Jon French

Director, U of T Entrepreneurship
University of Toronto

Jon French is the Director, University of Toronto Entrepreneurship (UTE). He is responsible for supporting and championing all entrepreneurship initiatives across U of T’s three campuses and provides leadership to the UTE team while managing ONRamp – 5,000 square feet of co-working and community event space on the St. George (downtown) campus. He is a central liaison for the leaders of U of T’s 13 accelerator programs and manages relationships with several of key stakeholders across industry, government and the broader innovation ecosystem. The UTE community will play a major role in animating the new Schwartz Reisman Innovation Campus as an innovation hub for the university, the City of Toronto and Canada.

Since joining the university, he has helped launch tri-campus initiatives, including the Black Founders Network and the provincially recognized IP Education Program. Under Jon’s leadership, U of T was recognized as one of the Top 5 University Business Incubators in the world in 2023. Jon has over 15 years experience at the intersection of the innovation economy and academia and is connected across industry and higher education throughout Canada and globally. As an early employee with NEXT Canada, he also helped launch NextAI, an artificial intelligence accelerator in Toronto and Montreal. In 2022, Jon received the Minister’s Award of Excellence in Innovation & Entrepreneurship from the Ontario Ministry of Colleges & Universities.