The first inaugural Waterloo Tech Week was a hit. With over 70 events across 5 days, the Kitchener-Waterloo (KW) ecosystem really showed up.
Waterloo is exploding with entrepreneurial energy, and we need to work together as an ecosystem to solve the major problems that exist, like brain drain, lack of capital, and challenges in building community. This week was not only a celebration of how amazing the community is, but it was also a reminder of how far we have to go and what we need to work on.
Let’s dive into the takeaways, the great sessions, the energy and also the work ahead to continue building KW up into the golden land that it seems everyone wants and feels that it can be!
Waterloo Tech Week Energy & Takeaways
The energy was high. I’m still unsure if it’s because of all of the unwaveringly optimistic, extremely caffeinated 19-year-olds building their hearts out, but there is a tangible energy to this place that builders, founders, entrepreneurs and the community all feel.
This was the first Waterloo Tech Week, but I am certain that there will be more. When I first found out about Waterloo Tech Week, it was late July, and the website had fewer than 10 events listed. It started as a few student-focused events as a prelude to the Hack The North hackathon. With just over a month, the KW community pulled together over 70 events that catered to just about every demographic! It was extremely impressive to see the community come together.
The number of events is a reminder that there are a ton of developed, mature businesses in Waterloo that hosted events throughout the week, that cater to sporting startups and scaleups. Whether it be investors, lawyers (like the new KW-local Pulse Law), talent experts (like Artemis), or SR&ED consultants like us at GrowWise, there are many companies based in KW that are here to support.
Although many of the events catered to the student audience (due to the origins of the week coming from the student-focused Hack the North group), there were many events that catered to the early-stage and growth-stage startups, as well as scaleups.
The program featured countless valuable networking events (such as lattes for leaders with Artemis), informative panel discussions (including IP and being investment ready with Pulse Law), and thought-provoking discussions (like Building in the AI Era with Communitech). There was something for every company, regardless of stage or interest.
The event that we ran with Mitacs and the Ontario Center of Innovation, named “Maximizing your Government Funding,” had over 150 registrants, proving to us that there is a huge need for more education around Government funding programs and how to take advantage of them. We discussed SR&ED tax credits, Mitacs hiring grants and the variety of OCI programs. If you missed this program, reach out to us now at contact@growwise.ai, and we can answer your questions.
It is challenging for startups to attract investment in this economy, that isn’t news. As more companies aim to build bootstrapped using only non-dilutive funding, the need for additional education resources is essential. It was great to see early-stage companies attending these sessions to get ahead of the curve and develop their non-dilutive funding strategy ASAP.
The biggest takeaway from the week was that the KW community has the grit, determination and energy to build great things; we just need more resources, education and avenues to scale and grow the community.
What’s Missing in the KW Entrepreneurship Ecosystem
Early Stage Funding
It is challenging for early-stage founders to find their first $30-60k to start building. These days, with incredible AI tools, startup founders are doing more with less, but at the end of the day, no one can do more with nothing.
The conversation I am having almost every day is with early-stage founders with great ideas and ambition, who need that first bit of financial support to get their ideas off the ground. Unfortunately, SR&ED is not a viable option for companies at this stage, since SR&ED provides a refund for expenses such as salaries, contractor and material expenses. These companies need early investors, angels or early-stage grants, but there is a huge need here, and very few programs or investors are willing to take that leap.
There is a significant gap, not just in KW but across all of Canada, for support for early-stage startups, and there aren’t really any great options. Investors who claim to be “early stage, pre-revenue” still want to see traction, but the age-old chicken or the egg question comes up of how to get traction without money to build.
Departure of Scaleups
The second main issue affecting Waterloo right now is the departure of companies to the States or elsewhere when they finally start to scale and grow (Globe and Mail). The loss of companies when they start to reach the point where they would be contributing back to the local economy by hiring additional team members, employing local co-op students, sponsoring local events like Waterloo Tech Week, etc.
Losing scaleups has a major impact on the entrepreneurial ecosystem, and it breeds the idea that companies can’t grow here, which is a detrimental image for Waterloo to have.
Cross-Community Communication
There is no shortage of startup/scaleup ecosystems in Waterloo. There is Velocity, Communitech, Accelerator Centre, Medical Innovation Xchange, and Catalyst Commons, which are all phenomenal programs and communities.
The complaint I hear from the community is that these organizations rarely work together, join forces and show up together hand-in-hand for the greater good of the community. It is rare to see these incubators/accelerators co-hosting events, collaborating on projects, or making joint efforts of any kind.
Although the ecosystems may be competing businesses all hoping to attract the same startups, if they practice what they preach and truly want the startup ecosystem in KW to thrive, they need to put away the pride and join forces for the greater good of the community. Building community takes effort, time and involvement. The community builders need to get involved and be more hands-on with showing up at each other’s events, hosting events together, co-leading projects together, etc.
Waterloo Tech Week – Conclusion
I recently read a quote that “Inconvenience is the cost of community”. If the Waterloo community wants to be the entrepreneurial powerhouse that it once was, or even better, the community must all deal with the small inconveniences of showing up, getting involved and supporting one another.
The engagement and interest in Waterloo Tech Week was a testament to how badly the region needed this and how much interest there is from the community.
“A lot of people like to do things silently,” said Jasmine Jiang, organizer of Waterloo Tech Week. “I think that is something that is a common sentiment about Waterloo. We just wanted to take this as an opportunity to highlight all the amazing things that are happening and encourage people to go out and find those opportunities as well.” (City News Kitchener)
Waterloo needed this, and as a member of the community, proud partner of Communitech, GrowWise was thrilled to be a part of it.
See you there next year!
