283 Duke Street West, Kitchener, ON, Canada

About Us

WHAT IS SPUR?

a community spurring innovation and enterprise

SPUR is an innovation Centre, located in the heart of the Canadian Silicon Valley, or the Toronto – Waterloo Tech Corridor, transforming the way people think about IT, Technology, AI, and is inspired by other innovative, like-minded companies pushing the boundaries in their areas of expertise.

Sam Altman – CEO Y Combinator:

When asked if any one school stood out in terms of students and graduates whose ideas took off. “Yes,” Altman responded. The Reporter, Bruni was prepared to hear Altman tout his alma mater Stanford. After all it’s famous as a feeder of Silicon Valley success. But Altman surprised him: “The University of Waterloo.” “It’s (Kitchener Waterloo) such a high-density pool of talent.

That’s how the SPUR Innovation Centre was born. SPUR Innovation Centre is inviting up-and-coming, innovation, digital and mission-based companies to join us in our sprawling, 300,000 sq. ft. co-working space at 283 Duke Street West, Kitchener, ON, as well as several other locations in the neighborhood.

Are you a startup that needs an office space to make your business boom? If so, then we want to partner with you and give you the unique opportunity to increase your business’ influence by working in synergy with other companies, just like yours.

As a member of SPUR Innovation Center, your company and employees will have 24/7 access to the beautiful space and abundant amenities. We always welcome the new design ideas or requests from our clients to make it enjoyable for you to accelerate your business and connect with other companies.

Conference and boardroom access, our entertainment room, other nooks for meetings and ideation sessions, kitchens, and lounge areas for hosting clients and small events; all right here in the heart of Kitchener’s newest cradle of innovation: Canada’s Technology Triangle.

WHY CHOOSING US

We believe that innovative people have the power to make the world a better place and we invest our time and resources into entrepreneurs that are making an impact. We are accelerating startups and investing in them.

SPUR leverages its local and international resources and relations for your success.

We provide the best location for your private or co-shared office space right in the heart of Waterloo Region Tech Hub next door from Google headquarters. Choose your future office from 300’000 sq. ft. of space.

The City of Kitchener recognizes the contribution small businesses make to the local economy, and proudly supports the entrepreneurial spirit and economic development of the community.

Our MANDATE

The mandate of SPUR is to create a culture of innovation community and success.

OUR MISSION

Nurture the best people in the culture of innovation, connection and creativity yielding the top results.

  • PEOPLE:
    • We believe success is what happens when the impact of what we do is grounded in the needs of our community
  • PROACTIVE
    • We are go-getters that do not wait for the change to come to our community. We actively seek it.
  • CONNECTION:
    • Business problems are more connected than we think, therefore, to solve them more efficiently; our solutions need to be connected as well.
  • ACCESSIBILITY:
    • A diverse community provides the opportunity to share strengths, resources, experiences, knowledge and connections.
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Software Startups

Total number of Software startups of Toronto-Waterloo corridor in 2019.

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Tech Startups

Total number of Tech startups of Toronto-Waterloo corridor in 2019.

Canada Tech Ranking – Waterloo Region

CBRE Research conducted labour quality assessment for software developers by the number and concentration of software engineers with three or more years of experience and who have graduated from one of the top 25 computer science programs in the U.S and Canada. While being amongst the highest cost tech labour markets, Waterloo Region also offers the highest concentration of quality tech talent.

Momentum of Top Tech Talent Labor Pools 2014-2016
  • %

Between 2014 and 2016, Waterloo Region had the fastest growing tech labour pool in Canada, with a 53.6 per cent increase in tech jobs (more than 7,400 tech jobs added).

steven-woods
Steven Woods
Google

Internationally, their reputation is off the charts. I’m not sure Canadians understand that,” In just the past five years, 1,845 new technology startups have formed in the area many call KW, raising at least $650-million in investment.

sir-terry-matthews
Sir Terry Matthews
Canada's Tech Titan

Quite a lot of people get attracted a little bit to higher salaries in the Valley, but they come back. It’s not just about salaries; it’s about quality of life, and it isn’t just about living in sun every day. I mean, California’s pretty close to a desert, and the traffic congestion is beyond belief.