Lynn’s list of active Co-Work/Accelerators/Incubators/Mentors in Calgary.
Co-work = shared space
Incubator = closed offices
Accelerator = programming, usually cohort-based
Mentoring = experienced entrepreneurs custom mentoring and support
The Spaces (in alphabetical order):
The51
- Mentoring
- Women-led businesses
- Beltline
The Accelerator
http://www.theaccelerator.tech/
- Accelerator
- Software, hardware
- Inglewood
- 2 cohorts per year
NEW Alberta Innovates Accelerators
Announced Fall 2021. Most programs start January 2022. I’ll update when I get more information:
Alberta Catalyzer – pre-seed cohorts – Sector Agnostic – delivered by Platform Calgary and Innovate Edmonton
500 Global – early stage cohorts – Sector Agnostic
CSW Powered by Alchemist – early stage cohorts – Social Impact, Safety, Wellness, Artificial Intelligence
Plug and Play – partner with Enterprises – Digital Health, Sustainability, Agnostic
SVG Thrive Canada – partner with Enterprises – AgTech, FoodTech
General announcement:
https://albertainnovates.ca/programs/alberta-scaleup-and-growth-accelerators-program/
Alberta IoT
https://albertaiot.com/home/fastrack
- Accelerator
- Internet of Things
- Online for now
- 3 cohorts per year
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
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 2022 streams now
VenturePark Labs (was District Ventures until Summer 2021)
https://www.ventureparklabs.ca/
- Accelerator
- Consumer products, commercial/scale-up kitchen
- Kensington
- 2 cohorts per year
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
Foresight Canada Accelerator
- Accelerator
- Cleantech
- Western Canada
Founder Institute
- Accelerator
- Pre-seed Startups
- Virtual
Harvest Venture Builder
- Mentoring
- FinTech
- East Village
InterGen
- 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
- Incubator, Mentoring
- Technology Companies
- Beltline
Platform (was Calgary Technologies Inc.)
- The original Incubator, owned by University of Calgary and City of Calgary, also have Co-work space, also has Accelerator programs
- Large variety of tech companies and service providers
- University and East Village areas
Regus
https://www.regus.com/en-us/canada/calgary
- Co-work, Incubator
- Anything
- Calgary and 3000 locations worldwide
ResourceYYC
- Co-work
- Energy tech
- Beltline area
Tecterra
- Mentoring
- Geospatial
- South-East, near Calgary Farmers’ Market
Thin Air Labs
- Mentoring
- Health, Education, Gaming, Cities, and Planet
- Beltline
TradeSpace
- Co-work & Incubator space.
- First one in Canada for Trades and Small Contractors
- Highfield Area (Blackfoot & 42nd SE)
Tundra ACE
https://www.tundrasolutions.ca/tundra-ace-program/
- Accelerator
- Energy
- South-East
- Not cohort-based, continuous intake
Valhalla Angels
- Mentoring
- General
- Calgary, Edmonton, Kelowna, Vancouver, Regina, Saskatoon
WaterNext
- Mentoring
- Water
- University Area
WorkHaus
- Co-work
- General Tech
- Downtown
Work Nicer
- Co-work
- Software, creative
- Beltline, Downtown, Red Mile
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
Update Notes, March 2022:
Added Alberta IoT accelerator program. Added Valhalla Angels under Mentors. Updated new Alberta Accelerator information a bit.
Update Notes, February 2022:
Completely redid the map of Sector vs Maturity. There are 5 new Alberta-supported accelerators announced in Fall 2021.
Update Notes, Summer 2021:
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.
If you have any others you think should be on the list, send me an email to: lynn.sutherland@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca