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Every term
UWaterloo students, staff and faculty
Multiple sessions
Concept
Program Overview
The Velocity $5K pitch competition offers the opportunity for students to showcase their innovative business ideas and compete for grant funding.
24 teams are selected to compete in the semi-finals. From there, a panel of live judges will narrow down the field to 8 teams to pitch in the finals, where 4 teams are selected live to win a prize of $5,000 each.
Through the process, participants receive valuable feedback, pitching experience, and idea validation from a network of experienced entrepreneurs and Velocity Coaches.
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Undergraduate students
Spring term, Winter term
Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business
Program Overview
This specialized co-op program is designed to support two key groups: first-year engineering, mathematics, and accounting co-op students, and early-stage startup companies. You will develop transferable employment skills through a series of workshops, seminars, and work-term placements, while contributing to real business objectives.
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Every term
One-time event
Co-op Students
Problem Lab
Program Overview
Each term, up to two co-op students are awarded the Co-op Problem Award. This award recognizes an outstanding problem analysis of an important problem relevant to a co-op employer or the employer’s industry.
Co-operative Education and the Problem Lab offer students the opportunity to win a First Prize Tuition Scholarship of $1,500 or Second Prize Tuition Scholarship of $750, applicable to the next academic term.
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Anytime
Undergraduate students
Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business
Program Overview
This signature program allows you to pursue an entrepreneurial co-op option in which students start your own business while earning co-op credit. After graduation, E Co-op students continue with their venture, begin a new one, or use their E Co-op know-how to obtain employment. E Co-op is a great experience that builds business knowledge, capabilities, and independence that employers value.
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September
Graduate students, UWaterloo students
Fulltime-program / Courses
Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business
Program Overview
The University of Waterloo is awarding Entrepreneurial Ph.D. Fellowships to support outstanding, business-minded Waterloo doctoral students who are interested in commercializing their research. Successful fellowship applicants will be enrolled in the Master of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology (MBET) part-time program. Recipients can complete the three-year part-time program alongside their regular doctoral studies, tuition-free.
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Anytime
Open to the public
Program Overview
Numerous competitions, grants and awards are available to students engaged in entrepreneurship. A comprehensive list has been gathered and will be updated annually.
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Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business
Fulltime-program / Courses
Engineering Graduate Students
Every term
Program Overview
Conrad School graduate-level academic programs and course offerings are designed to provide you with practical knowledge, skills and experiences so they can succeed in today’s increasingly entrepreneurial and innovation-driven business world:
- Business and Entrepreneurship (BE) Courses
- Graduate Diploma (G.Dip.) in Business and Entrepreneurship
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Grebel Peace Incubator
Fulltime-program / Courses
UWaterloo students, staff and faculty
Anytime
Program Overview
The Grebel Peace Incubator provides a collaborative community and access to mentorship and funding for early-stage non-profits and social enterprises focused on advancing peace and justice. Their expertise in thinking and working politically helps new ventures engage governments and transform systems. New ventures in this incubator thrive within a culture of inclusion, collaboration, and community-mindedness.
Applications are considered on a rolling basis.
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Greenhouse
Multiple sessions
Indigenous post-secondary students from across Canada
Every term
Program Overview
Indigenous post-secondary students from across Canada can now participate in these newly launched entrepreneurship training programs that are built on a model of Indigenized business education and experiential learning. Training includes Indigenous world views on entrepreneurship, innovation management processes, and the skills and competencies required for success in entrepreneurship.
Being part of the program gives students unrivalled access to staff, professional networks and coaching as well as opportunities to secure funding. This program is available to Indigenous post-secondary students across Canada. Indigenous students who are enrolled at the University of Waterloo have the option to take the program for course credit.
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Annually
UWaterloo students, staff and faculty
Program Overview
Award funding of $3,000 is available annually to undergraduate or graduate students registered full-time in the Faculty of Environment who have presented an outstanding proposal in the Jack Rosen Memorial Award for Environmental Innovation competition. The top ten teams will be offered a professionally facilitated workshop prior to the competition that will coach them on the elements of a strong business case and successful pitch.
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Grebel Peace Incubator
One-time event
Graduate students, Undergraduate students
Winter term
Program Overview
Map the System is a global research competition organized by Oxford University that equips students to use systems thinking to tackle complex social or environmental challenges.
Tackling global challenges starts with understanding a problem and its wider context. Map the System asks students to select a social or environmental issue and to explore, probe, and research all the connecting elements and factors around it. Students should be able to present this issue in such a way that the audience can understand, learn and share.
The University of Waterloo leg of this competition runs annually over the Winter semester and is open to teams of undergraduate and graduate students in any discipline
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September
Graduate students
Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business
Program Overview
Get your graduate business degree while you build your venture. The MBET degree is a professional, practical, course-based master’s program for people who want to make things happen. Offered in 2 formats: one-year full-time and three-year part-time program.
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Grebel Peace Incubator
Multiple sessions
Conrad Grebel students
Every term
Program Overview
The PeaceTech Living Learning Community is a cluster of students from different faculties and consists of creators, innovators, and collaborators interested in exploring the intersection of peace and technology in society. Applications from resident and associate students at Conrad Grebel University College are accepted at the start of each semester.
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September
Graduate students
Fulltime-program / Courses
Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business
Program Overview
The first program of its kind in Canada, the Conrad School’s PhD in Entrepreneurship and Organization offers emerging entrepreneurship researchers the unique opportunity to study alongside our world-class faculty within Waterloo’s distinctive innovation ecosystem.
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Problem Lab
Multiple sessions
UWaterloo students, staff and faculty
Anytime
Program Overview
Connect with a member of the Problem Lab to talk about the problem spaces you are interested in exploring and ideas you may already have. With a sea of knowledge, our experts can help direct you on the right path of problem identification to create a start-up or business.
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Problem Lab
Multiple sessions
UWaterloo students, staff and faculty
Every term
Program Overview
The Quantum Valley Investments® Problem Pitch competition invites teams of up to four students to choose an important industry problem and thoroughly research its history, scope, and impact. Students pitch their findings to a panel of judges to compete for $15,000 in funding to support research & development needs for their venture.
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GreenHouse Students
St. Paul's University College
Every term
Program Overview
The social impact fund was established in 2014 by United College to support the testing and development of early-stage, ideas from GreenHouse Innovators.
The Social Impact Fund (SIF) was established in 2014 by donors from the United College community. The SIF is used to support GreenHouse students in advancing their ideas into action. As a donor, your contributions support students with the resources they need to build and test prototypes with stakeholders as the progress towards validating their solutions and launching their ventures.
The recipients of the SIF are celebrated 3 times a year at the Social Impact Showcase.
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Greenhouse
Multiple sessions
UWaterloo students
Fall term, Winter term
Program Overview
Students in the Social Innovators in Training (SIIT) Program work with like-minded innovators interested in creating social or environmental change through their own project or venture. Students coming into this program have a problem they are interested in tackling or an idea they want to launch. Innovations can include policy change, community mobilization initiatives and the creation of programs, products, and services, and more.
The program provides a weekly peer group training session focused on key milestones in both problem and solution identification and validation. Students have access to one-on-one coaching and a GreenHouse alumni circle, as well as the Social Impact Fund to move their project or venture forward.
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Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business
Fulltime-program / Courses
Undergraduate students
Every term
Program Overview
Do you want to put an entrepreneurial spin on your undergraduate degree at Waterloo? Get a jump-start on your entrepreneurial path by enrolling Conrad School’s specialized academic programs and courses:
- Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology (BET) Courses
- Minor in Entrepreneurship
- Entrepreneurship Option in Engineering
- Entrepreneurial Mindset Career Specialization in SAF
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Anytime
UWaterloo students, staff and faculty
Multiple sessions
Velocity
Program Overview
The best way to learn about growing your ideas is from those who have successfully done so.
Velocity’s network of coaches includes a variety of individuals made up of founders, small business owners, early employees from successful start-ups, and experienced entrepreneurs. They are available to meet one-on-one or in a small group to discuss your start-up ideas and aspirations and help guide you to turn your concept into a reality.
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Every term
UWaterloo students, staff and faculty
Multiple sessions
Concept
Program Overview
Cornerstone is the culmination of the student entrepreneurial process. It’s a community of student founders all looking to start their careers in entrepreneurship. They are actively building out their business plans through customer discovery and validation while getting coaching and support from their fellow student teams, Velocity coaches, Velocity founders and business advisors. The goal is to gain enough traction by graduation to join a top-tier accelerator/incubator program or attract investment.
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Anytime
Open to the public
Velocity
Program Overview
A pre-seed fund spun out of the University of Waterloo to invest in world-changing companies at the earliest stage. Velocity Fund is the next step in Velocity’s evolution and the fund that we wanted to exist when we were founders. We invest at early stage in ambitious founders across software, deep tech and health tech. We offer nimble cheques, no nonsense advice, connection to Canada’s most successful incubator and a world-class network of alumni founders.
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Velocity
Fulltime-program / Courses
Open to the public, UWaterloo students, staff and faculty
Anytime
Program Overview
Velocity is an incubator for pre-seed technology startups from the University of Waterloo and around the world. The program is designed to guide and amplify early-stage start-ups as they turn ideas into scalable companies with the potential for positive, global impact. We welcome ambitious founders with bold ideas that scale. Velocity offers product development labs, collaborative workspaces, manufacturing equipment, and an expansive network paired with expert business support from seasoned professionals and past founders.
Velocity takes rolling applications. Founders must be willing to join the incubator to work on their company full time and must demonstrate they can build a company that solves a $1B+ problem.
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Anytime
UWaterloo students, staff and faculty
Multiple sessions
WatCo
Program Overview
The Waterloo Commercialization Office (WatCo) offers research faculty and graduate students access to intellectual property management expertise and commercialization services to facilitate licensing and startup company formation commercialization pathways.
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Every term
Faculty of Science or Engineering, Research Masters
Program Overview
The WIN-Velocity Scholarship, with a value equivalent to a Graduate Research Studentship (GRS) for two years, has been made possible through a financial contribution from the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology (WIN) to support domestic research-based master’s students, who will be registered full time in their first year of graduate studies, in the Faculty of Engineering and/or Faculty of Science.
Eligible students must pursue commercialization and entrepreneurship activities for establishing a start-up company at UW with Velocity support, based on a business idea in “deep-tech” (a category of startup companies that develop new products based “on scientific discovery or meaningful engineering innovation) which matches research conducted by the WIN supervisor. Students participating in the program will receive mentorship and advice for start-up and entrepreneurial activities from Velocity.
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Greenhouse
Multiple sessions
UWaterloo students
Every term
Program Overview
Workplace Innovation connects students in a group to collaborate alongside an organization in the non-profit, charitable, social enterprise, or for-profit sector to complete a social impact project. Moving through innovation training, students have the opportunity to pitch for funding in implementing their solution in health, environmental, social, or international development sectors.
By way of Workplace Innovation, students are exposed to networking opportunities within and external to the University of Waterloo through GreenHouse one-on-one coaching as well as connections to over 200+ previous social innovators.
The projects are flexible and can be pursued as a non-credit experiential learning opportunity, practicum, or as their capstone project, depending on the academic program.
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Zero experience
Multiple sessions
UWaterloo students, staff and faculty
Every term
Program Overview
To have a great career and maximize university, you need to stand out from the crowd. The Zero Experience gives you the problem-solving tools to let you make an impact now and discover what you want. You’ll learn how to innovate through weekly workshops full of intensive analysis and ideation, networking, and teamwork.
By the end of the term, you’ll stand out as someone who solves important problems and plans to make a difference. The best part? No prior experience required!
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Zero experience
One-time event
UWaterloo students, staff and faculty
Every term
Program Overview
Deciding how to spend your life isn’t easy. But job hunting shouldn’t be so lonely, confusing, and exhausting. Zero Work is where you’ll find the allies, guidance, and motivation to succeed.
This two-day workshop sprint will teach you dozens of career strategies and networking techniques. You’ll get the tools to reshape your resume into an impressive story, interview memorably, network, and finally decide what career path matters most to you. No prior experience required!
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