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“Canada needs a larger and more dynamic equity and venture capital industry that is ready to invest in and provide guidance to Canadian seed, start-up, and early-stage companies.”

- THE CONFERENCE BOARD OF CANADA

Innovation. Entrepreneurialism. Knowledge economy. These words continue to work their way into every conversation and news item about Canada's future prosperity. And, yet, watchdogs like the Conference Board of Canada continue to lament the country's poor international standing in areas like corporate research and development, income per capita, productivity and new patents.

In a recent report, the Board ranked Canada ninth among its 16 peer countries when it comes to innovation. The Board further assesses that:

Canada does not take the steps that other countries take to ensure research can be successfully commercialized and used as a source of advantage for innovative companies seeking global market share. Canadian companies are thus rarely at the leading edge of new technology and too often find themselves a generation or more behind the productivity growth achieved by global industry leaders.

Bringing innovation to campus

There is clearly work to be done to bring innovation in Canada to the levels exhibited by world leaders in the United States, Denmark and Switzerland. An approach that has helped to yield results in these countries, specifically the United States, has been embedding business incubators within postsecondary institutions, such as MIT, Georgia Tech and UCLA.

Within these spaces, entrepreneurially-minded students with great ideas can research and test their concepts. They can also lean on professors and entrepreneurs-in-residence for mentorship and guidance when developing business and feasibility plans to bring their visions to reality, and to market.

More and more, Canadian schools are seeing the importance of fostering innovation among young entrepreneurs in-house. Incubators have popped up at universities like Ryerson (Digital Media Zone) and the University of Waterloo (Velocity), while initiatives like the Next 36, MaRS and Accelerator Centre have brought together players in government, education and business to support fledgling entrepreneurs.

We can now add Seneca to this important list, with the establishment of the Health Entrepreneurship and Lifestyle Innovation Xchange, better known as “HELIX.”

A harbour for the entrepreneurial spirit

“HELIX is Seneca's on-campus entrepreneurship incubator, specific to health and wellness,” says Director Chris Dudley. “It fosters cross-disciplinary innovation and entrepreneurship. HELIX also provides support to turn participants’ business ideas into successful start-ups.”

It was a natural fit for Chris, the Chair of Seneca's School of Business Management and Centre for Human Resources, to lead the development of HELIX. He is a long-time entrepreneur and business owner, as well as a steadfast advocate for Seneca's innovative students across various disciplines.

“Entrepreneurship is in my blood,” says Chris. “I am very excited about how HELIX builds upon Startup Canada's designation of Seneca as the most entrepreneurial college in Ontario. We launched in October 2014, with two intakes, and have had close to 400 youth attend HELIX events, with ten companies accelerating. We're planning two more intakes this year.”

While HELIX is open to anyone between the ages of 18 and 29, the first intakes have consisted largely of Seneca students (“HELIXers” as they are known). Programming is divided into two strands. The first, “Innovation,” focuses on sector-specific learning activities in business and marketing, and the second, “Acceleration,” offers an incubator environment to work with peers and advisors to develop their concepts into viable businesses.

“HELIX is generating incredible momentum and excitement out of the gates,” says Jeremy O'Krafka, founder of MENTOR-network and HELIX contributor. “It's clear that Seneca is serious about entrepreneurship.”

Entrance into strand two requires a successful “pitch” to a panel of seasoned entrepreneurs, including professors, alumni and investors. They assess the merits of each concept and whether it is ready for incubation. So far, 76 students have completed the Innovation strand, 33 of who successfully pitched their concepts and gained entry into the Acceleration strand.

Alumni providing crucial guidance

The HELIX incubator, located in the A Building of Newnham Campus, is equipped with the space and the people to inspire creativity. Bright white and red walls are littered with notes, ideas and sketches. And the place is teaming with mentors and advisers - 30 and growing - all focused on providing the invaluable experience and industry insights that HELIXers crave.

One of those mentors is Seneca alumnus Greg Twinney, who is also serving as a program advisor for HELIX. This Business Administration graduate is the former COO of the e-reader giant KOBO and has been a serial entrepreneur since high school.His first venture was a window cleaning business, which paid for his Seneca education. These days, in between advising HELIXers, he's been exploring a venture that connects real estate with technology to create a simpler, more transparent home buying process.

“I'm an entrepreneur at heart,” says Greg. “I want to encourage those with the same passion not to be afraid of taking that first step.”

Along with providing programming, mentorship and the space to develop, HELIX offers a series of events featuring entrepreneurial speakers like Greg. Turnout has been in the hundreds for these events, and attendees have come from various Seneca programs and the community at large.

“Part of HELIX's success will be measured by the cross-disciplinary participation we have,” says Chris.

Why a focus on health and wellness?

For Chris, the answer is twofold and quite practical: Differentiation from other incubators is critical to building HELIX's brand and reputation, and a specific focus helps achieve this. Further,

30 RED 2015