Incubators and Accelerators play a vital role in establishing which technologies will be the next big disruptors. The 10 trillion dollar global building and infrastructure industry has been and is poised for technological disruption. Entrepreneurs looking to introduce a new start-up to the growing list of tech firms will likely seek the support of an incubator and/or accelerator. What are industry leading incubators and accelerators looking for in a tech-startup? How do founders build the best team for their business? What are investors looking for? How to develop the best product-market fit? In this session, we will hear what experienced innovators who operate the industry’s top incubators and accelerators, think about these questions and more.
Chris is the founder and President of TTT Studios, a Digital Innovation Studio working with industry leaders to solve their problems through technology. Through Chris’ leadership TTT has grown to become a powerhouse in the Vancouver tech community. Chris always puts the team first and thus never fails to surround himself with amazingly talented people who create ground-breaking software. Chris is also a member of the Forbes Technology Council, serves as the President of ViDIA, Vancouver’s largest iOS enthusiast group with over 3000 members, and hosts AfternoonT, a podcast where he interview's many of Canada's tech founders and entrepreneurs.
Incubators and Accelerators play a vital role in establishing which technologies will be the next big disruptors. The 10 trillion dollar global building and infrastructure industry has been and is poised for technological disruption. Entrepreneurs looking to introduce a new start-up to the growing list of tech firms will likely seek the support of an incubator and/or accelerator. What are industry leading incubators and accelerators looking for in a tech-startup? How do founders build the best team for their business? What are investors looking for? How to develop the best product-market fit? In this session, we will hear what experienced innovators who operate the industry’s top incubators and accelerators, think about these questions and more.
As an influential and energetic community specialist known for inspiring successful national and international relationships, Lisa builds upon over a decade of cross-sector experience helping organizations commercialize across global markets. Lisa is the VP of Start and Scale at Communitech, an organization based in Kitchener-Waterloo Ontario that helps technology companies start, grow and succeed. Lisa is also a proud Board Member at the Accelerator Centre in Waterloo, Ontario. You can find her LinkedIn profile here. An article from Forbes featuring how she runs her peer mentorship network can be found here. She was also listed as one of the top 80 women and non-binary people in Canada to follow.
Ben leads the Colliers Proptech Accelerator powered by Techstars, a joint initiative by two leading global organizations in real estate and technology. The program is a unique opportunity for property technology companies to rapidly commercialize, scale and fund their business, working closely with Colliers global leadership, the broader real estate industry and our network of highly renowned mentors at Techstars.
Sen Sachi is the Director, Global Startup Pipeline & Community Relations at the DMZ. Previous to this role, Sen was responsible for the development and the execution of DMZ's growth accelerator for seed-stage startups. He joined the DMZ team in 2017.Sen brings with him years of experience and knowledge honed while working with early to mid-stage tech companies at Communitech as Program Manager. During his time with the Kitchener-based tech hub, he played an instrumental role in developing Communitech Rev, its sales program for post-seed stage companies. Previously he worked as an Entrepreneur Advisor at Conrad Business, Entrepreneurship Technology Centre and co-founded an ed-tech startup.Sen holds a Commerce degree, specializing in Global Management from Ryerson University and a master’s degree in Business, Entrepreneurship, and Technology from the University of Waterloo.
Arash is an entrepreneur and innovator who feels fortunate to have enjoyed a remarkable career that has provided opportunities to make significant achievements in the architectural, engineering, construction (AEC), academic and real estate sectors. He is a high-performance executive with interpersonal savvy and a management style that moves easily from vision and strategy, through to implementation and execution.Arash began his early professional journey in real estate where he excelled in marketing and business development, and cultivated a keen interest in engineering. This lead him to the University of Waterloo where he completed his undergrad and Masters Degree in Civil Engineering as well as a PhD in Construction Engineering and Management technologies.Shortly thereafter, he co-founded the Building Innovation Research Centre at University of Toronto where he served as Associate Director. Here, he spearheaded innovative research, partnership development and transformational change amongst key stakeholders in the Canadian construction, government and education sectors.Arash’s experience, educational background and passion for the sector propelled him to co-create his latest venture - AECO Innovation Lab. This organization is poised to revolutionize the adoption of digital technology in both the AEC and real estate Industries as well as in adjacent government agencies. AECO exists to provide research, software and business development services to transform insights into real-world solutions for AEC stakeholders and governments - across the entire value chain.AECO has given Arash the unique opportunity to bring together unrivaled industry experts, research talent and financial resources to co-develop solutions, standards and processes that will enable an industry-wide digital transformation.
