If you’re going to hire employees outside of Canada, you might need legal counsel. Most businesses require the help of a lawyer, be on incorporation, when drafting shareholder agreements, or when defending itself against spurious claims. Legal counsel, however, is expensive, and potentially beyond the reach of scrappy startups trying to make ends meet.
For startups in the DMZ’s
Incubator Program and
Black Innovation Program, those legal costs could drop to zero. Last week saw a new partnership with the Lincoln Alexander School of Law at Ryerson University, resulting in a program offering
free legal advice for Canadian startups, and real-world experience for its law students. Said Sherif El Tawil, Senior Director of Programs and Partnerships at the DMZ:
“Not only is our new program connecting founders with timely legal support, but it’s also giving law students the opportunity to work with Canada’s thriving startup ecosystem and get exposure to a wide range of legal issues as DMZ companies grow and scale.”
Have a great week, and stay well!
Community Opportunities
Here are some upcoming deadlines for applying to accelerators, grants and funding, or other competitions. Don’t miss out! If you know of others, please submit any application deadlines and I’ll post them if they’re relevant.
Tech Undivided is an initiative for women tech founders to grow and scale their business. Focused on the pillars of raising capital, technology and IP commercialization, talent attraction and retention, and customer acquisition, Tech Undivided enables founders to accelerate business growth. Beyond technology and business support, Tech Undivided’s vision is to reduce unconscious bias and create an inclusive tech ecosystem that increases representation and access to capital. It draws on the expertise of ventureLAB advisors, strategic mentors, and industry partners to help you refine your product-market-fit, amplify sales, navigate relevant sources of funding, and help hone your pitch to better prepare for customer and investor meetings.
Parkdale Centre is an incubator and accelerator that supports entrepreneurs, with a focus on equity, accessibility, and inclusion for underrepresented people, namely women, Black, Indigenous, people of colour, and newcomers to Canada. The Centre is accepting applications for both its Women Founders Stream, and Early Stage Startup Stream. Both programs are intended for those looking to set and meet revenue and growth goals for their business over the next three to nine months, and willing to execute on the program’s short-term milestones, stay on track with consistent webinars and mentorship. The Women Founders stream focuses on providing accessible and inclusive leadership, business training and entrepreneurship skills to self-identifying woman and/or non-binary founders, while the Early Stage stream supports entrepreneurs with a focus on preparing for user growth, team growth, revenue growth, and fundraising.
The DMZ’s Bootcamp helps early-stage tech founders validate their business idea, establish a minimum viable product and build a roadmap for implementation to launch a startup. Over the course of 6 weeks, this program gives founders exposure to the different domains important in building a venture: sales, marketing, operations, technology, finance, leadership and more. Through the Bootcamp, founders get: founder roundtables and peer to peer sessions, expert-led workshop series, and dedicated one-on-one support from our Program Leads. Upon completing the program, startups should be ready to launch within three months and generate revenue within six months.
BHive is an initiative powered by the City of Brampton with a goal to empower the next generation of innovators, accelerate their journey, and create a positive impact for the entrepreneur, economy, and community as a whole. The program has been strategically designed to ensure startups have everything they need to scale and grow. Successful applicants will have access to an unrivaled ecosystem and expertise to support exceptional founders in building successful companies. Our integrated approach involves thoughtfully designed programs, one-to-one mentorships, and access to our entire portfolio of service.
This program, delivered by Futurpreneur, will provide young, Black entrepreneurs age 18-39 across Canada with a comprehensive offering of $5,000–$60,000 in startup loan financing, as well as up to two years of mentorship, opportunities to engage with a national network of Black entrepreneurs, leaders and community organizations at a range of entrepreneurship events, and a variety of relevant tools and resources. Participants who are keen to scale their businesses even further will also be eligible for up to $40,000 in follow-on financing funded by RBC, based on the first two years of successful business performance.
At the Science Discovery Zone (SDZ) we help people take evidence-based approaches to test big ideas and discover new ventures. We aim to serve as a model for strong collaboration across all disciplines (not just the science ones) that fuels innovation and entrepreneurial discovery. What makes the SDZ stand out amongst other incubators are the unique services and opportunities we create for our community, which are geared towards fostering your goals and success!