Interested in growing your startup and have a UBC connection? There are many resources available to develop your idea or early stage company into a thriving business. We talked to entrepreneurship@UBC to learn about their incubator programs, HATCH Accelerator program, and access to seed financing.
Accelerator Programs at UBC
entrepreneurship@ubc
Whether its learning about entrepreneurship or executing on an idea or innovation, entrepreneurship@UBC offers a wide range of educational and commercial services and resources aimed to “meet people where they are” during their entrepreneurial journey. The program is offered at no cost to UBC students, researchers, faculty members, alumni and staff. Programs are designed to help participants explore a future in entrepreneurship and innovation.
Programs to develop your tech startup
Venture Development Specialists Internship Program
Best for: UBC Sauder students and Applied Science students
Commitment: Full Time May-September
Location: UBC Point Grey campus
UBC students from the Sauder School of Business as well as the Faculty of Applied Science can develop their entrepreneurial skills by working on a variety of projects that support the venture portfolio.Students apply what they’ve learned in the classroom to a real-world setting, using their business acumen and technical skills to further develop the ventures they work with.
“I had the opportunity to lead projects with ventures from a variety of backgrounds and industries, providing me with an immersive learning experience. This not only created value for the businesses I worked with, but also taught me how to manage and leverage a diverse team- an invaluable skill moving forward in my career.” – Christina Xu, Venture Development Specialist 2019
Incubator Programs (Core Technology, Life Science, Social Impact)
Best for: Core Technology, Life Sciences and Social Impact entrepreneurs who are looking to validate their idea or innovation
Commitment: Part-time
The Incubator Program is designed to help entrepreneurs achieve product-market fit and prepare for investment and growth.
Life sciences – for ventures who are using genetic material or require FDA approval
Core technology – for ventures focusing on technology and hardware products or ideas
Social impact – for ventures looking to solve an environmental, social or economic issue
entreprenuership@UBC Incubator programs steer participants through a range of programming that help ventures determine their target customers, product-market fit, and the steps required to launch and grow a business. The program includes mentorship from seasoned industry experts along with access to a co-working space and workshops. Intake happens a few times a year, relative to the track you choose.
Past winners of the New Ventures BC Competition
Many ventures who have gone through entrepreneurship@UBC’s programming have gone on to win the NVBC competition. Past winners include:
- 2018: Quupe Technologies
- 2017: Ecoation, Microbiome Insights, Aeriosense
- 2016: Microdermics, Iris Automation, MeatMe
- 2015: Nanozen, Aspect Biosystems
- 2013: Abcellera
The HATCH Accelerator program
Best for: Ventures that are preparing to scale and have completed one of the Incubator programs
Commitment: Full-time; up to one year with periodic reviews
Location: ICICS Building, UBC Point Grey Campus
Ventures who have completed the Incubator Program and have achieved initial market traction are invited to apply for the HATCH Accelerator program which intensely focuses on helping ventures prepare to scale.
Being a part of the HATCH Accelerator program unlocks access to intense mentorship and networking opportunities with seasoned entrepreneurs and access to maker space and wet labs. It also helps entrepreneurs identify and secure their first major customers, pilots, and partnerships; perfect their business model; build their team and culture; recruit their board of directors; and fundraise.
Additional Offerings:
Innovator Meetups: Monthly networking events encouraging students, faculty members, staff and alumni within UBC’s innovation ecosystem to network, idea-share and brainstorm solutions.
Lunch & Learns: Monthly Lunch & Learn sessions for anyone who wants to learn about the foundations of entrepreneurship.
Flexible Learning Platform: Co-designed by entrepreneurship@UBC and the UBC Sauder School of Business, the Flexible Learning Platform is open to anyone who wants to learn the fundamentals of entrepreneurship at their own pace.
UBC investment capital
For early stage startups where a core member of the team is from UBC and the funds see potential, two seed funds are available to support the growth of companies: the UBC Seed Fund and the UBC Social Impact Fund. These seed funds provide a source of early stage investment for innovative and high potential businesses in the UBC ecosystem.
Aspect Biosystems, a past NVBC competition winner was financed by the UBC Seed Fund. The company was also part of entrepreneurship@UBC’s Incubator Program in 2013. 
“Universities are uniquely positioned to launch visionary, deep technology companies. Aspect Biosystems could not have started out of a garage. It was with the support, mentorship, and infrastructure from UBC that enabled us to translate this innovative technology from the lab into an award-winning startup that has the potential to make a global impact in the medical and pharmaceutical space,” comments Tamer Mohamed, President and CEO, Aspect Biosystems.
Still don’t see the right program for you? Check out New Venture BC’s acceleration program, designed to help launch andgrow your tech startup!
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