CEO Jay Krishnan on the Accelerator Centre’s updated brand and renewed focus on their core mission

On January 24, the Accelerator Centre announced the launch of their updated brand and website and the renaming of their core Accelerator Program under a new name—AC:Incubate.

The Accelerator Centre team helps startups refine their product or service to scale across Canada and worldwide. Many of the Waterloo Region’s most well-known startups have spent time building their businesses at the Accelerator Centre’s HQ in the David Johnston Research + Technology Park, including Miovision, Clearpath Robotics, and ApplyBoard.

The new brand and updates to its core program are some of the most significant changes to the Accelerator Centre in its fifteen-year history. Accelerator Centre CEO Jay Krishnan said the updates are a symbolic reflection of their new roadmap and the new vision for the organization. Krishnan credited the Accelerator Centre’s marketing team, led by Tabatha Laverty, Director, Marketing and Communications, for driving the changes to their brand.

Krishnan is an experienced founder and knows that a company brand impacts every customer’s interaction with a business. As the number one ranked private business accelerator in Canada, Krishnan said the new brand needed to reflect the aspirational nature of their programs and the new messaging that the Accelerator Centre is a full-stack hub for startups and scale-ups.

“The idea is to really take the aspirational messaging that we want to execute on and all the values that we stand for and then embed them into the new identity,” Krishnan said.

One core change that the Accelerator Centre team wanted to be reflected in the new brand was their new focus on attracting founders and companies worldwide. Krishnan said the Accelerator Centre wants to make Waterloo Region the epicenter for international entrepreneurs. Another part of the logo that Krishnan and the team are excited about is the use of blocks and shapes.

“The new logo signifies the various building blocks coming together. All these puzzle pieces are the ones that seem abstract, but when they’re together, they make the story complete.”

The new brand and website are just one of the changes for the Accelerator Centre. Their successful Accelerator Program, now known as AC:Incubate, is adapting to the evolving demands of current and future clients. AC:Incubate is a two-year program designed to take entrepreneurs through four phases: product discovery, business foundations, acquiring first customers and investors, and scaling for global success.

“The end goal is that startups entrepreneurs come in with an idea and graduate as a full blown company”

Jay Krishnan, CEO, Accelerator Centre

“The end goal is that startups entrepreneurs come in with an idea and graduate as a full blown company,” Krishnan said.

The Accelerator Centre’s changes don’t end with the AC:Incubate program. While the need for incubation is there, Krishnan said many scaling businesses continue to need help accelerating their businesses.

The Accelerator Centre’s AC:Connect program is a new offering focused on connecting scaling companies with larger corporations. Krishnan said the Accelerator Centre team is ready to lead on a fresh take on traditional corporate innovation.

“The experience that these tech companies bring to the table will truly spill over into the entrepreneurial ecosystem, either in the form of jobs or in the form of processes that they bring to some of these startups.”

Throughout the pandemic, the shift to remote and hybrid work has changed not just the places we put our laptops but also how we interact with each other. Krishnan said these changes are an opportunity to rethink how the Accelerator Centre interacts with its clients and partners.

“From our experience with the digital platforms that we use for onboarding and mentoring for startups, we want to now take that all those learnings to corporate innovation and say if your corporate setting is in the US or in Europe, there’s nothing to stop you from working with us and working with entrepreneurs from across the world,” Krishnan said.

Even with the acceptance of remote work, being co-located in the R+T Park provides the Accelerator Centre with the perfect physical location to connect startups, scale-ups, and enterprise companies with access to talent and research from the University of Waterloo.

“If you really want to build an ecosystem then you need a multitude of players. You need corporations, you need talent, you need startups, you need innovators, you need the university— they all work together.”

Jay Krishnan, CEO, Accelerator Centre

“If you really want to build an ecosystem then you need a multitude of players. You need corporations, you need talent, you need startups, you need innovators, you need the university— they all work together.”

As offices in the R+T Park and across Canada start to reopen, the Accelerator Centre continues to prioritize safety while still creating a sense of community for its clients, team, and mentors. Krishnan said that he believes physical spaces will become the primary choice again—and he welcomes that shift as more global entrepreneurs discover the Waterloo Region ecosystem.

“It’s an opportunity for us to do some introspection and figure out who we really are. We have a roadmap and a vision that’s been vetted and we want to continue to listen to our customers as much as we can. I think it’s a great time to go through change.”

Visit acceleratorcentre.com to learn more about how to join the Accelerator Centre’s community of hard working, dedicated entrepreneurs.