THUNDER BAY – Business – “The Government of Canada invests in federal R&D to support jobs, growth and the long-term prosperity of all our communities right across Canada, including right here in the Waterloo Region,” said Minister of State Rickford. “The Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research program helps bridge the gap between ideas and the marketplace, providing funding for product and business development early in the innovation process, when it can often be more difficult to attract the private investment needed to secure the development of products to that next stage of growth.”
Minister Supporting Growing Digital Economy
Greg Rickford, Minister of State for Science and Technology, announced that the Canadian Digital Media Network will receive a funding extension of $8.75 million over 5 years as the result of a competition held by the Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (CECR) program.
The Canadian Digital Media Network (CDMN) was founded in 2009 to connect entrepreneurs, companies, and research institutes to accelerate the delivery of digital solutions to the marketplace. Since then, the CDMN has brought together 25 regional hubs, developing an online platform designed to share services across the country. It has also launched a number of programs for ICT and mobile companies, including the successful international soft landing program, which provides Canadian companies with access to foreign markets through a host partner.
“This funding will allow us to continue to strengthen the network across Canada, while at the same time expanding our international strategy” said Kevin Tuer, Managing Director of the CDMN. “To date, 47 companies have had the opportunity to enter 17 foreign markets and identify more than $30 million in new business and investment opportunities – representing a return on investment of greater than 30 to 1.”
The CDMN was founded by Communitech to provide commercialization support to Canadian technology companies. “We set out to build a world-class commercialization centre at the Communitech Hub, and to connect that to a world-class network through the Canadian Digital Media Network,” explained Iain Klugman, President and CEO of Communitech. “And the economic impact of those investments has proven to be really powerful for Canada. With this funding we will be able to provide startup assistance to even more Canadian firms as they scale, creating the next generation of Canadian tech companies.”
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