Mabel’s acquisition a great sign for the region

Due to website upgrades happening last week, I was late to the game posting one of the bigger pieces of tech news to happen in Hamilton: Mabel’s Labels was acquired for $12 million.

It’s a big deal.

Why?

Startup exits (acquisitions, IPOs), along with financing, are one of the key ways startup ecosystems are measured.

For example this Kauffman Foundation report on “Measuring an Entprenerial Ecosystem: “In some places, the desired outcome is simply more: more entrepreneurs, more companies, and more jobs. For other cities, the only thing that matters is the “exit”—initial public offerings and acquisitions.“

Or this TechVibes article: “Canada’s startup ecosystem tends to measure success with financings and acquisitions. Since Angel and VC financings often go unreported, it’s easier to track the state of the Canadian Startup space on acquisitions and exits.”

Acquisitions show that “it can be done” in a region, acting as a signal to the outside world (investors, founders, talent), and overtime enough acquisitions will create groups of people able to invest in and advise the next wave of startups.

Hopefully the Mabel’s Labels acquisition is the start of many more to come in the future.