SOAR Innovation celebrated their grand opening Thursday after completing renovations in the Daily Planet Building on King Street in downtown Chatham.

SOAR is a registered not-for-profit organization, helping entrepreneurs take their ideas into practical business.

“SOAR Innovation acts as a catalyst between innovative entrepreneurs, the market opportunity, and the start-up ecosystem,” said Prashant Pathak, founder of SOAR.

“It is our hope that through our organization, we can help grow Chatham-Kent’s economy by launching untraditional sectors for this region and stimulating the economy with new, sustainable, and skilled employment opportunities,” adds Pathak.

Director of economic development Stuart McFadden says Chatham-Kent is home to extremely talented and innovative people and having access to a business accelerator is going to be invaluable for taking innovations from prototype to a global market.

“Economic Development and SOAR Innovations make great partners because together we will help launch businesses to new heights,” says McFadden.

Types of industries involved with SOAR Innovation include food, agriculture, energy, water and waste-water, tourism, technology, software development, analytics, art & design, marketing, and education.

“We are officially open and ready to start connecting with people who have innovative ideas or businesses,” said Gaurav Gupta, director of finance and venture services.

Started by Ekagrata Group, SOAR Innovation has an internal network in more than 30 countries, with direct investments across the globe.