Toronto is on its way to earning a new nickname "Silicon Valley North," according to an article that ran in Global News. The article names numerous reasons. We've compiled the top five.
Acquisitions
This year alone, the article notes, Google "scooped up" University of Toronto startup DNN research, while Apple acquired data services startup Locationary.
Regional ties
The city's ties with the surrounding Waterloo and Markham ("known for its slogan 'Canada's high-tech capital'") regions positions it as a central hub of entrepreneurial culture.
Engineers
“If you think about Facebook, Google, all of the big Valley companies – most of them were started out of the universities. It’s the talent from the engineering schools that fuelled the tech scene in Silicon Valley,” says Payman Nilforoush, CEO of earned advertising platform inPowered, in the article.
The article points out that major tech companies have noticed the talent coming out of schools such as the University of Toronto and University of Waterloo, noting that companies such as Google and Facebook have "made an effort to attract some of those graduates."
Cost
Nilforoush notes that, "In his experience, relative to Silicon Valley, the cost of running a business in Toronto in most cases is nearly half."
Mentorship
"According to the Bank of Montreal, almost half of Canadian post-secondary students surveyed — 46 per cent — said they see themselves starting a business after graduation," the article reports. It states grads are relieved to find out they don't have to travel to Silicon Valley to receive the mentorship they desire due to a number of "boot camp" style programs stemming from Ontario universities.
Read the full story
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Original source: Global News.