Prime Minister, Toronto Mayor Talk Tech and Innovation
Today OneEleven, a “scale-up innovation hub,” celebrated the grand opening of their space in downtown Toronto.
The occasion featured a Tech Town Hall with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and an evening reception with Toronto Mayor John Tory.
The grand opening event introduced the first phase of OneEleven’s 250,000 square-foot-expansion at Front St. and Blue Jays Way in Toronto. It is the first building in the planned Oxford Properties Union Park innovation hub project.
“[Our] mission is to create the conditions for Canada’s next billion-dollar tech company,” said Bilal Khan, a founder of OneEleven.
OneEleven, which launched in 2013 in partnership with Omers Ventures, has supported more than 40 companies, including Wealthsimple and Nudge.ai.
“By creating an environment where the country’s brightest and most entrepreneurial minds could come together and not only build successful Canadian companies but exchange ideas about the future of innovation and tech,” said John Ruffolo, CEO of Omers.
“We are creating an environment and building a community that encourages collisions and collaborations between some of Canada’s most sophisticated entrepreneurs, influential thought-leaders and disruptive private and public sector partner,” added Khan.
“Today is a great day for Canadian innovators and entrepreneurs,” said Trudeau. “This new space will help even more Canadian tech startups compete on a global scale, while retaining Canadian talent and creating good, middle class jobs in Canada’s tech sector.”
“By focusing our collective efforts towards helping high-growth startups commercialize their technologies and scale their operations here in Canada, we can secure a strong and innovative future for our country,” concluded Khan.
Photo by Matt Odynski
