Kitchener, ON — October 5th, 2026
By Alex Kinsella
By Alex Kinsella
“Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.” It’s the famous closing line of 1985’s Back to the Future, where Marty McFly tells inventor Doc Brown they don’t have enough street in front of them to reach 88 miles per hour—the speed needed for the DeLorean’s time machine to work.
Doc Brown’s future-modified time machine might not have needed roads where it was going, but it definitely needed data. And the same thing is true for the real-world innovators and builders across Waterloo Region who are creating the future of transportation.
That’s one of the reasons we built the Catalyst Connected Infrastructure Network (CCIN). Together with our partners at Geotab and Miovision, we’ve created a place where entrepreneurs can work alongside industry leaders, access real-world transportation data and infrastructure, and accelerate the journey from great ideas to commercial success.
Waterloo Region had the assets, entrepreneurs just needed access
We knew that Waterloo Region already had many of the ingredients you would want if you were building a connected transportation company. We’re surrounded by an ecosystem of incredible technology companies, world-class talent, sophisticated transportation infrastructure, and an enormous amount of real-world data.
But we also knew that for early-stage founders, accessing those assets was actually very difficult. It was the same story time and time again. Founders told us, “I can build the technology, but how do I get the data I need to test it?” Beyond developing and testing, the founders shared two more critical problems. First, they needed a place to validate their technology outside of a simulator. Second, they didn’t know how to get in front of the companies and municipalities that could eventually become their first customers.
That’s what inspired us to build CCIN. We’re not another accelerator. We’re a place where connected automotive and mobility founders can find the data, programs, and infrastructure to build.
At first glance, our three founding partners couldn’t be more different. Geotab is a fleet management platform. Miovision is a traffic management and data platform. Catalyst Commons is a co-working space. But even with our different missions, we all share one thing—our home is at Catalyst 137 in Kitchener.
Catalyst 137 and CCIN are great examples of the power of placemaking. When you’re building shoulder to shoulder, relationships develop differently. Conversations happen organically, you start to understand what other organizations are working on and, over time, you begin to see opportunities to collaborate that might not have been obvious otherwise.
That’s what happened with CCIN. Miovision brings deep expertise in intelligent transportation infrastructure and a network of more than 500 smart intersections in Waterloo Region. Geotab brings an extraordinary connected-vehicle platform and insights derived from millions of connected vehicles. Catalyst Commons brings the startup community, physical space, programming and experience creating environments where
technology companies can connect and grow.
But there was one more thing we needed to make CCIN even more valuable for founders.
Building the future of transportation in Ontario
Since 2021, the Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network (OVIN) has supported founders across the province with data, programs, and capital to build automotive and mobility technology. One of the ways OVIN supports founders is through its network of nine Regional Technology Development Sites (RTDS). Waterloo Region has had an RTDS since the launch of OVIN, and earlier this year, CCIN was named as the new home of the local RTDS.
Being an RTDS gives us the ability to take the assets and relationships that already exist here and turn them into something founders can actually access. We’re able to bring partners like Communitech, GTAN, Deloitte, IP Ontario, Conestoga College, University of Waterloo, Northern BI, OVHCloud, and more together to make this a true regional ecosystem initiative.
Bringing partners, data, and infrastructure together lets us support founders in new ways. Here’s an example. An early-stage startup normally couldn’t call up a city and ask, “Hey, can you share your data and infrastructure with us so we can test something?” Cities are typically risk-averse. There are technical, legal, privacy, security, and organizational barriers that make working with startups almost impossible.
We’re changing that by building a framework that makes it much easier for founders to access and build on what’s already here. CCIN is a one-stop shop to work with large tech companies and municipalities. It’s a place where the default answer is, “Let’s see what we can make happen.”
Being an RTDS gives us the ability to take the assets and relationships that already exist here and turn them into something founders can actually access. We’re able to bring partners like Communitech, GTAN, Deloitte, IP Ontario, Conestoga College, University of Waterloo, Northern BI, OVHCloud, and more together to make this a true regional ecosystem initiative.
Bringing partners, data, and infrastructure together lets us support founders in new ways. Here’s an example. An early-stage startup normally couldn’t call up a city and ask, “Hey, can you share your data and infrastructure with us so we can test something?” Cities are typically risk-averse. There are technical, legal, privacy, security, and organizational barriers that make working with startups almost impossible.
We’re changing that by building a framework that makes it much easier for founders to access and build on what’s already here. CCIN is a one-stop shop to work with large tech companies and municipalities. It’s a place where the default answer is, “Let’s see what we can make happen.”
Helping startups get to market
Access to data gets the product built. But it’s access to markets that creates long-lasting tech companies headquartered in Ontario. That’s why we created CCIN Vertex. It’s our commercialization platform for early-stage companies building technologies for vehicles, mobility, and connected infrastructure.
This is more than just mentorship and workshops.
Remember the founders who told us they didn’t know how to get in front of their first customers? Vertex is built to solve that. Through our founding partners and our RTDS network, we can make introductions to the municipalities, large enterprises, and industry partners who are looking for new solutions. We also help founders prepare for those conversations, so a first meeting can turn into a pilot, and a pilot can turn into a customer.
This is more than just mentorship and workshops.
Remember the founders who told us they didn’t know how to get in front of their first customers? Vertex is built to solve that. Through our founding partners and our RTDS network, we can make introductions to the municipalities, large enterprises, and industry partners who are looking for new solutions. We also help founders prepare for those conversations, so a first meeting can turn into a pilot, and a pilot can turn into a customer.
How do you know if your startup is ready for Vertex?
We’re looking for Ontario-based early-stage technology companies working somewhere at the intersection of vehicles, mobility, and connected infrastructure. It could be a company working directly in transportation technology, but it could also be an AI, computer vision, cybersecurity, climate, mapping or data company whose technology has a compelling
transportation application. The one catch is that your startup needs to be beyond the idea stage. We’ve got the infrastructure to do real-world testing, and we’re perfect for startups who are ready to build or test.
Even if you don’t consider yourself a transportation tech startup, your product might be right for CCIN’s data and infrastructure services. If you’re building technology that could have an application in vehicles, mobility, or connected infrastructure, we’d love to have the conversation.
Ready to talk? Connect with us today to get the conversation started.
transportation application. The one catch is that your startup needs to be beyond the idea stage. We’ve got the infrastructure to do real-world testing, and we’re perfect for startups who are ready to build or test.
Even if you don’t consider yourself a transportation tech startup, your product might be right for CCIN’s data and infrastructure services. If you’re building technology that could have an application in vehicles, mobility, or connected infrastructure, we’d love to have the conversation.
Ready to talk? Connect with us today to get the conversation started.