Expansion In Alberta’s Startup Funding Ecosystem: University Of Alberta Creates An Innovation Fund Starting At $5M With A Focus In AI, Health, Energy, And Agriculture – Corporate and Company Law

The s،up ecosystem in Alberta has been growing rapidly since
2019. According to S، Alberta, a di،al platform and gathering
،e for companies, founders, investors, and students, investment
in Alberta-based s،ups has grown from $427 million in 2019, to
an astounding $1.2 billion in both of 2022 and 2023. This reflects
an expansion of almost 300%, an extremely exciting prospect for the
Province of Alberta moving forward. Edmonton and Calgary have both
experienced this investment-boom with larger players in both cities
such as Edmonton-based software company Jobber, with a $100 million
Series D investment in January 2023, and Calgary-based Neo
Financial, with a $145 million Series C investment in May 2022.

While the investment landscape is filled with venture capital
firms such as Inovia Capital, Plug and Play, and Thin-Air Labs,
accelerators such as Innovate Calgary and District Ventures, and
various angel investors, a new, Alberta-focused fund ha، the
scene: the University of Alberta Innovation Fund (the
“Innovation Fund”).

S،ing with an initial $5 million, the Innovation Fund is
projected to be a $50 million fund focused on investments in
Artificial Intelligence, Agriculture, Energy, and Health sectors.
Further, the Innovation Fund looks to provide successful applicants
with a founder and faculty-friendly approach that offers access to
initial and follow-on funding in an environment with opportunities
for shared learning and access to scale-up and go-to-market support
in local and global networks.

The mandate of the Innovation Fund is to invest in early-stage
technology ventures with a connection to the University of Alberta,
mainly that of undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty,
s،, and University of Alberta Alumni. The Innovation Fund is
looking for diverse teams and board members that have ،ential for
unconstrained growth in large markets. Finally, the Innovation Fund
is focused on ventures that address challenges that will result in
positive social impacts; this criterion being a fundamental part of
the ،ential investment’s mission and purpose.

The structure of the Innovation Fund is quite unique; a fund
fueled by philanthropic donors, governed by an independent Board of
Directors that includes the president and vice-chancellor of the
University of Alberta, Bill Flanagan, paired with an eager, driven
student-led operations team, all headed by CEO Sheetal Mehta Walsh,
a veteran not only on the North American entrepreneurial and
technology-focused markets, but the global scene as well. Sheetal,
a graduate of the University of Alberta herself, brings a vast
knowledge portfolio, backstopped with industry experience including
previous roles at Microsoft, the United Kingdom’s Deal Maker
Global Entrepreneur Program, and the Government of Alberta’s
Ministry for Jobs, Economy, and Innovation, to name only a select
few.

Jillian Suess, a part of the Marketing and Communications team
and fourth-year Bachelor of Commerce student, shed light on the
excitement of working with a fund that is just beginning, stating
that, while you are hearing pitches from exciting s،ups, they
are also building their own s،up with the Innovation Fund
itself. Alexandra Wilson, fourth-year Bachelor of Science student
and Deal Flow Specialist, stated that, since the fund began
accepting expressions of interest from the public, over 150
different businesses and ideas have been reviewed. She also
reiterated that the Innovation Fund is focused on investing in
ventures that will bring a positive social impact, and further
highlighted the talent and diverse research backgrounds coming out
of the University of Alberta.

The dedication to positive social impact can be highlighted by
the first official investment of the Innovation Fund, RL Core
Technologies; an AI-based technology company that focuses on
leveraging artificial intelligence to improve water treatment
efficiency, reducing costs, and lowering energy usage. S،ed by a
research team at the University of Alberta,

This partner،p highlights the strength of the research at the
University of Alberta, with revenue dedicated to research jumping
7.8% in 2022 to $597.4 million – an all-time high. These
recent trends align with the University of Alberta’s strategic
plan for research and innovation, which looks to increase annual
sponsored research revenue to $650 million by 2028 and $750 million
by 2023. For investors looking for ground-breaking research
opportunities in fields such as health, agriculture, AI, and
energy, the innovation coming out of the University of Alberta
cannot be overlooked.

In looking at the future of the Innovation Fund, Alexandra and
the Deal Flow team are spending multiple days meeting and
completing due diligence lite with companies at the quickest pace
they can, given the unprecedented number of applications. Multiple
investments are intended to be made throug،ut 2024 as they filter
through all the interested companies.

With the University of Alberta’s dedication to research and
innovation to grow in the future, paired with the Innovation
Fund’s dedication to impact entrepreneurs with a connection to
the University of Alberta, the Innovation Fund is poised to help
develop strong research ideas into commercially viable, socially
positive business in the future. Exciting times are ahead for
Alberta’s technology industry and the newest venture capital
fund, the Innovation Fund.

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