SFU establishes academic partnership with Canadian entrepreneurship program The Next 36

Simon Fraser University has become an official academic partner of The Next 36, Canada’s leading undergraduate entrepreneurship development program.

The partnership further solidifies SFU’s reputation as a Canadian leader in fostering entrepreneurship and innovation, and for developing the next generation of founders and leaders of new ventures.

As academic partner of The Next 36, SFU will support the organization’s vision of increasing Canadian prosperity through the creation of high impact entrepreneurs, and encourage its top student innovators to be part of The Next 36 program.

Each year, 36 of Canada’s most promising undergraduate students are chosen from across the country to participate in The Next 36 program.

The program provides its entrepreneurs with mentorship from some of Canada’s top business leaders, access to funding from Venture Capitalists, and academic instruction from some of the world’s leading business experts. 

“The partnership with The Next 36 reflects SFU’s commitment to being an ‘Engaged University’,” said Andrew Petter, President of Simon Fraser University. “

“SFU has a strong track record of engaging the entrepreneurial community, and this partnership will further enhance our ability to educate the next generation of Canada’s business leaders.”

Since the launch of The Next 36 in 2011, SFU has contributed two participants to the program. In addition to current Next 36 entrepreneur Michael Cheng, Beedie School of Business undergraduate Jessica Fan used The Next 36 program to develop her business venture Penyo Pal, an app that teaches children to speak Mandarin.

“The Next 36 is thrilled to welcome Simon Fraser University as our newest academic partner,” said Claudia Hepburn, executive director & co-founder of The Next 36.

“We have had strong SFU innovators in our program for two years running and expect this relationship to help us attract even more of British Columbia’s most talented young entrepreneurs going forward.”

SFU’s partnership with The Next 36 reaffirms its commitment to the teaching and development of entrepreneurship. SFU has a number of existing entrepreneurship development initiatives, including Venture Connection, which provides support for student ventures with mentorship, networking opportunities and early-stage business incubators.

SFU also hosts the Ken Spencer Entrepreneur Incubator, which provides business and applied sciences students with the skills, mentorship and resources to develop new ventures, and the Social Entrepreneurship Accelerator, an initiative fostering student start-ups addressing societal and community challenges and opportunities.

For more information about The Next 36, visit http://thenext36.ca/