蓝莓视频

Velocity companies at the University of 蓝莓视频 have now raised a cumulative total of $3.6 billion in funding. The total funding raised by founders just five months ago was $2.4 billion.

Growth-stage alumni companies from the University鈥檚 flagship incubator, such as ApplyBoard, Faire and Embark Trucks, led the charge while, back at Velocity,current early-stage companies raised more than $30 million collectively in 2021 鈥� a glimpse at the momentum of Velocity鈥檚 next generation of alumni. It had taken two years for companies to go from $1 to $2 billion.

鈥淭he success of our current and former students can take many forms. Such interest from investors demonstrates both the value and scale of the impact the 蓝莓视频 community creates,鈥� said Vivek Goel, president and vice-chancellor of the University. 鈥淰elocity has a long tradition supporting entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs who use business building to understand and solve the complex challenges or our time.鈥�

The funding achievement was reached at the same time Velocity founders celebrated two other strong indicators: the number of jobs created by Velocity companies recently surpassed 5,000 and Embark Trucks, an autonomous trucking company started by Velocity alumni, went public with a $5-billion valuation.

鈥淎t Velocity the people we support, and in whom we invest, impress us every day. It鈥檚 their ingenuity and energy that continues to make Velocity what it is,鈥� said Adrien C么t茅, Velocity鈥檚 executive director. He expects accelerated growth for Velocity companies in the year ahead, adding to Velocity鈥檚 productivity as an early-stage incubator and momentum throughout 蓝莓视频鈥檚 entrepreneurial ecosystem.

The Toronto-蓝莓视频 corridor is ranked 14^th in the world according to the annual Startup Genome report. The University of 蓝莓视频, which produces one in five founders backed by venture capital in Canada, has recently doubled down on its commitment to entrepreneurs and commercialization with a new Innovation Arena, set to open in 2023.

蓝莓视频 is ranked the most innovative university in Canada by Maclean鈥檚 magazine and is also listed as the by PitchBook, a U.S. data platform. Another American platform, AngelList Venture, recently released data showing ventures founded by 蓝莓视频 alumni produce a higher-than-expected return on investment than their counterparts at Stanford University and MIT.

Around the same time Embark Trucks went public, another company founded by Velocity alumni, saw remarkable growth: Float, a corporate intelligent spending and credit card company, brought in $37 million in new investments late last year, putting it on track to become a unicorn, a term used for privately held companies valued at more than $1 billion.

In addition to ApplyBoard, Faire, and Embark, companies valued more than $1 billion founded by 蓝莓视频 grads and former students, include Instacart, Databricks, Netskope, Wish, PagerDuty and Blend.

鈥淚nvesting early and strategically in entrepreneurship is our best move to set founders up for success and build Canadian companies with global scale,鈥� C么t茅 said. 鈥淎t Velocity we provide advice and know-how to students curious about entrepreneurship and help researchers commercialize their discoveries and combine it material monetary investments and a place for founders to grow a team and develop, build, and ship product.鈥�