Blog

Our latest Global Goals Jam, a very exciting weekend challenge involving students, faculty, Institutions, community, and overseas partners with our students winning prizes has successfully concluded earlier this spring.

More than an event, it was a weekend of opportunity for experiential learning, improving employability and opportun… Read the rest

Small bumper dings are one of the most common damages to cars, and a quick Google search brings up numerous DIY fixes with varying levels of difficulty. Entrepreneur Robin Gupta recongnied an opportunity to prevent bumper dings and dents from happening, and developed a product called Bumper Shield. We recently had the chance to interview Robin … Read the rest

Crafting the perfect pitch is crucial to secure funding for your business. Making the right pitch can make all the difference when attracting investors, and it takes practice. Just ask ACCEL entrepreneur Melissa James. James is the owner of EastEnd Vegan, a company specializing in dairy-free, spreadable almond cheese that delivers products … Read the rest

From an early age, ACCEL entrepreneur Roxanne Brathwaite had been passionate about furniture and design. As a child playing with her doll house, Braithwaite would throw out the dolls and play with the miniature furniture instead! As she grew older, she grew out of doll houses, but maintained her eye for furniture. Often, Roxanne would take home … Read the rest

An important part of starting your own business is being at the right place at the right time and often, the best businesses come at the perfect time and take advantage of an opportunity.  This was the case for ACCEL entrepreneur, Melissa James.

James is the founder of East End Vegan, a company specializing in almond cheese, a dairy-free alternat… Read the rest

The ACCEL Student Pitch Competition is open to current Centennial College students. There will be prizes awarded over three categories: (1) best overall pitch, (2) best business pitch, and (3) best social venture pitch

Round 1: Video Submissions close by Nov 3rd 2019, 11:59pm
Round 2: In Person Pitch Competition on Nov 21st 2019, 4:30pm

Best Ov… Read the rest

Upptack Studios Managing Director/Co-Founder and ACCEL graduate Anthony Suen has been growing his company steadily since taking part in the ACCEL program.

Suen has recently completed the Ontario Media Development Corporation’s Fund Futures program for emerging independent digital content creators to accelerate their business viabil… Read the rest

The key difference between speed mentoring and speed dating is that 100% of entrepreneurs at a recent Centennial event, wanted their mentoring “dates” to continue well beyond the allotted time!

The Speed Mentoring session was held Thursday, March 16 at the College’s Fireside Gallery and hosted by Centennial staff from ACCEL, the Accelerator … Read the rest

Derek Chan is a Toronto entrepreneur and founder and head instructor of Ko Fung Martial Arts studio, where he teaches Wing Chun, an ancient martial arts / kung fu system that focuses on close quarter striking as well as grappling.

He’s been studying martial arts diligently since the age of 8, so it seems almost natural he’d get into th… Read the rest

We’ve all heard it said, “It’s not magic. It’s just hard work”. True. But here in the ACCEL Zone, there is something magic about hard work.

There’s something very different about hanging around young people who have great ideas. When those same new professionals are sharing ideas about business, talking about starting their own business and hel… Read the rest

After learning about ACCEL online, Domanique Grant met with the program manager, who enthusiastically encouraged her to give it a try. Grant is a singer, songwriter, actress, motivational speaker and active volunteer in her Toronto community, leading her to volunteer as a Youth Advisor for the Pan Am Games, and later earning a gig as an Ambassa… Read the rest

Deangilo Valentine, proud owner of Deval Watches began pursuing his dream of creating custom watches in 2013 when he realized that he had the natural talent of taking different components from different watches he owned and customizing them to his own style. His curiosity of understanding how these time keepers kept ticking led him to dissecti… Read the rest

Yes, ACCEL is a centre of investment like most accelerators: It is place where young entrepreneurs can come to take advantage of the time and experience the coaches and mentors want to invest in them; It is a place to ready a business and accelerate it to the point of eligibility for funding and financing and the ultimate goal of self-sustainabilit… Read the rest