Bring Your Idea to Life with Ideation Lab

Q: What does ICUBEUTM mean?

ICUBE is simply i 3 which stands for: Inspiration, Ideation and Innovation. Finally, UTM is the University of Toronto Mississauga campus.

Turn Your Ideas into Reality

At Ideation Lab, we help change-makers from all industries transform their big ideas into successful ventures. Whether you’re working on an invention, starting a non-profit, or solving a persistent problem, we provide the tools, resources, and guidance to make it happen.

What You’ll Gain:

Learn essential skills to build a sustainable business or organization.
Get hands-on experience with tools like the business model canvas and design thinking.
Work closely with industry experts and mentors to refine your idea and business model.
Access to 25 hours of FREE creative studio services.

Program Highlights:

Boot Camp Intensive: A multi-day deep dive with expert facilitators to validate your idea, assess viability, and create a plan to move forward.
Workshops: Build essential business skills in sales, marketing, and more to help launch your venture.
Mentorship: Ongoing support from experienced advisors to guide you through the startup process.

Equity and Diversity Statement

Ideation Lab’s dedication to promoting diversity in our teams includes a commitment to ensuring every cohort accurately reflects our community, welcoming folks of all gender identities, sexual orientations, races and ages, and actively creating space for marginalized change-makers and under-represented disciplines.

This summer, ICUBE’s Ideation Lab will be hosted in a condensed format to honour other commitments you may have during the season. Rather than meet weekly for 10 weeks as we do during the Fall/Winter, we will have this program run “bootcamp” style across three Saturdays: May 10, 2025, May 24, 2025, and June 7, 2025. Participants must be able to attend from 10:00am to 5:00pm each of these Saturdays. Please indicate on your submission form if you would like to attend in-person or virtually.

Also, please note that while the program is condensed in terms of workshop scheduling, accepted members will still have access to ICUBE membership for a full year. During that time, they can access 3 months of 1:1 coaching, 25 hours of Studio support to assist with branding or website development, and professional consultations to legal or financial professionals (among other perks). Accepted members will further have the opportunity to also apply to a virtual pitch competition in August where 10k in prizes will be distributed.

Why Ideation Lab?

Small Cohorts: Get personalized support and collaboration in a small class setting.
Community Support: Join a network of like-minded entrepreneurs, experts, and advisors who will help you succeed.
Diverse and Inclusive: We actively welcome entrepreneurs from all backgrounds, ensuring our cohorts reflect the diversity of our community.

Eligibility Requirements:

U of T student, staff, recent graduate (within 5 years), or Peel region resident.
Committed to attending all sessions and working on your venture for at least 5 hours per week.
The business idea must be in alignment with applicable policies and legislation and Ideation Lab’s values

Testimonials from Graduates:

"My favourite part about Ideation Lab was being surrounded by people who were extremely motivated to make an impact in their own, unique way. Witnessing the passion behind everyone else's ideas definitely inspired us to make progress with ours. The biggest takeaway from Ideation Lab was how evidence-based we have to be as entrepreneurs. Even before releasing a product, we need evidence that people are willing to use it and, more importantly, pay for it."

“This was a great hands-on experience, I felt like I was thoroughly introduced to a lot of the key concepts and strategies required to build a startup and then slowly got to chew on and reflect on the content and learnings throughout the program.”

“Prior to participating in Ideation Lab, talking about our business was something that felt intimidating for me. Since creating a clear statement of what our value proposition is, I have felt so much more confident talking about our business. Even more, taking our value proposition and then validating it with our research and creating a business model canvas has helped to clearly state how we are going to create our product and the impact we will have.”

“Each exercise has allowed us to focus on learning skills related to and planning specific aspects of our business, and gaining these skills has given me so much more confidence in being able to run a business!”

“Before joining the Ideation Lab program I had poor knowledge of sales, marketing, developing business models, and financial planning, but these are now improved very well. I believe the knowledge that I gained from boot camp and workshops will extremely helpful to accelerate the journey of my company.”

“Each session targeted a specific aspect of running ones venture. Starting off with the boot camp that did a great job in introducing the cohort and setting up a rapport for future interactions. It was also a great way to immerse the cohort into the entrepreneurial mindset. All following workshops including Sales, Marketing and Finance 101 prepared the cohort to understand all varying aspects of running ones own business. It gave us an opportunity to explore areas we don’t feel confident about. Sessions with mentors was incredible as we got undivided attention from industry experts whose technical know how and understanding of the market allowed for us to understand the realities of starting ones own venture.”

"As a new mother with a dream to make an impact through entrepreneurship, I would have never imagined to be able to join a great incubator program and learn about business, if it is not because of Ideation Lab. The program created an inclusive and supportive environment to make me feel everyone has a fair chance to learn and grow. I am more confident about the path forward of my venture after the training provided by Ideation Lab."

Frequently asked questions

ICUBE builds and plans, innovative experiences to execute a bold entrepreneurial vision. Can’t find the question you’re looking for? Get in touch with us.

What is a business incubator and accelerator?

A business incubator is a program that gives very early-stage companies access to mentorship, investors and other support to help them get established. Business incubators work with early-stage companies to get them to move beyond their embryonic phase.

A business accelerator is a program that gives developing companies access to mentorship, investors and other support that help them become stable, self-sufficient businesses. Companies that use business accelerators are typically start-ups that have moved beyond the earliest stages of getting established. They have basically entered their “adolescence,” meaning they can stand on their own two feet but need guidance and peer support to gain strength. Less developed companies not ready for an accelerator would instead use a business incubator for support.

Does ICUBE charge any money?

No! All of ICUBE’s programs are free. We are fully funded by grants and the University of Toronto.

Does ICUBE take any equity?

No! ICUBE does not take any equity or ownership interest, including but not limited to shares, stocks, membership units, or any other equivalent form of ownership in our ventures business in exchange for providing programming or services. However, please note that when being connected to investors, or when using particular UofT resources (i.e. research facilities), founders are responsible to review those terms separately, as we cannot guarantee what parties external to ICUBEUTM require.

Who can apply for ICUBEUTM?

All of ICUBEUTM’s programs are open to students, staff, or alumni of any of the UofT three campuses. Additionally, our programs are open to members of the Peel region. ICUBE Studio’s paid services are open to any business in Canada.

Is ICUBEUTM a student club?

No, ICUBEUTM is not a student club, we are a university student life unit under the Institution of Management & Innovation at University of Toronto Mississauga.

What does ICUBEUTM mean?

ICUBE is simply i³which stands for: Inspiration, Ideation and Innovation. Finally, UTM is the University of Toronto Mississauga campus.

How can I apply to work at ICUBEUTM?

ICUBE hires work study students every term! Keep an eye out for our job postings on CLNx at clnx.utoronto.ca.

Who is the Venture Forward program for?

Venture Forward is a one-year program designed to accelerate your business growth in a sustainable way. This is ideal for businesses who are already set, have a product, or are currently selling products/services and need an extra push to grow and scale their business.

Who is the Ideation Lab program for?

Ideation Lab is a one year program that is ideal for teams who have identified a business idea and are in the ideation or early startup phase.

Who is the Indigenous program for?

This program is open to self-identifying Indigenous people across the GTA, with preference given to U of T students, staff, and faculty which focuses on bringing an Indigenous and non-Indigenous lens to entrepreneurship.

Can I apply to multiple incubators/Accelerators?

Yes absolutely! In fact it’s encouraged to do so. It is very common for ventures to be part of multiple different incubator programs to help solve different problems and raise more funding.

Does ICUBE support specific business fields?

Not particularly. While we do highlight social innovation more, we accept ventures from all different fields and categories as long as they are ethical businesses and are not against any of University of Toronto’s policies.

How long is ICUBE's membership for?

An ICUBE membership is for one year from the date of acceptance into Ideation Lab or Venture Forward program. After the one year is up, you are encouraged to apply again.