LatAm Startups

Val is on a mission to enable thriving entrepreneurial communities of communities locally, nationally and internationally based on a triple win practice of partnership, collaboration and iteration.

This practice evolved from the co-founding and execution of the DMZ, launched in 2010, which by 2015 was named the number one University Business Incubator in North America and number 3 in the world. She left soon after to form The Pivotal Point to help grow community based incubators worldwide.

As co-founder of the DMZ at Ryerson University, she was responsible for executing its development and growth. Opened April of 2010, the Zone has grown to be one of the most talked about tech incubators in Ontario, attracting and fostering the growth of 190 companies with over 1900 associated jobs in just 5 years. Its been ranked #1 university business incubator in Canada and #5 in the World. Ryerson Futures and the DMZ have now also enabled the development of ZoneStartups-India, a sister-Zone located in Mumbai, in partnership with the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Fox’s 30+ years of experience in facilitating organizational change, coaching, project management, innovation, communication strategy, user experience and creativity was the perfect fit for her initial role at Ryerson: facilitating student engagement. She has carried these skills over to her role at the Zone where she is principally responsible for making industry and institutional connections, bringing partnerships and collaboration to the Zone. Ultimately, Fox lends her expertise/leadership to the long-term goal of fostering innovation throughout Canada and the world.