Innovation Factory’s new collaborative space to become Hamilton’s “one-stop shop for innovation”

Innovation Factory, Hamilton’s business accelerator, recently debuted their future-ready collaborative hub.  Co-located with The Forge, a business incubator serving McMaster University and the Hamilton region, the space will serve as Hamilton’s one-stop shop for innovation by providing entrepreneurs a space to access mentorship, skill-building workshops, meeting rooms, office space, resources, and advanced equipment to design and build innovative new products.

The new space, located at McMaster Innovation Park, was made possible through a $1.2M investment from FedDev Ontario, the Federal Economic Agency for Southern Ontario to McMaster University.

The space is home to Innovation Factory’s Centre for Integrated Transportation and Mobility (CITM), part of Ontario’s Autonomous Vehicle Innovation Network (AVIN).  CITM helps Ontario-based companies accelerate the development of connected and autonomous, multi-modal and integrated mobility technology solutions and business models.

The expansion includes the launch CITM’s Smart City Lab, comprised of a data centre and LTE and 5G test environments, which will allow companies to develop and test multi-modal, integrated mobility, connected and autonomous vehicle technologies and explore how these technologies will co-exist with and enable other Smart City technologies.

“Autonomous vehicles are going to change society beyond the way that we drive,” says David Carter, executive director of Innovation Factory.  “We’re encouraging startups to think about health, entertainment and other opportunities beyond autonomous vehicles in a market that is still on its way.”

Carter says that CITM is here to find that next generation of technology that enables smart goods, movement and mobility in innovation up to and beyond autonomous vehicles.  “It’s not just about driverless cars,” he says, adding the new facilities and equipment will translate into economic benefits for the region as new jobs and more start-ups are created.

Since opening its doors in 2011, Innovation Factory has assisted over 1,900 local start-ups. As a result of their services, including business advisory support, training, programming, events and strategic connections, Innovation Factory clients have gone on to raise more than $349 million in funding.