Saskatchewan’s Southeast Tech Hub (SETH) is looking to put $20,000 in seed money into the pockets of rural entrepreneurs as it revives its annual pitch competition for a third year.
Starting on April 16, the competition will take place at the Southeast College in Estevan, a town of roughly 10,000 in southeastern Saskatchewan that serves as the home base for SETH.
“A lot of people think when you say rural, you mean AgTech… None of the people in RISE [this cycle] are [in AgTech].”
Founded in 2022, SETH was initially modelled as Regina’s Cultivator incubator. According to SETH, the hub was established as a joint venture between the City of Estevan and provincial and federal governments at a moment when Estevan and the surrounding area were looking to supplant the region’s economic reliance on coal as Canada and the world shifted away from it as a fuel source.
The competition will feature several founders participating in SETH’s Rural Innovation & Startup Ecosystem (RISE) program, an incubator and accelerator launched by SETH. This year’s participants include early-stage companies with offerings in areas as unique as AI-imbued beading platforms, 3D-printed concrete stamping equipment aimed at improving affordability, and a newly patented (and as of yet not publicly disclosed) take on wind-powered energy generation that’s adaptable to the sub-zero temperatures of a prairie winter.
Founders will be judged not only on their business potential, but also on each company’s ability to scale and contribute to the economic future of southeastern Saskatchewan. The $20,000 prize pot may also be divided among multiple winners, according to Gord More, the executive director of SETH.
Given the sparse nature of SETH’s catchment area, the pitch session will be livestreamed to increase accessibility across the region and beyond.
A veteran tech founder himself, having co-founded Vancouver’s Internet Dispatch Services in the mid-to-late aughts, More said the cohort he’s seen come through the RISE program this cycle has upended some of the stereotypes that come with the label of “rural innovation.”
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“A lot of people think when you say rural, you mean AgTech. None of my guys are in AgTech. None of the people in RISE [this cycle] are ag,” he said. “It’s really important to pass that message on to the rest of the world that there is so much that happens rurally that is more than agriculture…Transportation spends most of its time and logistics in a rural community … kids are making video games in rural communities.”
In recognizing the diversity of entrepreneurship in rural Canada, More said the support RISE offers is intended to mirror the offerings of a big-city incubator, without requiring talented innovators to leave their communities to follow their passions.
“The problem we have in Canada that RISE is trying to address is that without a program like RISE, people have two choices: they can give up and not commercialize, or they can pick up their entire life and move it into a city,” More said. “That’s not a good option. So we’re helping these people who’ve come up with wonderful ideas to commercialize in their home setting.”
BetaKit’s Prairies reporting is funded in part by YEGAF, a not-for-profit dedicated to amplifying business stories in Alberta.
Feature image courtesy Tourism Saskatchewan.