About | Memorial Centre for Entrepreneurship | Memorial University of Newfoundland

Mission and Vision

MCE's mission: To help every Memorial University student find and grow their inner entrepreneur.

We inspire students from diverse backgrounds and disciplines to seek ways to solve real-world local and global problems through innovative business solutions. By fostering collaboration and accelerating innovation, we aim to cultivate Newfoundland and Labrador’s next generation of entrepreneurial leaders. In doing so, we seek to be the early-stage catalyst that helps make Newfoundland and Labrador the most entrepreneurial province in Canada.

MCE's team of startup experts offers educational programming and events, mentorship, co-working space and funding support to help inspire, educate, connect, and accelerate entrepreneurs from across all of Memorial University’s disciplines and campuses.

2025-2026 marks the 10th anniversary of MCE!

MCE has a bold and fun year planned to mark its tenth anniversary, celebrating a decade of ideas, a future of impact.
The timeline below marks some key milestones in our journey so far.

MCE's 10 year history:

2025: MCE marks major 10 year milestone!
2024: MCE launches its first Side Hustle Showcase

The inaugural showcase featured 24 students representing 19 companies— including 22 women founders. This event provided a vibrant platform for students to showcase their entrepreneurial spirit, from handcrafted goods and unique services to innovative tech solutions, highlighting the talent and diversity within Memorial’s student community, and providing a launching pad for students to acquire the skills and motivation to build their next big idea!
2023: MCE launches new programming

The inaugural Illuminate awards

Illuminate is a program and pitch competition highlighting innovative ideas led by women and gender-diverse Memorial students. Reaching over 125 students to date, with approximately 30 applications received over its two-year history, Illuminate quickly proved it filled a gap and has now become a part of standard MCE programming.
Read above previous Illiminate awards: 2023; 2024.
Learn more and register for Illuminate 2025.

LearnLaunch begins

MCE introduces new programming with content, coaching, and pre-seed funds to help students validate early-stage ideas and prepare for later stage programming, like the Student-in-Residence. To date, 25 students have successfully completed LearnLaunch, with many more students interested in joining the program.
2022: MCE begins a journey of new leadership with director, Ed Martin

Ed’s direction expanded the scope of MCE, branching out from the tech-based or high-growth focus, to supporting students with a wide range of ideas. With this change, programming and student support expanded, and the client base became more diverse across disciplines and genders.
2021: Experience Ventures program kicks off

A partnership with UCalgary’s Hunter Hub, through the national Experience Ventures program, allowed MCE to support startups while providing innovative students with entrepreneurial experience through short-term matched placements. Read more here.
2020: MCE receives the GlobalNL Community Impact Award

MCE received GlobalNL’s inaugural Community Impact Award in recognition of its support for student entrepreneurs, particularly during the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. The centre shifted to a virtual learning environment, offering online events, workshops, and 35 virtual entrepreneurial work terms, while continuing to support startups like CoLab Software, BreatheSuite, and InspectAR. MCE also organized a virtual networkshop series connecting students, business leaders, and six partner universities across Atlantic Canada. Read about it here.
2019: MCE is recognized as one of the top emerging entrepreneurship centres in the world at the Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centres (GCEC)

MCE was named a finalist in the Outstanding Emerging Entrepreneurship Centre category by the Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers (GCEC) - the only Canadian centre to receive this distinction. That year, MCE supported over 300 students, invested in student business ideas, and contributed to the early success of ventures like Colab Software and Mysa, helping to establish Memorial University as a hub for student entrepreneurship. Read more: Memorial article; Entrevestor article.
2018: Entrepreneurial work terms extended to non-co-op students

Traditionally reserved for formal co-operative placements, the "Entrepreneurial Work Term" (started in 2016) expanded to include students in any discipline in an "Entrepreneurial Internship". This opportunity has since been revamped to the "Student-in-Residence" (SiR) program, where students dedicate themselves full time to their business for a semester, receive mentorship, and earn $10,000 in funding.
2017: Launching many "firsts"

The first MCE startup pitch competition begins!

Now known as the popular Mel Woodward Cup, this flagship event began as “The Startup Cup”: a pitch competition designed to accelerate innovative, high-potential student-led startups at Memorial University. To date, 45 finalist companies have competed, with $330,000 in prize money awarded.
Read more about Mel Woodward Cup over the years, and find out how you can apply for 2026!

MCE student ambassadors host Embark

Embark was a student-led and student-focused entrepreneurship conference, bringing in top local entrepreneurial leaders and inspiring the next generation of founders. Read more about it here.

Students are celebrated for failure at the first Fail Tale Cup

Failure is an inevitable part of the process for entrepreneurs. At MCE, we teach students to fail fast and embrace all the lessons learned along the way. The Fail Tale Cup celebrating those who took a risk, and perhaps did not land quite where they expected... but had a great story to tell afterward!
Read more about one Fail Tale winner's journey.

FounderSpace opens
2016: The Memorial Centre for Entrepreneurship officially begins!

Launch of Entrepreneurial Work Terms
Students enrolled in a co-op program get paid and earn co-operative education credit by committing a full semester to their startup.
Read about early EWT founders

MCE welcomes its first director, Florian Villaumé.

With a dedicated director at the helm, MCE rapidly expands from serving 20 students per year to well over 300 annually! Florian Villaumé is recognized for his leadership in building the technology and innovation ecosystem in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.