A new accelerator and incubator program has been born and is calling Ottawa home. L-SPARK is a partnership between Invest Ottawa and Wesley Clover International that will focus its attention on the enterprise market. L-SPARK stands for “Leading and igniting Enterprise Software” and applications are now open with its first incubator session expected to launch later this year.
The difference L-SPARK is bringing to the table is that it’ll build businesses “rather than just enabling them.” The incubator program is nine-months long and allows for up to $360,000 in funding, which they believe “provides the startups with the capital they need to push their products further.”
The L-SPARK program will bridge together its mentorship team — to name a few includes Dan McCarthy, Andrew Jackson, Harley Finkelstein (CPO of Shopify) and Jeff McNamee — to steer new startups into building great enterprise technology.
Leo Lax, Managing Director, L-SPARK, said, “Unlike many other Incubators and Accelerators, our sessions are unique because we focus solely on entrepreneurs who have a concept or product designed for existing and emerging enterprises, such as companies migrating to the cloud, companies using the software as a service (SaaS) business model and companies exploiting the move to virtualization in all aspects of running their business.”
After the application process has been completed a number of eager startups will be welcomed to “Pitchfest,” which is where they will present their enterprise idea and gun for one of six spots.
According to the FAQ on the L-SPARK site, “Six startups are selected to participate in the Accelerator and receive $90,000 in equity funding. As certain milestones are met by the front runners of each session, they will be eligible to receive additional equity funding. In the third month, the three front runners will receive an additional $60,000 in funding. In the sixth month, the two front runners will receive an additional $60,000 in funding. The two champions upon graduation of the Accelerator will receive an additional $150,000.”