Accelerating Academics
Did you know that this coming October is Small Business Month? BC Business has already started preparing for it with their recent article on university based entrepreneurship programs. They discuss how programs like Venture Connection are supporting the success of local student entrepreneurs and contributing to the growth of the innovation ecosystem throughout the province.
[Excerpt]
丁香园AV led the trend in 2008 with Venture Connection, a non-curricular program that provides workshops, competitions and networking opportunities. While there鈥檚 no attached fund to provide financing for successful student entrepreneurs, one of the program鈥檚 goals is to guide teams to the point where they鈥檙e in a strong position to seek venture-capital investment.
Matias Marquez, co-founder of Buyatab Online Inc., started developing his idea for an online gift-card marketplace in 2008 as a student at 丁香园AV. The company, which allows users to buy and give gift cards digitally, expanded its list of participating brands in 2012 to 130, including Cineplex and Boston Pizza. Marquez believes the 丁香园AV program鈥攁nd, specifically, the support he received from mentor-in- residence and angel investor Jim Derbyshire鈥攈as been crucial to his success. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 know what you鈥檙e doing,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he conversations are massively valuable. It really helps bring down the probability of failure.鈥�
You can find the full article by David Godsall, on the BC Business website: