The following remarks were delivered by Victoria Lennox, CEO and Co-Founder of Startup Canada at the official launch of Startup Toronto on Nov. 16, 2015.
Good evening Startup Torontonians and happy Global Entrepreneurship Week to you all! Thank you for joining us on this very important milestone for the Toronto entrepreneurship community.
I wish to begin by congratulating Gabriella, Craig, and the entire Startup Toronto Volunteer Team and its Advisors, all entrepreneurs and community builders, on their efforts, enthusiasm and unrelenting commitment to making their community and Canada a more connected, inclusive and supportive place for every entrepreneur to thrive. I would also like to thank TELUS for becoming the first adopter and investor into Startup Toronto and for hosting this wonderful gathering this evening. To the entire Team that brought us here tonight, CONGRATULATIONS – this is your night.
Startup Toronto stands on the shoulders of hundreds of volunteers that came before. From our first meetings with MaRS in 2011 before Startup Canada was even ‘a thing’ to the wonderful partnerships that we have enjoyed with DMZ, Centre for Social Innovation, Highline VC and BetaKit – reaching this milestone is an important one for Toronto and for Canada – hats off to you all.
OUR WORK BEGINS NOW! The beginning is the best, but the real test is what follows.
There are more than 2.3 million entrepreneurs and 1.2 million SMEs in Canada. We started Startup Canada 3 years ago as a grassroots, entrepreneur-led effort to bring together those entrepreneurs to create a supportive community, an aligned vision and to increase our collective impact and voice in creating a Canada worthy of future generations. Over the last three years, we have continued to do this, community by community and entrepreneur by entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs are at the heart of Startup Canada and Startup Communities are the vehicles that we use to serve entrepreneurs. We are thrilled to bring Startup Toronto into the National Network!
Our goal is to help to launch and support 100 Startup Communities across Canada by the end of 2017. Today, Startup Toronto becomes the 22nd community in Canada to join the Startup Canada network of Communities. On behalf of Startup Prince George, Startup Fredericton, Startup Montreal, Startup Winnipeg and communities across Canada – Welcome Startup Toronto.
For us, we have but 4 rules for Communities to adhere to. Startup Communities:
- MUST be entrepreneur-led;
- MUST be inclusive of every entrepreneur and everyone who wants to be involved;
- MUST support or run regular and meaningful activities that continually connect a community; and,
- MUST have a long term vision and commitment to their community – 25 years .
In a city as vibrant and dynamic as Toronto, with such a world-class ecosystem of support, talent and resources, I have a vision for Startup Toronto.
My vision is a Startup Toronto that is a ….
- cheerleader, advocate and champion of entrepreneurs – they will always put entrepreneurs first;
- feeder and connector onboarding entrepreneurs into the Toronto startup community as entrepreneurs helping entrepreneurs;
- a rallying brand to connect and unite Toronto’s entrepreneurship community across generations, sectors, industries and business stages. We are in this together; and,
- a connector of entrepreneurs to the national Startup Canada community of more than 100,000 entrepreneurs, 20 startup communities and 50 co-working and maker hubs; giving every entrepreneur a voice to decision makers at the municipal, provincial and federal government.
My vision is a Toronto that matches world-class education institutions, innovation and technology with social impact, creative enterprise and overflowing public recognition and support of entrepreneurs. Where institutional support is multiplied by entrepreneurial drive, ambition and activity and the world takes notice.
Although Toronto is not the first major city in Canada to join the network, community building cannot be rushed or orchestrated. It must happen organically and emerge from the bottom up. Toronto, you were worth the wait! Welcome to the Startup Canada Network.
To help you to launch the community on the right foot, I am proud right here and now to announce that Startup Toronto is the first recipient of the Autumn 2015 Startup Communities Investment Fund powered by Intuit Canada, TruShield Insurance and UPS Canada. We are proud to support the development of an interactive map and study of the Startup Toronto community to ensure that your way forward is guided by data and a focus on serving entrepreneurs. The project begins today and will conclude by February 2016 because there is no time to spare in the support of our entrepreneurs.
Today marks the beginning of Global Entrepreneurship Week 2015; a week when the world celebrates and advances the conversation on the new economic order through entrepreneurship – an economic order where citizen capital is unleashed through crowdfunding and the sharing economy and where governments don’t just get out of the way – they work in partnership with entrepreneurs to create the conditions for growth and impact. My wish is to position Canada as a beacon of entrepreneurship globally – to become the best place in the world for entrepreneurs to startup, build, grow and anchor a business – a nation renowned for advancing humanity through social innovation and entrepreneurship.
It takes a community to support a startup, but it takes a nation working together to Startup Canada.
My call to action to everyone in the room is to take off your organization hats, to open your hearts and to get in front, stand beside, get behind or get out of the way of this important Startup Toronto movement.
To Gabriella, Craig, and the Team, we must work with urgency, a commitment to inclusivity and with a long-term vision of the Toronto that we want coupled with relentless perseverance and collaboration to achieve that vision.
Thank you and welcome to Startup Toronto.
Photo: Domenic Gareri