Calgary Innovation Spaces

Lynn’s list of active Co-Work/Accelerators/Incubators Innovation Spaces in Calgary.

CgyAccel

Last updated September 2, 2020

Co-work = shared space
Incubator = closed offices
Accelerator = programming (which may include use of co-work space), usually cohort-based
Mentoring = experienced entrepreneurs custom mentoring and support ***new category June 2020***

Update Notes:

Everyone is currently Working From Home or Physical Distancing.

One of the benefits to WFH is that  people are learning about the effectiveness of remote work and distributed teams, the need to have company culture and tools that support this, and the importance of communications and trust.

The biggest impact to the international innovation accelerator ecosystem is that it is now a blend of on-premise and on-line and it is in some cases open to participants regardless of geographic location.  If you are an accelerator, you need to figure out how you will operate in the current conditions and going forward. If you are a company, you can consider accelerators anywhere in the world that fit your needs if they have a distance program that you can access remotely.

Nothing completely replaces face-to-face purposeful and serendipitous communications. Programs should look to ways to combine the best of on-premise and on-line.

New Spaces/Programs:

Alberta Leanstack Accelerator

https://albertainnovates.ca/programs/leanstack-accelerator-program/

  • Accelerator
  • Alberta Digital SMEs
  • Virtual
  • Apply by September 14

M-Tech Innovations

https://mt-i.ca/

  • Incubator, Mentoring
  • Technology Companies
  • Beltline

Foresight Cleantech Accelerator

https://foresightcac.com/

  • Accelerator
  • Cleantech
  • Western Canada

Founder Institute: Western Canada Virtual 2020

https://fi.co/program

  • Accelerator
  • Pre-seed Startups
  • Virtual
  • Apply by September 20 2020

Thin Air Labs

https://www.thinairlabs.ca/

  • Mentoring
  • Health, Education, Gaming, Cities, and Planet
  • Beltline

Harvest Venture Builder

https://harvest.builders/

  • Mentoring
  • FinTech
  • East Village

InterGen

https://intergenconnect.com/

  • Mentoring
  • Scale-Up
  • Downtown

The51

https://the51.com/

  • Mentoring
  • Women-led businesses
  • Beltline

The Spaces (in alphabetical order):

The51

https://the51.com/

  • Mentoring
  • Women-led businesses
  • Beltline

The Accelerator

http://www.theaccelerator.tech/

  • Accelerator
  • Software, hardware
  • Inglewood
  • Two cohorts per year, Cohort #8 starting August 2020

Alberta Leanstack Accelerator

https://albertainnovates.ca/programs/leanstack-accelerator-program/

  • Accelerator
  • Alberta Digital SMEs
  • Virtual
  • Apply by September 14

ATB X Accelerator

https://www.atb.com/business/accounts-and-services/entrepreneur-services/atb-x-accelerator/

  • Accelerator
  • Software, social
  • Beltline
  • 3 cohorts per year

Assembly

http://www.assemblycs.com

  • Co-work, Incubator
  • Software, communications
  • Kensington

The Bridge

http://www.thebridgeco.works/

  • Co-work
  • Social Venture/Impact
  • Downtown

CETAC West

https://cetacwest.com/

  • Accelerator
  • Environment, green energy tech
  • University area
  • Not cohort-based, continuous intake

The Collective 1212

http://www.thecollective1212.space

  • Co-work
  • Software, hardware
  • Inglewood

The Commons

http://www.thecommonscalgary.com

  • Co-work, Incubator
  • Software, communications
  • Inglewood

Commun-o

http://commun-o.com/

  • Co-work, Partnerships, Collaborations
  • Freelance ICT workers, teams, companies
  • Inglewood

cSPACE

http://cspacekingedward.com/

  • Co-work
  • Creative technologies
  • Marda Loop/South Calgary

Creative Destruction Lab – Rockies & National

https://www.creativedestructionlab.com/

  • Accelerator
  • Various advanced technologies, various locations across Canada, including Calgary
  • University and Downtown
  • Apply for 2020 streams now

District Ventures

http://www.districtventures.ca/

  • Accelerator
  • Consumer products
  • Kensington
  • Two cohorts per year, Spring and Fall

District Ventures with IBM

http://www.dv-ibm-innovation-space.com/

  • Accelerator
  • Bluemix and Watson applied to Health/Fin/Ag/Clean/Natural Resources Tech
  • Kensington
  • Two cohorts per year, Spring and Fall

The Edison

http://edisoncalgary.com/

  • Incubator, Co-work
  • All technology
  • Downtown

EdWorks

https://edworks.co/

  • Co-work & Mentoring
  • Education Technology/ELearning
  • North West Calgary, also in Edmonton

EFFECTIVE

http://effectiv.ca/

  • Co-work, Mentoring
  • Software
  • Beltline

Emerge

http://www.emergehub.ca/

  • Co-work
  • General, Administration
  • South-East Calgary – 17th/International Avenue

Entrepreneurs’ Organization

https://www.eonetwork.org/calgary

https://www.eonetwork.org/eo-accelerator/

  • Peer-to-peer international Mentoring & networking for business growth
  • All industries
  • Virtual, meets monthly

Foresight Cleantech Accelerator

https://foresightcac.com/

  • Accelerator
  • Cleantech
  • Western Canada

Founder Institute: Western Canada Virtual 2020

https://fi.co/program

  • Accelerator
  • Pre-seed Startups
  • Virtual
  • Apply by September 20 2020

Global Business Centre

https://www.calgaryeconomicdevelopment.com/industries/global-development/global-business-centre/

  • Co-work
  • International Businesses Visiting Calgary
  • Downtown

Harvest Venture Builder

https://harvest.builders/

  • Mentoring
  • FinTech
  • East Village

HustleCo

https://hustleco.space/

  • Co-work
  • General, Marketing, Social
  • Beltline

InterGen

https://intergenconnect.com/

  • Mentoring
  • Scale-Up
  • Downtown

Life Science Innovation Hub

https://research.ucalgary.ca/innovation/life-sciences-innovation-hub

  • Wet and dry lab spaces.
  • Life Sciences
  • University Research Park

M-Tech Innovations

https://mt-i.ca/

  • Incubator, Mentoring
  • Technology Companies
  • Beltline

Platform (was Calgary Technologies Inc.)

https://platformcalgary.com/

  • The original Incubator, owned by University of Calgary and City of Calgary, also have The Inc. Co-work space, also has Accelerator programs
  • Large variety of tech companies and service providers
  • University and East Village areas

Platform Junction program for early stage companies:

https://www.platformcalgary.com/programs-and-events/junction/

Regus

https://www.regus.com/workspace/canada/ab/calgary

  • Co-work, Incubator
  • Anything
  • Downtown Calgary and 3000 locations worldwide

ResourceYYC

https://www.resourceyyc.org/

  • Co-work
  • Energy tech
  • Beltline area

Tecterra

http://www.tecterra.com/

  • Mentoring
  • Geospatial
  • South-East, near Calgary Farmers’ Market

Thin Air Labs

https://www.thinairlabs.ca/

  • Mentoring
  • Health, Education, Gaming, Cities, and Planet
  • Beltline

TradeSpace

http://gotradespace.com/

  • The newest Co-work & Incubator space.
  • First one in Canada for Trades and Small Contractors
  • Highfield Area (Blackfoot & 42nd SE)

Tundra ACE

http://tundraace.com/

  • Accelerator
  • Energy
  • South-East
  • Not cohort-based, continuous intake

WaterNext

https://waternext.ca/

  • Mentoring
  • Water
  • University Area

WorkHaus

https://workhaus.ca/core/

  • Co-work
  • General Tech
  • Downtown

Work Nicer

http://worknicer.ca/

  • Co-work
  • Software, creative
  • Beltline, Downtown, Red Mile

Zone Startups Calgary

http://calgary.zonestartups.com/

  • Accelerator
  • Energy, Environmental, Agriculture, Health, IoT
  • Downtown
  • Not cohort-based, continuous intake

Links to The World-wide Spaces

Global CoWorking http://coworkingmap.org/ lists 2000 co-work spaces in the world but misses many (e.g. only lists 1 in Calgary)

CoPass http://copass.org is an international co-work space membership pass for digital nomadic workers.

WeWork 800 locations in 160 cities worldwide https://www.wework.com/locations

My Favorite Space

http://kohub.org/ – Ko Lanta, Thailand

If you have any others you think should be on the list, send me an email to: lynn.sutherland@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca