As first reported by The Globe and Mail and BetaKit, multiple proposals have emerged to save the Toronto accelerator, whose chief backers include Oxford Properties Group and its parent Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System pension fund. Bidders include the Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE)—a provincially and federally funded agency that was a founding partner of OneEleven—and Mohamad Fakih, a Toronto entrepreneur known best for owning Paramount Fine Foods. (The Logic, The Globe and Mail, BetaKit)

Talking point: OneEleven, whose alumni include Canadian financial technology companies Wealthsimple and Borrowell, announced its closure in April, citing financial constraints caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Startups were told to vacate and arrange new terms with Oxford. Over a month later, there are competing visions for its revival. OCE hopes to make the accelerator a not-for-profit organization that helps startups find financing to grow. A spokesperson told The Logic the agency is in conversations with “numerous partners,” including “very positive” discussions with MaRS, to save it. Fakih told The Logic he believes it should be a private space “for entrepreneurs, run by entrepreneurs” and not be “a bureaucratic organisation that costs taxpayer money.” His proposal includes buying OneEleven and launching a seed fund to invest in early-stage startups who want to help it transform into “a lean, profit-centre that would continue to grow organically off its own revenues and investments.”