Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst, a cybersecurity research centre at Toronto’s Ryerson University, is working in partnership with Ryerson’s business incubator The DMZ, to launch the Catalyst Cyber Accelerator.
The initiative is billed as Canada’s first commercial accelerator specifically designed for scale-up companies in cybersecurity and related fields.
Headquartered in Brampton, Ont., Ryerson says the Catalyst Cyber Accelerator will provide Canadian scale-up companies in cybersecurity and related fields the essential tools they need to grow and succeed nationally and internationally.
The initiative is supported by the federal government, through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), and Rogers Communications Inc., in partnership with the City of Brampton.
Ryerson also notes that Rogers, Royal Bank of Canada, Herjavec Group, Torys LLP, Amazon Web Services and Siemens Canada will join a “Corporates-in-Residence” program and provide guidance and mentorship to companies involved in the program, with other major companies expected to join the program in the coming weeks.
According to Ryerson, scale-ups in the Catalyst Cyber Accelerator will benefit from DMZ’s internationally-recognized accelerator programming, including mentoring on product strategy, marketing, talent acquisition, investment attraction, growing sales and more. They will make connections with DMZ’s network of 300+ investors and also have access to over $500,000 worth of exclusive business services and perks provided by over 60 businesses.
The Catalyst Cyber Accelerator is now accepting applications to its first cohort, which will begin programming in May. Applications will close on March 25, 2020. Over the next two months, Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst and DMZ will host info sessions for cyber-related scale-up companies in cities across Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.
Source: Ryerson University organizations launch cybersecurity accelerator – Canadian Manufacturing