Edmonton Unlimited is offering preparation for selected deep-tech founders ahead of curated one-to-one meetings with national and local investors on Oct. 8, during Edmonton Startup Week (of which Taproot is a media sponsor). Applications are open until Sept. 5 to meet with investors from firms such as Staircase Ventures, Two Small Fish Ventures, and Chrysalix Venture Capital, as well as several local investors from Accelerate Fund, Sprout Fund, and Flying Fish Partners. Investors will select the companies they meet from a shortlist.
Deep tech startups operate in areas such as AI, health, energy, space, advanced manufacturing, and quantum computing. The one-on-one meetings will follow Deep Tech Day, a full day of panels and networking on Oct. 7. Edmonton Unlimited said it will bring together a curated room of deep tech founders, investors, researchers and ecosystem leaders to explore the realities of building, financing and scaling across Alberta.
This kind of specialized support is necessary for deep-tech startups, said Edmonton Unlimited COO Sangeet Brar. While research institutions such as the University of Alberta and the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute have helped Edmonton compete on the deep-tech stage, it can be difficult to commercialize their breakthrough research. “If Edmonton wants to build a real advantage, we must understand those distinctions and connect founders to the right expertise, partners, and patient capital for the type of company they’re actually building,” posted Brar. The organization hosted a deep-tech showcase in June, where Wyvern co-founders Chris Robson and Callie Lissinna shared that deep-tech companies rarely follow a straight path. Such ventures often face longer development timelines, complex technical challenges, and significant capital requirements, and require persistence and patience.
