Created as a lean startup in 2012, the Dunin-Deshpande Queen’s Innovation Centre is now a driver of innovation and entrepreneurship activity across Queen’s, Kingston and the southeastern Ontario region. The mission of the Centre is to encourage, enable and support the innovation activities of students, professors, entrepreneurs, regional and Canadian companies through incubators, accelerators, joint courses, workshops, internship opportunities, seminar series, conferences and business plan competitions.
You can still apply to QICSI as a pre-formed team through Stream 2 of our Regional Pitch Competition: Apply here!
Individual applications for QICSI 2019 are closed however, QICSI now accepts preformed teams. As of last year, the QICSI cohort consists of half individual applicants interested in starting a new venture and half pre-formed teams that are committed to accelerating their venture over the summer months. Apply as a pre-formed team by November 16th at noon!
20 budding startups and non-profits will pitch for a piece of up to $100,000 in seed funding to take their ideas to the next level! Check out the final results of the 7th Annual Dunin-Deshpande Summer Pitch Competition here.
Together with the Bader International Study Centre, DDQIC is launching a brand new international innovation program that combines a semester abroad with the chance to form your own business venture, all while earning credits in Entrepreneurship and Innovation (ENIN) courses. Learn more about the program.
- Shelby Yee joins Gururaj and Jaishree Deshpande on stage during the gift announcement. Ms. Yee, Sc'16, a former participant in the Queen's Innovation Centre Summer Initiative, spoke about the ways the support will benefit students. (Photo by Garrett Elliott)
Great news! Spectra Plasmonics takes home top prize at the Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition! Read more about the competition and Spectra Plasmonic's journey in News and Events.
Inspiring investment for innovation
Innovation and entrepreneurship programming at Queen’s University has received support from distinguished alumni.
The Dunin Foundation – established by Andrew Dunin, Sc’83, MBA’87, and his wife Anne Dunin, Artsci’83 – and Gururaj “Desh” Deshpande, PhD’79, and his wife Jaishree Deshpande jointly have provided a significant gift to Queen’s Innovation Connector. In recognition of this support, the university-wide initiative to support student innovation and entrepreneurship will now be known as the Dunin-Deshpande Queen’s Innovation Centre.
“Since our founding several years ago, we have encouraged, enabled, and supported the innovation activities of student, professors, entrepreneurs, and Canadian companies,” says Greg Bavington, Executive Director, Dunin-Deshpande Queen’s Innovation Centre. “With the generous support of the Dunins and the Deshpandes, we will move beyond the lean start-up phase of this initiative and rapidly increase Queen’s capacity to drive innovation and entrepreneurship across the region.”