The Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers (GCEC) just announced its top honour for Outstanding Contributions to Venture Creation for 2026. The award, which acknowledges university centres creatively scaling startups based on program strength, growth, and tangible impact, went to Velocity. Earning this top honour puts Velocity in rare company alongside previous recipients like Harvard University, the University of Chicago, and New York University.
The win makes Velocity one of three Canadian university entrepreneurship centres in GCEC history to be recognized by the Global Consortium. “Velocity stands among the world’s leading university entrepreneurship centres. Beyond developing outstanding founders and helping them build ambitious companies, Velocity is shaping how entrepreneurship centres around the world train and support the next generation of entrepreneurs. We are proud to recognize that leadership with the Outstanding Contributions to Venture Creation Award,” said Holly DeArmond, Executive Director of GCEC.
The award caps off an incredible period of growth. In 2020, Velocity supported 30 teams building on campus. By 2025, that surged to more than 500 teams. That’s a 17-fold increase in the startup pipeline of teams actively building and validating their business ideas with Velocity support.
That scale is directly tied to the University of Waterloo’s reputation as Canada’s top launchpad for entrepreneurs. In PitchBook’s 2026 University Rankings, Waterloo ranked 1st in Canada and 7th globally for producing venture-backed undergraduate entrepreneurs.
As the flagship incubator for the country’s top entrepreneurial university, Velocity has a deep understanding of what drives startup success and how to reduce risk. Rather than building in isolation, founders receive hands-on advisory, direct investor introductions and operational support to shorten the time to their first customers and capital.
“Waterloo was founded on a bold idea: that academic excellence, research, entrepreneurship, and real-world experience could come together to change lives and strengthen society,” said Dr. Bill Rosehart, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Waterloo. “That spirit of unconventional thinking remains our greatest strength, and this global recognition for Velocity demonstrates how our community continues to lead on the world stage.”
Real proof of this model is evident in the past year's success, with currently active founders working at Velocity’s incubator achieving $52 million in revenue. Beyond that early momentum, companies that move on to scale outside of Velocity are showing impressive impact.
Fintech leader Float raised $85 million in Series C funding, while business communications platform OpenPhone secured $105 million. In health and deep tech, FluidAI earned FDA clearance after supporting nearly 100,000 surgical procedures, and Alchemy Labs completed a $13.7 million IPO financing to list on the TSX Venture Exchange. Meanwhile, industrial robotics innovator Upside Robotics raised $7.5 million to scale sustainable farming technology. These are just a few notable moments from the last year among many.
By surrounding founders with structured validation, deep community support and tailored access to capital, Velocity has built a repeatable system for de-risking high-impact companies. GCEC’s recognition confirms what Waterloo founders prove every day: when you combine world-class talent with a model built for execution, the result is an engine for venture creation that leads globally.