Waterloo’s Accelerator Centre has announced the first cohort of its newly developed Phase One program.

Phase One is the first of four phases within the AC’s recently restructured two-year incubation platform. The program offers a combination of expert sessions and peer-to-peer learning, blended with traditional mentorship.

“It was an extremely competitive process to select these companies from the wide spectrum of applications we received, but I am proud to have this group of very talented, high-potential entrepreneurs in our first cohort,” said Paul Salvini, CEO of the Accelerator Centre.

The Accelerator Centre is dedicated to building and scaling sustainable, globally competitive technology firms, and to commercializing advanced research technologies emerging from academic institutions.

Companies joining the first cohort of Phase One include:

- Green-tech chemical processing company Advanced Chemical Technologies
- Healthcare software company Aspire
- Online marketplace Backpacker College
- Collaboration software developers Care Connector
- Neuroscience platform DeepSubconscious
- Collaborative Marketing Technology iGotPro
- Hardware solution for trucking Industrial Cyber Sensing
- Word of mouth marketing App InstAppDeals
- Privacy-centric social platform LiiV
- Biomedical technology engineers MechanoSight
- Digital psychology resource centre PsyAlive
- Facial recognition software Vocord
- eCommerce developers WEcord
- IT and Integrated Communications Specialists Xenium

Phase One concludes with Presentation Day, an open house event where companies present to a panel of experts and business leaders who determine whether a business is ready to enter the second phase of the program.

Companies entering Phase Two are considered for up to $40,000 in funding and mentorship through the AC JumpStart program which provides eligible companies with $30,000 in seed capital (to be matched by recipient firms), $10,000 in mentorship, and access to market research and connections to investors.

Since 2006, 55 companies have graduated from the Accelerator Centre, with over 90 percent of companies still active after two years, and 100% remaining headquartered in Canada.