AVIN Waterloo Ventures at Communitech Announces Next Cohort of Startups

Ten companies will receive up to $50,000 each for eligible costs related to autonomous vehicles or HD mapping technologies

KITCHENER, Ontario--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AVIN Waterloo Ventures at Communitech has named 10 companies to its second cohort, each of which will receive investment and mentorship as they work on autonomous vehicle technology and connected transportation solutions.

The Autonomous Vehicle Innovation Network (AVIN) is a program offered by the Province of Ontario, and includes six regional technology development sites in Durham, Hamilton, Ottawa, Southwestern Ontario, Toronto, and Waterloo. The AVIN Waterloo Ventures Fund is offered through the Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE), and includes partners such as Communitech, University of Waterloo’s Centre for Automotive Research, and the Waterloo Economic Development Corporation.

Each participating startup will receive up to $50,000 for eligible product development costs. Companies must use the funding to develop or demonstrate a viable working prototype or make product or service improvements that generate more sales and greater market traction. Companies will also get access to mentors with expertise in areas like spatial analytics, HD mapping, data science, data strategy, and data engineering, as well as a data concierge to help companies connect with external sources of data and other resources.

Startups in the second cohort are:

• AirMatrix
• ApoSys Technologies
• EastSleepRide
• Ecosystem Informatics
• Gatik
• GeoMateScaffold AI
• GGI Inc
• IRIS R&D Group
• Scaffold AI
• Zown

Upon completion of the program, startups will be eligible to receive a referral to a demonstration project or matchmaking event with corporate partners, through the AVIN Demo Zone.

Requests for information on the program’s third cohort are currently open and available on Communitech.ca.

About Communitech

Communitech was founded in 1997 by a group of entrepreneurs committed to making Waterloo Region a global innovation leader. At the time it was crazy talk, but somehow this community managed to pull it off. Today, Communitech is a public-private innovation hub that supports a community of more than 1,400 companies — from startups to scale-ups to large global players.

Communitech helps tech companies start, grow and succeed in three distinct ways.

• Communitech is a place – the centre of gravity for entrepreneurs and innovators. A clubhouse for building cool tech and great companies.
• Communitech delivers programs – helping companies at all stages with access to capital, customers and talent. We are here to help them grow and innovate.
• Communitech partners in building a world-leading ecosystem – making sure we have all the ingredients (and the brand) to help companies go from a small startup to a global giant.