04-27-2015, 08:37 PM
(This post was last modified: 04-27-2015, 08:39 PM by panamaniac.)
From today's Record:
Sandbox Accelerator gives startups ability to grow
Waterloo Region Record
By Terry Pender
KITCHENER — A pair of sprawling industrial buildings on Ardelt Place, which used to be a steel fabrication plant, are now positioned as a new economy accelerator centre that comes with a unique asset — the 80-tonne crane.
It is called the Sandbox Accelerator. It is run by a non-profit corporation formed to market the buildings to hardware startups that need industrial space as well as quiet offices.
Chris Bennett, spokesperson for the Sandbox Accelerator, said entrepreneurs coming out of the University of Waterloo, Conestoga College and elsewhere face special challenges if they have a hardware startup that requires any heavy machinery.
"They still need a flexible commercial space that is efficient and low cost, but it truly needs to be industrial, " Bennett said.
There is enough room to accommodate a startup through early-stage development, prototyping and experimentation, and then commercialization, Bennett said.
"Rather than having to move and re-do a lease every six months or 12 months as they grow and expand, we have such a large facility that we can accommodate that, " Bennett said.
The two buildings at 41 Ardelt Place have 100,000-square-feet of space. The buildings are about 100 metres from the light-rail line. Among the 16 acres of land, three acres are zoned for agricultural use that could be used by startups in biotechnology or genetically-modified crops. There is also a railway spur line running onto the property.
Sandbox Accelerator has loading docks, lab space, offices, an industrial shop floor and places for fabrication. It is modelled after one in California called The Gate, which is in an old Chrysler factory; and another in Eindhoven, Holland, in a former Phillips plant.
"Again, a big industrial space that has gradually been converted into a combination of arts, entertainment, technology and innovation, a makers' space, " Bennett said of former Phillip's plant.
The award-winning, Toronto-based, portrait-photographer Edward Gajdel was hired as the "photolaureate" of the industrial space to produce edgy content for the website - www.sandboxaccelerator.com -that launches Monday. You can see Gajdel's work at www.edwardgajdel.com.
Large, established companies that need space for an innovative team are also a possible market.
"We can provide that type of space where they can go shoulder-to-shoulder with another generation that is moving quickly, " Bennett said. "You can collaborate with others and do things very quickly."
A hardware incubator already exists on Water Street in downtown Kitchener called the Velocity Foundry, part of the University of Waterloo's support program for early-stage startups. And the Accelerator Centre in the David Johnston Research and Technology Park is for both software and hardware startups.
"Our job is not to replicate or duplicate what these organizations are doing, " Bennett said.
The Sandbox would be the first accelerator centre focused on hardware startups.
Sandbox Accelerator gives startups ability to grow
Waterloo Region Record
By Terry Pender
KITCHENER — A pair of sprawling industrial buildings on Ardelt Place, which used to be a steel fabrication plant, are now positioned as a new economy accelerator centre that comes with a unique asset — the 80-tonne crane.
It is called the Sandbox Accelerator. It is run by a non-profit corporation formed to market the buildings to hardware startups that need industrial space as well as quiet offices.
Chris Bennett, spokesperson for the Sandbox Accelerator, said entrepreneurs coming out of the University of Waterloo, Conestoga College and elsewhere face special challenges if they have a hardware startup that requires any heavy machinery.
"They still need a flexible commercial space that is efficient and low cost, but it truly needs to be industrial, " Bennett said.
There is enough room to accommodate a startup through early-stage development, prototyping and experimentation, and then commercialization, Bennett said.
"Rather than having to move and re-do a lease every six months or 12 months as they grow and expand, we have such a large facility that we can accommodate that, " Bennett said.
The two buildings at 41 Ardelt Place have 100,000-square-feet of space. The buildings are about 100 metres from the light-rail line. Among the 16 acres of land, three acres are zoned for agricultural use that could be used by startups in biotechnology or genetically-modified crops. There is also a railway spur line running onto the property.
Sandbox Accelerator has loading docks, lab space, offices, an industrial shop floor and places for fabrication. It is modelled after one in California called The Gate, which is in an old Chrysler factory; and another in Eindhoven, Holland, in a former Phillips plant.
"Again, a big industrial space that has gradually been converted into a combination of arts, entertainment, technology and innovation, a makers' space, " Bennett said of former Phillip's plant.
The award-winning, Toronto-based, portrait-photographer Edward Gajdel was hired as the "photolaureate" of the industrial space to produce edgy content for the website - www.sandboxaccelerator.com -that launches Monday. You can see Gajdel's work at www.edwardgajdel.com.
Large, established companies that need space for an innovative team are also a possible market.
"We can provide that type of space where they can go shoulder-to-shoulder with another generation that is moving quickly, " Bennett said. "You can collaborate with others and do things very quickly."
A hardware incubator already exists on Water Street in downtown Kitchener called the Velocity Foundry, part of the University of Waterloo's support program for early-stage startups. And the Accelerator Centre in the David Johnston Research and Technology Park is for both software and hardware startups.
"Our job is not to replicate or duplicate what these organizations are doing, " Bennett said.
The Sandbox would be the first accelerator centre focused on hardware startups.