Two of the Calgary tech ecosystem’s most high-profile exits, CoolIT Systems and PurposeMed, received accolades on Wednesday night as they landed among the companies honoured at the Start Alberta Tech Awards.
“You can build a real company in Alberta without burning through capital.”
Start Alberta is an Alberta-focused database on startups and funding that is operated by The A100, a community of tech and innovation leaders, founders, and investors founded in 2010 and serving Western Canada. Now in its ninth year, the Start Alberta Tech Awards celebrate “outstanding achievements” in Alberta’s tech sector.
“These award honourees are building technology that meets real needs for people around the world,” Tamara Woolgar, the executive director with The A100, said in a press release. “Together, they show what’s possible when we build in Alberta.”
Held at Calgary’s National Music Centre, recipients were honoured across 10 categories. CoolIT Systems took home the Deal of the Year award for its $4.75-billion USD ($6.6 billion CAD) exit to Ecolab. Announced last March and closed in July, the exit secured by the advanced liquid cooling company is the largest disclosed acquisition price for an Alberta-based company in history.
CoolIT’s win was mirrored by another historic exit in the Calgary scene this year: PurposeMed. The company behind telehealth startups Freddie, Frida, and Foria took home the Anchor of the Year award, honouring a “flagship company that supports the foundation upon which others build in Alberta.” PurposeMed and Freddie were recently acquired by dating platform Grindr in another high-value acquisition, netting $250 million USD.
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“You can build a real company in Alberta without burning through capital,” said PurposeMed co-founder and CEO, Pete MacLeod, in a statement. “I’d love to see more founders realize you can do big things and keep talent here.”
Helcim, the Calgary-based FinTech and payment processing platform, took home Scaleup of the Year for more than doubling its team since 2021. Last August, the company closed a $53-million CAD Series C round at a valuation of $250 million with more than $150 million in annual recurring revenue.
The remaining list of winners and award categories include:
- Most Promising Founder: Cheng (Jack) Su, EnerNode AI. EnerNode uses AI to manage oil and gas operations. Founded in 2026, it has already seen industry adoption in Western Canada, and was selected for the Plug and Play Canada and NVIDIA Inception programs.
- Investor of the Year: Graphite Ventures. Graphite Ventures boasts teams in Calgary and Edmonton, leading early investment in companies like PataBid, WaitWell, Black Owl, ResolvMD, and Ontopical. It was also selected to manage the University of Alberta Innovation Fund.
- A100 One to Watch: NiaHealth. Edmonton-based NiaHealth is a medtech company offering blood testing, medical consultations, and personalized health metrics. It has raised more than $8 million since founding in 2023.
- VCAA Rod Charko Service Award: Jade Alberts. Longtime Calgary ecosystem builder Jade Alberts received the award for his decade of work with Peer Guidance, a fractional support network for founders, as well as hosting Founders’ Coffee, a weekly meetup for entrepreneurs. He has been a mentor at Innovate Calgary and has made more than 30 angel investments.
- Ecosystem Support of the Year: Kristina Milke, Sprout Fund. A general partner at Sprout Fund, Milke is a founding member of the University of Alberta’s Thresholdimpact Venture Mentoring Service and has spent more than a decade working with, investing in, and supporting Alberta founders. She also co-founded Sprout, Valhalla Private Capital, and Valhalla Angels, one of the largest angel networks in Western Canada.
- Woman in Tech: Dr. Christy Lane, Flora Fertility. Lane is the co-founder and co-CEO of Flora Fertility, a fertility insurance startup. The company closed a $5-million USD seed round in April, and is now expanding into Canada. Flora Fertility is Lane’s third venture, after Vivametrica, which she exited in 2020.
- Leader of the Year: Dr. Caley Shukalek, PurposeMed. Shukalek was chief medical officer of PurposeMed. Under his leadership, Freddie expanded to all 50 US states, and expanded HIV care in Canada.
BetaKit’s Prairies reporting is funded in part by YEGAF, a not-for-profit dedicated to amplifying business stories in Alberta.
Feature image courtesy Unsplash. Photo by Kyler Nixon.