Moncton startup hub Venn Innovation has been honoured by the Technology Councils of North America as part of their third annual TECNA Innovation Awards, winning the Innovative Member & Client Services award for its Venn Garage incubator.

Venn Garage, unlike most incubators, is not cohort-based. Instead, it is self-paced, and companies compete to gain entry at quarterly pitch competitions. The TECNA award was given to Program Manager for Startup Services Alicia Grayeb and Entrepreneur-in-Residence Norbert Demps for their work on developing it.

TECNA began holding its Innovation Awards in 2019 to honour the most “forward-thinking” of the industry organization’s members. In winning, Venn beat out a roster of nominees from across North America.

“After the pandemic, we restructured and adapted to the new virtual reality and the challenges that it brought, and extended our support throughout the province,” said Grayeb in a press release. “The incredible startups we work with provide the energy to push our limits.”

As well as its rolling induction, Venn Garage is also notable for encouraging entrepreneurs to focus on technology validation as early as possible in their companies' growth, to reduce risk.

Other benefits for the participating startups include mentorship, access to resources and networks, and technology validation for business model scalability, with an in-kind value of $47,000. 

To date, more than 100 startups have passed through the program.