Velocity celebrates the inaugural Waterloo Tech Week

Four days. Over 60 events. Countless new ideas and connections. One Waterloo.
Velocity Innovation Open House, part of Waterloo Tech Week
Val Maloney
Community
September 12, 2025

Velocity was proud to be part of the inaugural Waterloo Tech Week, a high-energy, four-day celebration that brought together the region’s vibrant tech ecosystem ahead of the latest edition of Hack the North.

Created to foster new connections and showcase the region’s entrepreneurial depth and strength, Waterloo Tech Week was spearheaded by the student-led team behind Hack the North. The team organized more than 60 events, including panels, parties, workshops, and mini hackathons, all designed to engage and inspire.

From right to left: Prashant Matta, Managing Partner at Panache Ventures; Ross Robinson, General Partner at Velocity Fund; Myra Arshad, Co-founder of ALT TEX; and Mahbod Sabbaghi, Co-founder of The Intelligent Search Company (TISC), at Campus to Capital: Fundraising Insights from Founders and VCs.

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Velocity had multiple touch points throughout the week for aspiring, current, and alumni founders and the community that supports them. Highlights included the BoxOne x Velocity Mixer, which connected emerging founders with funders and ecosystem supporters, and a speaker session featuring Panache Ventures, Velocity Fund, and current founders like Myra Arshad, co-founder of ALT TEX, and Mahbod Sabbaghi, co-founder of T.I.S.C.

“When UWaterloo students set their minds to something, you know it’s going to be great,” says John Dick, senior director of founder development. “So, when Velocity heard the Hack the North team was planning Waterloo Tech Week, we knew we had to be involved in a big way.”

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Velocity alumni Sam Pasupalak (BCS ’12), co-founder and CEO of Skyfall AI, also returned to campus as part of Math Innovation’s Ask-Me-Anything speaker series. Pasupalak previously co-founded Maluuba, a Canadian AI company built during his time at UWaterloo with support from Velocity. Maluuba was acquired by Microsoft in 2017, bringing its expertise in machine comprehension, conversational systems, and reinforcement learning to Microsoft’s AI research center in Montréal.

Students and emerging founders at the Innovation Open House

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The September timing of Waterloo Tech Week also aligned perfectly with Velocity’s Innovation Open House, allowing the event to expand its reach and impact. Nearly 400 new and returning students gathered at Fed Hall to hear from peers involved in programs across the innovation ecosystem, including Velocity, GreenHouse, the Grebel Peace Incubator, Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business, Math Innovation, Future Cities Institute, Pearl Sullivan IDEAs Clinic, LBIH Black Innovation Hub, and Socratica and to sign up to get involved themselves.

Velocity is strengthened every day by its connection to the University of Waterloo, and Waterloo Tech Week is the latest example of the incredible impact its students can make. We’re already looking forward to the 2026 edition.

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