Velocity’s Next Steps

When I became Director of Velocity Incubator, I shared a bold north star: by 2022, Velocity will be recognized as North America’s most successful pre-seed incubator. At this moment I can confidently say that we are on that trajectory, and it would not have been possible without the tireless efforts of our determined founders, our incredible team, and our relentless supporters within the University of Waterloo.

In a year where everything around us was turbulent, we kept pushing forward as a community. At an Incubator level, early-stage Velocity teams keep being recognized for their strength:

• 18 of 19 new Velocity Fund and Velocity HealthTech Fund investments have secured follow on investment
• 4 companies were accepted into Y Combinator over the last 14 months (out of 40 total over Velocity’s history)
• 2 companies were accepted into IndieBio in the last 12 months (out of 6 total over Velocity’s history)
• 2 Velocity founders were named Thiel Fellows in 2021 (out of 9 total over Velocity’s history)

At a broader scale, Velocity alumni continue to showcase why they are building some of the most significant companies in the world:

• Velocity companies have raised >$2.4B, have enterprise values >$15B USD, and have created >5K jobs
• Velocity companies, both current and alumni, received funding from Tier 1 venture capital groups, such as Sequoia Capital, Founders Fund, Khosla Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Bessemer Venture Partners, DCVC, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Index Ventures, Mayfield Fund, 2048, OS Fund, Fifty Years Fund, Craft Ventures, Y-Combinator, IndieBio, Garage Capital, and Golden Ventures

Based on the countless efforts of not just our current Velocity team, but also the many people who have come before us, Velocity is primed to continue on its trajectory, and we are actively looking for our next Director of Velocity Incubator to continue that mission. This is an exciting opportunity to lead one of the world’s most impactful entrepreneurship support systems to even greater heights. If you are passionate about making both an economic and social impact, and you have experience building successful startups, then I encourage you to apply for what will be one of the best experiences you could imagine.

As for me, I will be stepping down from the Director role in the coming weeks, but I will not be going far. I will be moving into Velocity as a resident as my co-founder and I embark on a new journey. As they say, you can remove the entrepreneur from the startup, but you cannot remove the startup from the entrepreneur.

The last 2 years have been some of the most valuable and formative of my life. While at Velocity, I have been lucky to be trusted and challenged by so many smart, kind, and resilient people, and I have loved fighting beside you all. Genuinely, thank you for the friendships, memories, and laughs.

Now, let’s keep driving forward to accomplish all of those things that nobody thought we could.

John