TEC Edmonton's great partner in encouraging and assisting the growth of startup/innovation/technology companies is the Edmonton Economic Development Corporation (EEDC). In fact, TEC Edmonton is a joint venture, a non-profit organization created by the EEDC and the University of Alberta. Here's a release from Edmonton Economic Development Corporation on yet another important piece in the economic development jigsaw puzzle of Greater Edmonton: It was originally released through the Marketwire news service on Feb. 28, 2012. Alliance Brings Together Area Incubators, Helps Start-ups Result is efficiency, collaboration and coordination EDMONTON, ALBERTA--(Marketwire - Feb. 28, 2012) - Edmonton is home to the Greater Edmonton Regional Technology Alliance, Canada's first and only grouping of incubators that nourishes the growth of emerging knowledge-based companies and coordinates the region's business incubators. Chair of the alliance since 2010, Edmonton Economic Development Corporation's (EEDC) r ...

Good news on the local technology front: Edmonton business software developer Jobber, co-founded by Sam Pillar and Forrest Zeisler in 2010, has received six-figure venture capital funding from reputable investment firmsPoint Nine Capital and w media ventures.

Link to "Local tech firm finds big name backers," published in the Edmonton Journal on Tuesday, Feb. 28,m 2012 ,  

 

      TEC Edmonton is pleased that two of its client companies were among three companies receiving $4 million in grants from Alberta Innovates Bio Solutions (Al Bio) to develop industrial products from Alberta biomass. Click on Funding spurs new bioproducts from Alberta biomass for the full news release from Alberta Innovates Bio Solutions."   Current TEC Edmonton client Ceapro Inc. is a Canadian growth-stage biotechnology company. Its primary business activities relate to the development and commercialization of active ingredients from Canadian agricultural plants for personal care and cosmetic industries, using proprietary technology and natural, renewable resources. Radient Technologies Inc. offers a patented, exciting and environmentally friendly means of extracting natural compounds from plant materials for the pharmaceutical industry.   Ceapro and Radient, along with TerraVerdae BioWorks,  were the successful appliants to Al Bio's Advanced Materials and Chemicals P ...

 Years from now, when they gather to toast the success of a major, Edmonton-based technology company, will they remember  it all started in a chance conversation at TEC Edmonton's TEC Connector event, at Edmonton's Sutton Place Hotel on Feb. 28, 2012? Who knows?  Certainly  the ingredients were in place, as 350 individuals from Edmonton's growing technology/ innovation/ start up community gathered to converse or "network" with one another and to catch up with TEC Edmonton's latest news. Among those in attendance were Dr. Stan Blade, CEO of Alberta Innovates - Bio Solutions; University of Alberta Associate VP of Research and reward recipient Dr. Richard Fedorak; Edmonton Economic Development Corporation President and CEO Ron Gilbertson; Bruce Hirsche, intellectual property and technology expert at Parlee McLaws Law and partners Shane Stevenson and Tom Sides from FMC Fraser Milner Casgrain. In his remarks, TEC Edmonton CEO Lumb reviewed the impressive milestones T ...

TEC Edmonton and the Edmonton Economic Development Corporation are promoting an information & networking working session on Thursday morning, March 1, 2012, entitled “how to do business with the federal government” as well as details on the Canadian Innovation Commercialization Program (CICP)   For full details on the program and the meeting, please review the information  below   The CICP is a funding program that can be accessed for participating CICP federal government testing departments to test/ pilot new technologies offered by companies. For a general overview of government departments and contacts, OSME refers people to material managers:     This session is hosted by the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises (OSME),   an excellent resource for companies looking at federal government ministries as potential clients.   The 3rd call for CICP proposals is pending and the deadline will be announced shortly.     De ...

Last Friday, Feb. 17, 2012, AITF (Alberta Innovates - Technology  Futures) announced the appointment of Stephen Lougheed as its President and CEO. A fourth-generation Albertan, Lougheed has 35 years of experience in successfully building and growing technology-related profitable-growth businesses internationally and domestically. He has been a Director and Executive Chairman of Poynt Corporation (2004 – 2011); CEO, President and  then Board Chair of Sylogist Ltd. (2002 – 2006);  Petroleum Division President and Corporate Executive Vice President, QC Data International Ltd.; Executive Vice President, BW Technologies Ltd.;  Director Business Development, Office of the Chairman, ATCO Group of Companies Three businesses led by Lougheed have been recognized with Alberta Science and Technology (ASTech) Leadership Foundation awards for commercial achievement. In 2010 he received a personal ASTech Award in acknowledgement of his contributions to Alberta’s Science and Technology comm ...

TEC Edmonton is delighted to introduce two new key members of the team. Paul Braconnier joins TEC Edmonton as an Executive-In-Residence, assisting TEC Edmonton client companies in the fields of natural and health sciences. Noreen Hoskins comes on board as manager of TEC Edmonton’s new Entrepreneur Skills Development programs. By profession a chartered accountant, Paul spent the first 10 years of his career with a large international accounting firm, reviewing and assessing client's computer environments.  After five years in the manufacturing industry as a senior executive, he moved on to the software/service industry as VP Finance and Chief Financial Officer of a publicly traded company.  In 2000, Paul put his entrepreneurial skills to work when he joined a start-up clinical contract research organization with a proprietary electronic data capture system. Paul was president and CEO of Global IQ from 2000 until joining TEC Edmonton in 2012. “I’m here,” says Paul, “because of the opportuni ...

Medical researchers at the University of Alberta have discovered a promising new therapy for Huntington disease that restores lost motor skills and may delay or stop the progression of the disease based on lab model tests, says the lead researcher. Simonetta Sipione's team research was published last week in the peer-reviewed journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.  Because the new therapy uses a molecule already being used in clinical trials for other diseases, it could be used in a clinical trial for Huntington disease within the next one to two years. TEC Edmonton is helping Dr. Sipione commercialize her discovery, with patenting and researching possible partner companies.   “We didn’t expect to see such dramatic changes after administering this therapy,” said Simonetta Sipione, the Principal Investigator. “We expected to see improvement, but not complete restoration of motor skills. "When we saw this, we were jumping with excitement in the lab. This is ...

A reminder to any startup company or entrepreneur in Alberta: Deadlines for the TEC Edmonton-produced TEC VenturePrize Fast Growth, Student and NanoVenturePrize competitions are fast approaching. VenturePrize registration must be complete by Thursday, February 23, and the deadline for the submission of materials on which the competitions will be judged is Friday, February 24, by 4 p.m. In the Fast Growth Category, over $300,000 total in prizes are up for grabs. The grand winner from last year,  VibeDX Diagnostic Corporation, took home a prize package valued at $90,000 in combined cash and in-kind awards provided by TEC VenturePrize sponsors.  Student Prize winner lightPower had a prize package worth $9,000. The NanoVenture Prize package this year is valued at $150,000!!!    The VenturePrize finalists in the various categories will be judged during the 10th annual VenturePrize Gala evening, April 26, 2012 in the Shaw Conference Centre's Hall D here ...