For Canadian aerospace startups looking to scale, finding access to capital, talent, and industry connections can often be more difficult than building the technology itself.
Nima Najand,
“Many cities have incubators dedicated to life sciences or tech companies, but there are only a handful that focus on aerospace.”
Innovate Calgary
Following its grand opening on Tuesday, Calgary’s new Aerospace Innovation Hub (AIH) aims to bridge that gap and accelerate the industry across the city, region, and country. The AIH joins Innovate’s growing network of incubator spaces in Calgary, which also includes Platform Calgary in the downtown core and the University of Calgary’s main campus.
“We are hoping to build a critical mass of early-stage and scaling companies in the city,” said Nima Najand, the executive director of innovation and intellectual property at Innovate Calgary, the University of Calgary’s business incubator.
“Many cities have incubators dedicated to life sciences or tech companies, but there are only a handful that focus on aerospace. We believe that the momentum Calgary has will enable us to make the city a major destination for companies in the sector.”
Najand said in the next few years, the AIH hopes to support more than 180 companies and help at least a dozen new startups get on their feet. He said Innovate Calgary is anticipating investments of more than $50 million in AIH companies.
Located on the departures level at Calgary International Airport, the Aerospace Innovation Hub is a large, newly renovated space with a western-facing view of downtown Calgary and the iconic Rocky Mountains.
It features event and meeting spaces that can be configured to various capacities, but it’s the intangibles offered to entrepreneurs that really matter, says Harish Consul, founder and CEO of the Ocgrow Group, a privately held investment firm headquartered in Calgary. Ocgrow’s investments include Garuda Aerospace, an Indian drone manufacturer.
“This is great for Calgary: there’s going to be substantially more investment, more tech startups, more innovation in the aerospace vertical,” he said. “We’re really fostering that growth, attracting more companies, both junior and senior.”
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One group that’s expected to see maximum benefit are small and medium-sized enterprises, like startup North Vector Dynamics, which focuses on “hypersonic”—aka faster than the speed of sound—tech, like AI-guided missiles that aim to prevent drone strikes.
The company has secured a four-year, $4.2-million contract with Defense Research and Development Canada to accelerate its product development.
“For us as a company, even hiring people that have experience in aerospace companies, it’s difficult in Calgary because there isn’t that much to draw from in terms of aero-design,” said Colin Hill, co-founder and CTO of North Vector Dynamics.“So with more companies coming in, larger companies relocating, [and] the Hub supporting new companies, it’s building that ecosystem.”
Another thing the Hub helps them build is momentum. Hill said there are connections you can make at networking events at centres like the AIH that you don’t always get elsewhere. He said he’s spoken to students at recent events who are hoping to start their career locally, rather than the too-typical path of jumping to a US firm.
“They don’t want to go work for Tesla necessarily, they want to stay in Canada. It’s that ecosystem that helps make those connections that wouldn’t happen organically without it.”
Hill said the company has already hired around a dozen engineers from the University of Calgary.
“For us, as a small company, to get this many people in a room to come talk to us and make those connections, it’s hard for us to do, we don’t have the following,” he said. “Where the University of Calgary has a huge following and they can shift that momentum toward us.”
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Growing networks to connect students, innovators, and funders like VCs will help the industry grow too, says Consul.
“It’s very, very much needed because you could have the greatest idea, but you need to know how to scale,” he said. “You need capital, you need advice, you need partnerships, you need boards. That’s all part of growing a company. The idea is the easy part, you have to execute.”
Calgary is already home to a number of major aerospace and defense companies. Since WestJet first launched in the city nearly 30 years ago, major corporations such as Lufthansa, De Havilland, Raytheon, and Lockheed Martin have set up shop to be near the international airport, which is the fourth busiest airport in the country.
Najand said the hub will help translate research and innovation into entrepreneurial opportunities.
“Combined with the increases in federal defense spending, the Hub has all the elements to help diversify the Alberta economy and leave a lasting legacy in the province.”
BetaKit’s Prairies reporting is funded in part by YEGAF, a not-for-profit dedicated to amplifying business stories in Alberta.
Feature image courtesy Innovate Calgary.