Cisco unveils Waterloo incubator; funds smart grid research chair

Networking giant Cisco Systems, Inc. is opening an incubator in the University of Waterloo’s David Johnston Research + Technology Park to help Waterloo Region startups and students tap into the company’s equipment, expertise and global ecosystem.

The 2,000-square-foot facility, on the third floor of the Cora Building where Agfa HealthCare and other firms are already housed, will also serve as a Waterloo base for 10 to 12 Cisco employees, UW and Cisco officials announced at the site today.

Asked by Communitech if the company plans to engage the broader Waterloo Region tech ecosystem through the new facility, Cisco Canada president Nitin Kawale said, “We absolutely want to do that; we’ll have to just figure out the processes and how to facilitate that . . . we’ll figure it out as we go along.”