Tech-AdaptiKa, a Toronto-based firm that specializes in e-learning, conferences, and training through virtual technology, today launched what it described as the first avatar-based business incubator in northern Ontario.
Called IDENO, the intent of the program is to help entrepreneurs in several ways.
“With Ontario entering a third wave of COVID-19 infections, many business incubators had to close their doors leaving thousands of entrepreneurs with minimal service,” the company said. “The IDENO program allows these incubators and business centers to operate in more collaborative ways. Through their personalized avatars, entrepreneurs and service providers can talk, learn and work together towards business goals.”
According to a release, the “avatar-enabled virtual technology will allow hundreds of entrepreneurs to connect with service providers, venture capitalists, government agencies and non-governmental organizations in an ecosystem that fosters innovation and business development.”
The timing of the move, said company founder Carrie Purcell, is critical: “Entrepreneurs and business owners across Northern Ontario will benefit from being connected to the right decision makers to create meaningful interactions safely.
“Our platform empowers users with multiple opportunities to interact with the right people anywhere in the world and work together in a more human-centric way.”
Scheduled to run for one year, the goal of the program is to connect with as many as 1,200 entrepreneurs on a weekly basis. Interested parties will have the ability to use Tech-AdaptiKa’s technology to power their own events, conferences, workshops, etc. free of charge, the company said.
The initiative is being offered in partnership with ed-tech organization Voilà Community Help and is supported by FedNor, the federal government’s economic development organization for Northern Ontario.
