Governor General of Canada Officially Opens Canadian Led Accelerator in India

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MUMBAI, Friday, February 28, 2014 —Governor General of Canada, David Johnston, officially opened a joint venture between Simon Fraser University, Ryerson Futures Inc (RFI), Ryerson University of Toronto, and the Bombay Stock Exchange Institute Ltd; (BIL).

The BIL-Ryerson DMZ India, the new India-based incubator, will assist capitalists to fast-track their startups and connect with investors, customers, and mentors. It is located at the Bombay Stock Exchange Institute and is built upon Ryerson’s model for its successful Digital Media Zone incubator in Toronto. The collaboration between BIL, Ryerson and RFI lays the groundwork to help young entrepreneurs expand into both the Indian and Canadian markets and also touches on a broad spectrum of areas in the domain of entrepreneurship development and professional development education.

“The very first Ryerson international fellowships for brilliant young entrepreneurs were announced here in India in 2011,” said Sheldon Levy, president of Ryerson University. “We are honored to welcome the Governor General of Canada to the BIL-Ryerson DMZ India, and proud to grow our partnership with India and our colleagues from Simon Fraser University in the service of the global economy.”

Speaking about the development, Ambarish Datta, CEO of BIL, said “India will be one of the youngest nations in the world by 2020 and this changing demographic condition will mean that we need to gear up to provide employment to a large number of youth. We believe that creating skilled entrepreneurs will be the most effective means of engaging youth and providing gainful employment not only to the youth who pursue the path of entrepreneurship, but also to hundreds of youth they will in turn employ. We are confident that this incubator setup by BIL and Ryerson will help great ideas to be nurtured from their very source and built into the organizations of the future that will not only provide employment for our youth but also build products and solutions that put India on the global map of innovation.”

The BIL-Ryerson DMZ India is built on a unique model developed at Ryerson University that has attracted international attention. The Digital Media Zone at Ryerson University (DMZ) is one of Canada’s multidisciplinary co-working spaces and largest incubators for young entrepreneurs. Instilled with the resources and energy of downtown Toronto, this hub of digital media commercialization, collaboration, and innovation is home to both startups and industry solution-providers. By creating a unique ecosystem of educational and entrepreneurship, now the DMZ is in a leading position. Emerging leader’s fast-track their product launches and grow their companies in this supportive community by connecting with each other, customers, and mentors. Since it’s opening in April 2010, the DMZ has boosted up Canada’s digital economy by accelerating and incubating 126 startups and fostering nearly 1,000 jobs.

Ryerson Futures Inc. is a commercial entity wholly owned by Ryerson University to assist early stage technology companies as they grow and scale their businesses. RFI has raised a venture fund and offers customer connections, business services, and seed financing to select startups in exchange for an equity stake. RFI also works with corporate clients to assemble teams of innovators to pilot, prototype, or research solutions to industry problems. Ryerson Futures is helping drive Canada’s innovation economy at home, and around the world.

Offering more than 100 undergraduate and graduate courses, Ryerson University is Canada’s leading and innovative university, which teaches career-oriented education and clearly on the move. With a long standing commitment to engaging its community and a mission to serve societal need. Culturally inclusive and diverse and distinctly urban, the university hosts more than 38,000 students, including 2,300 master’s and PhD students, nearly 2,700 faculty and staff, and more than 155,000 alumni worldwide. Research at Ryerson is on a path to growth and success: externally funded research has doubled in the past four years.