“Memorial University, founded in 1925 in Newfoundland, is focused on extraordinary teaching and learning, outstanding research and scholarship, and public engagement. As one of the top 20 research universities in Canada, Memorial has more than 30 research centers and receives more than $100 million in research funding annually, with greater than $40 million of this funding coming from industry. Memorial and its funding partners have long believed in investing in talented students, which has resulted in more than 1,500 graduate fellowships and approximately 900 PhD students.
Memorial’s vibrant entrepreneurial culture inspires students, faculty and staff to embrace innovation. Memorial and its students have a long history of success in national and international entrepreneurship competitions, with nine of the past 10 years resulting in Memorial being crowned the national champion of the Enactus competition, along with two of these years resulting in the winning of the Enactus World Cup.
Investing in entrepreneurs and contributing to the development of an attractive entrepreneurial ecosystem within Newfoundland and Labrador, Memorial has multiple offices, centers and programs dedicated to supporting entrepreneurship:
Memorial’s Research Innovation Office supports faculty, students and staff with their research and commercialization activities through utilizing funding initiatives, market analysis, industry partnerships, protection of intellectual property, licensing, and new start-up creation. The RIO helps to identify resources and facilitate connections to foster successful research programs and deliver economic impact.
The Memorial Centre for Entrepreneurship helps promote entrepreneurship and the development of new ideas through offering programs, funding, events and resources to inspire and support start-ups.
The Centre for Social Enterprise is a partnership among the Faculty of Business Administration, the School of Music and the School of Social Work, which aims to enhance the quality of the human experience via social enterprise and social innovation.
The Genesis Centre is Memorial’s incubator for technology-based ventures with high-growth potential. The Genesis Centre is one of the top-ranked incubators in Canada and was named Canadian Incubator of the Year in 2011. Since its launch in 1997, Genesis has incubated over 70 start-up companies, raised $90 million in capital, generated $110 million in revenue and created 1,100 jobs.
Memorial’s Entrepreneurship Training Program is a first-in-Canada training program for international graduate students interested in starting a business. The program covers core entrepreneurship themes and skills such as problem solving and design learning, lean start-up, sales, marketing and financial planning. Memorial’s Entrepreneurship Training Program has graduated over 200 students and has received multiple national awards for innovation in student services and career education.”