Lazaridis Institute launches 15-city Canadian tour to assess tech companies readiness to scale

WATERLOO, ON, May 22, 2018 /CNW/ - The Lazaridis Institute at Wilfrid Laurier University is investing in Canadian technology through its flagship Lazaridis Scale-Up Program. The Institute has collaborated with scaling experts to provide an opportunity for tech companies in 15 cities across Canada to evaluate their potential to scale. Tech leaders, policy-makers, and media all point to the fact that scale-ups account for less than five per cent of Canadian companies and yet create more than 50 per cent of all new jobs. The Lazaridis Institute investment in the tech sector is an investment in Canada's future.   

The Lazaridis Scale-Up Program, now in its third year, is designed to help founders of tech companies overcome the challenges they face as they scale their businesses for global competition. The program addresses constraints to growth with a customized approach, heavily oriented toward execution. After just one year, 100 per cent of the first cohort of 10 companies reported increased revenues; 90 per cent launched a new product or service, increased exports, and received external financing.

"Each year the Lazaridis Scale-Up Program brings together 10 of Canada's most promising tech companies to work with global experts, grow their networks and prepare for their next round of financing," said Kim Morouney, managing director, Lazaridis Institute.

From June 5 to 27, starting in Halifax, the Lazaridis Institute will travel to 15 Canadian cities, hosting conversations focused on the growth factors that have the biggest and most immediate impact on scaling. In partnership with tech hubs across the nation, the Institute will feature Chris Yeh, one of the originators of the Blitzscaling approach taught at Stanford. The tour will introduce business models that support lightning-fast growth, shifts in strategy needed at each level of scale, and the management challenges that arise as a tech company grows.

In addition to hearing from Yeh on the Blizscaling approach, tech companies will learn about the open database of Canadian startups and investors launched by Toronto-based Hockeystick, funded in part by the Lazaridis Institute. The free platform will help resource-strapped startups and scale-ups gain international profile, and more efficiently access support programs and funding opportunities. The platform will also make it easier for accelerators to identify startups that meet their program parameters, and will provide provincial and federal governments with the requisite impact metrics.  

"This tour is an opportunity to connect with tech ecosystems across the nation. We want to share our research, invite companies to take advantage of this new data platform, and learn how we can all work together to scale Canada's tech companies," says Morouney. "Our goal is to uncover the resources and foster the talent tech companies need to grow—and to stay here in Canada."

As the Lazaridis Institute plays its part in building a national network of tech entrepreneurs, they will be looking to meet the most promising growth-stage companies across Canada for the third cohort of Lazaridis Scale-Up Program. Applications open on May 22 and close July 27.

"Canadian tech, Canadian talent. The time is right for Canadian tech entrepreneurs to take the world stage.  We're doing what we can to make that happen," concludes Morouney.

Details
Applications for the third cohort of the Lazaridis Scale-Up Program open May 22, and close on July 27.

We invite you to join us across the country at one of the tour dates near you:

Date	City
Tuesday, June 5	Halifax
Wednesday, June 6	St. John's
Thursday, June 7	Moncton
Monday, June 11	Winnipeg
Tuesday, June 12	Saskatoon
Wednesday, June 13	Calgary
Thursday, June 14	Edmonton
Monday, June 18	Ottawa
Tuesday, June 19	Waterloo
Wednesday, June 20	Toronto
Tuesday, June 26	Victoria
Wednesday, June 27	Vancouver
Wednesday, July 4	Montreal
Thursday, July 5	Quebec City
TBD	Charlottetown

About the Lazaridis Scale-Up Program

As part of the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics at Wilfrid Laurier University, the Institute is creating direct links between international research, best practices in global scaling, and curriculum to prepare the next generation of business leaders to face tomorrow's challenges in the tech industry.

The Lazaridis Scale-Up Program is designed to help Canada's most promising growth-stage tech companies build their businesses to globally competitive size. Program facilitators represent some of the world's most influential and innovative companies (including Shopify, Survey Monkey and Oracle), who bring their knowledge and experience to bear in intensive two-day workshops focusing on the challenges cohort companies are facing in real time.  Before the Scale-Up Program year is finished, companies see significant changes and measurable progress, and have either prepared for or received their next round of funding. lazaridisinstitute.ca

About Chris Yeh
Chris Yeh is a general partner at Wasabi Ventures Global. He is also a general partner at the Women's Startup Lab Fund, helping great women entrepreneurs change the world. Chris writes about a broad range of topics, focusing on entrepreneurship and startups. Along with friends Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha, Chris co-authored the New York Times best-seller "The Alliance: Managing Talent in the Networked Age." His work has appeared in publications such as Harvard Business Review and TechCruch. Chris earned two bachelor's degrees with distinction from Stanford University before completing his MBA at Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar. chrisyeh.com

About Hockeystick
We help companies achieve hockeystick growth using data. Hockeystick provides tools for companies, investors and governments to leverage data to drive greater performance and better returns in the private market. Combining open data with proprietary data sets, Hockeystick is the only platform where data is owned and controlled by users. Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Hockeystick serves hundreds of funds and over 12,000 companies worldwide. www.hockeystick.co

SOURCE The Lazaridis Institute

Richia McCutcheon, Marketing & Communications, Lazaridis Institute for the Management of Technology Enterprises, 519.884.0710 x2822 or [email protected]; Kevin Crowley, Director Communications & Public Affairs, Wilfrid Laurier University, 519.884.0710 x3070 or [email protected]