Timelines
2000-2005: Laying the foundations
University of Toronto's first accelerator was founded by the university's non-profit technology transfer office Innovations Foundation (UTIF) in the last moments of the dot-com boom in 2001. Exceler@tor closed and UTIF was rolled back into the university in 2005, after which U of T would not have an active incubator or accelerator program until 2010.
Many of the people engaged with startups and intellectual property on campus during this period were later instrumental in forming the U of T Entrepreneurship community active today. Faculty and staff creating co-curricular accelerator programs and teaching applied entrepreneurship courses commonly drew on their own experiences commercializing research discoveries, starting companies, or working with inventors at startups or established companies.
The information in this section is drawn from interviews with former UTIF employees and U of T faculty and administration, as well as archival research. Special acknowledgement to Tys Klumpenhouwer and the staff at UTARMS, and to the 2013 master's thesis on the history of the Innovations Foundation by Kristjan Sigurdson, which was an invaluable jumping off point. For a full list of references, please visit the exhibit references page.
2006 - 2012: An era of transition
As UTIF moves back into the university, the community expands.
Grassroots departmental initiatives engage student and faculty entrepreneurs around campus. A technology transfer hub with close links to U of T is becoming the focal point for technology entrepreneurship across the region. And as the Great Recession lingers, the Ontario provincial government starts to funnel research dollars into projects with high commercialization potential.
U of T’s commercialization office will recreate itself twice more before the end of this time period, at which point startup accelerators are re-emerging on campus.
2013-2016: Fuelling rapid growth
An influx of government funding draws attention to student entrepreneurship and sparks a period of intense growth at University of Toronto and across the province.
Over the next three years, U of T will see millions in government and sponsorship funding for student entrepreneurship, the creation of five new accelerators and a central entrepreneurship office.
The “innovation” buzzword is everywhere. The University’s 2014-2017 strategic mandate agreement with the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities emphasizes its institutional strength in “Jobs, Innovation and Economic Development” before all others, positioning itself as a leader in the space, “spawning 81 new start-up companies over the past five years” (3).
“U of T considers students to be key to knowledge translation and fostering entrepreneurship is a central institutional priority” and plans to “expand entrepreneurship opportunities for students across its three campuses” (3).
BBCIE rebrands as University of Toronto Entrepreneurship at the start of 2017. Strategic marketing and communications initiatives including a high-profile, week-long showcase raise the profile of entrepreneurship on campus and seeks to build consensus and community amongst a growing number of accelerators.
Over this five-year timespan, three accelerators open and one closes. The Best Institute, once home to startups and accelerators including Impact Centre, will be demolished to make way for a $160 million facility. Underrepresented groups including queer, Black and women entrepreneurs gain more visibility. An institute dedicated to artificial intelligence opens to worldwide media coverage. And a new provincial government ends the innovation funding that fueled the growth of the previous decade.