IBM Innovation Incubator Opens at Communitech Data Hub

Today marked the opening of the IBM Innovation Incubator at Communitech Data Hub, which the Province of Ontario promises will provide businesses in Waterloo with access to the technology and expertise they need to create jobs, grow and compete in the global marketplace.

“Not only are startups getting early access to and training in advanced IBM techniques and technologies, like Design Thinking and IBM Watson, but IBM is also providing the most promising start-ups with mentorship from IBM executives and access to IBM’s large customers to solve their big problems,” noted Communitech CEO Iain Klugman.

Daiene Vernile, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Research, Innovation and Science and MPP for Kitchener-Centre made the announcement today onsite.

“Providing this opportunity—technology and expert advice—our local innovators will help create up to 2,600 jobs by 2020. That’s good news for our community,” said Vernile.

The Ontario Centres of Excellence invested $23 million through the Jobs and Prosperity Fund for the IBM Innovation Incubator Project, supporting an additional investment of $25 million from IBM.

“The IBM Innovation Spaces offer small and medium-sized enterprises access to the state-of-the-art technologies that disruptors who want to participate in the innovation economy need to compete,” added Tom Corr, CEO of Ontario Centres of Excellence.

The move is part of IBM’s recent commitment to foster seed-stage innovation and cultivate growth in startup hubs.

“By working in an open environment where fresh ideas can collide and quickly take shape, we can more quickly transform industries and identify ongoing opportunities to disrupt the status quo,” said Allen Lalonde, Senior Innovation Executive, IBM Canada.