Lynn’s list of active Co-Work/Accelerators/Incubators Innovation Spaces in Calgary.
Last updated June 18, 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:
Foresight Cleantech Accelerator
- Accelerator
- Cleantech
- Only BC?
Founder Institute: Western Canada Virtual 2020
- Accelerator
- TBD?
- Virtual
- Apply by August 16 2020
Thin Air Labs
- Mentoring
- Health, Education, Gaming, Cities, and Planet
- Beltline
Harvest Venture Builder
- Mentoring
- FinTech
- East Village
InterGen
- Mentoring
- Scale-Up
- Downtown
The51
- Mentoring
- Women-led businesses
- Beltline
The Spaces (in alphabetical order):
The Accelerator (program based at The Collective 1212)
http://www.theaccelerator.tech/
- Accelerator
- Software, hardware
- Inglewood
- Two cohorts per year, Cohort #8 starting August 2020
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
- Co-work, Incubator
- Software, communications
- Kensington
The Bridge
- Co-work
- Social Venture/Impact
- Downtown
CETAC West
- 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
- Co-work, Partnerships, Collaborations
- Freelance ICT workers, teams, companies
- Inglewood
cSPACE
- 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
- Incubator, Co-work
- All technology
- Downtown
EdWorks
- Co-work & Mentoring
- Education Technology/ELearning
- North West Calgary, also in Edmonton
EFFECTIVE
- Co-work, Mentoring
- Software
- Beltline
Emerge
- 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
Global Business Centre
https://www.calgaryeconomicdevelopment.com/industries/global-development/global-business-centre/
- Co-work
- International Businesses Visiting Calgary
- Downtown
HustleCo
- Co-work
- General, Marketing, Social
- Beltline
Life Science Innovation Hub
https://research.ucalgary.ca/innovation/life-sciences-innovation-hub
- Wet and dry lab spaces.
- Life Sciences
- University Research Park
Platform (was Calgary Technologies Inc.)
- 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
- Co-work
- Energy tech
- Beltline area
Tecterra
- Mentoring
- Geospatial
- South-East, near Calgary Farmers’ Market
TradeSpace
- The newest Co-work & Incubator space.
- First one in Canada for Trades and Small Contractors
- Highfield Area (Blackfoot & 42nd SE)
Tundra ACE
- Accelerator
- Energy
- South-East
- Not cohort-based, continuous intake
WaterNext
- Mentoring
- Water
- University Area
WorkHaus
- Co-work
- General Tech
- Downtown
Work Nicer
- 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
