TechPlace Celebrates its Grand Opening
On June 22, 2017, TechPlace held its grand opening event, welcoming more than 200 people through its doors at 5500 North Service Road. An open-house format, the event offered welcoming remarks from Mayor Rick Goldring and Honourable MPP Eleanor McMahon. “TechPlace represents a significant opportunity for Burlington to strengthen the resources available, renew the entrepreneurial energy that exists within our city and develop Burlington as a great place to not only start, but to grow a business.” Said Mayor Rick Goldring at the inaugural event. “This space allows us to leverage the contributions and expertise of our partners, all coming together at TechPlace”.
The new 8,600 square foot innovation centre isn’t just a great place for entrepreneurs and growing technology companies to hangout and get to work. It’s also home to some pretty great resources. Haltech, Halton’s Regional Innovation Centre, has set-up its new headquarters at TechPlace, as well as Angel One Investor Network, one of Canada’s most active Angel groups. The City of Burlington has also opened a satellite office for the building, planning and permitting departments to hold open office hours for questions and support (come by between 9am and 12pm on Thursday mornings to see them!). With the support of these key partners, as well as others across the public and private sectors, TechPlace will aim to achieve the following goals:
- Create a one stop destination for businesses starting up and growing in Burlington
- Create entrepreneurial “collision space” and increased entrepreneurial vibrancy
- Increase the visibility of entrepreneurship and brand recognition of Burlington as a Startup Community
- Expand entrepreneurship programming and support in Burlington
- Connect large companies and investors to the entrepreneurial ecosystem
- Bridge relationships and opportunities between other ecosystems
TechPlace has already welcomed servicePath and 3terra as its first two LaunchPad companies. These LaunchPad spaces provide technology companies that are “gearing for growth” with private office space for up to 12 months. servicePath and 3terra have set the bar high for TechPlace LaunchPad companies, and TechPlace will continue to accept applications on a rolling basis (do you know a company that would benefit from a launchpad? Click here).
“The vision for TechPlace revolves around the creation of energy between people and organizations; energy that drives economic growth through investment, talent, and collaboration,” said Claire Green, Manager of TechPlace. “When we were developing the strategy behind TechPlace, we felt that incredible things can happen when you bring the right resources and people together under one roof. So that is what we are doing, and we will reach beyond the borders of Burlington to build momentum, and work towards attracting great companies to start and grow in Burlington.”
TechPlace will be launching a monthly newsletter in early 2018, which you can subscribe to here. You can also stay in the loop by following TechPlace on Twitter and LinkedIn.