Alberta Innovates announced it will finance one pre-accelerator and three accelerators through its Scaleup and Growth Accelerator Program (Scaleup GAP), which launched earlier this year.
The move follows a request for proposals Alberta Innovates put out in April to attract more technology and business accelerators to the province.
The four successful candidates came from a list of 64 proposals.
The four successful candidates came from a list of 64 proposals, and include a joint Platform Calgary and Innovate Edmonton-run pre-accelerator program, and a trio of accelerators by Silicon Valley-based 500 Global (formerly 500 Startups), Plug and Play, and Alchemist Accelerator.
Alberta Innovates is a Government of Alberta crown corporation tasked with supporting innovation in the province. The organization’s Scaleup GAP program is federally, provincially, and municipally funded. The program aims to support the growth of more early-stage Alberta tech startups by providing mentoring, networking, access to capital and other services. It also seeks to draw more companies from around the world to Alberta. Governments have committed to invest as much as $35 million CAD in the Scaleup GAP program.
Platform Calgary and Innovate Edmonton have teamed up to prepare companies to advance to the scaleup and acceleration stage, by delivering in-person business development programming in Edmonton for northern Alberta startups, and Calgary for southern Alberta startups. The free program is set to launch later this fall. It will be open to applicants from anywhere in Alberta, as well as eligible global companies, and provide online programming to those unable to travel.
Venture capital firm 500 Global also secured funding from Alberta Innovates to launch a new accelerator for seed-stage Alberta tech companies that will alternate its operations between Edmonton and Calgary.
Plug and Play’s new accelerator will connect startups with international corporations as it looks to help them bring their tech to market faster. Through Plug and Play Alberta, the firm will offer sector-agnostic and sector-based accelerator programs in digital health and sustainable clean resources in Calgary and Edmonton.
Meanwhile, Alchemist, a public-private consortium based in Edmonton, partnered with Alchemist Accelerator to provide services to ventures using artificial intelligence in the social sector in Edmonton.
Image source Wikimedia Commons
