Feds invest $5M to speed up growth of tech firms across Alberta

Canada’s federal government is investing $5 million under the Regional Innovation Ecosystem (RIE) program to increase access to supports and resources for Alberta-based small- and medium sized technology companies.

The federal investment aims to enable Alberta Innovates – a provincial organization government crown corporation responsible for promoting innovation across Alberta – to expand funds available to not-for-profit business accelerators participating in its Scale-Up and Growth Accelerator Program.

Approximately 300 Alberta technology firms across a range of economic sectors are expected to benefit from the initiative over the next three years. Western Economic Diversification Canada funding will complement an investment of up to $25 million from Alberta Innovates, bringing total funding for the initiative to up to $30 million.

“Alberta has a burgeoning technology sector, but we’ve heard from early- and mid-stage companies about the critical need to help accelerate their development and growth,” said Jim Carr, Minister and Special Representative for the Prairies. “We are making this investment to help encourage and attract local and global business accelerators to offer their supports to Alberta firms. This is a proactive and collaborative approach to providing Alberta’s tech entrepreneurs with the networks, capital, and resources they need to bring their innovative products to market and create quality jobs for Albertans.”

“Business growth and scale-up is critically important to Alberta’s technology-based businesses,” added Laura Kilcrease, CEO of Alberta Innovates. “This partnership with Western Economic Diversification extends our ability to help these businesses grow, attract investment and thrive.”