Start Alberta has revealed the winners of the third annual Start Alberta Tech Awards, which was held virtually this year.
The awards recognize both individuals and organizations for their contributions to Alberta’s innovation ecosystem and those making a significant impact on the province’s tech sector.
Calgary-based Symend won tech deal of the year for its $73 million Series B round raised in May.
The Start Alberta Tech Awards is a grassroots ecosystem event that stemmed from the idea that the province’s tech ecosystem could improve by promoting its entrepreneurial successes. Founding partners of the awards include Alberta Enterprise, PwC Canada, BDC, the A100, the Venture Capital Association of Alberta, Startup Calgary, and Startup Edmonton.
Alberta has seen a great deal of activity in the tech sector this year. After a number of tech support programs were paused or cut from last year’s budget, the United Conservative Party’s economic recovery plan included new support for the sector.
The government also recently unveiled a $75 million investment strategy, which is aimed to address the longer-term actions needed to strengthen the provincial economy. Also notable for Alberta, MaRS Discovery District recently announced it is in exploratory talks with the University of Calgary to bring new innovation programming to the region.
One winner at this year’s awards include Athennian, a B2B SaaS company that aims to help legal professionals manage corporate records data in a global context. The startup has had a busy year, raising $10 million in September and acquiring Redox Technologies last month.
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Another winner was Calgary-based Symend, which won tech deal of the year. In May, Calgary-based Symend raised a $73 million Series B round of funding, one of the largest Series B rounds in recent Alberta history.
The winners of the Start Alberta Tech Awards include:
- Most promising startup entrepreneur of the year: Spencer Kerber, co-founder of Bessie
- Rod Charko service award: Carey Houston, founder and CEO of 321 Growth Academy
- Fast growth awards under $5 million: Athennian
- Most significant tech transaction of the year: Decisive Farming
- Ecosystem supporter of the year: CDL-Rockies
- Most significant cross-community collaboration of the year: AltaML Applied AI Lab
- Tech investor of the year: Shawn Abbott, partner at Inovia Capital
- Fast growth awards over $5 million: Goodmorning.com
- Women in tech of the year: Tiffany Kaminsky, co-founder and chief strategy officer at Symend
- Tech deal of the year: Symend
- The A100 one to watch award: Provision Analytics