Helping Canadian companies through on-site incubation

Communications Research Centre Canada's (CRC) Innovation Centre is recognized as one of the most successful incubators in Canada. It has earned this reputation through its solid track record of helping dynamic young Canadian companies access world-class facilities, technologies and expertise though on-site incubation.

An Agency of Industry Canada, CRC is the country's leading laboratory specializing in collaborative research and development (R&D) in advanced telecommunications. Part of CRC's mission is to support small and medium-sized high-tech businesses. It does this through joint and collaborative research projects, contracts and licensing agreements and its Innovation Centre.

The benefits of incubation

The Innovation Centre fosters the growth of Canadian companies, particularly start-ups, and helps them develop their technologies, products and services. Companies collaborate with CRC researchers and are given access to CRC facilities and technologies. Though the Centre accepts mostly fledging companies, it will also admit more established ones if space permits and the company requires CRC expertise or facilities to carry out R&D on a new product.

Incubation is advantageous to CRC as well. CRC benefits from relationships that are created or enhanced between companies and CRC researchers. There are also economic and strategic benefits for CRC: R&D and licensing agreements; increased visibility; and linkages to the world of small and medium-sized enterprises.

Since opening its doors in 1994, the Innovation Centre has had 32 clients. About half a dozen clients are in residence at CRC at any one time.

CRC Innovation Centre's manager, Marie Lussier, is also President of the Canadian Association of Business Incubators. She is regularly called upon to share her expertise with visitors and those interested in starting an incubator themselves.

Today, Canada boasts over 150 incubators, compared to just a handful only a decade ago. Perhaps this is due to the fact that incubation works: incubated companies have an 80 per cent survival rate, compared to the 20 per cent success rate of non-incubated companies.

Case study

Part of the criteria for acceptance to the CRC Innovation Centre is a need for CRC expertise or technology. Former Innovation Centre client SkyWave Mobile Communications was drawn to CRC by the opportunity to work with world-class antenna researchers.

CRC has the largest independent non-industrial antenna research group in Canada. The Advanced Antenna Technology group conducts collaborative R&D with universities and private industry participation, with technology and knowledge transfer a primary objective.

The group helped SkyWave Mobile Communications with the design and prototype development of compact antennas for two mobile satellite terminal products. SkyWave provides satellite technology that tracks vehicles anywhere, pinpointing their locations on a map accessed over the Internet.

The omni-directional antenna that SkyWave developed with CRC became integral to the company's success. The DMR-200 data transceiver is the smallest Inmarsat two-way terminal ever (only 121 mm by 121mm and 41 mm thick). The transceiver can send and receive data anywhere in the world.

Success!

Now based in Kanata, SkyWave owns 80 percent of its market globally and has taken the lead in the D+ airtime services market. In October 2002 they received $19.3 M in venture capital funding that will help them expand their business globally.