On the cusp of a major expansion, the Waterloo Accelerator Centre will hold is second annual Showcase on Sept. 16, allowing about 35 of its members the chance to pitch  before investors and guests.

The Accelerator Centre is a four-tiered system of mentoring programs that aims to help mature entrepreneurs test a concept, launch a company and then develop it into a successful business.

Its Showcase, the second annual such event, will be a bit of an assault on the senses as more than 30 of the companies in the facility will have one-minute each to tell their story.

The companies pitching will mainly be those in the Accelerator, the flagship program that guides startups for two or three years from infancy through to having significant traction and growth. Some will be just about ready to graduate from the program, and some will be in the middle of it.

“By offering this deep mentoring, we’ll take a company that often comes as a great technology idea and we try to tune it into a great company with a great technology idea,” said Accelerator Centre CEO Paul Salvini in an interview.

There’s nothing accelerated about this accelerator program. Salvini and his team understand that the mentorship process lasts a number of years not months.

The mentorship process begins with the Pathfinder program, which helps would-be entrepreneurs to validate their ideas. The next stage is the AC Momentum program, which offers a one-year curriculum to entrepreneurs that need to move a validated idea into the early stages of a company. It gives these entrepreneurs an introduction to mentorship.

Then comes the flagship accelerator program, which offers training in all aspects of a successful business over a two- to three-year period. These facets include technology, finance, design and user experience, branding, human relations, leadership and public relations.

Finally there is a program called Continuum, which maintains contact with graduates of the Accelerator program, helping them to scale as they enter the later stages. The recent graduates include chat network Kik Interactive and Clearpath Robotics.

The big change taking place in this stack of programs will happen in the second tier – AC Momentum. The Accelerator Centre announced this month this it will open the Reactor, an 8,000-square-foot space in the former Innotech Building at the David Johnston Research and Technology Park.

This new space will now house Momentum, allowing the sophomore program to double its size to about 35 companies. By moving Momentum out of the existing AC facility, it will allow the 35 companies in the flagship Accelerator program more room, meaning they have more working space as they grow.

Salvini believes the Accelerator Centre is growing during a golden era for the Kitchener-Waterloo tech community, a time when major tech companies from around the world are watching what’s happening in the region.

The Accelerator Centre, he said, differentiates itself from other programs and facilities in the region because it targets older entrepreneurs who have already established themselves in other fields. The average age of its participants is about 40, and many have been researchers from the region’s universities.

“The consequence and the cost of failure can be different from person to person,” said Salvini, adding that failure for a student entrepreneur can be an invaluable educational experience. “Many of our entrepreneurs have given up good jobs with a pension. … We want to feel the company has a very, very good chance of growing and succeeding.”

The Accelerator Centre Showcase will take place 4 to 7 pm on Sept. 16 at the Accelerator Centre. You can find full details here.

Eye on KW is a regular feature that highlights the startup community in Kitchener-Waterloo.