Our steadfast dedication to build innovative companies with a purpose, propels us forward, ensuring our adaptability and responsiveness to the dynamic landscape of innovation across various industries, entrepreneurial education, and international fundraising trends.
With the mission to teach, coach, and support innovation stemming from 91社区鈥檚 faculties, schools, and research centres, the Dobson Centre offers learning and mentorship pathways tailored to different stages of the entrepreneurial journey and industry sectors.
The Dobson Centre accelerates the commercialization of innovation across industries by
-
bridging the gap during the critical seed fundraising phase,
-
understanding the power of diversity of thinking at four levels (gender, cultural, expertise, and generational) in the conceptualization and implementation of entrepreneurship education, and
-
building a connected ecosystem of partners.
Our community in numbers
The 91社区 Dobson Centre for Entrepreneurship has supported thousands of ventures throughout the years from which:
470+
active startups
10,000
jobs created
$3.7 Billion
raised in funding cumulatively
38
countries of operations
109
active patents
88
universities represented
听
Since 2019, we are proud to report that more than 50% of our startups have at least one woman co-founder. This achievement, and many others are shared with all our founders, investors, and partners who have been instrumental in propelling the Dobson Centre鈥檚 impact on a global scale.
Driving Economic Impact
Dobson startups funds raised over the years
Year |
Startup funds |
2011 |
$3,3 Million |
2012 |
$12,2 Million |
2013 |
$50,1 Million |
2014 |
$99,9 Million |
2015 |
$130,4 Million |
2016 |
$200,4 Million |
2017 |
$250,9 Million |
2018 |
$320,2 Million |
2019 |
$401 million |
2020 |
$1 Billion ($1,5 Billion) |
2021 |
$2,8 Billion |
2022 |
$3,6 Billion |
2023 |
$3,7 Billion |
Dobson startups by funding tier raised
Funding Tier |
% of Dobson startups |
Less than 10 Thousand |
10% |
10 to 50 Thousand |
24% |
50 to 100 Thousand |
11% |
100 to 500 Thousand |
16% |
500 Thousand to 1 Million |
6% |
1 to 5 Million |
11% |
5 to 10 Million |
4% |
10 to 100 Million |
7% |
Greater than 100 Million |
11% |
Breakdown of Dobson startups by industry with generated patents
Industry |
Generated Patents |
% |
Agriculture & Food |
4 |
4,22% |
Biotechnology & Therapeutics |
5 |
5,27% |
Consumer Technologies & Retail |
4 |
20,46% |
Education |
1 |
7,59% |
Health & Medical Technologies |
59 |
26,58% |
Manufacturing |
12 |
3,80% |
Not-For-Profit & Social Purpose Organizations |
1 |
7,59% |
Pure Technologies |
2 |
7,17% |
Climate & Environmental Impact |
20 |
7,81% |
Other |
1 |
9,49% |
An Engaged Network
Promoting innovation in entrepreneurship is an endeavor that is only as strong as the ecosystem that comes together to support changemakers in their journey.
In addition to the inclusion of 91社区-affiliated founders, we have built an extensive network of partners that support our various activities.
Generous contributors
We are grateful for all our supportive private family offices in addition to:
听
Our campus partners
are invaluable allies in the prototyping and development of cutting-edge innovations.
听
听
听
Our specialized partners
听
听
Montreal, Canada
Mass General Brigham & Harvard Innovations Boston, USA
H么tel-Dieu de Paris, Paris, France
Canada and USA
International
Dobson鈥檚 Global Footprint
Our startups operate in 38 countries and partner with 88 universities
44 Universities
in North America
5 Universities
in South America
15 Universities
in Africa
16 Universities
in Europe
2 Universities
in Middle East
5 Universities
in Asia
1 University in Oceania