Innovation4D supports innovation in Mississauga by connecting startups to investors

October 16, 2017

MISSISSAUGA, ON – On Monday, the Xerox Research Centre of Canada (XRCC), along with the RIC Centre and GreenCentre Canada, hosted Innovation4D.

Innovation4D is an event that connects the investor community with best-in-class startups focusing on advanced materials, advanced manufacturing and clean technology. The Mayor of the City of Mississauga, Bonnie Crombie and the Minister of Research, Innovation and Science, Hon. Reza Moridi were also in attendance to mark the launch of the event. Of the startups present, six were chosen to pitch their businesses to the audience of investors.

About the event, Mayor Crombie said, “With the launch of Innovation4D, Mississauga continues to cement its reputation as the go to destination on the innovation corridor.” Minister Moridi added, “Since 2014, the XRCC has been building a dynamic innovation community here in Mississauga. Through partnerships with the RIC Centre and GreenCentre Canada, the XRCC provides Canadian businesses with the important end-to-end research, development and engineering services they need to help commercialize new technologies.”

The XRCC Innovation Hub partners provide startups with access to world-class scale up facilities as well as business mentorship. In addition to Innovation4D, hub partners aim to connect entrepreneurs with the opportunities needed to succeed. “In a global economy, SME’s and startups are critical to Canada’s future prosperity. Key to this is the ability to bridge the gap between lab scale demonstration and manufacturing, de-risking and developing technologies for commercial deployment,” says Paul Smith, Vice President and Centre Director at the Xerox Research Centre of Canada.

This partnership has already seen successes such as Anomera, Savormetrics and AOMS Technologies, all of whom pitched their businesses at Innovation4D. These startups joined the hub at various points on their journey and could capitalize on the resources provided by the XRCC, RIC Centre and GreenCentre Canada.

RIC Centre’s Executive Director, Pam Banks said, “At the RIC Centre, we work with credible entrepreneurs who are focused on commercializing their tech innovation. The unique partnership and co-location with XRCC allows clients to leverage industry relationships to accelerate time to market. The exclusive incubator program is like a boutique offering as we are small enough to know our clients and really care. We invest time to help them achieve their significant milestones with a focus on maximizing resources from GreenCentre Canada and XRCC.”

Pete Pigott, Executive Director of GreenCentre Canada also said, “GreenCentre Canada generates solutions that improve both the environment and the economy. Our partnership with the Xerox Research Centre of Canada and the RIC Centre is a great example of value added collaboration. We welcome this partnership to enable GreenCentre to connect and further our contribution to the commercialization of innovative green chemistry technologies.”

The RIC Centre and GreenCentre are currently looking for startups to join their next cohorts starting in February 2018. Startups based in advanced manufacturing, advanced materials and cleantech would be in the best position to take advantage of the Xerox Research Centre of Canada, RIC Centre and GreenCentre Canada.

Green tech startups pitch investors at Innovation4D event in Mississauga

Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie presents a certificate of recognition to executives of Green Centre Canada (GCC), the Research Innovation Commercialization Centre (RICC) and the Xerox Research Centre of Canada (XRCC) at the inaugural Innovation4D event at the XRCC’s Innovation Hub in Mississauga on Monday, October 16.

Innovation4D was organized by the Innovation Hub and partners to provide Ontario green tech start-ups with the opportunity to pitch venture capitalists on their innovations. The Hon. Reza Moridi, Minister of Research, Innovation and Science, along with Mayor Bonnie Crombie were on hand to open the event. The Innovation Hub was recently cited as one reason for Toronto’s place on the list of Top 10 Cities for Corporate Innovation.

Pictured left to right are Sunil Selby, Mayor Bonnie Crombie; executive directors of RICC and GCC, Pam Banks and Pete Piggot; the Hon. Reza Moridi, Minister of Research, Innovation and Science; and, XRCC vice president, Dr. Paul Smith.

***

About Xerox Research Centre of Canada: The XRCC is home to a world-class team of scientists and engineers with broad expertise in materials chemistry, formulation design, prototyping, testing, chemical process engineering and scale-up. XRCC works across all stages of the innovation process to deliver solutions for a wide range of application areas, including electronic materials, consumer packaging, sustainable chemical processes, coatings, security/authentication and advanced manufacturing.

About RIC Centre: The Research Innovation Commercialization Centre helps technology entrepreneurs that want to fast-track their business to market. From the idea and concept stage, to the growth and expansion stage of their business, RIC Centre has supported more than 700 startup clients in 2013. Ric Centre clients have raised over $240M in capital, generated over $115M in revenue and created over 650 jobs.

About GreenCentre Canada: GreenCentre Canada takes a hands-on approach to commercializing emerging Green Chemistry innovations originating from academia and the entrepreneurial community. Formed in 2009 and funded by the Government of Ontario, the Government of Canada and various industry partners, GreenCentre is a member of the Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (CECR) and is headquartered at Innovation Park at Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

###