WEtech Alliance

WEtech Alliance is a non-profit Regional Innovation Centre in Windsor, Ontario, serving Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent since 2011. It is one of seventeen Ontario innovation centres funded by the province, not a venture capital or private equity firm. It helps tech-based businesses start, sell and scale. Its ScaleUP Accelerator, powered by Libro Credit Union with Communitech, the Government of Ontario and FedDev Ontario, offers up to 30 hours of mentorship, workshops on investor readiness and pitching, and a $20,000 grand prize. Top-prize winners include Picsume, Monerus and Stratus Agro. Other programs include Financial Bootcamp, Innovation Blueprint for early ideas, and a Regional Technology Development Site with Prototype and Prospecting pathways. The Rural Growth & Commercialization Loan, delivered with Community Futures partners, offers $30,000 to $200,000 and above at prime plus 2%. It supports sectors including advanced manufacturing, ICT, digital media, agritech, fintech, cleantech, medtech and edtech. Ideal clients have an innovative product, protectable IP, a clear differentiator, scalability and coachability. Programs are matched to business stage and use growth coaches and cross-border connections near Detroit. WEtech is a non-profit and makes no equity investments, so I used the loan range in place of a check size and the ScaleUP graduates in place of portfolio companies. The ScaleUP applications are currently closed, so you may want to check that before reaching out.