As one of Canada’s top business law firms, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP (Blakes) provides exceptional legal services to leading businesses around the world. Their recently-launched Nitro program is a unique project offering designed to help guide and manage the progress of technology companies in the seed and growth phases of their development, while helping to reduce cost and risk.

We asked a few questions to get to know them better.

Why are you looking forward to being a part of the Catalyst137 project?

We’re excited to be here. By having a presence in the world’s largest IoT manufacturing space in one of the world’s leading technology clusters, we will be able to work closely with the companies that will shape the future of Canadian business.

Our office in Catalyst137 will be used as a space for meetings, collaboration, and even for dropping in to find out how our lawyers can help your business.

How will your on-site services benefit tech start-ups specifically?

We want to see Canadian start-ups succeed. Our Nitro program offers exceptional work supervised by experienced people – including lawyers who’ve worked with start-ups for almost two decades. By being a part of Catalyst, we will become more immersed in the tech start-up community in Kitchener-Waterloo. This will allow us to better understand the challenges and obstacles that tech start-ups face, and this knowledge will make it easier for us to help them succeed.

Is there anything about the Waterloo Region in particular that draws you to this project?

Kitchener-Waterloo is one of the world’s leading technology clusters, and I have watched the start-up community grow considerably since I was an engineering student at the University of Waterloo. Since we launched Nitro in the summer, we’ve placed additional focus on the region’s start-up community, but there is no substitute for actually being here. We’re looking forward to becoming a bigger part of what is, in my view, one of the most exciting technology environments on earth.

If you’d like to learn more about Blakes, please email brett.slaney@blakes.com.