Michelle Simms On The Genesis Of Billion-Dollar Companies Like Verafin

Michelle Simms, the president and CEO of the Genesis Centre at Memorial University, joins Don Mills and David Campbell on the latest episode of the "Insights" podcast. The Genesis Centre has been supporting startup companies in Newfoundland and Labrador for 25 years.

Many of the province’s top tech startups - most notably Verafin, which sold for nearly $3-billion U.S. - were incubated through the centre’s Enterprise program, which has an innovative royalty-based financing model. Newfoundland and Labradors’ tech sector is getting noticed and still growing.

"Our tech sector is still relatively new. It's probably only 15 to 20 years of real snowballing growth and maybe even less than that," says Simms.

"[We have] the exit from Verafin and a number of other really exciting things that have happened in this province recently. There are probably six or seven other acquisitions that have happened in the last two years. We're going to see a lot more re-investment of that money into our local startup ecosystem and I really do see that snowball getting bigger and bigger and bigger as it rolls down the hill."

A CBC documentary Silicon Island also came out last fall and highlights some of the most promising firms. Simms tells Don and David about the importance of immigrant and female founders to the province’s recent startup boom.

The “Insights” podcast combines the experiences of an economist, David Campbell, and a social scientist, Don Mills, to explore the challenges and opportunities facing Atlantic Canada, promote data-driven decision-making among policymakers, and encourage a wider dialogue and debate leading to greater prosperity for the region.

Search for “Huddle Insights” on podcast platforms like Apple and Spotify, and follow the show so you don’t miss an episode. You can also listen to past conversations there.