"Throw the kitchen sink at startups" with Ian McCarter of MaRS Discovery District

What The Tech?

This episode we welcome Ian McCarter, the Director of Corporate Innovation at MaRS Discovery District. MaRS is the world's largest urban innovation hub. Based in Toronto and operating since 2015, Mars supports startups in the health, cleantech, fintech, and enterprise sectors that are reshaping cities around the world, standing at the forefront of a wave of change that extends from Melbourne to Amsterdam and across the entire globe.
In Ian’s role, he’s focused on creating meaningful, economic relationships between Canadian ventures and globally significant early adopters of innovation. In particular, Ian has been helping energy, mobility, real estate, mining, construction, and heavy industry partners inject Canadian innovation into their net-zero journey.
Currently, this mandate includes the Mobility Unlimited Hub, which helps early-stage personal mobility companies bring their products and services to the people who need them most. Through a cohort-based program, startups are connected to the resources, talent and know-how needed to commercialize their innovations so that they can help more people put their goals and dreams in motion.
I’m excited to pick Ian’s brain on what it takes to drive innovation in the current market, dig into what urban innovation looks like, and in particular how important community—in it’s many definitions—is to building a successful, innovative business.

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Intro and Outro music provided by Dennis Ma whose mixes you can find on Soundcloud at DJ DennyDex.