Access to Success Bootcamp
For startups serving people with disabilities
October to November 2019
Bootcamp Highlights
3
Days of intensive sessions in October 2019
for
Startups serving people with disabilities
with
10
Teams of 1 to 4 members each
and
$
Prizes to be won at a pitch competition in November 2019
The event venue is accessible and live captioning will be available.
2019 Cohort
Why they participated
Canada’s first bootcamp for the accessibility market
Every session in this bootcamp is designed to address the pain points unique to your market. You won’t find any sessions on finance or accounting here, but there will be plenty to learn from experts on customer acquisition, inclusive marketing, impact investments, and more.
Learn how to expand beyond niche markets using inclusive design
Ever had an investor tell you that your TAM or market size is too small? So have we. That’s why experts from the Inclusive Design Research Centre, the world leaders in inclusive design, will host daily workshops on how to apply inclusive design to potentially expand beyond the “niche” accessibility market.
Join a community of like-minded founders
We’re building a community of entrepreneurs who share a passion for serving people with disabilities. Come meet others who are on the same journey as you, learn from their war stories, and share in their achievements through panels and closed-door networking sessions.
Leverage exclusive 1:1 mentoring sessions
Pitching coach extraordinaire Frank Erschen, the global law firm Dentons, and 5 prominent venture capitalists will provide personalized, 1:1 mentoring sessions during and after the bootcamp. No more generalist advice.
What made them eligible
For-profit startups with products or services for people with disabilities
At a minimum, must have an MVP or completed market validation
Must be a registered entity (corporation, partnership or sole proprietorship)
Preference will be given to startups which co-created the MVP with someone who has a disability
Applications are now closed. For inquiries, please reach out to us at contact@accesstosuccess.ca.
What they learnt
Accessibility and Inclusive Design
Applying Inclusive Design
Jess Mitchell & David Pereyra
Inclusive Design Research Center
Inclusive Design at Microsoft
Ricardo Wagner
Microsoft
Bootstrapping Digital Accessibility
George Zamfir
Slack
Mental Health for Founders
Aïko Thurlow
InFounders
Customer Acquisition
Luke Vigeant, Inkblot Therapy
Fiona Gao, eSight
Dina Nikitina, Trexo Robotics
Mauricio Meza, Tecla
Inclusive Marketing
Olivia Olesinski, Stewart Wong & Polina Kosareva
Holland Bloorview
Working with the Community
Alwar Pillai
Fable Tech Labs
Growing your startup
Purpose Before Process
Nouman Ashraf
Rotman School of Management
The Artful Science of Pitching®
Frank Erschen
Impact investments
Gonen Hollander
MaRS Catalyst Fund
Later-stage Founder Panel
Pooja Viswanathan, Braze Mobility
Andrea Palmer, Awake Labs
Luke Vigeant, Inkblot Therapy
Alwar Pillai, Fable Tech Labs
Legal Considerations
Matthew Literovich
Dentons
Investor Panel
Danielle Graham, Dream Maker Ventures
Ajay Gopal, Framework Ventures
Snita Balsara, MaRS IAF
1 on 1 Mentoring, Networking & Office Hours
1:1 Mentoring by VC’s
with investors from 7 firms
1:1 Mentoring by Google
with Engineers and Account Executives
1:1 Mentoring on Legal Aspects
Office hours with Dentons
1:1 Pitch Feedback
Office hours with Frank Erschen
1:1 Digital Accessibility Feedback
Office hours with George Zamfir, Slack
Networking
with founders of leading later-stage startups
Mentors & Judges
Dream Maker Ventures
Pitch Judge
ScaleUp Ventures
Pitch Judge
Myplanet
Pitch Judge
Fable Tech Labs
Pitch Judge
eSSENTIAL Accessibility
Pitch Judge
Techstars
Mentor
Whitecap Ventures
Mentor
Real Ventures
Mentor
Golden Ventures
Mentor
Ripple Ventures
Mentor
ScaleUP Ventures
Mentor
Panache Ventures
Mentor
Pitch Competition Location
Toronto, ON
Bootcamp Location
Toronto, ON
In partnership with
Sponsored by
Special thanks to
What's next
Why we're doing this
$18 Billion
Global market size of assistive technology
$1 Trillion
Global disposable income of pwd
Mass Market
Opportunity through inclusive design
200+
Assistive tech startups in North America
By using inclusive design, assistive tech can potentially expand beyond a niche segment and enter mainstream mass markets. People with disabilities alone comprise a market the size of China, and yet this market has been largely ignored by the venture capital ecosystem.
Despite the size of the market, no support programs exist in North America for startups serving people with disabilities.