Velocity executive director to step down
Under Adrien Côté’s leadership, Velocity soared to new heights. After expanding the University of Waterloo’s internationally recognized startup incubator to include a dedicated team and resources for student experiential entrepreneurship learning, more than 1,300 students take part in its program each year. That number translates into 200 active student teams today — ten times the number engaged five years ago who now participate in Velocity’s distinctive Cornerstone sprint to validate business opportunities.
To steer Velocity effectively, a visionary leader has always been essential — someone who can bridge the University and the startup ecosystem. As Velocity continues its evolution, Côté (BSc '99) will be stepping down from his role to take on a new professional opportunity. Karim Karim, the associate vice-president of Commercialization and Entrepreneurship at Waterloo and a professor of electrical and computer engineering, will handle Velocity’s executive director duties on an interim basis.
“Adrien Côté has been instrumental in driving the success of Velocity. As executive director, he has made significant strides in advancing innovation and fostering a thriving entrepreneurial community. Waterloo is grateful for his invaluable contributions. From the opening of the Innovation Arena to the development of students in their entrepreneurial ambitions to providing wisdom to the Waterloo community as a whole,” says Charmaine Dean, vice-president, Research and International.
Côté has spearheaded Velocity’s momentum alongside a team that includes many former Velocity founders and staff recruited from industry. He navigated Velocity through the global pandemic and enabled strategy to accelerate health-tech and other deep-tech commercialization by startups based at the Velocity incubator.
"While most of the world had to shut down, it was our job as problem solvers to ensure that essential technical work to develop medical technologies and more continued. We chose to focus on sustaining the opportunities we could seize and aimed to bring people in person as soon as we could,” Côté says.
In addition to growing Velocity’s on-campus network, a significant milestone was achieved in 2023 when Waterloo became the first Canadian post-secondary institution to invest from its endowment into a venture capital fund launched by its affiliated startup incubator.
The 2024 incubator expansion is another of Velocity’s most recent accomplishments, with Côté instrumental in securing $25 million in funding to support Velocity programming and the development of the University’s new commercialization facility called the Innovation Arena — a purpose-built facility to fast-track founders’ commercialization efforts. Velocity started 2025 with more pre-seed companies building than ever before.
The student-first and founder-first approach is a philosophy that continues to be instrumental in attracting high-caliber startups and fostering a supportive environment for innovation, helping Velocity grow into a top university-linked entrepreneurship ecosystem.
“It’s been a privilege to support the next generation of entrepreneurs who will change the world,” Côté says.
