About Accelerate Tectoria
The mission is simple:
To increase the number of successful technology companies that start and grow in the Greater Victoria area.
With input and funding from its partners, Accelerate Tectoria provides a structured venture development service designed to guide, coach and grow ambitious early-stage technology entrepreneurs.
Scale Up BC Program
Scale Up BC is a custom-developed program which focuses on the business challenges that technology companies with rapid-growth issues in British Columbia often encounter. By participating in Scale Up BC, companies will be able to get personalized help with some of the common issues that hinder business growth: building scalable revenue and customer acquisition models, ensuring efficient operational processes and accessing capital opportunities. Individualized action plans, personal leadership coaching and targeted skill development are what make Scale Up BC effective when it comes to addressing these needs. Companies must be located in Greater Victoria, have annual revenues of at least $500,000 or proven adequate capitalization, and a team size of 8 or more.
Scale Up BC Program Benefits
- Individualized action plans
- Personal leadership coaching from EiRs
- Targeted skill development
- Professional support services from experts in marketing, sales, & IT
- Networking opportunities
Venture Acceleration Program Benefits
- Biweekly 1-on-1 coaching by Executives in Residence
- Holding companies accountable to meeting goals
- Personal experience running successful businesses, connections to networks (If I can't help I know someone who can), broad reach to EiR network in BC
- Reviews of proposals, pitch decks, etc
- Exposure to mentors with diverse knowledge base
- Networking with other startups to promote sharing of knowledge, talent, & resources, potential collaboration
- Accelerator-only workshops targeting specific skills
- Member only discounts on events, services (legal counsel, accounting, SEO), & partner programs
- Connections to Accelerators across BC
- Quarterly Reviews & ad-hoc meeting with full EiR panel & select mentors
- Access to VIATEC's job board & company listings,
- Promotional opportunities to be Tectorian of The Week, online News Releases, etc
Current VAP Companies
Entrepreneurship@ Program
Program elements and benefits of E@ are the same as the Venture Acceleration Program, however the E@ program is offered at no charge for a period of 6 months! This is perfect for the entrepreneur who expects to ramp their venture to a position of revenue and/or investment within the 6-month period.
Entrepreneurship@ Program Benefits
- Ensuring that the business basics have been established
- Assisting with market definition, product fit and early adopter identification
- Providing support and direction on business strategy, sales, marketing
- Determining actions for market entry, including channels to market, partnership opportunities, key influencers, decision-makers and demand drivers
- Leveraging existing relationships and knowledge to accelerate business development and help gain early traction
Current E@ Companies
Accelerator Perks
Discounts
Accelerator clients have access to a range of discounts including Google Hosting Credits, AWS Credits, Free SEO services, Hubspot access, and more.
Booster Program
Boosters are professional service organizations who support the ventures in the Accelerator programs in a variety of ways, including:
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Offer periodic events, such as Spring and Fall socials, quarterly workshops, seminars, etc.
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Sponsor educational networking events for Accelerator companies and other startups to mingle and provide a short presentation on a topic of common interest.
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Offer 1-on-1 lunches with companies periodically through the year to provide informal advice or guidance on matters of interest.
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Offer discounted rates (hourly and package rates) for services to Accelerator companies.
Are you……?
- The founder/CEO of a technology company
- At start-up/early stage and looking to get to the next level
- Wanting to grow but struggling in the market
- Looking for guidance and mentorship from proven CEOs.
Market Validation Training
As a partner in the BC Acceleration Network, Accelerate Tectoria provides early stage ventures with the Market Validation Training in Victoria.
The Market Validation Training is a proven go-to-market boot camp for technology CEOs/founders with at least an early working version of their product.
Offering a structured process to help you find and close customers and get your product to market faster and with less risk, the program combines best practice workshops with one-on-one mentoring from experienced technology CEOs.
The Market Validation Training is designed to help entrepreneurs identify the best market opportunity; determine a “Minimum Viable Product”; develop a compelling value proposition; and provide processes and tools to close your initial customer(s).
The Market Validation Training includes:
- Three full-day interactive, educational roundtable workshops
Program participants will leave with:
- A completed positioning statement and value proposition
- A strategy to conduct market analaysis and “go-to-market”
- Priorities identified to segment the market and achieve early adopter customers
- A strategy to succeed at commercialization
- Training to close early adopters
- Actionable tools and templates
- Access to contacts and resources
- A 6-month action plan.
The mentors in this program are all experienced technology CEOs who will ensure the adoption of best practices and an effective market entry strategy for the product, and hold you accountable for results, all while providing a sounding board for business ideas.
Who’s eligible:
- Technology company CEO/founders
- Fewer than 10 employees
- Must have a product or at least an early working version of the product
- Pre-revenue or early revenue
The normal program registration fee is $1,795, however, VIATEC is pleased to offer this course to members of the VAP at no charge!
APPLY NOW by contacting Rob Bennett at rbennett@viatec.ca
Accelerating Your Sales Process
Workshop delivered by Jenny Motkaluk President of CUMULA Inc., followed by a networking reception.
Jenny will lead participants through 8 specific exercises focused on:
Strategy – Who will I sell this to? Why do they want it? What’s the most elegant way to get in front of them?
- Compelling Value Propositions – define your product by what it does, not what it is. Understand what problems your product solves and describe it in a customer-centric way.
- Identify Target Markets – who has the problem that you can solve? What value is there to solving the problems? How many people have this problem?
- Go to Market – what’s the best way to get in front of your target customers? Direct? Partners? Distributors?
Process – What is the set of actions that are required to execute my strategy?
- Sales Message – create a customer-centric message that is designed to secure interest of your target.
- Prospecting – how to use your existing network to secure introductions to prospective customers.
- Sales Cycle – understand how complexity of sales cycle will impact your action plan.
Testing Assumptions – How do you validate your sales strategy?
- Assumptions – how to identify all the assumptions that require validation. How to prepare for surprises.
- Targets – what criteria will drive your choice of target for validation conversations?
- Refine – how to use the new knowledge to refine your strategy and process.
Who’s eligible:
- Current Accelerator Program participants
- Alumni of Accelerator Programs
The normal program registration fee is $595, however, VIATEC is pleased to offer this course to Tectoria entrepreneurs at no charge! However, space is normally limited for these sessions, so apply now!
APPLY NOW by contacting Rob Bennett at rbennett@viatec.ca
Sales Training for the Selling CEO
Workshop delivered by Steve Traplin.
This program is for technology company CEOs who don’t have the resources to hire a professional sales team and are therefore the sales team by default. It assumes that participants have little or no previous sales experience. The overriding objective is to demystify the sales discipline and empower participants to more confidently make sales calls to acquire critical early stage customers, validate their technology and market, and ultimately make more effective sales team hires when ready to do so.
The following sessions will be delivered in 2 full day workshops, followed by a group roundtable discussion and one-on-one mentoring sessions.
Day 1, Theory:
- Sales process fundamentals – what actually drives a sale
- Sales process measurements – what really matters in terms of opportunity progress
- Sales pipeline – demystifying the sales funnel and measuring true value
- Sales forecasting – how to create realistic revenue projections
- Conducting effective sales meetings – efficient and meaningful sales communication
Day 2, Practical Application:
- Sales process development workshop (company specific using templates)
- Recalibrating existing pipeline workshop (company specific)
- Role play regular sales meeting (group)
Registration
The normal program registration fee is $995, however, VIATEC is pleased to offer this course to Tectoria entrepreneurs at no charge! However, participation at this price will be limited to just 15 companies.
APPLY NOW by contacting Rob Bennett at rbennett@viatec.ca
FAQs
Which is the right program for me?
VAP |
ScaleUp BC |
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Descriptions | Step 1- Entry | Step 2- Traction | Step 3- Growth | |
EiR Meetings/Check-ins | Monthly one-on-one meetings with EiR assigned to company (1.5 hour meeting, 1.0 hour prep/follow-up; RevUP also has weekly check-ins | 1 hour | 1-1.5 hour | 1.5 hour |
RevUP Roundtable | Monthly peer session with all RevUP participants & all EiRs (1.5 hour meeting) | |||
EiR Advisory Council | Meeting with full EiR team every 2 months (1-1.5 hour meeting) | |||
Mentor Pool | Access to community, industry mentors | |||
Workshops/Seminars | Relevant workshops/seminars every month-2 months (average 2 hours monthly | |||
AceTech Premium Membership | Full premium membership in AceTech ($295/month value); includes 2 round-trip float plane trips every 6 months (max $400 each, access to all AceTech speakers & resources | |||
Scale Up Workshops | Growth & scale oriented designed workshops for Scale Up BC participants | |||
Domain Expert Engagements | 150-hour professional services engagement working in company (average 2 hours monthly for direction) | |||
Quarterly Investment Events | Optional: attend investment events (Vancouver, Victoria, Kelowna | |||
VIATEC Membership | By being a VIATEC member, Accelerator companies get access to all the extra perks - networking events, seminars, job discounts and more! | |||
Monthly fee | As a non profit, the majority of costs to run the program ($2000 per month for the VAP alone!) are subsidized by our funders. Unlike for-profit accelerators, this means VIATEC only charges the following monthly fees & takes no equity. | $0 | $200 | $1000 |
What is the VAP intake process?
- Complete the VAP Application form
- Complete Online Market Validation Training
- Submit your resulting business plan (Company Playbook) for review
- 30-minute Q&A session with the EiR Panel
What are you looking for in an ideal company for the VAP?
- At least one founder working on the venture full time
- In the technology sector
- Potential for growth beyond BC & Canada
- Already located in Greater Victoria
- Company expansion
- Job growth
- Export revenue
What if my company isn't headquartered in the Greater Victoria Area?
VIATEC's mandate is to support local tech companies. If you are located within BC, we recommend applying at one of our many great partner Accelerators spread throughout the province. The full list of BC Accelerators can be found here.
Why should my firm become a Booster?
Working with Accelerate Tectoria clients allows professional service organizations to:
- Work intimately with the next generation of tech companies and entrepreneurs
- Establish stronger ties to the overall tech community
- Offer educational workshops to a core set of tech companies and beyond to the broader tech sector
- Position your organization as a leading provider to the local tech sector
- Support a program that is expected to create jobs, revenue and products which will benefit the overall local economy and community
Congrats to our VAP Alumni
Accio is an on-demand delivery from anywhere in Victoria.
Congrats to our E@ Alumni
