Student Affairs Divisions: The Forge

The Forge is dedicated to driving economic prosperity and social impact through supporting students and startups with programming and resources that foster entrepreneurial thinking and resiliency to accelerate a startup’s growth.

In the 2023 fiscal year, The Forge supported 46 startups founded by McMaster students, alumni and entrepreneurs across Southwestern Ontario, enabling the companies to collectively raise $2.7M in financing, build strong intellectual property portfolios (20 patents total) and grow sales globally — selling products and services in all continents and generating $2.54M in annual revenues. The Forge also connects these founders with the McMaster student community through hackathons, co-op or volunteer placements, class visits and campus events to inspire the next generation of student entrepreneurs.

Since 2015, The Forge has incubated 299 companies that have raised over $46.5M in funding. Additionally, The Forge has created 176 job and volunteer opportunities in our region, of which nearly half were filled by McMaster students and alumni.