Latest news with #businessincubator
Zawya
11-08-2025
- Business
- Zawya
IACCEL GBI and Toronto Business Development Centre team up to help startups scale across UAE and Canada
Dubai, UAE: iACCEL Gulf Business Incubator (iACCEL GBI), a leading go-to-market accelerator launched under the patronage of Dubai SME, has signed a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Toronto Business Development Centre (TBDC), Toronto's 35 year old, premier non-profit startup incubator. The agreement establishes a robust cross-border framework designed to support high-potential startups in navigating international expansion between the UAE and Canada. This partnership brings together TBDC's experience helping global startups grow in North America and iACCEL GBI's success in the UAE and Middle East, creating a pathway for expansion. Opening Canada's vibrant tech ecosystem to UAE & Middle Eastern startups, while offering Canadian entrepreneurs' clear pathways into the GCC Region. This partnership comes at a time when both countries are looking to grow stronger startup ecosystems. It shows a joint commitment to helping founders succeed beyond their home markets. iACCEL GBI and TBDC will work together to launch new efforts that give startups the right support networks, guidance, and real chances to grow in global markets. Startups that participate in the initiatives and programs, from this association will receive strong support to prepare for new markets, along with direct links to investors, business leaders, and local experts. The Toronto–UAE Innovation Bridge will also offer ongoing access to shared tools, trusted advice, and learning from other founders. 'Partnering with TBDC represents a new chapter in how we help entrepreneurs achieve global ambitions,' said Deepak Ahuja, Co-founder and CEO of iACCEL GBI. 'By working closely with an organization that has decades of experience supporting international startups in North America, we're opening exciting opportunities for founders of this region to scale into one of the world's most dynamic technology regions.' Anishkaa Gehani, Co-founder and CMO of iACCEL GBI, added, 'Startups thrive when they have access to fresh perspectives and the right ecosystem to support their journey. Our partnership with TBDC is about fulfilling this need - by creating a platform where entrepreneurs from the UAE and Canada can connect, test ideas in new environments, and accelerate their ambitions with confidence.' Vikram Khurana, Chairman of Toronto Business Development Centre, said, 'Our partnership with iACCEL GBI creates a launchpad for UAE startups to grow into North America and pathways for Canadian ventures into the Gulf. The UAE is a critical node in the global innovation landscape and this partnership will foster two-way access between two major tech and investment hubs' With both countries emerging as strong startup hubs, this partnership allows iACCEL GBI and TBDC to play an active role in shaping global innovation, while helping the UAE grow as a top destination for entrepreneurs. About iACCEL GBI: iACCEL Gulf Business Incubator is a leading go-to market accelerator that provides end-to-end support for startups expanding to the UAE and Middle East. Launched under the patronage of Dubai SME and the Hamdan Innovation Incubator (Hi2), iACCEL GBI has developed a robust value proposition that focuses on startups by leveraging the experience and expertise of its dynamic network. It supports entrepreneurs with a wide range of services, including setup support, market access into the government and private sectors, networking opportunities, intellectual capital access to funding, business advice, and more. For more information visit: For more information, please contact: Dimple Menezes dimple@ Shams Matin shams@ Yardstick Marketing Management PO Box - 116125, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
CBS News
21-07-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Lobby Shops to bring local retailers inside downtown Ann Arbor library
Long gone are the days when you could only rent books from the library. Now you can borrow tools, plant seeds, and even a space to grow your business. The library in downtown Ann Arbor says you can expect three new retail stores to open on its first floor. After you check out your book at the AADL, soon you'll be able to stay and shop at a couple of local businesses without having to leave. "Friends of the Library moved out last year, freeing up this small space in the downtown lobby. There wasn't really much we could do with it," said Ann Arbor District Library Director Eli Neiburger. Neiburger says they wanted to see if any entrepreneurs could make better use of the rooms. He says that led to using these spaces to pilot business incubators, which in turn led to more than 50 applications. "It's an opportunity for small local businesses to get some retail space that would otherwise never be available to them," he said. Instead of paying full price for commercial rent in downtown Ann Arbor, these businesses will only pay between $100 and $250 a month for a six-month term, according to Neiburger. That includes the owners of Silky Grooves, who say $200 is what they might spend for a vendor slot at just one show. Now, that's roughly the cost to have their storefront for a whole month. "You can't get real estate at that price in Washtenaw County, let alone downtown Ann Arbor. So it's a really great opportunity for someone to incubate a small business and for the library to support that work," Neiburger said. He says these lobby shops will also pilot how first-floor retail spaces could perform if an August 5 vote on expanding the library's footprint with a mixed-use development next door is approved. "One of the great uses of that space would be for the retail incubators to be over there, because then they could have their own entrances and still be managed by the library," he said. Those six-month leases can extend an additional six months if both the businesses and the library are seeing success at the lobby shops. At the end of the term, Neiburger says they'll reopen applications to give a new business a chance to occupy that space and test the market.
BBC News
09-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Peterborough City Council to progress plans for The Vine project
Plans for a £15m city regeneration project to refurbish a library and build a food hall and business incubator have moved a step City Council has been asked to approve the award of construction contracts for a project known as The council originally wanted to use the former TK Maxx building in Bridge Street for the project but decided this was unviable.A report being presented to the council's cabinet on Thursday said the new library would act as a "dynamic hub" and support "economic vibrancy". The Vine is part of the government-funded Towns Deal programme, where money is ring-fenced, but the project has changed significantly since the application was first made in original plan was to house The Vine in a refurbished shop building on Bridge Street that used to be a TK Maxx, which is now being put on the 2023, the council decided it would not be economically viable to do up the building, choosing three different locations for The Vine instead: Central Library on Broadway, The Goods Shed in Fletton Quays and Peterscourt on City a contract is approved, Central Library will get a £6.8m revamp of its ground floor, with a new space for education and "community-based cultural activities".The report said this would give surrounding buildings a "property price premium effect" and lead to a "substantial growth in heritage and social capital" at the library. The Goods Shed in Fletton Quays would turn a disused railway shed into a food and drinks hall, with offices and council has already found a developer to take on the project, which is expected to cost £ £1.2m project for Peterscourt, a business centre, would refurbish the Grade II listed building into a business incubator with spaces for start-ups and early-stage plan is to hold a mini-competition for contractors to bid for the council said the new facility would "foster innovation... and contribute to the economic development of the local community".The authority said it needed to commit spending for the project by 31 March 2026. Follow Peterborough news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Its dream of owning a downtown space collapsed. Now a business incubator has a new home.
WEST PALM BEACH — Three years after a failed effort to acquire a prominent city-owned Clematis Street building, a nonprofit business incubator is celebrating moving into new digs in a historic building on the city's main downtown avenue. 1909, a co-working space that offers classes and networking opportunities to 250 paying members, moved in April into a new spot on the third floor of the Comeau building on the 300 block of Clematis. The 9,000-square-foot office space is more than double the size of 1909's previous location on Datura Street. The seven-year-old organization, which is celebrating the move with a private party May 10, said it was a necessary step for its growing list of members and its ambitions to provide more services to support local start-up businesses. The move comes three years after 1909 thought it had struck a deal with the city to buy a much larger city-owned building across the street, the site of the former Off the Hookah nightclub. 1909 narrowly won a competitive bidding process in 2022 to buy the 30,000-square-foot site from the city for $10.5 million. It won over commissioners and the mayor by promising to create a dynamic, affordable space for budding entrepreneurs to work, congregate and thrive. But city commissioners called off the deal two months later after 1909 revealed that another company would finance most of the purchase and that 1909 would be using less than half of the space itself. The director of the city's Community Redevelopment Agency ended negotiations with the group, saying that 1909's proposal 'didn't reflect what was presented to the board.' Mayor Keith James lambasted the group for using "smoke and mirrors" to try to pull off a "bait and switch." The group countered at the time that it had no idea that a partnership with another company would be treated as a deal-breaker. In an interview, 1909 co-founder Danielle Casey said that the growing nonprofit's new private office spaces are already booked and that it is already mulling its next move after its five-year lease ends. 'We've moved 200 businesses to the city's main street,' she said. 'We're already at capacity.' 314 CLEMATIS: A colorful history of 314 Clematis: A hookah lounge, furniture store and iconic department store The incubator and its members love being in the downtown center, where plenty of the business's clients are based, she said. But for 1909 to reach its potential, it will need a larger space where members can display and sell their products. In the meantime, though, she said members are enjoying creating an 'entrepreneurial ecosystem' in their new location. 'The biggest value is honestly the community,' she said. 'It's a support group.' Sign up for our Post on West Palm Beach weekly newsletter, delivered every Thursday! Andrew Marra is a reporter at The Palm Beach Post. Reach him at amarra@ This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Business incubator 1909 moves into new Clematis Street office
