Move ideas into action

The Chang Institute's early-stage Incubator (formerly Venture Connection) provides students, staff, faculty members, and recent alumni from all faculties with direct support to develop their own startup ventures with mentorship from experienced entrepreneurs.

The Incubator supports all business models and sectors, including not-for-profit.  With startups ranging from hand-made cookies to advanced materials, and with over 50% of teams women-led or as co-founders, the Chang Institute provides a supportive environment for all founders to thrive.

Entry is by invitation, following successful completion of the SPARK program and an intake panel.

Each team is assigned a lead Mentor-in-Residence (MIRs) who works with the team to set and meet milestones for their next stage of development.  

Starting with 4-month terms, startups have regular review panels with MIRs and Industry experts in order to extend participation for up to 3 years or more.  

INCUBATOR SERVICES ARE PROVIDED AT NO CHARGE TO PARTICIPANTS.

Services include:

• 1:1 Mentoring
• Specialized workshops & roundtables
• Drop-in access to SFU-Surrey coworking space
• Dedicated desks or offices for select teams
• Access to industry events
• Networking opportunities
• Connections to industry experts and business advisors
• Room access for team and customer meetings
• PR support
• Opportunities to engage with SFU entrepreneurship class teams and capstone projects
• Additional in-kind resources from partner organizations such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Hubspot for startups