How four Edmonton startups are collaborating to fight wildfires

While much of Edmonton was preparing to watch the Oilers fight to keep their NHL playoff dreams alive last night, four of the city’s preeminent tech leaders were discussing how collaboration has helped them solve problems, build their business, and earn trust in a challenging industry.

“We wouldn’t be able to provide the value we deliver if we tried to build everything ourselves.”
Nafaa Haddou,
FireSafe AI

Nafaa Haddou, CEO and co-founder of the wildfire detection and prevention platform FireSafe AI, brought together three of his peers for a metaphorical fireside chat about preventing real-world wildfires.

Dubbed Built Here, Built Together: How Edmonton companies are solving real-world problems, the event was hosted at Edmonton Unlimited and featured participation from AIRmarket’s Lindsay Mohr, ELIXR Simulations‘ Andrea Urbina, and Wyvern’s Callie Lissinna.

Over the past year, FireSafe has partnered with each of the companies, leveraging the strengths of each platform to increase its capacity for wildfire prevention, management, and response. It has implemented data from Wyvern’s hyperspectral satellite imagery to broaden and enhance the veracity of its data, and has brought AIRmarket’s drone management onboard to provide real-time surveillance verification. Most recently, it partnered with ELIXR, an immersive technology company, to explore training and simulating wildfire incidents.

FireSafe’s focus on partnership and collaboration is born out of necessity, according to Haddou. He said that by working together, startups can diversify the scope of their capability, and together build a stronger ecosystem.

“We wouldn’t be as competitive as we are without our technology partners. We wouldn’t be able to provide the value we deliver if we tried to build everything ourselves,” Haddou said. “I work with amazing companies and telling their story, and how we fit together, is just as important because it allows us to grow, deliver, and ultimately build trust, relationships, and research.”

The conversation was anchored around the work each company is involved in regarding wildfires, particularly in the shadow of the 10-year anniversary of the Fort McMurray wildfire, which razed much of that city on May 3 of 2016. The panel used those events as a springboard to discuss everything from how advances in technology have changed the realities of wildfire response to how companies can build trust in new technologies among user bases. They also talked about the need to diversify to address the seasonality of the space.

Wyvern’s Lissinna spoke at length about the essential nature of working together when it comes to multi-pronged, real-world problems where no one company can provide a full suite of solutions.

“Startup fundamentals say you need to be doing what you can do the best and what’s going to create value the fastest. Wyvern could have spent time building solar panels and battery packs …, but instead we went straight to hyperspectral cameras because that is where we can develop IP and bring value,” she said. “That means that you’re only going to end up with one part of the puzzle. If you’re going to be a good startup, you end up with something small, and then to be a part of a big problem, you have to collaborate.”

BetaKit’s Prairies reporting is funded in part by YEGAF, a not-for-profit dedicated to amplifying business stories in Alberta.

Feature image courtesy Jesse Cole for BetaKit.