Flexible support for
those solving the
world’s greatest
challenges.
Who we are
Founded by the University of Waterloo, Velocity equips and guides founders to build companies that scale at the earliest stages of business building.
Our mission is to create the conditions for founders to maximize their growth. We have 14 years of successes to lean on.
Learn more about our companiesVelocity by the numbers
$4.3B
in funding raised by Velocity companies to date
5,000+
jobs created by Velocity alumni companies
400+
companies incubated since 2008
Full-stack resources for early-stage founders and students
Since 2008, Velocity has worked to understand the needs of founders during the riskiest and earliest time of business building. Finding connections, practical and authentic business expertise, product development know-how, space to build a team and product, and risk-tolerant capital can be accessed at Velocity.
Learn more about our programs Learn more about the Velocity Fund
Flexibility
Personalized business development and product development support, available when you need it. With in-house expertise and facilities at Velocity, and through the University of Waterloo, founders productize technologies faster and with less capital.
Velocity is one of the only place where founders can access resources to build a company AND build a product.
Learn more about full-time founder facilities Learn more about Student facilities
Betting on industry-shaking technologies
Join a supportive community of founders working to change the world. At Velocity, we encourage cross-pollination between founders no matter the type of technology business they are building. Velocity supports startups in any industry and founders from all backgrounds. We support founders from Waterloo and founders excited to connect to Waterloo through Velocity.
Full-time founders – Apply to VelocityOur heritage and strength
Founded by Canada’s most innovative university
The University of Waterloo is Canada’s most innovative university. It was founded by business leaders who believed that a university could educate and inspire its students to solve the most daunting challenges in our world. Velocity is a product of that vision, with Velocity starting as a “dorm-cubator”. Currently, more than 80% of Velocity founders have ties to the University of Waterloo.
Learn more about our student programs
Located at the
heart of Canada’s Innovation District
Velocity is co-located at the University of Waterloo and in Kitchener-Waterloo’s Tannery building. In 2023, Velocity will move to our new headquarters: the Innovation Arena, in Downtown Kitchener.
This 90,000 square-foot refurbished warehouse is close to the University of Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy, the Waterloo Regional Campus of McMaster University’s DeGroote School of Medicine and Communitech.
The Innovation Arena is also close to dozens of Velocity alumni scaling within 5 km, including Faire, Vidyard, Nicoya, Kenota, ApplyBoard and other notable tech companies like Google, Shopify, D2L, Axonify etc.
Photo credit: Tony (Communitech)
Building the next generation of entrepreneurs
Since our start in the Waterloo dorms, Velocity supports innovative students on campus. Last year, Velocity’s on-campus programs (including Velocity $5K, Problem Lab, and Zero) engaged with over 2,000 entrepreneurial students, building a strong pipeline of future founders for the Velocity Incubator and Fund, for the Waterloo tech ecosystem, and for Canada.
Learn more about our student programs Invest in Velocity companies Support Velocity