IBM moves to MaRS: 11 facts about Toronto’s Discovery District

Global tech giant IBM is moving to Toronto to join the up and coming fintech hub at the MaRS discovery district.

MaRS provides the opportunity for bigger companies to team up with more agile, smaller partners to make the most of their innovations. CIBC, Manulife and payment processor Moneris are among the companies present at MaRS at the moment.

MaRS Discovery District in Toronto is one of the world’s largest urban innovation hubs. MaRS supports promising young ventures that are tackling key challenges in the health, cleantech, finance and commerce, as well as work and learning sectors. In addition to helping startups launch, grow and scale, the MaRS community is dedicated to cross-disciplinary collaboration, commercialization of discoveries and driving ideas to impact.

Here are 11 things you may not know about IBM’s latest home in Canada:

1. MaRS’s ventures employs more than 5,000 people
2. It raised $1.3 billion in capital between 2012 and 2014
3. It generated $640 million in revenue during the same period
4. MaRS used to be an abbreviation of Medical and Related Sciences. However, since its remit stretches beyond this MaRS is now its name outright
5. Dr Ilse Treurnicht is the Chief Executive Officer of MaRS Discovery
6. Ilse joined MaRS in early 2005 from her role as President & CEO of Primaxis Technology Ventures, a startup-stage venture capital fund focused on the advanced technologies sector
7. Dr John Evans co-founded MaRS in May 2000
8. It is located on the corner of College Street and University Avenue in the city of Toronto’s Discovery District, adjacent to the University of Toronto
9. MaRS Mornings is a free monthly breakfast series that celebrates creative founders in the innovation community
10. IBM will work alongside start-ups on cognitive technologies - an emerging field that uses artificial intelligence to perform data analytics
11. Facilities on offer at MaRS include lab space, offices and meeting/event areas

To find out more about MaRS, visit www.marsdd.com  

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