FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TORONTO, APRIL 28, 2015 – Startup Canada and TELUS are joining forces to strengthen Toronto’s startup community and make Toronto a Canadian city of choice for entrepreneurs to start and scale their businesses. Today the organizations launched Startup Toronto – an entrepreneur-led community that will help new businesses in the Greater Toronto Area accelerate their growth by providing access to resources, mentorship programs, education and support through a hyper-connected local and national network. Startup Toronto is the newest addition to the Startup Canada Communities network, and will, among other aims, act as a point of entry and resource directory for entrepreneurs to access Toronto’s startup-support ecosystem.
“Toronto is a hotbed of healthy entrepreneurial activity,” said Gabriella Chan, entrepreneur and spokesperson for Startup Toronto. “We already have an incredible talent pool in Toronto, but the support of TELUS and Startup Canada emboldens our community to transform Toronto into a globally recognized destination for startups, scale-ups and investment.”
Throughout the year, Startup Toronto will engage entrepreneurs through regularly organized events including seminars, workshops and networking events to connect entrepreneurs to the startup ecosystem. Once a month, Startup Toronto leaders will convene online with other Startup Canada Community leaders to exchange ideas, discuss mutual challenges and share best practices.
“Communities across the country are recognizing the long-term value of locally integrated and nationally supported entrepreneur networks in fostering entrepreneurial success and revitalizing local economies,” said Victoria Lennox, CEO and Co-Founder of Startup Canada. “Together TELUS and Startup Canada are bolstering Toronto’s startup community by providing access to infrastructure, technology and resources for a unified citywide network that delivers results.”
“Small businesses are the backbone of the Canadian economy and play a critical role in job creation. By working with Startup Canada and investing in Toronto’s small business community, we’re striving to establish a vibrant and sustainable startup network that creates jobs, inspires innovation, attracts investment and makes Toronto one of the great Canadian cities of choice for entrepreneurs,” said Suzanne Trusdale, Vice-President of TELUS Small Business Solutions.
In addition to its sponsorship of Startup Toronto, TELUS also supports entrepreneurs at a national level as an integral member of the Startup Canada Private Sector Leadership Advisory Council. The company is a Platinum Sponsor of the upcoming Startup Canada Awards and a sponsor of monthly #StartupChats on Twitter that engage entrepreneurs and organizations in discussions on the best technology solutions for business.
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For more information, contact:
Kathryn Forrest
Communications & Marketing Manager, Startup Canada
Ryan Bazeley
TELUS Media Relations
About Startup Canada
Startup Canada is a grassroots, entrepreneur-led movement founded in May 2012 that has become the most recognized, energized and active entrepreneurship organization in Canada. Startup Canada’s programs have mentored more than 20,000 Canadians, grown to represent more than 80,000 entrepreneurs, and increased entrepreneurial momentum, wealth and jobs in Canada while promoting Canada’s diversified economy and high quality of life.
Startup Canada is recognized globally as the benchmark for fuelling grassroots entrepreneurship. It has educated the leaders of peer organizations in the United Kingdom, Malaysia, South Korea, South America and the United States.
About TELUS
TELUS (TSX: T, NYSE: TU) is Canada’s fastest-growing national telecommunications company, with $12 billion of annual revenue and 13.7 million customer connections, including 8.1 million wireless subscribers, 3.2 million wireline network access lines, 1.5 million Internet subscribers and 916,000 TELUS TV customers. TELUS provides a wide range of communications products and services, including wireless, data, Internet protocol (IP), voice, television, entertainment and video, and is Canada’s largest healthcare IT provider.
In support of our philosophy to give where we live, TELUS, our team members and retirees have contributed more than $396 million to charitable and not-for-profit organizations and volunteered more than 6 million hours of service to local communities since 2000. Created in 2005 by Executive Chairman Darren Entwistle, TELUS’ 11 community boards across Canada have led the company’s support of grassroots charities and will have contributed $47 million in support of 3,700 local charities organizations by the end of 2014, enriching the lives of more than two million Canadian children and youth. TELUS was honoured to be named the most outstanding philanthropic corporation globally for 2010 by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, becoming the first Canadian company to receive this prestigious international recognition.
As part of its commitment to helping Canadian small businesses, TELUS supports a number of organizations across Canada, including Communitech, INcubes, TechToronto, the Toronto Region Board of Trade, Futurpreneur Canada and the Mompreneur Group, among others. In addition, the company recently launched the fifth annual Small Business Challenge, in partnership with The Globe and Mail, which helps Canadian small businesses overcome their biggest challenges with more than $150,000 in awards.