operating start-ups applied to compete and five finalists went head-to-head for more than $10,000 in cash prizes. This year, DPMS, a local clothing company took home the grand prize of $7,000, while multipurpose snowboarding guards, Kaleid, walked away with $3,000.
BizInc is a student incubator that operates at Western University and Fanshawe College. Started three years ago, BizInc has worked with 390 entrepreneurial teams, has helped create 70 operating companies that created 130 new jobs.
For more information about BizInc, visit http://bizinc.ca
For more information about the Ontario Youth Job Strategy announcement, visit http://news.ontario.ca/mri/en/2014/04/helping-students-start-innovative-companies.html
