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An exciting new partnership between and will enable Queen’s graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in STEM gain valuable entrepreneurial training and real-world exposure to the entrepreneurial journey.

Based in Montreal, TandemLaunch is a startup foundry and venture capital fund that provides aspiring technical entrepreneurs (Entrepreneurs in Residence, EiRs) with pre-seed financing, equity, mentoring and coaching, a full-time salary, and healthcare benefits. This package of support enables EIRs to focus on building their business and developing solutions to real-world problems.

TandemLaunch is offering a new pilot program, exclusively to Queen’s graduate students and post-doctoral fellows in 2022, allowing them to shadow TandemLaunch’s EiRs as the EiRs advance through the Qualification Phase. Queen’s Partnerships and Innovation (QPI) is facilitating the university’s partnership with TandemLaunch, and will lead outreach, contribute to the selection process, help to onboard Queen’s graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, and provide support to Queen’s participants throughout the program. Queen’s participants will have access to TandemLaunch’s proprietary Entrepreneurial Learning Platform to increase their skills through self-paced learning (including access to over 60 hours of training material) and may join a variety of live sessions alongside TandemLaunch’s Qualification Phase candidates.

“This is a great initiative for Queen’s students and postdoctoral fellows to expand their entrepreneurial knowledge, shadow the EiRs and learn first-hand how the innovation process works for deep tech solutions,” says Jim Banting, Assistant Vice-Principal, Partnerships and Innovation. “If they decide in the future to create a company around their research, this experience will provide a jump start into understanding the process it takes to get there.”

How it works

• Eligible participants can be graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in technical fields (such as Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Physics, Computer Science, etc.) and materials sciences (Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical and Materials Engineering).
• Interested participants apply to the program with their CV and a 1-2 minute video (preferred) or a letter that demonstrates why they are interested in the program. Submissions are due March 6th at 11:59 p.m.
• Successful applicants must attend the welcome session with members of the TandemLaunch and QPI teams. This session allows TandemLaunch and QPI to meet the candidates and gives the candidates feedback to help them decide if they wish to continue in the process.
• One month prior to the start of the TandemLaunch’s Qualification Phase cohort, candidates will be provided with access to TandemLaunch’s Entrepreneurship Training Program, an online training course consisting of modules on subjects ranging from ideating and validating a venture, to venture capital and fundraising. They will have access to the platform for two months.
• To complete the program, candidates are required to attend at least two interactive sessions in the Qualification Phase but will have the opportunity to attend more if they are interested. Sessions include roundtable discussions with TandemLaunch’s leadership team and experienced entrepreneurs, pitch sessions, and business narrative sessions.
• The QPI team will be available throughout the process to support participants in the program.

Want to know more about TandemLaunch?

Check out the Queen’s University and Tandem Launch landing page to learn more about the program, watch a video of one EiR’s experience, and access the application form.

Important dates:

Application deadline: March 6, 2022 at 11:59 pm
Kickoff / welcome session for students: March 16, 2022 10:00 am to 11:00 am
Cohort start date: April 11, 2022

Interested but can’t commit to this cohort?

If the current intake process doesn’t work for your schedule but you are still interested in participating in TandemLaunch, don’t worry – there will be three more intakes in 2022! Email us at qpi.info@queensu.ca to indicate your interest so we make sure that you are notified about future cohorts.