Last month, the news in Waterloo was all about tech. This month, the news highlights just how diverse our ecosystem is.
Stories touched on our how great our academic institutions are at producing entrepreneurs, our appeal to new immigrants and some excellent tech news. Oh, and big news for Canada’s EV battery supply chain, too.
Here are the top stories from November 2022:
UWaterloo is #1 for entrepreneurs
The University of Waterloo is once again the best in Canada at producing entrepreneurs, according to Pitchbook’s 2022 university rankings. The results show that UWaterloo has produced 494 founders who have collectively raised more than $19 billion. This isn’t anything new for UWaterloo – they account for nearly 20% of all Canadian entrepreneurs.
Waterloo is a top Canadian destination for immigration
According to new numbers from Statistics Canada, Waterloo is now one of the top-5 destinations in Canada for immigration. The region welcomed nearly 28,000 new immigrants from 2016-2021, which is double the previous five-year period.
Acerta has raised $10M to drive automotive innovation
With a list of clients like Nissan, General Motors, BMW and Volvo, it’s no wonder that Acerta Analytics has a buzz about it. The company uses machine learning, artificial intelligence and data analytics to improve manufacturing quality in the auto industry, and they just raised another $10.4 million to start scaling globally.
Canada is #2 for battery supply chain
Canada has leapfrogged over the United States in Bloomberg’s 2022 global lithium-ion battery supply chain ranking to take second place (after China). The report ranks 30 countries on 45 metrics, including availability of raw materials, local demand for electric vehicles and more. Waterloo EDC President & CEO Tony LaMantia wrote about Canada’s EV battery potential in Automotive World in what now looks like a prescient take on the direction of the industry.
Waterloo is one of Canada’s best communities
Not content with simply being a top destination for new immigrants, Waterloo was also recognized as one of Canada’s best communities, too. The article is focused on one of our communities – the City of Waterloo – but highlights strengths from across the region including Oktoberfest, our green spaces and the incredible ION Light Rail Transit system.
10 largest tech companies in Waterloo
Which Big Tech companies will you find in Waterloo? The answer might surprise you. We’ve just scratched the surface with our list of the 10 biggest tech companies with offices here.
UWaterloo vs. the best the UK has to offer
Last but not least, we’ve just published another of our “5 Charts: UWaterloo vs.” blog posts, this time pitting the University of Waterloo against the best of London, UK: Imperial College London, King’s College London, Queen Mary University of London and University College London.