Lazaridis School incubator renamed to 'StartUp Lab'

Sept. 27, 2021

We are proud to announce the renaming of our LaunchPad business incubator, located in Lazaridis Hall, to the StartUp Lab. This change helps to differentiate our incubator within Laurier and reinforces the breadth of startup to scale up programming within the Lazaridis School.

The Brantford campus LaunchPad programming will retain its name and will continue to be operated under the leadership of the Senior Executive Officer under the name LaunchPad-Brantford. The former LaunchPad program, housed on Waterloo campus, will continue to operate under the leadership of the Lazaridis School Dean’s Office. The separation of these two programs will allow each one to become a best-in-class program for its distinct audiences.

The StartUp Lab provides support, mentorship and resources to startups and social ventures founded by Laurier students and alumni in any program from any Laurier campus. Startup Lab participants benefit from the expertise and knowledge from Laurier’s prestigious business program and apply business foundations in launching their venture.

StartUp Lab participants can build upon an already tested idea or can explore untested ideas in this free, two-year program. Participants receive access to space in Lazaridis Hall and are paired with a mentor who has experience working with startups. Additionally, there are special funding opportunities available to Startup Lab companies.

The StartUp Lab venture creation programming complements the breadth of entrepreneurship programming offered within the Lazaridis School. From startup to scaleup, including highly customized programming exclusively for women founders and Indigenous women founders, entrepreneurs learn how to start or scale their tech or non-tech business from top business experts, grounded in the fundamentals of business education in the Lazaridis School.

If you know of students or alumni who are interested in participating in the StartUp Lab, please direct them to Jason Whalen, Manager of the StartUp Lab at jawhalen@wlu.ca.

-Micheál J. Kelly