George Brown Polytechnic is located on the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation and other Indigenous peoples who have lived here over time. We are grateful to share this land as treaty people who learn, work and live in the community with each other.
Accelerate Entrepreneur helps startups better optimize their budgets, and provides the financial support needed to pilot test, refine, and ultimately commercialize new technology, products or services through internships valued at $15,000 each.
In 2025, George Brown Polytechnic's Office of Research and Innovation secured authorization to administer Mitacs Entrepreneur funding. This funding is specifically directed towards students and graduates who need funding resources to accelerate their research and scale their business.
This unique funding provides a matched contribution, where the entrepreneur/startup contributes $7,500 and is matched by Mitacs for a total value of $15,000 per funding unit. Projects are scalable, and up to 10 funding units can be included in a single application ($150,000 funding potential)
This funding also acknowledges that startups can have multiple founders, and each founder is also eligible to receive funding.
Upon successful project approval, George Brown administers funding to the founder named in the application. This funding is unique as the funding itself pays the applicant directly. In addition, funding permits purchases for research and materials expenditures up to $5,000 per funding unit.
Eligibility:
- Students, Graduates (up to 2 years after graduation)
- The company is incubated within startGBC for the entire duration of the project.
- The company is incorporated
To learn more about the program, please contact the startGBC team at startGBC@georgebrown.ca
How the Mitacs Accelerate Entrepreneur Program Works
The 4 steps
1. Start-ups housed at an approved incubator facility invest funding in a research project with the goal of commercializing their technology, product, or service.
2. Mitacs leverages the start-up's investment by 50% and releases a research award to student or post-doctoral entrepreneurs.
3. Student or postdoctoral entrepreneurs advance their start-up's commercialization goals through funded internships.
4. Students of postdoctoral entrepreneurs recieved a minimum $10,000 stipend per internship, with up to $5,000 in flexible fundingb that can be used to support research costs.
Mitacs Accelerate Entrepreneur projects are limited to two (2) years in duration due to the fast-paced and quickly changing nature of research with start-ups. Participants are welcome to submit a continuation of the project in a new proposal for the remaining research work they would like to continue, but this must be discussed with your Mitacs Advisor.
Mitacs supports growth where you need it
This program targets the stages in a start-up’s journey where big impacts can be made:
- Piloting and testing a new product, service or technology
- Iterating and improving on an existing product, service, or technology
- Making the most out of limited budgets
A flexible and scalable option
- Applications are accepted anytime
- Evaluation is completed in six to eight weeks
- Projects start at four months and can be scaled up depending on the start-up’s needs
An Accelerate Entrepreneur application consists of:
- The completed Mitacs Accelerate proposal form
- The completed Mitacs Accelerate Entrepreneur COI Declaration Form
- A letter of support from your host incubator facility
Contact the startGBC team before you commence your application at startGBC@georgebrown.ca