Are you the founder of a high-growth Canadian startup venture looking to scale your business? You could be one of 20 promising founders selected to participate in NEXT Canada’s entrepreneur development program.

NEXT Canada has opened applications to its May 2018 Next Founders program and is searching for founders looking to scale their businesses.

The Next Founders program is a tailored education program that will bring together 20 founders from across Canada to work with key Canadian investors and business leaders. Eligible companies will also have access to $30,000 of non-dilutive funding.

Since its launch in 2010, NEXT Canada ventures have created over 1,300 jobs in Canada. Alumni of the Founders program include Nymi, which has raised more than $32 million for its biometric wristband; and inkbox, whose semi-permanent tattoos have inked customers in 154 countries.

The 2018 program will build on the successful founder development model of years past, and will include sessions on: venture capital and fundraising in Canada, non-dilutive funding options, how to scale your business as told by entrepreneurs who have done it, storytelling, startup PR, attracting top talent, startup legal, and more.

The interactive sessions will be delivered by successful Canadian entrepreneurs in conjunction with masters-level courses taught by faculty from schools including Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, Harvard Business School, and MIT.

Applications for the 2018 cohort of Next Founders are NOW OPEN! Apply today to scale your business & your mindset: https://t.co/3ASquOHDvK #NFapply pic.twitter.com/34LOKT7GQt

— Next Founders (@Next_Founders) February 5, 2018

“Next Founders has always been industry and technology agnostic, however, we are interested in exponential technologies and industry disrupting ventures that can have a positive global impact in areas such as healthcare, the environment and education,” Sheldon Levy, CEO of ‎NEXT Canada, told MTLinTECH. “Given that NEXT Canada also delivers the NextAI accelerator program, there is also an interest in businesses across all verticals that are AI-first or AI-enabled and using some form of artificial intelligence to disrupt.”

The program begins with a Founder Immersion Week in early-May, after which participants are able to opt-in to flexible summer programming that fits with their busy schedules. Participants located outside Toronto are able to customize their programming and travel to the city as their schedules allow.

The organization and several of its alumni will also be hosting a Twitter Talk on March 1 and a Facebook Live application webinar on March 13.

Applications are open until March 20th, and interested founders can apply here.

photo by Brian de Rivera Simon (@tarsipix)