Toronto-based startup incubator Incubes will have something new to offer its next cohort thanks to partnerships with IT solutions firm T4G Inc. and the Canadian Youth Business Foundation (CYBF).
Toronto-based IT services outfit T4G has offices across the country and specializes in a range of technical categories including e-commerce, business intelligence, Web hosting, and more. Now it will be lending those services and the help of its 260 employees to the entrepreneurs looking to create a business in the accelerated environment at Incubes.
“By Incubes partnering up with T4G, we’ve got resources literally across the Canadian market,” says Ben Zlotnick, CEO of Incubes. “Their reach is beyond the borders and their focus is on everything that startups are currently doing.”
The deal with non-profit organization CYBF also means startups could receive $15,000 in funding as they enter the program.
Incubes spends the first week of its program doing a full assessment of its new startups and creates an individual curriculum for each team. Part of that assessment will now be matching its IT needs with the expertise that T4G can provide. Incubes will also have the benefit of a new core mentor on its team with Domenic Ali, director of program services at T4G, coming on board.
“When you’re a small business and you’re looking for an expert, you’re looking for someone that is living and breathing the subject you need help with,” he says.
The deal between Incubes and T4G is an in-kind relationship, Zlotnick and Ali both explain.
“What we’re hoping to see is these small businesses grow and eventually they end up becoming T4G customers,” Ali says.
Startups interested in the Incubes program and some help from T4G must act quickly if they want to be in the next cohort. Applications for the fourth cohort closes May 24.