BDC to open office in Catalyst137 tech hub
Glasgow offices designed to accelerate time-to-market for hardware startups
KITCHENER — The Business Development Bank of Canada is moving its local office into Catalyst137, the massive former warehouse that will soon house a large collection of hardware-related startups and fast-growing tech firms.
“It’s such an exciting project,” Mary Ann Wenzler-Wiebe, BDC’s vice-president for Southwest Ontario, said Tuesday.
BDC’s 8,200-square-foot office in Catalyst137 will open Jan. 1, 2018. Its local office currently is located at 50 Queen St. N. in downtown Kitchener.
“We look at the Catalyst project and we say: ‘This is a perfect venue for us to demonstrate our role as a development bank,’” said Wenzler-Wiebe.
“There are a lot of technology companies there, a lot of mature companies, and we also see an opportunity to help some startups,” she said. “That’s the impetus for us being there.”
Tech accounts for about 40 per cent of BDC’s business in this region, and it is growing, she said.
“Looking at tech startups, looking at women entrepreneurs and the support we are providing in that particular market is increasingly more and more of a focus for us. This is great for the community at large, and for entrepreneurs in the area.”
The new offices will include the bank’s growth and transition group, venture capital group and advisory services. BDC already has more than 500 clients in this area, and Wenzler-Wiebe expects that list to grow.
Catalyst137 is a partnership between Kurtis McBride, chief executive officer and co-founder of tech company Miovision, and Frank Voisin, president of real estate development firm Voisin Capital.
The central idea behind Catalyst137 is to accelerate the time-tomarket for hardware companies, and BDC can definitely help do that, said McBride.
“Venture capital was one of the buckets we identified as important,” he said. “BDC is the largest venture capital firm in the country.”
Catalyst137, a 475,000square-foot building that once housed tires and footwear, is scheduled to open this fall.
BDC rounds out the services for startups McBride wants to have inside Catalyst137. The law firm Blakes, Cassels & Graydon also will have an office there.
About 70 per cent of the space inside Catalyst137 has been leased, said McBride. Tenants include companies such as SigmaPoint Technologies and the PCC Group. Miovision will have the largest space. The specialist in traffic data collection technology plans to move in from its offices on Manitou Drive in early September.
“Inside, it is starting to look pretty good. All the drywall is up, a lot of the skylights are in, the ceiling is painted. They are starting some of the finishes like the floor polish,” said McBride.
The lobby should be finished in the next few weeks.
“In the next week or two it is really going to start to come to life,” said McBride. “We are really excited.”
The entrance to the Catalyst137 parking lot is on Glasgow Street. The property runs along the Iron Horse Trail. For years, the sprawling building was hidden from the trail by a swath of trees and bramble.
The building will include a restaurant, coffee roaster, bakery, microbrewery and food market, and patio. In addition to large new windows, the building and surrounding area will be outfitted with hundreds of sensors to showcase new technology for the Internet of Things.
Inside, companies will have access to loading bays, and shared manufacturing space that includes 3D printers, laser cutters and metalworking equipment.