The year was 1826, and the first settler to put down stakes in the city at the Fork of the Thames established not a residence, but London's first business. Peter McGregor's tavern consisted of a tin cup and a jug of whisky on a stump outside a small log cabin inn. Across the street, the courthouse being built to establish the town was still underway. To its very roots, London, Ontario has always been a city of entrepreneurs.
188 years later, this beautiful city is still the seat of some of the world's greatest--and coolest--innovations and research. The London Chapter of Startup Grind will feature interviews with leaders of companies making world-wide waves in gaming, medtech, e-commerce, software development, and more.
It's no mystery that London grows this type of success. With one of the world's best business schools and medical research centres at Western University, and programs that teach entrepreneurship and innovation at Fanshawe College, each year the city attracts tens of thousands of students who represent top talent in the province, the country, and the world. A robust system of organizational support for budding companies in London is paralleled by a booming community of active entrepreneurs. And all this is nestled snugly in the heart of an innovation alley where London sits in close reach of Toronto, Waterloo, and two American borders. Put it all together, and you get no shortage of successful startup founders with great insight.
The first of our fireside chats in London, Ontario will be with Joel McLean, a Western University grad who started Info-Tech Research Group in London in 1997 to develop research products and tools for business. Info-Tech now employs over 285 people, and is one of North America’s fastest growing full-service IT analyst firms. Joel will talk about building and growing the company on February 27 at Hacker Studios.
Join us on Meetup to watch for more to come from London, Ontario!