We help tech companies start, grow and succeed.

Why startups matter?

What do they do?

Why should we care?

Why startups matter?

Startup communities

retain talent.

Why startups matter?

Startups create jobs.

Why startups matter?

Startups solve

commercialization

challenges.

Why startups matter?

Startups solve

big-company problems.

Why startups matter?

Startups address

social issues in a way

big companies can’t.

Why startups matter?

Startups make us more

self-reliant as a nation.

Why startups matter?

Startups build

Canada’s brand.

Why startups matter?

Startups make us

proud & give us heroes.

Ingredients to build a strong startup ecosystem

Talent

Culture

Capital

Business Climate

Space, networks & programsmix

well

What we’ve learned in Waterloo Region

now!

It takes a

community

to build a

tech

company –pull together

It must be

founder-led

Back the

science AND

back the

entrepreneur

Support tech

companies at

every stage:

startup,

scale-up,

grown-up

You’ve got

to do it all …

Barn raisers to tech innovators

Not afraid to roll-up

our sleeves

A long heritage of people that

come together for the well-being

of the community.

Street cred counts.

Val O’Donovan

COM DEV

Satellite

Communications

Wes Graham

Watcom

C++ Compilers

Fortran

Frank Tompa

Open Text

Search

Mike Lazaridis

RIM

Smartphones

Arokia Nathan

IGNIS

LED Flat Panels

Eric Migicovsky

Pebble

Wearables

Stephen Lake

Thalmic

Biosensor

Gesture Control

Waterloo Region: home to visionaries

Half a score, and seven years ago

The mission:

• More talent

• Higher profile for tech

• Better support for companies

• Government investment

The transformation

then (1997)

in total revenues

tech firms

employed

in invested venture

capital, private

equity and angel financing

now!

$100M

50

1,800

$7M

2013 total

revenues

tech firms

active startups

new tech jobs

(since `97)

total investment capital in 2013

>$22B

>1,000

641

30,000

>$99M

Our mission

Communitech helps tech companies start, grow

& succeed.

The ecosystem approach

Everyone pulls together

Helping tech companies at every stage

The Communitech Hub

Tech for non-tech

Helping tech companies go global

Company creation & startup growth

now!

114

177

316

478502

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013E

1,585 new startups

Proven track record of growing big tech

enterprise

wireless

software

digital display

high performance

digital imaging

satellite

communications

EdTech & learning

logistics

technology

network policy

$15,384,688,000

8 of Canada’s largest tech companies

started, grew and are headquartered

in Waterloo Region

175

Disclosed combined revenues 2013

CountriesOperating in

Tech multi-nationals that have set up shop here

Running with the big dogs

The World’s Top 20

Startup Ecosystems

1. Silicon Valley2. Tel Aviv3. Los Angeles4. Seattle5. New York City6. Boston7. London8. Toronto9. Vancouver10. Chicago

11. Paris12. Sydney13. Sao Paulo14. Moscow15. Berlin16. Waterloo Region17. Singapore18. Melbourne19. Bangalore20. Santiago

Startup EcosystemReport 2012

What influencers & investors are saying…

“Money is like gasoline during a road trip. You don’t want to run out of gas on your trip, but you’re not doing a tour of gas stations.”

—Tim O’Reilly, Founder O’Reilly Media

“There’s incredible technical talent. The University of Waterloo is mind-blowing. Talent appears to want to stay here, and I think they need more support in this community.”

— David Cohen, TechStars

“Something is going on in Waterloo, because the applications we get from Waterloo students are better than those we get from students of any other university.”

— Paul Graham, Y Combinator

What influencers & investors are saying…

“There are a lot of winners in this room. We’ve already invested in some of the startups we met with this morning.”

--Roger Penske, CEO Penske Corporation with Tom LaSorda, Former CEO Chryslerand Wayne Sales, Former CEO SuperValuand Canadian Tire – IncWell

“The energy level is off the charts. You’ve got a very nice blend of different things in a very dense area that’s well done.”

- Brad Feld, Foundry Group

“To actually see what’s going on here, it’s impressive, and it’s certainly not something I’m going to forget anytime soon.”

- Alexis Ohanian, Reddit

A tale of two cities

We help tech companies start, grow and succeed.