Waterloo investor gives $1M to start-up fund
by Canadian Manufacturing.com Staff
The most recent start-ups to receive funding from Velocity fund include LightBot, MetricWire, PiinPoint, and uMentioned
WATERLOO, Ont.—Entrepreneur and angel investor Mike Stork donated $1 million to Velocity, an entrepreneur incubator program at the University of Waterloo.
Stork, who was named “angel of the year” in 2013 by Golden Triangle Angelnet is a member of Waterloo’s Board of Governors and an active volunteer for Velocity. He has been active in the Waterloo Region business community for more than 30 years and has played a role in a number of startups.
“The University of Waterloo has adopted an unconventional approach to entrepreneurship that I strongly support,” said Stork. “Velocity is one of the most exciting and important elements of the University’s vision for entrepreneurship and it’s produced businesses that Waterloo Region can be proud of.”
The Velocity Fund has awarded more than $750,000 in grants since its inception in 2011. It was first established in 2011 following another $1 million donation from Ted Livingston, former Velocity resident and founder of Kik, a Waterloo based smartphone app developer. The competitions take place three times a year. Velocity takes no intellectual property rights or equity in return.
The most recent startups to receive funding include LightBot, MetricWire, PiinPoint, and uMentioned.
The Spring 2014 Velocity Fund Finals will be held on Thursday, March 27.
