Government and geeks came together in downtown Charlottetown on Friday to officially open the Startup Zone, the new incubator for young businesses on P.E.I.

The 3,600-square-foot facility at Water and Queen streets has enough space for about 16 companies, and will be a work zone for tech and innovation startups as well as other entrepreneurial pursuits. It will also be the P.E.I. base for Propel ICT, the regional tech accelerator.

The opening of startup zone means there are now co-working spaces throughout Atlantic Canada allowing Propel and other regional groups a network of local bases for staging events and hosting mentoring programs.  The other community incubators and co-workign spaces are Common Ground in St. John’s, Volta Labs in Halifax, the Venn Centre in Moncton, the Navigate startup house in Sydney and Planet Hatch in Fredericton.

“The Startup Zone provides a space for our entrepreneurial community to gather and continue to grow,” said Startup Zone Executive Director Christina MacLeod in a statement. “Entrepreneurs of all ages and sectors can contribute to developing our diverse economy and create partnerships globally through our incubator space.”

MacLeod, the founder of Fusion Charlottetown and a member of the first Prince Edward Island cohort for the 21 Inc Emerging Leaders program, was named to the post recently. 

PEI Hosts First Propel Demo Day

The Startup Zone is a non-profit entity whose mission is to provide entrepreneurs with support and mentorship, enabling them to become successful. The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency is contributing $500,000 to the project, while the government of P.E.I. is putting up $514,395 over the next three years.

The opening was attended by P.E.I. Premier Wade MacLaughlin and Charlottetown MP Sean Casey,  who represented Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development.

P.E.I. has recently witnessed a strong growth in its tech sector, and this year hosted its first cohort of the Propel ICT accelerator. Life sciences startups have deeper roots in the province and are supported by groups like the PEI BioAlliance, the Emergence incubator program and the newly created headquarters of Natural Products Canada. The growth in the tech segment gives the island a more diverse entrepreneurial community.