Mitacs | Accelerate Entrepreneur

Accelerate Entrepreneur is designed to support the unique needs of postdoctoral, undergraduate, graduate and college student entrepreneurs.

Mitacs Accelerate Entrepreneur funds student and postdoctoral entrepreneurs to further develop the research or technology at the core of their start-up business. With the support of an approved incubator, Mitacs funding helps students and postdoctoral fellows build their professional entrepreneurial skills, with the goal of commercializing their start-up’s technology, product, or service through funded internships. In short, Accelerate Entrepreneur pays students and postdoctoral fellows to grow their start-ups and get to market faster. 

Student and postdoctoral entrepreneurs must hold ownership in their start-up, and hold responsibility for the management and/or operations of the company. Full-time employees with no ownership or responsibility for the company’s management and/or operations are not eligible for Mitacs Accelerate Entrepreneur funding. Check with your business development representative to explore bringing a standard Accelerate intern to your start-up. 

How it works

• Start-ups housed at an approved incubator facility invest funding in a research project with the goal of commercializing their technology, product, or service
• Mitacs matches the start-up’s investment by 50% and releases a research award to student or post-doctoral entrepreneurs through four-month internships, valued at $15,000 per internship
• Student or postdoctoral entrepreneurs advance their academic work and their start-up’s commercialization goals through funded internships
• Students or postdoctoral entrepreneurs receive a minimum $10,000 stipend per internship, with up to $5,000 in flexible funding that can be used to support research costs

We support growth where you need it

This program targets the stages in a start-up’s journey where big impacts can be made: 

• Piloting and testing a new product, service or technology
• Iterating and improving on an existing product, service, or technology
• Making the most out of limited budgets

A flexible and scalable option

• Applications are accepted anytime
• Evaluation is completed in six to eight weeks
• Projects start at four months and can be scaled up depending on the start-up’s needs

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