Cutting Edge R&D Company Chooses Waterloo Region

Waterloo Region - A state-of-the-art company, GABAE Development, has been launched in Waterloo Region as a unique research and development venture to develop a diverse range of innovative products. Founder Dr. Evan Koslow has a successful track record of finding and commercializing novel technology solutions across a wide number of business sectors.

Dr. Koslow chose to move to Waterloo Region and establish GABAE Developments with encouragement and assistance from Canada’s Technology Triangle Inc, its supportive local partners, Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, and the Ontario Ministry of International Trade & Investment.

GABAE Development invested $6.0 million during its first year-and-a-half within Waterloo, according to Dr. Koslow. The company has hired 35 staff and has built specialized laboratory facilities to house a world-class R&D and product development program at its 20,000 square foot premise on Bathurst Drive in Waterloo. The facility includes leading edge equipment and work groups distributed amongst a variety of engineering disciplines. GABAE Development is partnering with multinational and venture capital partners, and also envisages spinning off independent manufacturing and service companies.

Research partnerships with universities and colleges are integral to GABAE Development’s business model. According to Dr. Koslow, “Waterloo Region offers an especially appealing environment for a venture like ours which is focused on innovation and commercialization. The outward orientation of the universities and college is an extremely attractive aspect, and enhances the opportunity for business to create partnerships with these excellent institutions. It drove our decision to locate in Canada’s Technology Triangle.”

The Mayor of the City of Waterloo, Brenda Halloran, expressed delight that Dr. Koslow has established this new venture in Waterloo. “GABAE Development’s plans are especially well suited to our community’s facilitative environment for ideas and intellectual capital.”

“It was evident from the first meeting with Dr. Koslow that Waterloo Region was a perfect fit,” says John Jung, Chief Executive Officer of Canada’s Technology Triangle Inc. “Innovation, entrepreneurship and collaboration are part of the genes that have established Waterloo Region as a world-class location for research-intensive ventures.”

Dr. Tom Corr, Associate Vice President for Commercialization at the University of Waterloo and President and CEO of the Accelerator Centre, also welcomes Dr. Koslow’s decision to locate in Waterloo. “Dr. Koslow quickly appreciated that the University of Waterloo’s reputation for close interface with business and its model for technology transfer were aligned with his objectives,” he says. “We are delighted to have GABAE Development in Waterloo Region.”

Ontario’s Minister of Economic Development & Trade, the Honourable Sandra Pupatello, welcomed GABAE Development’s exciting new venture. “Research and innovation define Ontario’s future,” Minister Pupatello noted. “Our Government has created a supportive environment in which GABAE Development and other research-oriented companies can thrive.”

“Dr. Koslow’s choice of a Canadian location is a tribute to the very attractive climate in Canada for research-oriented companies, including Canada’s highly favourable R&D tax incentives,” adds Consul General Norris Pettis, based at the Canadian Consulate General in Dallas, Texas. Consulate officers in Dallas encouraged Dr. Koslow to consider Canada in addition to European locations that he was initially evaluating.

Dr. Koslow has received more than 70 patents in such diversified fields as the solid state extrusion process for carbon block technology, agricultural chemicals, chromatography, chemical and biological technology, water and air filtration and absorption technologies. He has received a BA in Engineering, Cum Laude and an MFS from the School of Forestry from Yale University, as well as a PhD in Agronomy/Agriculture Engineering from Cornell University. The breadth of his academic and business experience has equipped him to approach innovation from a multi-disciplinary perspective.