WLU ScaleUp companies top $1 billion in funding

This news comes just one year after Velocity, the Waterloo-based incubator, also announced that its graduate companies had raised more than $1 billion in investment.

The Lazaridis ScaleUp program seeks to help high-potential Canadian companies transition from founder-led organizations to scalable businesses that can compete in global markets.

The program is run through the Lazaridis Institute for the Management of Technology Enterprises, which is housed at the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics at Wilfrid Laurier University.

“The Lazaridis Institute is unequivocally and emphatically fulfilling its mission,” said Micheál Kelly, Dean of the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics.

“We set out to increase Canada’s prosperity by helping Canadian tech entrepreneurs scale and compete internationally. One billion dollars in funding represents a lot of scaling.”

Lazaridis ScaleUp alumni who have recently attracted significant funding include Calgary’s Symend ($124.5M); Maple ($74M) and Essential Accessibility ($92M) in Toronto; Vendasta ($167M) in Saskatoon; and Terramera in Vancouver ($79.6M).

Lazaridis companies represent some of Canada’s leading scale-ups in sectors ranging from medical devices (Flosonics, ODS Medical) and greentech (Vive Crop Protection, Flashfood, Questor) to software (Symend, Vendasta, Jane) and marketplaces (Dozr, Voices, RVezy).

Lazaridis ScaleUp is a national program, with alumni companies thriving from Victoria, B.C. to St. John’s, N.L. Thirty-four percent of Lazaridis ScaleUp companies are founded by women.

“We’re honoured to work with these brilliant and ambitious companies,” said Kim Morouney, Managing Director of the Lazaridis Institute.

“More than $1 billion in investment in under five years is a strong indication that Canadian scale-ups, with the right support, have the ability to successfully compete anywhere in the world.”

The Lazaridis Institute – and the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics – are named for Mike Lazaridis, the founder of BlackBerry.

The Institute combines scholarly research, real-world market analysis and industry best practices to support the growth of high-potential technology companies.

The Lazaridis School of Business and Economics has a strong reputation for producing top-quality graduates, particularly well prepared to manage companies in the tech industry.

This talent pipeline complements the technical talent produced at the University of Waterloo – one of the world’s top tech schools – and Conestoga College.