The City of Surrey and Simon Fraser University (SFU) have joined forces to incorporate Innovation Boulevard, a young but rapidly expanding centre for technology development based in Surrey and linked with a growing network of innovation centres around the world.
The partners have also committed to invest close to $1 million over the next three years to fortify the structure and operations of Innovation Boulevard.
The Innovation Boulevard Corporation will continue to build the existing integrated innovation and technology hub that coordinates the efforts of private industry, investors, the City, SFU, Fraser Health Authority, and healthcare providers to support product commercialization, research, investment and job creation.
Led by a Board of Directors, the Innovation Boulevard Corporation will accelerate the momentum built and success realized over the past 3 years. This includes securing $45 million in grant funding, attracting many new companies to Surrey, creating 17,000 square feet of embedded lab space, and taking 3 new health technology products to market.
“Creative partnerships are the key to solving some of today’s biggest challenges and addressing issues such as the pressure on the healthcare system” says Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner, Co-chair of Innovation Boulevard. “Innovation Boulevard uses collaboration to link and leverage universities, hospital campuses, companies and other assets in Surrey, across the region and around the world.”
“The Innovation Boulevard Corporation supports our recently launched SFU Innovates Strategy, and will harness SFU’s strength of putting research into practice by engaging with industry and the community to solve real-world problems” says SFU President Andrew Petter.
“The region has tremendous entrepreneurial talent and world-class researchers” says Dr. Peter Payne, CEO of the Health Tech Innovation Foundation. “Innovation Boulevard’s partnership-driven model has been proven to bring these groups together to create innovative solutions.”
For more information visit www.innovationboulevard.ca
