The Canada-India Acceleration Program (CIAP) is passionate about improving economic and social progress while boosting international trade. Our acceleration program falls under the Canada India Centre for Excellence (CICE), which was formed by the Indo-Canadian community and Carleton University to work towards improving policies for both countries. CIAP is a true acceleration program with a directive of helping female-led ventures tap into new markets and scale their companies. We work with foreign partners, incubators, seasoned entrepreneurs, and market experts to take an international approach to business growth.
Our program will position you for expedited growth and exposure with access CIAP’s market advisors, tools + resources, mentoring sessions with key experts, and more.
Mission
CIAP strives to position Canadian start-ups in emerging markets, such as India, creating more expertise and growth opportunities for women-led companies.
Vision
A future of inspired innovation, greater gender equality, stronger economies, and better business – with more women in both entrepreneurship and leadership positions globally.
Why India
With an annual economic increase of approximately 7.5%, India is the fastest growing market in the world. Combined with a population of over 1.2 billion, a strong startup ecosystem, and an expanding middle-class population, India makes an excellent country for Canadian businesses to expand their ventures.
Why Female Empowerment
Women leaders provide invaluable benefits to companies, employees and industries. Not only does female leadership in the workplace increase a business’s productivity, it also cultivates and creates a more inclusive company culture. Furthermore, studies have shown that women in senior positions improve employee satisfaction and retention rates.
With only a small percentage of ventures having women in key decision-making positions, there’s a need to embolden female leaders and provide the skills they need to take their venture to the next level. Reach out to us today to discuss if our program is a fit for you. READY? Apply now!
Partnerships
Founded in 2014, Lead Angles is India’s first privately owned angel network. Lead Advisory assists start-ups in follow-on fundraising while LA Management & Lamp; Professional Services supports compliance and governance requirements of these companies. The team accomplishes this by providing professional assistance to investor-members in company evaluation and the portfolio companies in their operations.
Deloitte provides audit & assurance, consulting, financial advisory, risk advisory, tax and related services to public and private clients spanning multiple industries. Deloitte serves four out of five Fortune Global 500® companies through a globally connected network of member firms in more than 150 countries and territories bringing world-class capabilities, insights and service to address clients’ most complex business challenges.
The Forum for International Trade Training (FITT) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing international business training, resources, and professional certification to individuals and businesses. They offer the only international business training programs and related professional designation (CITP®|FIBP®) endorsed by the Canadian government. Their international business training solutions have become the standard of excellence for global trade professionals across Canada and around the world.
ventureLAB is a leading technology hub located in Markham in York Region, Canada’s second largest tech cluster. At ventureLAB, we grow globally competitive tech titans that build-to-scale in Canada, in three key areas of focus: hardware, health, and inclusivity. Through programs focused on raising capital, attracting and retaining talent, customer acquisition, and technology and IP development, ventureLAB has enabled thousands of tech companies to scale through these growth-oriented initiatives. Our portfolio of companies have created close to 4,000 jobs that have raised over $200 million in investment capital to continue their growth and scale.
StartUp Canada helps every entrepreneur by connecting local ecosystems from coast to coast to coast, empowering women to catalyze change, supporting exporters with global goals, and bridging the gap between entrepreneurs and the Government of Canada.
Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology, and operations. With 482,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, they drive innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. At 2020-21 ScaleCamp, Accenture was leveraging the knowledge of leading experts, providing innovative incubation space for companies, and collaborating with CIAP during and after the ScaleCamp.
Innovation Hub at Carleton University focuses on promoting innovation and entrepreneurship across the university. They develop and manage a portfolio of ventures through academic and non-curricular programming. In addition, they contribute to the university’s equity, diversity and inclusion commitment with dedicated programs and a support system.
Mediable is a digital marketing agency that provides website design, social media management, and marketing consultation services to businesses of all sizes. Digitization for businesses is a necessity to stay relevant and attractive for customers to become loyal and purchase from them. Mediable conducts the majority of its business virtually and occasionally in-person when content needs to be captured for the services.
ELLA Express, supported in part by the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Fund from ventureLAB and York Region, is a 2-week intensive bootcamp-style program designed to help women-led product and service-based businesses build a solid foundation for growth.
CIAP Operations During Covid-19
CIAP UPDATE: With the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic, CIAP would like to share our continued support to our community, women leaders, and small-medium businesses through these troubling, and uncertain, times. We understand that with the rise of COVID-19 cases, travel bans on non-essential travel, and our country’s precautions, that companies are navigating in uncharted waters.
We would like you to rest assured that we will be continuing our operations virtually, and will continue to support the entrepreneurial ecosystem – and the community at large. As we are all learning together how to best navigate these new challenges, CIAP urges you to reach out to us with other, and new, areas you may require support in as many businesses are focused on their continued operations.
The CIAP team’s thoughts are with you and your loved ones – stay healthy, stay safe, and stay kind.