Laurier’s Lazaridis Institute looking for Canada’s most promising scale-up companies

June 2, 2021
For Immediate Release

Waterloo – The Lazaridis Institute for the Management of Technology Enterprises at Wilfrid Laurier University is looking for 10 of Canada’s most promising scale-up companies. Through Lazaridis ScaleUp, selected companies and their teams will receive the expert support they need to succeed at a global level — at no cost and giving up no equity.

“Scale-ups are a major source of new jobs — jobs Canada needs to get the economy back on track,” said Kim Morouney, managing director of the Lazaridis Institute. “Lazaridis ScaleUp provides Canada’s leading entrepreneurs customized support to achieve exponential growth. We match founders and their teams with experts who bring real value: men and women who have architected and led the success of companies like Shopify, LinkedIn, Apple, Nest, the Fogarty Institute, the Gap, PointClickCare and many more. The right mentors help companies target opportunities and avoid costly mistakes.”

Paul Kruszewski, founder and CEO of wrnch in Montreal, credits Lazaridis mentors with the company’s recent successes. “The workshops are excellent and very helpful to address the challenges we face, but the mentorship is what’s incredible. I can sincerely say that without the program, we would not be where we are today.”

In addition to mentorship, members of the Lazaridis Expert Network share their knowledge and experience in intensive workshops designed to help cohort companies transform themselves from startups built around a founder to businesses built on scalable and repeatable processes. Lazaridis peer networks span the country, connecting founders with founders, bringing together sales executives, bringing together product people — and in the process strengthening Canada’s tech ecosystem from coast to coast.

“I’ve been blown away throughout the entire program,” said Sachit Harish, co-founder and chief financial officer of Flosonics Medical. “We came away from every workshop and mentor session with a laundry list of operational improvements and strategic lessons we could apply immediately. I don’t know where else we could have gained this much new and valuable knowledge.”

Lazaridis ScaleUp has worked with a broad range of tech and tech-enabled companies — including from fintech, agtech, medtech, software as a service and hardware — in industries from tourism, media, entertainment and retail to advertising, food and pharmaceuticals. Artificial intelligence and cleantech are more prevalent among the program’s cohort companies and more promising than ever before. Platforms that power the sharing economy are scaling up and, in the process, shaking up traditional business models. The founders and executive teams behind these innovative companies are also increasingly diverse.

“Wherever you are in Canada, you’re hearing about ScaleUp alumni,” said Morouney. “Companies like Jane Software and Terramera in B.C.; Symend and Questor in Calgary; Vendasta, 7shifts and TinyEye in Saskatoon; wrnch and Noviflow in Montreal; RVezy and Tehama in Ottawa; Validere, Maple, Vive, StackAdapt and Nanoleaf in Toronto; Diva, Dozr and O2 in Kitchener; QRA in Halifax; Mysa in St. John’s — the list goes on. Our 60 companies have raised nearly $900 million since 2017.”

Lazaridis ScaleUp does not take equity; the program is free to Canadian companies. All costs are covered by the institute, through the generosity of Mike Lazaridis.

The next Lazaridis ScaleUp cohort runs from November 2021 through October 2022. Applications open June 2 and close Aug. 2. ScaleUp sessions are currently virtual and will remain so until January 2022, after which the institute hopes to return to in-person sessions and events.

The Lazaridis ScaleUp Program is sponsored by Borden Ladner Gervais, Boast.AI and Deloitte.

For more information, please sign up for sessions with ScaleUp experts and mentors.

Ready to apply? Visit applytoscaleup.com.

About the Lazaridis Institute

Housed in the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Canada, the Lazaridis Institute combines scholarly research, real-world market analysis and industry best practices to identify obstacles to global competitiveness and optimize the management of high-growth technology companies.