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District 3 Innovation Centre

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District 3 Innovation Centre
IndustryStartup accelerator, education
Founded2013; 11 years ago (2013)
FounderXavier-Henri Hervé, Sydney Swaine, Charles Gedeon, Ali Tahouni
Headquarters
Montréal, Québec
,
Canada
Number of locations
2 spaces (2016)
Key people
Xavier-Henri Hervé, Noor El Bawab
Websitewww.d3center.ca

District 3 is a startup accelerator and entrepreneurial community located within Concordia University in downtown Montréal.[1][2] The 3 in the name stands for D3's founding principles: innovation, collaboration and entrepreneurship.[3] In 2016, District 3 was awarded "Startup Canada Entrepreneur Support Award" for the Quebec region. [4]

History

In 2012, before District 3 opened, founder Xavier Hervé was in talks with the Dean of Engineering at Concordia University who introduced him to the initial four co-founding students: Sydney Swaine, Charles Gedeon, Ali Tahouni, and Adam Castonguay.[5] D3 opened officially in spring 2013 on the 7th floor of Concordia University's EV Building.[3]

A little more than two years after its official opening, in September 2015, D3 relocated to a space on the 6th floor of the Faubourg building following a grant of $1 million from André Desmarais and France Chrétien Desmarais.[6][7]

On July 11, 2017, Concordia University announced that D3 will be part of a $52.7 million infrastructure project to expand the university.[8]

Services and programs

Startup programs

District 3 has hosted 386 startups to date.[when?][9] D3 assists entrepreneurs by providing them with services ranging from coaching to fundraising, as well as free space that the startups can work out of throughout the duration of the programs.[9][10]

The 'Launch' program for early startups runs 12–24 weeks long depending on the amount of development the startup. The program is aimed at helping startups validate their business idea.[9] The 'Grow' program for more mature startups can run up to 48 weeks and provides more personalized coaching services [11], as well as assisting high potential startups with finding funding.[12]

All District 3's programs do not take any equity or fees from the startups and the intellectual property always remains with the startup. [11]

Residencies

The D3 Residencies help connect students and professionals with mandates from external companies, and trains them to accomplish the mandate within a limited amount of time.[13] The 'Innovation Projects', which were the first iteration of the D3 Residency, offered students three-month internships for them to develop their careers and provide solutions to external companies problems.[10] In summer 2017, 25 Concordia University students were hosted in the D3 space to work on mandates from six external mandators as well as the projects from the FormFintech competition.[14]

Spaces

District 3's main location is on the 6th floor of the Faubourg building and it hosts several startups, facilities, such as a makerspace,[6] and events aimed at creating connections between members from different industry sectors.[15] Startups use the D3 space during their startup programs, while many other people use it to make prototypes, get mentorship, and have a co-working space located within a university.[16]

Leading up to the $52.7 million announcement by Concordia University to expand the spaces available for entrepreneurs and researchers,[8] D3 announced that it is hosting a 'Biolab'[17] that will be Montréal's only freely open wetlab that is open to entrepreneurial research.[18]

Partnerships and events

Montreal Demo Day

On June 9, 2016, District 3 partnered InnoCité MTL, TandemLaunch, Founder Institute, Centech and FounderFuel to host Montréal's first event with all the city's incubators present.[19][20]

IBM Watson AI XPrize

In January 2016, District 3 started hosting teams for the IBM Watson AI XPrize competition as part of a partnership, an initiative led by Sydney Swaine.[21][22] D3 took on 12 local teams in Montréal to tackle subjects ranging from health care to security and structural integrity.[23]

Singularity University

In 2017, D3 became the official community partner of Singularity University in Montréal,ref>"Over 6000 Canadians From Coast to Coast to Join in SingularityU Canada Summit Experience". markets.businessinsider.com. Business Insider. Retrieved 11 October 2017.</ref>[24] hosting the official satellite event on October 11–12, 2017.[25]

References

  1. ^ "About Us". About Us. District 3. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  2. ^ OECD (2017). City of Talent Montreal: An Action Plan for Boosting Employment, Innovation, and Skills. Paris: OECD Publishing. p. 67. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  3. ^ a b Miall, Laurence. "'District 3 is a call to action'". Concordia University. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  4. ^ "2016 Startup Canada Award Winners – Quebec". Startup Canada Awards. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  5. ^ Leung, Vivien. "A One-Up for Start-Ups". The Link – Concordia’s Independent Newspaper Since 1980. The Link Publication Society Inc. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  6. ^ a b Desjardins, Sylvain-Jacques. "District 3 receives $1M startup gift, christens new collaborative space". Concordia University. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  7. ^ "Concordia's innovation centre gets $1-million boost". Montreal Gazette. 28 September 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  8. ^ a b Bryan-Baynes, Elysia (July 11, 2017). "$52.7 million for innovation hub at Concordia University". Global News. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  9. ^ a b c "Launch – District 3 Innovation Center". d3center.ca.
  10. ^ a b "District 3 Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship". Concordia University. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  11. ^ a b "Grow – District 3 Innovation Center". d3center.ca. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  12. ^ "The startup challenge: Raising money to make dreams become reality". Montreal Gazette. 20 May 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  13. ^ "Residency – District 3 Innovation Center". d3center.ca.
  14. ^ "25 Concordia students embark on 'life-changing' internships at District 3". Concordia University. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  15. ^ "MTL NewTech hopes Demo Nights will help entrepreneurs and researchers work together". BetaKit. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  16. ^ "Startup City: Recalibrating '9-to-5'". Montreal Gazette. 24 November 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  17. ^ "Biolab – District 3 Innovation Center". d3center.ca. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  18. ^ "District 3's Biolab brings new ideas from concept to market". Concordia University. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  19. ^ "Montreal Demo Day 2016 a historic first for the city". Montreal in Technology. 8 June 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  20. ^ "Concordia's District 3 is helping to build one of the world's smartest cities". Concordia University. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  21. ^ Czikk, Joseph (28 October 2016). "District 3 brass on IBM Watson AI XPrize: rise up, Montréalers". Montreal in Technology. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  22. ^ "Regional Partners & Ambassadors". IBM Watson A.I. XPRIZE. 3 August 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  23. ^ "Concordia's District 3 backs 12 teams for the IBM Watson AI XPRIZE". Concordia University. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  24. ^ "SingularityU Canada Summit - Partners/Sponsors 11/12 October 2017". SingularityU Canada. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  25. ^ "SingularityU hopes to attract 6,000 Canadians through satellite events". BetaKit. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
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