A new program will help enterprising university and college graduates take the first step towards startup success in the innovation and technology sector in Windsor-Essex.

The DeskUP program will provide office space in the Windsor Business Accelerator, at 720 Ouellette Avenue -- including a computer, telephone, printer, and access to professional meeting space and a shared receptionist.

Dan Renaud, president of Tellbob, a consumer information company, says the location provides a collaborative environment.

“As a tenant of the Accelerator, our company has the opportunity to share contacts, leverage event opportunities and bounce ideas off one another,” he says. “It's more than just cool office space.”

The program also provides partnership with WEtech Alliance, including professional mentorship and coaching.

“I have not only taken ideas to market, built and sold successful companies from the ground up, but I’ve also taken my lumps along the way,” says entrepreneur-in-residence Rob Whent, a UWindsor engineering grad (BASc 1983). “You learn more from challenges and setbacks and that’s the kind of hard-won knowledge I’m excited to share.”

DeskUP is seeking applications from people who have graduated within the past three years with business ideas in the following sectors: advanced manufacturing, information technology and communications, green technology, life sciences, and social innovation.

Find more information, including an online application, on the program Web site.