Catalyst137 Technology Hub Adds Two Organizations to Provide Trade, Research Guidance

Export Development Canada and the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program will provide services to fast-growing companies

KITCHENER, Ontario--()--Export Development Canada (EDC) and the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP) are the latest organizations to join Catalyst137, the new hardware technology hub that is quickly filling with a variety of fast-growing companies and organizations that support them.

EDC and NRC IRAP join the previously announced Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) as government agencies or crown corporations that will provide critical services to entrepreneurs in the Kitchener-Waterloo area, not just those at Catalyst137.

The new office for EDC, which helps Canadian companies sell and invest abroad, will serve as a trade hub for all firms in the Waterloo Region that are interested in doing business on a global level. The EDC office at Catalyst137 will include a collaborative space for companies to pursue international objectives through access to trade knowledge, current information on global opportunities and sharing of resources across the Ontario trade ecosystem.

“At EDC, we recognize that exporting is a journey and that companies have different needs at different stages along that journey,” said Stephen Callaghan, vice president of EDC’s Ontario Region. “By opening an office in Catalyst137, we will have a unique opportunity to help create a trade hub for the region, from the ground up. Trade is a team sport, and having other partners so close by means that Canadian companies looking to go, grow and succeed internationally will have more support than ever before.”

The NRC IRAP office will provide business and technology advisory services and guidance to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the region to help them build their innovation capacity and successfully take their ideas to market.

Anchor tenant Miovision moved in earlier this fall, and others are opening their offices soon. Previously announced tenants include BDC, Sigmapoint Technologies, Blakes Law Firm and PCC Integrate. Graffiti, the group behind Kitchener’s popular The Berlin restaurant, is also opening a restaurant, bakery, coffee roaster, microbrewery and food market in the 475,000-square-foot building.

Co-developers Osmington Inc., Miovision CEO Kurtis McBride, and Frank Voisin, president of the real estate development firm Voisin Capital, created Catalyst137 to support innovation in the Kitchener-Waterloo community and make it easy for Internet of Things companies to have the resources they need to scale up. The new space gives hardware companies from all over the world a place for centralized investment, consulting, manufacturing, engineering, government relations and other services to be consolidated in one place. Companies will have access to loading bays and a shared manufacturing space featuring 3D printers, laser cutters, metalworking equipment and more.

About Catalyst137

Catalyst137 is scheduled to open in 2018 on Glasgow Street along the Iron Horse Trail. The building is undergoing extensive renovations to convert it to a state-of-the-art workspace. In addition to office space, it will feature hundreds of sensors to make the building and surrounding streetscape hackable so that Catalyst137 can act as both a showcase of the region’s technical ingenuity and a sandbox for new innovation. By allowing Catalyst137 members to experiment with, and add to, the building’s IoT network, the hub will help foster new ideas and support emerging technology. www.catalyst-137.com

Contacts

For Catalyst137
Brad Hem, 281-543-0669
brad@thedialoglab.com

Contacts

For Catalyst137
Brad Hem, 281-543-0669
brad@thedialoglab.com