Our Story

A Nod to the Past

Venture13 represents the evolution of the two-storey 30,000 square foot post-war brick ‘Building 13’ of the Northam Industrial Park on D’Arcy St. in Cobourg, the centre of what was originally, in 1954, the headquarters of No. 26 Ordnance Depot of the Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps, which had been relocated from Ottawa to Cobourg. The station was closed and decommissioned on August 31, 1970 and has since housed various tenants, from the Board of Education offices to an IT company, but none of them permanent. On May 17, 2017, Town of Cobourg, in partnership with Northumberland CFDC and with the support of FedDev Ontario, embarked on a project to transform the municipally-owned ‘Depot’ (recently under-utilized and mostly empty) into a thriving centre of opportunity for entrepreneurship and innovation. 

Building 13 is now Venture13! 

A Vision for the Future

Today, you will find the design of the first floor of Venture13 to be comprised of three essential components: the Innovation Commons, the V13 VentureZone and the V13 MakerLab (programs delivered by Northumberland CFDC), while the second floor of Venture13 houses the secure facilities of the Cobourg Police Services' technology business unit. A SaaS startup themselves, they are working to secure the future of the shared economy. 

The Town of Cobourg's Venture13 innovation and entrepreneurship centre, which houses the municipality’s Economic Development department, anchors community and industry organizations in one place and under one roof: Northumberland CFDC, Northumberland Manufacturers Association and Northumberland Makers are working together to ensure that our community can actively engage and find opportunity in the new rural economy and Industry 4.0. And our innovation partners are helping us make it happen.

A Network of Advisors, Mentors and Leaders 

At Venture13 you will find a network of advisors, mentors and leaders from Spark Centre, Fleming College, Durham College, Ontario Tech University, the Impact Centre at the University of Toronto and Ontario Centres of Excellence, all working together to advance entrepreneurship and innovation not only in Northumberland but across the Eastern Ontario innovation corridor. We are a point of complementarity and connectivity to similar centres across the region, including the Innovation Cluster in Peterborough, the Cornwall Innovation Centre and all of the links in the chain of innovation running across Eastern Ontario.

The Journey Begins Now 

We hope you will join us at Venture13 to explore events and opportunities for applied learning, connectivity, partnerships and business development while helping us, as we will help you, to grow. 

Click the Join Venture13 button now to collaborate with us at V13!