Young Entrepreneur Donates $1 Million to College Startup Incubator

The University of Waterloo, located in Ontario, Canada, announced Tuesday that it received a $1 million donation from 23-year-old alum and tech entrepreneur Ted Livingston. The money was given to help fund VeloCity, the University's residence-based program for student entrepreneurs. Livingston, who is the founder of mobile messaging app Kik, has a special connection to VeloCity, having founded Kik (then called Unsynced) while living in the residence in the winter term of 2009. Livingston studied mechatronics engineering at Waterloo from 2005 to 2009.

After only a few months in operation, Kik reached 3 million users in early 2011 and was named by Mashable as one of the 10 Apps to Watch in 2011. The company also announced earlier this month that it raised $8 million in Series A funding. According to the university, Livingston's donation (money that was left to him by his grandfather and helped keep his company afloat in the early days) will go toward establishing a $1 million seed fund for its VeloCity student startups. The fund will dole out $25,000 to at least 30 students over the next few years and will help those student-led ventures get four months of office space, incorporation services and mentoring. Additionally, another 75 student startups will receive $500 prizes as part of the first stage of the screening process, according to the university.

"With few responsibilities and surrounded by other talented minds, UW students are uniquely positioned to start world-changing companies," Livingston said in a statement. "Unfortunately, few investors are willing to bet on young entrepreneurs, especially in Canada, so getting the startup funds they need is a huge challenge. This fund is a step towards changing that."