Sponsor
Mitacs
Description
The Mitacs Entrepreneur Awards celebrate outstanding Mitacs program participants (past and present) who have turned their research into an innovative business or business idea.
Award Categories:
- Outstanding Entrepreneur
- Awarded to an applicant with an outstanding start-up or business idea that is feasible and sustainable.
- Social Entrepreneur
- Awarded to an applicant whose start-up works to address or solve social, cultural, or humanitarian issues.
- Global Impact Entrepreneur
- Awarded to an applicant whose start-up demonstrates the potential to scale to international markets or have a global impact.
- Environmental Entrepreneur
- Awarded to an applicant whose start-up has a positive impact on the environment or addresses a challenge related to climate change.
- Change Agent Entrepreneur
- Awarded to an applicant whose start-up demonstrates the potential to significantly improve an industry, process or mindset.
Program details and timeline are not yet confirmed. This information will be updated when the program launches.
Eligibility
To apply, you must have participated in one or more of the following Mitacs programs as an undergraduate, master’s, doctoral, or postdoctoral researcher:
- Accelerate, Elevate, Globalink, or Converge
- Training (formerly Step): you must have completed at least two Training courses and demonstrate how your participation inspired your entrepreneurship
Company Eligibility
To be eligible, your company must have commercialized its product or service, or be in the pre-commercialization stage, and must also meet the following criteria:
- The business is registered within Canada as a corporation or cooperative
- The business cannot be owned by, or a subsidiary of, a parent corporation
- The operations of the business will benefit Canadians or the Canadian economy for example, through the creation of jobs, intellectual property, or innovative products or services
To be eligible to win the award, you must be a founder or member of the senior leadership team (e.g. Chief Technology Officer, etc.) of the company for which you are applying.
Prize
Winners:
- Receive $5,000 towards their start-up
- Are included in national marketing and media promotions
- Are included in an awards ceremony broadcast across Canada
- Select applicants are featured in Mitacs Impact Stories
- Select applicants are asked to participate as speakers at events
Special Notes
Please note that research activities carried out in the context of COVID-19 need to adhere to the University of Guelph COVID-19 research principles, policies, guidelines and processes as they may be updated from time to time and communicated on the Office of Research Web-Page.
Deadlines
If College-level review is required, your College will communicate its earlier internal deadlines.
| Type | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
External Deadline | Please submit the nomination directly to the Mitacs Entrepreneur Awards nomination form by the external deadline. Please also submit a copy of the full nomination and OR-5 to research.services@uoguelph.ca by the external deadline. |
How to Apply
Applications must be submitted online using the application form provided on the Mitacs Entrepreneur Awards website by the external deadline. Please also submit an OR-5 and a completed application to research.services@uoguelph.ca by the external deadline.
For More Information
For more information contact research.honours@uoguelph.ca or entrepreneur@mitacs.ca. Also see the Mitacs Entrepreneur Awards website for more information.