What HATCH ventures does

HATCH Venture Builder is a free, university-based late-stage accelerator for technology and social innovation startups, founded in 2016 at the University of British Columbia's Vancouver campus by Applied Science Dean James Olson. It is operated as a collaboration between the Institute for Computing, Information and Cognitive Systems (ICICS) and entrepreneurship@UBC (e@UBC), with co-programming from the Sauder School of Business and the Faculty of Applied Science. Ventures enter HATCH after completing e@UBC's Venture Founder program and reside for 12-18 months, receiving mentorship from Entrepreneurs-in-Residence and Executives-in-Residence, access to the HATCH Makerspace (3D printers, laser cutters, waterjet, CNC machines), internship subsidies via the Government of Canada's Career-Ready Program, and milestone grants from the Concept Fund and the Gerald Heffernan-funded Frank and Gordon Forward Commercialization Fellowship.

The program is organized around two accelerator tracks: CORE, which supports ventures refining prototypes and investment plans, and Lab2Launch, a pre-incubator for lab-based technologies. Supporting programs include the Summer Entrepreneurship Program, the HATCH Intern Program, and the HATCH Makerspace. Marketing and recruitment are community-led, drawing from UBC internal networks, the e@UBC feeder pipeline, and ICICS newsletters, with Investor Days and Pitches & Pitchers events forming the bottom-of-funnel investor channel. Strategic partnerships span UBC-Rogers 5G, Sauder, Applied Science, e@UBC, and the Government of Canada.

HATCH is not a commercial enterprise and generates no participant revenue; it is funded by donor endowments, UBC institutional support, and government programs. Cumulative program outputs since inception include 96 ventures supported, $226M+ in venture funding raised, $41M+ in venture revenue, and 844+ full-time jobs created.

Name

HATCH ventures

Legal name

Institute for Computing, Information and Cognitive Systems (ICICS) at University of British Columbia

Website

https://icics.ubc.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Short description

HATCH is UBC's free late-stage accelerator for technology-based startups, providing 12-18 month residencies with mentorship, makerspace access, grants, and investor connections to UBC students, faculty, alumni, and staff founders.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Startup Accelerator Services

akta.pro primary industry

Corporate Accelerators & Startup Programs (FSANAHAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Corporate Venture Studios & Incubators (Build/launch ventures) (FSANAHAC), Youth Business Incubators & Accelerators (EDAMAHAC)

Keywords

• Startup accelerator program
• Venture builder services
• University entrepreneurship support
• Prototyping makerspace access
• Technology commercialization funding

Headquarters

HQ city

Vancouver

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Accelerator Program Services: HATCH is a free accelerator program funded by donors and government programs. It provides ventures with space, resources, expertise, funding opportunities, and mentorship at no cost to participants.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

HATCH Venture Builder is UBC's late-stage accelerator providing 12-18 month residencies with comprehensive programming, mentorship from Entrepreneurs-in-Residence, access to a fully equipped makerspace, and funding opportunities for technology-based and social impact startup companies. The program is free for participants and is supported by donor funding, university resources, and government programs, offering space, expertise, and connections to help ventures progress from identifying first customers to securing major investors.

Product overview

HATCH Venture Builder is UBC's late-stage accelerator for technology-based and social impact startup companies, operated as a collaboration between ICICS and entrepreneurship@UBC. The core accelerator program provides startups with 12-18 month residencies featuring mentorship from Entrepreneurs-in-Residence, access to the HATCH Makerspace for prototyping, funding through the Concept Fund, and internship support. Supporting programs include the Summer Entrepreneurship Program for early-stage student teams and the Frank and Gordon Forward Commercialization Fellowship for graduate students. Ventures enter through pathways like the CORE and Lab2Launch tracks after completing the Venture Founder program.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Concept Fund: Grant program administered by HATCH providing funding to early-stage UBC ventures for milestones including MVP development, IP, business models, and market validation.
• Frank and Gordon Forward Commercialization Fellowship
• HATCH Makerspace
• Summer Entrepreneurship Program (SEP)
• HATCH Intern Program

Products and services

• HATCH Venture Builder UBC's late-stage accelerator for technology-based and social impact startups providing a 12-18 month residency with mentorship, programming, makerspace access, funding, and investor connections for ventures ready to scale.
• Summer Entrepreneurship Program (SEP) Free after-hours program for Applied Science students and teams to advance ideas utilizing novel technologies or systems, helping position them for the Venture Founder program.
• HATCH Makerspace A fully equipped prototyping facility with state-of-the-art equipment including 3D printers, laser cutters, waterjet cutters, CNC machines, welding equipment, and 3D scanners for venture prototyping and product development.
• Concept Fund Grant program providing financial support to early-stage UBC ventures developing innovations with strong commercial potential to help them bridge to viability, including MVP development, IP, business models, and market validation milestones.
• Frank and Gordon Forward Commercialization Fellowship Annual fellowship awarded to three graduate students in Applied Science, Sauder School of Business, or Faculty of Science passionate about commercialization, supporting technology development to attract seed financing.
• HATCH Internship Program Program providing subsidized tech and MBA interns from Science, Applied Science, and Sauder School of Business to HATCH ventures for technology and business development.
• CORE Program Core accelerator track within HATCH for ventures to refine product prototypes, build the right team, and create investment plans over a 12-18 month residency.
• Lab2Launch Program Pre-incubator program track for ventures developing lab-based technologies, preparing them for the main HATCH accelerator.

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• entrepreneurship@UBC (e@UBC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHATCH is a collaboration between ICICS and entrepreneurship@UBC. Ventures typically join HATCH after completing e@UBC's Venture Founder program. The partnership provides joint programming and mentorship delivery.
• Sauder School of BusinesscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration partner in the HATCH Venture Builder program. Provides business expertise, MBA interns for ventures, and joint programming for student entrepreneurs.
• Faculty of Applied SciencecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-founder of the Summer Entrepreneurship Program and funding provider for tech interns. Supports Applied Science students in pursuing entrepreneurship.
• Rogers CommunicationscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUBC-Rogers Partnership enhances research capabilities across multiple sectors including climate solutions, human health, and social impact through 5G technology collaboration.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Y Combinator: The dominant global accelerator, providing seed funding, mentorship, and demo days to early-stage startups. Operates at vastly greater scale and takes equity, but is the benchmark accelerator against which HATCH's programming is implicitly compared for the same target founders.
• Techstars: Global accelerator network with industry-specific programs and a standardized 3-month mentorship-driven format plus equity investment. Comparable as a structured accelerator but differs from HATCH in taking equity and being broader/sector-agnostic.
• Founder Institute: Global pre-seed accelerator with a structured program for early-stage and first-time founders. Comparable in early-stage founder focus but differs from HATCH by charging fees/taking equity and operating virtually across many geographies.

Direct peers

• Innovation Works (Carnegie Mellon): CMU-affiliated accelerator and seed fund supporting university-spinout startups, particularly in robotics and AI. Comparable in university-deep-tech focus and accelerator-plus-funding structure (HATCH's Concept Fund is analogous to a small seed allocation).
• Creative Destruction Lab (CDL): University-affiliated (originally University of Toronto, now global) seed-stage accelerator for massively scalable science- and technology-based ventures. Highly comparable to HATCH in the university-anchored deep-tech accelerator model and venture-stage focus.
• Stanford StartX: Stanford-affiliated accelerator for Stanford-founded startups, providing mentorship, resources, and investor access without taking equity in early stages. Closely comparable university-anchored accelerator with similar multi-month residency format.
• MIT delta v: MIT's summer accelerator for student-led ventures. Operates as a university-based, no-equity accelerator with mentorship, workspace, and demo day — directly analogous to HATCH's model and target customer (university founders).
• Entrepreneurship@UBC (Venture Founder program): The direct feeder program at UBC for early-stage ventures; HATCH ventures explicitly graduate from e@UBC's Venture Founder before joining HATCH. Same ecosystem, same target founders, and overlapping programming make it the most directly comparable peer.

Regional players

• New Ventures BC: British Columbia's provincial startup competition and community organization; HATCH ventures are explicitly featured in its Top 25 lists. Comparable as a regional founder-competition and ecosystem-builder adjacent to HATCH's mandate in BC.
• Launch Academy (Vancouver): Vancouver-based accelerator and coworking community for early-stage tech startups. Operates in the same metro market as HATCH with overlapping founder segments but a broader private (non-university) mandate and fee-based programs.

Market position

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/HATCHUBC
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-university-of-british-columbia
• Facebookfacebook.com/HATCHUBC

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments33 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about HATCH ventures