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Results: Industry Development
Intermediate Outcomes
A highly connected ecosystem (connecting investors to entrepreneurs
and investors to investors)
Results and Discussion
Key Performance Indicator: Number of startup and investor profiles created on StartAlberta.com
Target: 2,700 startups and 340 investors
To measure this outcome AEC reviews a number of factors, including
the number of startup and investor profiles created on StartAlberta.com.
As of March 31, 2023, there were 1,991 startups and 361 investors with profiles on StartAlberta.com This can be compared to 2,002 startups and 302 investors as of March 31, 2022, which represents a decrease of 11 startups and an increase of 59 investors over the year. The number of investors far surpassed the target of 340; however, the number of startups fell short of the targeted 2,700. There were several factors that contributed to the variance, including but not limited to:
• After the incredible launch of StartAlberta.com 2.0 there was an influx of companies on the platform. After further investigation, many of these companies were deemed not to be technology or knowledge-based businesses, leading to their ultimate removal from the platform.
• At the conclusion of the investigation noted above, a new standard of company classification was implemented which created a more well defined yet ultimately narrower definition of technology or knowledge-based company. This resulted in a higher barrier to be added as a verified company, and thus a lower number of companies have been verified on the platform.
• There is a backlog of “unverified” companies on StartAlberta.com, which require manual verification to ensure they are Alberta-based technology companies. The backlog consists of 1,414 companies and as they become claimed and verified, we anticipate a steady increase in the number of startups on the platform.
During 2022/23, we supported several initiatives that focused on connecting Alberta entrepreneurs with investors and investors to investors:
2022 2023
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Startup TNT Investment Summit(s): Hosting several Investment Summits each
year, Startup TNT brings seed stage companies looking to raise capital through structured due diligence process, preparing them for the summit where selected companies receive capital from the TNT syndicate and side deals direct from angels. AEC increased its commitment to Startup TNT in 2022/23 to continue building their momentum.
Banff Venture Forum (BVF): Hosted as a two-day virtual conference, Banff Venture Forum gives founders a unique opportunity to showcase their technology and business, meet dozens of investors, listen to high-profile speakers share their journeys and learn from top industry experts on key topics related to growing and scaling companies. This year’s BVF had the highest attendance on record and included participation from AEC and many of our funds.
AB4F: AEC sponsored the September 15th Alberta Female Founders Funders and Fortifiers event held at MobSquad. AB4F is an Alberta-based organization founded by McRock Capital, Azure Capital Partners, Accelerate Fund III, The A100 and BDC with the purpose of supporting females in tech through networking and curated content events. The September 15th event was on Financial Management and Raising Capital in a Turbulent Market. It had nearly 40 founders or finance leads from Alberta-based tech companies come together to learn from a panel of female CFO’s who recently raised a combined $45M. The event was filled with supportive funders (angels and VC’s) and provided an ideal opportunity for entrepreneurs and investors to connect.