FutureCite

Female Tech Founders, Funders and Fortifiers Breakfast Series
2021-02-11 09:00 - 10:00 (America/Edmonton) | Virtual Online
Female Tech Founders, Funders and Fortifiers Breakfast Series
Celebrating women in Western Canada’s tech sector
BDC’s Women in Technology Venture Fund and Technology Industry teams, along with its Western Canadian partners, invite you to attend the virtual edition of the Female, Founders, Funders and Fortifiers event series.
We are connecting our Western Canadian ecosystems together to celebrate gender equity and promote the advancement of women in the tech space.
Join us and hear from a successful Western Canadian woman in tech share her story of successfully navigating her business through the COVID-19 crisis.
Thursday, February 11, 2021
9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. (MST)

The Alberta Cleantech Investment Summit
2021-02-11 17:00 - 18:00 | Virtual Online
Come and get to know the top 20 companies, cheer them on, ask them questions, then have a beer together!

About this Event

The Alberta Cleantech Investment Summit is on now, and we’re raising $100,000+ for a local company while also training new investors to become confident angels.
As part of the due diligence process, and to show everyone the great companies that we have growing in Alberta, the top 20 companies will get 3 minutes to pitch to the investors in a public virtual forum on Feb 4th and 11th. Each night 10 companies will pitch. Make sure to register for both nights!
Feb 4th

Carbonova
Winecrush Tech.
WA-VE
EZ Ops
ZS2 Technologies
ZILA Works
Ruth
The Harvest Hub
Vermillion Power Tech.
Ceres Solutions

Feb 11th

Aqua Pure Tech.
Drishya AI Labs
EnviCore
Wyvern
SeeO2 Energy
REVOLUTION Turbine Tech.
SolarSteam
Gru Organics
Nanode Battery Tech.
CleanO2 Carbon Capture Tech.

Come support these incredible companies being built right here at home! After the event everyone will have the chance to join our virtual happy hour on Discord and chat with the entrepreneurs and investors.

About the summit
Our investment summits provide a fun, approachable way to become an angel investor or to raise capital for your early-stage tech startup. It’s equal parts fundraising, educating and community building.

Inventures Unbound: Learn How Series: Small Nuclear Reactors 101
2021-02-16 09:00 - 10:30 | Virtual Online
Small Modular Reactors
Feb. 16 – Small Modular Reactors 101
Feb. 23 – Bright Spots, Innovation and Provincial Collaboration
March 2 – Let’s Talk Tech – A Deep Dive on SMR Technologies
March 9 – Let’s Talk Community – and Connect with Stakeholders
Alberta Innovates is presenting the Small Modular Reactor Learning Series as an opportunity to learn about new nuclear technology, the national action plan, safety and regulations, innovation in Canada’s nuclear industry and to better understand the latest technology supply chain.
This four-part virtual webinar series is open to anyone who wants to learn about these topics. The event will take place over four consecutive Tuesdays

Global Opportunities in Digital Health: Network Medicine
2021-02-17 10:00 - 11:30 | Virtual Online
About this Event

Featuring Joseph Loscalzo, M.D., Ph.D.
Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
About this Event
Alberta needs to harness the power of emerging health opportunities to unlock the full potential of its health innovation capacity. The advent of emerging methods and technologies promises to create products that deliver more effective and patient-centered care. One approach is Network Medicine, a paradigm-changing discipline that uses systems biology and network science to understand disease mechanisms and therapeutic strategies from an integrated perspective. Join Alberta Innovates on February 17 and learn about the advances and opportunities in the field of Network Medicine featuring Dr. Joseph Loscalzo, a leading international authority on the subject. Dr. Loscalzo has made tremendous contributions to establishing the field of Network Medicine, which involves going from molecular level to systems level thinking connecting the biological, environmental, and social aspects of human health.
About the Presenter
Dr. Loscalzo is Hersey Professor of the Theory and Practice of Medicine, and Soma Weiss, M.D., Distinguished Chair in Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and Chairman of the Department of Medicine and Physician-in-Chief at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He received his A.B. degree, summa cum laude, his Ph.D. in biochemistry, and his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania.Dr. Loscalzo is recognized as an outstanding cardiovascular scientist, clinician, and teacher. He has received many awards including the Gold Heart Award from the American Heart Association, the Educator of the Year Award in Clinical Medicine from Boston University, and the William Silen Lifetime Achievement in Mentorship Award from Harvard Medical School. He is currently Director of the NIH-funded Center for Accelerated Innovation (the Boston Biomedical Innovation Center), and of the NIH-funded Harvard Undiagnosed Disease Network program. He is also former Editor-in-Chief of Circulation, currently Editor-at-Large of the New England Journal of Medicine, and a current senior editor of Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine. Previously Dr. Loscalzo has served as an associate editor of the New England Journal of Medicine for nine years. Dr. Loscalzo has been a visiting professor at many institutions, holds three honorary degrees, has authored or co-authored over 1,100 scientific publications, has authored or edited 51 books, and holds 32 patents for his work in the field of nitric oxide, redox biology, and vascular biology. His most recent work involves systems biology.
About the  Accelerating Innovations into CarE (AICE) – Concepts ProgramThe Alberta Innovates AICE Program is designed to enable and accelerate early-stage innovators along the commercialization client journey from ideating to conceptualizing across four domains of commercialization. The Program is being delivered in a series of closed-call streams that are designed to support early-stage innovation in emerging fields of health that are highly relevant to Alberta.
For more information visit https://albertainnovates.ca/programs/accelerating-innovations-into-care-aice-concepts/

Masterclass on Cleantech Investing
2021-02-18 08:30 - 09:30 | Virtual Online
Join us for this masterclass on cleantech investing by some of Canada’s leading investors.

About this Event

Are you looking into investing in cleantech or building a cleantech company?
As part of the Alberta Cleantech Investment Summit event line-up, grab a cup of coffee and join our event partners and participating angels and ventures, for insight into how seasoned VCs assess cleantech ventures for investment. Join our expert panelists as they share lessons they have learned from their experience in putting capital to work building great companies in this sector. The two masterclass sessions will be held on Feb 11 and Feb 18, from 8:30am-9:30am MST.
We will cover topics such as:

How do you select viable cleantech ventures?
What is distinct about investing in cleantech companies?
What makes someone a ‘good’ angel investor

February 11th, 8:30am – 9:30am MST

Hosted by Jeanette Jackson, CEO of Foresight

Featuring:

Juan Benitez, BDC Industrial Innovation Fund
Ha Nguyen, McRock Capital

February 18th, 8:30am – 9:30 MST

Hosted by Jeanette Jackson, CEO of Foresight

Featuring:

Darren Bolding, Natural Products Canada
Marty Reed, Evok Innovations

DevCon 21 Student Pitch at TNT Night
2021-02-18 18:00 - 18:45 | Virtual Online
Students from #DevCon21 are taking over this TNT pitch night!

About this Event
Thu, February 18, 2021
6:00 PM – 6:45 PM MS

We’re teaming up with Startup Edmonton’s biggest student event of the year to bring you pitches from:

Fly & Fetch
FLIK
Financiio
AgrioLabs
AR.t

After the event we invite everyone to join us at our weekly happy hour, where you’ll have a chance to chat with the presenters and folks from all corners of our community. It’s held on Discrd.

Inventures Unbound: Small Nuclear Reactors: Bright Spots, Innovation & Collaboration
2021-02-23 09:00 - 10:30 | Virtual Online

The future of IoT in healthcare
2021-02-24 15:00 - 17:00 | Virtual Online
With health at the top of our minds, many are beginning to acknowledge the power that the Internet of Things can play on the accessibility of quality healthcare and innovative practices.
What To expect:

Hear how IoT and emerging technology are providing solutions, gathering data and supporting business decisions
Gain an understanding of the challenges in the health space through in-depth conversation
Synergistic networking opportunities with key stakeholders in the Health sector

Agenda:

3:00pm – opening remarks
3:05pm – Microsoft keynote
3:40pm – panel discussion with Smartone, Glenrose and W21C (featuring our very own Raja Mita as panel moderator).
4:10pm – Ellis Don feature
4:40pm – breakout sessions
5:00pm – closing remarks

Feb 24, 2021
3:00 pm – 5:00 pm

Adaptation in the Age of COVID-19 and Demystifying Artificial Intelligence
2021-03-04 12:00 - 13:00 | Virtual Online
Adaptation in the Age of COVID-19 and Demystifying Artificial Intelligence
About the event

In this dynamic presentation, Amber Mac will take audiences on a visual journey to demonstrate how our world is changing during today’s pandemic and why that’s fueling an acceleration of technology that will change the future forever.
No matter what industry you’re in, that means that rapid digitization is a must. Amber will also show how AI is affecting our daily lives and why the future of work depends on its adoption.
While this presentation is eye-opening, it also includes practical lessons and invaluable tools that are critical for success.
About Amber Mac
Innovation Speaker | Co-host of Marketing Disrupted and The AI Effect
Considered by many to be the go-to expert on anything to do with technology, Amber Mac helps companies and audiences to stay ahead of the curve. She is an industry veteran, renowned as a journalist, moderator, entrepreneur, consultant, and bestselling author. Whatever the setting, Mac offers clarity of understanding and a passion for digital innovation in all forms.
Mac started her career in San Francisco and Boston during the dot-com boom, with several roles including as a strategist for Razorfish. Since then, she has keynoted at more than 400 events around the world and has moderated sessions with everyone from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to former FBI Director James Comey to famed astronaut Chris Hadfield. She’s currently the co-host of two podcast series: Marketing Disrupted and the award-winning The AI Effect.
In 2010, Mac wrote the national bestselling business book Power Friending, followed by the Amazon bestseller, Outsmarting Your Kids Online, which she co-wrote in 2016. She also a regular business host and expert for Fast Company, Newsweek, CNN, Bloomberg, CBS, BNN, CTV, The Marilyn Denis Show, and SiriusXM. In 2018, she was named one of DMZ’s 30 inspirational women making a difference in tech, and she is recognized internationally as an innovation and technology leader.

Inventures Unbound: Small Nuclear Reactors: Let’s Talk Community – and Connect with Stakeholders
2021-03-09 09:00 - 10:30 | Virtual Online

RainForest LWOL - Managing your Intellectual Property
2021-03-17 08:00 - 17:00 | Virtual Online
Curious about what’s happening in the innovation ecosystem in Alberta?
Join us at Lunch Without Lunch every Wednesday to hear about the players, events, and news that are making our innovation ecosystem thrive. This weekly meeting is a regular check on the pulse of the community, open to people of any age, wage, or stage of company.
This month we focus on building a culture of trust.
How does a culture of trust play into managing your intellectual property? At this week’s LWOL we will learn the top 3 IP mistakes that entrepreneurs make and how to avoid them! Marnie Fyten is an IP Advisor with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and will be sharing her knowledge with us.
Check out these great videos from CIPO on all things IP!
After the panel discussion, we will take part in facilitated networking through breakout rooms.
Zoom Link & Password will be provided in your confirmation email.
Rainforest Alberta is a movement, building community in the tech and innovation ecosystem in the province through opening conversations around culture, leadership, and other focus areas.

Masterclass Series on Intellectual Property for Start-ups: Session 1-Understanding Business Value of IP
2021-03-17 10:00 - 11:00 | Virtual Online
Masterclass Series on Intellectual Property for Start-ups

BDC Capital’s Women in Technology Venture Fund, in partnership with Smart & Biggar LLP, invites you to the next Women in Tech (WIT) Masterclass series “Intellectual Property for Start-ups”.
In partnership with
What:
During this free, three-week virtual series the experts at Smart & Biggar LLP will offer practical insights and knowledge to help you gain:

An understanding of the business value of intellectual property (IP) and impacts for your start-up;
An introduction to the different types of IP assets, including patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets; and how they can be used to protect your innovations and create an IP portfolio;
Strategies on how to build and leverage an IP portfolio for growth in the technology sector;
An understanding of best practices for IP management;
IP Checklist: tips to prepare your start-up for funding, growth and beyond.

Who:
This series is ideally suited for female founders and c-suite executives who are leading a Canadian technology start-up with the following criteria:
1) venture backed or venture backed shortly; and2) whose intellectual property strategy is crucial to accelerating their business growth.
When:
The sessions will be held every Wednesday from 12:00 – 1:00pm EDT from March 17 – 31, 2021.

Schedule:
You can register for one session below or for them all by clicking here – Register

March 17, 2021
12:00 – 1:00pm EDT

1. Intellectual property for growth: Understanding the business value of IP – Register
Discussion: General overview of the different type of IP rights relevant to technology companies and how to choose the right type(s) of IP protection. Some common misconceptions about patents as well as how to build a “future-proof” patent portfolio will also be discussed.

March 24, 2021
12:00 – 1:00pm EDT

2. Brand protection in the digital economy: Beyond the basics – Register
Discussion: General overview of the role of trademarks in technology companies, how to choose powerful trademarks, how to protect trademarks in a global/digital marketplace and how to create exclusivity in a crowded industry.

March 31, 2021
12:00 – 1:00pm EDT

3. Managing your IP to enhance your position ahead of a prospective investment or exit – Register
Discussion: General overview of the role of IP management in a technology company. How to prepare for a prospective investment or exit including developing/acquiring commercially relevant IP rights and managing third-party risks.

NACO Angel Investment Summit
2021-03-18 10:00 - 12:30 | Virtual Online
Join us on March 18, 2021 at 10:30 AM MST / 12:30 PM EST for the Edmonton Angel Investment Summit, a pitch event featuring the most promising Edmonton based angel ready companies. Finalists will take to the virtual stage to showcase their company to an audience of local and national angel investors, innovators, and startup supporters.
Finalists will also get exposure on the international stage at NACO West 2021 on March 30 & 31 – an unparalleled opportunity to showcase Edmonton’s vibrant innovation ecosystem!
Register today to get a sneak peek at some of Edmonton’s hottest companies.
To reserve your place at the Edmonton Angel Investment Summit, register here at no cost.

Valhalla Investment Summit Saskatchewan
2021-03-18 13:00 - 18:00 | Virtual Online
Welcome to the Valhalla Investment Summit Saskatchewan’s main event!

About this Event

The eight-week Valhalla Investment Summit Saskatchewan culminates in this final event, where we’ll hear from panel speakers, pitches from the top five companies, and of course the live announcement of at least one investment being made into a local Saskatchewan company.
The after-party will be held on Discord, where you’ll have the chance to chat with the companies, investors, and folks from around the community. Grab a beer and enjoy!
Agenda:
1:00 pm – Welcome
1:15 pm – Panel: A Founder’s Journey – Learn how these 3 Founders are crushing it and disrupting their industries.

Catherine Metrycki, Callia
Dustin Coupal, 54e Dev Studios
Mark Wolff, MyComply

2:00 pm – Fireside chat: On Alternative Exits – IPOs and M&As are not the only path to exit. Learn what other options you can explore to build an exit path for your investors.

Joe Gill, McKercher LLP
Rod Brown, Valhalla Private Capital

2:45 pm – Reverse pitch: Funders to Founders – Meet 6 of the most active funding organizations in the Prairies. Who they are? What they’re looking for? How they invest? Join us and ask your questions.

Bluesky Equities, Broad Street Bulls, Golden Opportunities, OKR Financial, Rhino Ventures, Wiegers Holdings

3:30 pm – Top 5 Final Pitches – Finally!! The last 5 standing.

ArticShelf, Board Checkup, memory KPR, Omnee, Skill Shark

5:00 pm – Keynote and Fireside Chat

Paul Allen, CEO, Soar/ Founder, Ancestry
Alicia Soulier, CEO, Salon Scale

6:00 pm – Investment announcement
Meet our Keynote:
Paul Allen, CEO, Soar & Founder, Ancestry
Paul coaches and mentors founders who desire to have a positive social impact in the world.He has founded 8 companies–including Soar and Ancestry.com. These companies have employed thousands, served tens of millions of customers, and generated billions of dollars in revenue.Paul started out by wanting to be a college professor. He became an “accidental entrepreneur” in 1990 when he built a product with his best friend. By 1996 they made the exclusive Inc. 500 list and after attending the Inc. conference Paul fell in love with entrepreneurship and decided to learn all he could about the art and science of building businesses.Since then, Paul has read hundreds of books, attended hundreds of conferences, and has done hundreds of keynote speeches, workshops, and training events.He has even had the privilege of teaching entrepreneurship and internet marketing for 4 years at two major universities.Today, he runs Soar and mentors founders who believe they can build organizations that can make the world a better place.

Thanks to our partners and sponsors!

Tags

Online Events Online Conferences Online Business Conferences #startup #pitch #angel_investing

AMII Virtual Meetup
2021-03-18 17:00 - 18:00 | Virtual Online
Learn about the latest tools and techniques in machine learning, and explore topics that researchers and industry professionals are thinking about or working on. Each meetup features two presenters; at the end of each presentation, participants will have the opportunity to participate in a Q&A session.
This month’s speakers include:
March 18, 2021 – March 18, 2021
5:00 PM – 6:30 PM (MST)
Reg Ouellette, VP of Engineering & Alex Trad, Director of Business Development from Chata Technologies Inc.
Chata develops innovative solutions that solve the complex problem of data access with the power of NLP, NLU, and dynamic query language generation. Chata’s flagship solution, AutoQL, dynamically translates natural language to database query languages. This technology enables non-technical business software users to get the data they need to do their jobs, just by asking questions in their own words.
Join Reg and Alex as they discuss the importance of high-quality training data for successful AI development. They’ll also talk about Chata’s approach to automating the training data generation process and how valuable this approach is for the future of AI in business applications and beyond. To illustrate, they’ll demo some of Chata’s machine learning models (trained on a corpus of data that has been automatically generated) through AutoQL’s front end widget, Data Messenger.
Salome Perez, PhD Student from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln
Salome Perez is currently a second year PhD Student at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. Her research focuses on understanding how software vulnerabilities are cross-layer characterized including binary library usage using machine/deep learning techniques. This research aims to innovate cybersecurity solutions in emerging Android and Intenet of Things -Arduino based applications.
Prior to University of Nebraska, Salome received a Bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Telecom from her home country, Ecuador/ South America; and a Fulbright award to pursue a master’s degree at Northeastern University/ Boston with specialization in machine learning. Her motivations are with supporting minorities in science and projects to further computer science education skills for children in developing countries.

Digital Law Tea Time Talk
2021-03-21 12:00 - 13:00 | Virtual Online
March 25 (12:00 – 01:00) Alan Chan, PhD student at MILA, Quebec
Digital Law Tea Time Talks are a chance for law and tech geeks to learn about topics at the intersection of those fields. A short presentation on a work in progress, recent article or experience will be followed by open Q&A. The 12-1 pm time block includes a “digital commute” allowing everyone to sign in and get settled. The actual presentation and discussion will go from 12:10-12:50 MT.
Google Meets Link: https://meet.google.com/ges-xfow-qsj
Hosted by the Digital Law & Innovation Society. Find us at https://dlis.ca/

Peer to Peer Mixer: Exploring a Growth Mindset
2021-03-24 08:00 - 17:00 | Virtual Online
Meghna Singh, Director, Business Technology – Planning and Enterprise Architecture with Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo), will deliver an uplifting keynote speech exploring a growth mindset and finding inspiration in others’ success.
Following the keynote, we will have a social happy hour. To support a more personal connection than traditional “networking”, through a series of timed conversations, you will meet with event attendees one on one. You will be provided with prompts to encourage discussion and sharing of ideas. (Think like speed networking…with a focus on building a connection.)
So grab a drink and come ready to make a few new connections as we explore what having a growth mindset is all about!
Note: this event pay by donation with 100% of proceeds going to support Girls Who Code!

Masterclass Series on Intellectual Property for Start-ups: Session 2 -Brand protection in the digital economy
2021-03-24 10:00 - 11:00 | Virtual Online

RainForest LWOL - Harvest Bulders
2021-03-24 12:00 - 13:00 | Virtual Online
Curious about what’s happening in the innovation ecosystem in Alberta?
Join us at Lunch Without Lunch every Wednesday to hear about the players, events, and news that are making our innovation ecosystem thrive. This weekly meeting is a regular check on the pulse of the community, open to people of any age, wage, or stage of company.
This month we focus on building a culture of trust.
At this week’s LWOL Harvest Builders will be joining us to share how they remove the barriers to launching and scaling up ventures in the prairies through knowledge sharing and team building. Harvest provides world-class builder services and industry experts who know what it takes to successfully launch and scale ventures!
After the panel discussion, we will take part in facilitated networking through breakout rooms.
Zoom Link & Password will be provided in your confirmation email.

InterGen Powerplays: Non-Dilutive Funding
2021-03-24 13:00 - 14:00 | Virtual Online
Did you know you can raise capital without giving up equity?
Join us for a quick 1-hour session with RSM Canada and discover the different sources of non-dilutive capital and the respective benefits and limitations of each.
During this non-dilutive funding workshop you will gain a better understanding of:
– Approaches to government funding for your business
– How government funding differs from loans and equity
– The different non-dilutive funding options available (SR&ED Tax Credits, and Government Grant Programs)
– An overview of eligible activities, projects, and potential funding

Inventures: Small Tech Businesses: Growth & Adjusting During and Post COVID-19
2021-03-25 12:00 - 13:00
ENTREPRENEUR’S SPEAKER SERIES
Small Tech Businesses: Growth & Adjusting During and Post COVID-19
March 25, 2021
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm MDT
Featuring David Sax
Author and Journalist
Award-winning author and business journalist, David Sax, has always worked for himself and has spent the majority of his career writing about entrepreneurs of every type. His latest book, “The Soul of an Entrepreneur”, goes beyond the Silicon Valley startup myth, in order to tell the real stories of small business owners who make up our economy.
For entrepreneurs in every sector, the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic have been unprecedented. There is no such thing as “business as usual”. The only certainty, it seems, is uncertainty. In his presentation David will discuss the freedom and risks of owning a small business and how to manage, reinvent and move forward during uncertain times. A Q&A will follow.

California Market for Hydrogen - Demand for Alberta Hydrogen Exports
2021-03-25 14:00 - 15:30 | Virtual Online
Hydrogen is the smallest molecule with the greatest potential to have an impact on the future of energy in our region, our province, and our country.
To explore the geographic market needs for Alberta’s low-cost, low-carbon hydrogen, the Edmonton Region Hydrogen Hub is hosting a series of webinars to understand where the potential lies and how Alberta can take advantage of the tremendous export opportunity in hydrogen.

Techstars Startup Weekend - Online
2021-03-26 08:00 - 2021-03-28 17:00 | Virtual Online
About this Event

Join Platform Calgary, Startup Calgary and Startup Edmonton for a virtual, fun-filled, hands-on educational experience that will enable you to build, validate and launch your tech startup idea over the course of a weekend. Whether you’re a hacker (developer), hustler (business/sales) or hipster (designer), there is something for you!
On the first evening, you’ll either pitch or join a team around the top ideas. Throughout the course of the weekend, you’ll work with your teams and coaches to validate and develop a prototype. You’ll present your final product on Sunday evening for a panel of judges and fun startup awards.
Why attend? Here’s what you’ll get out of it:

Education: Startup Weekends are all about learning by doing, whether you’re learning a new skill or a new way of thinking. Don’t just listen to theory, build your own strategy and test it as you go.
Co-Founder Dating: The people who come to Startup Weekend are serious about learning how to build and launch startups. Create relationships that last long past the weekend.
Have Fun: During the weekend you’ll be working alongside awesome people who share your ideas. Startup Weekend is meant to be fun and entertaining, so enjoy it!
Solve Local Problems with your Ideas: Do you think that one of your ideas can change your town or have a positive impact in your group of people? Bring your idea notebook with you and start making a positive change in your local community.
Build Your Network: Startup Weekend works hard to recruit high quality, driven entrepreneurs- like you!
Learn New Skills: With a whole weekend dedicated to letting your creative juices flow, Startup Weekends are perfect opportunities to work on a new platform, learn a new programming language or give marketing a try. With nothing to lose, there’s no reason not to step outside your comfort zone.
Learn How to Launch a Business (and Actually Do It!): Startup Weekend is the epitome of Lean Startup Methodology.
Mentorship: Local tech and startup leaders participate in Startup Weekends and give feedback to participants. Interact with the movers and shakers in your community.
Get Access to Valuable Startup Resources: By participating in Startup Weekend, you are given instant access to great products and tools. No one leaves a Startup Weekend empty handed!

Please note: Ideas worked on over the course of the weekend must be new/unique ideas and not previously worked on in any capacity.
—
Refund Policy: please reach out to your organizing team for a refund at finance@platformcalgary.com
Terms and Conditions
Terms of Participation Agreement: It is our job to provide you with an incredible networking and learning experience. Our intention is that you meet some amazing people that you might start a company with, learn from mentors as well as learning from your peers. The event is intended to be a collaborative forum for sharing, learning, building, and having fun. As such, by registering as a participant, you acknowledge that any ideas shared by you or anyone else over the course of the event are contributions to the overall experience and community. If you’re very concerned, you can limit your pitch to the rough outline of the idea without giving away key information.
As a member of your startup community, you agree to be inclusive of any and all people and their ideas. You agree to act professionally, treat everyone with respect, and treat the event facilities with proper care. You agree that you are responsible in the event of any accidents or damages that you cause. You also agree to not hold Techstars Startup Weekend, your local volunteer team, or any of the event supporters liable for any loss, damage, injury, or any other unforeseeable incident.
By participating in the event, you grant Techstars Startup Weekend permission to capture photos/videos of the event. You can find the full legal terms on our Communities Page, but to summarize, we want to share your success with the world.
By purchasing a ticket to a Techstars Startup Weekend event, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. If you have questions please reach out to privacy@techstars.com.

Space Settlement Entrepreneur - SSEC Competition
2021-03-26 08:00 - 2021-03-28 17:00 | Virtual Online
About this Event

Audience: High-school and Undergraduate-college students
The SSEC is an online (virtual) competition for high-school and undergraduate-college students, interested in the future of space technology and entrepreneurship. Over the course of this 3-5 day online competition event, students will develop a space-industry start-up company that meets the needs of a newly-designed space settlement (2020’s competition description- https://bit.ly/SSDCIntro).
Students will learn about: the entrepreneurial mindset, marketing, problem and solution ideation, business models, prototyping, investor pitch decks, and the all-important elevator pitch.
Dates: Sat, Mar 20, 2021, 1:00 PM – to Sun, Mar 28, 2021, 5:00 PM MDT
AGENDA (see Tentative agenda at https://www.STEME.org/ssec)
Saturday, March 20
2:00 PM CST 1. Introduction to Entrepreneurship
3:00 PM CST 2. [RESEARCH] Landscape of the Space Industry and SSDC
4:00 PM CST 3. Introduction to SSDC & Problem Spaces (Request for Proposal)
Sunday, March 21, 2021
2:00 PM CST 4. Introduction to the Pitch Deck & Judges’ Rubric
2:15 PM CST 5. Assessing a Problem
3:15 PM CST 6. Developing a Solution
4:00 PM CST 7. Prototyping
4:30 PM CST 8. Introduction to Marketing & Customer Proposal & Sales Pitch
Thursday, March 25, 2021
5:00PM CST SSDC Kick-Off & Training
Friday, March 26, 2021
5:00 PM CST 9. Business Model Canvas
6:30 PM CST 10. Market Research: Customer Needs and Interviews & Meetings
7:00 PM CST 11. Investor Pitch Deck, Elevator Pitch, & Presentation Skills
Saturday, March 27, 2021
1:00 PM CST SSDC Panel & Company Pitches
1:30 PM CST SSDC Company Meetings
Sunday, March 28, 2021
9:30 AM CST SSDC Company Presentations
1:00 PM CST SSEC Final Pitch Presentation and Judging
4:00 PM CST SSDC & SSEC Winners announced
Pricing: $50 (online/virtual competition)
$40 Early-Bird Pricing
WITH FULL SCHOLARSHIP OPTIONS!
For the most up-to-date information, visit: www.STEME.org/ssec
If you are in FINANCIAL NEED and cannot afford to attend but wish to attend, we urge you to apply for our Scholarship ($50 value): https://bit.ly/SSECScholarship1

Fireside Chat with Greg Horowitt & Jim Gibson
2021-03-26 12:00 - 13:00 | Virtual Online
Event Information

Rainforest Alberta sprouted from the award-winning book, The Rainforest: The Secret to Building the Next Silicon Valley. In this book authors, Victor W. Hwang and Greg Horowitt introduce a radical theory to explain the nature of innovation ecosystems – human networks that generate extraordinary creativity and output.
Join the Rainforest Alberta community and one of its co-founders, Jim Gibson, as we host Greg Horowitt in exploring how the pillars of our ecosystem are optimized by social behaviours. These behaviours require trust across social barriers, encourage diversity and promote experimental collaboration. Greg will also share insights from his upcoming book.
Brought to you by Rainforest Alberta and support from Bow Valley College.

AMII AI Seminars: Two-player, Zero-sum games
2021-03-26 12:00 - 13:00 | Virtual Online
Amii researcher at the University of Alberta Dustin Morrill presents “Hindsight Rationality and Efficient Deviation Types in Extensive-Form Games”. In this talk, he suggests to field learning algorithms that ensure strong performance in hindsight relative to “deviations” (pre-defined behaviour modifications) in two-player, zero-sum games.
Abstract: A successful approach to playing two-player, zero-sum games has been to deploy a static artifact resembling a Nash equilibrium, which has led work in artificial intelligence to focus on computing such artifacts. This approach is less sound and has been less successful in multi-player, general-sum games. We suggest instead to field learning algorithms that ensure strong performance in hindsight relative to “deviations”, i.e., pre-defined behavior modifications. A society of such “hindsight rational” agents converges toward mediated equilibrium, a traditional notion of equilibrium based on average correlated play rather than factored behavior, in contrast to Nash equilibrium. We re-examine deviation types and mediated equilibria in extensive-form games to gain a more complete understanding and resolve past misconceptions. We introduce a new deviation type that has implicitly formed the basis for the counterfactual regret minimization (CFR) algorithm. We generalize CFR to the extensive-form regret minimization (EFR) algorithm that is hindsight rational for any given deviation type within a broad and natural class. This class contains powerful new deviation types that are efficient to use in games with moderate lengths. We present an empirical analysis of EFR’s performance with different deviation types in common benchmark games, showing that stronger deviation types typically impart better performance, even in two-player, zero-sum games.
Presenter Bio: Dustin is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Alberta and the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii) working with Professor Michael Bowling. He works on multi-agent learning and scaleable, dependable learning algorithms. He is a coauthor of [DeepStack] and he created [Cepheus’s public match interface]. He completed a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in computing science at the University of Alberta where his M.Sc was also supervised by Michael Bowling. As an undergraduate, he worked with the Computer Poker Research Group (CPRG) to create an [open-source web interface to play against poker bots] and to develop the 1st-place 3-player Kuhn poker entry in the 2014 Annual Computer Poker Competition (ACPC).

Calgary Innovation Coalition: Hard-Tech
2021-04-06 12:00 - 13:00 | Virtual Online
Once every month come join the CIC, SAIT, Fuse 33 and Protospace to talk about how to make your own “Hardtech” prototype and startup

About this Event

The Calgary Innovation Coalition (CIC), SAIT, Fuse 33 and Protospace are looking to support “HardTech” (an accumulation of different complex mechanical, electronic, or electrical technologies to form an innovative physical product with capability for exponential growth and market uptake) Startups with their development and testing of their product ideas. “HardTech” startups face different challenges compared to their software counterparts to bring an idea to market. The Make it Lunch Series aims to connect those in the ecosystem that need support with those with experience to share. Join us each month as we cover different topics from market and customer discovery, basic fabrication techniques, design, prototyping, testing, manufacturing, and more. Every session will have open time for discussion and networking for anyone that either needs support or has support to offer.

RainForest LWOL: Startup Features
2021-04-07 12:00 - 13:00 | Virtual Online
Curious about what’s happening in the innovation ecosystem in Alberta?
Join us at Lunch Without Lunch every Wednesday to hear about the players, events, and news that are making our innovation ecosystem thrive. This weekly meeting is a regular check on the pulse of the community, open to people of any age, wage, or stage of company.
This month we focus on building a culture of trust.
How do you build a culture of trust as a founder? At this week’s LWOL we will learn how to implement values of the social contract when creating a company. We will be joined by Cole Rosentreter of Pegasus Imagery and Spencer Kerber of Bessie Box as they share their insights into building a culture of trust within their business.
After the panel discussion, we will take part in facilitated networking through breakout rooms.
Zoom Link & Password will be provided in your confirmation email and right here:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84531097830?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 845 3109 7830
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Alberta IoT - Attabotics
2021-04-09 10:00 - 11:00 | Virtual Online
Join us for our April monthly member meeting featuring speakers from Attabotics.

About this Event

AGENDA

10:00am – Member Meeting
10:15am – Attabotics Presentation
10:45am – Breakout Rooms & Networking
11:05am – Close

About Attabotics:
Attabotics is the world’s first 3D robotics supply chain system for modern commerce. Inspired by the framework of ant colonies, Attabotics replaces the rows and aisles of traditional fulfillment centers with a patented storage structure and robotics shuttles that utilize both horizontal and vertical space, reducing a company’s warehouse needs by 85%. By empowering retailers to place fulfillment centers near high-density urban areas, Attabotics helps create jobs and decrease carbon emissions by closing the last-mile delivery gap. Attabotics has been adopted by major brands including luxury department store Nordstrom, and other retailers across apparel, food & beverage, and home goods. Attabotics is based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, with fulfillment centers across the United States and Canada.
Brad Simpson, VP of Corporate Development at Attabotics, and Mark Dickinson, Vice President of Software Solutions at Attabotics, will offer their perspectives on technology and business, and explain how a robotics company from Calgary tapped into big clients by thinking differently.

Founder Fridays: Author Cory Bray
2021-04-09 12:00 - 13:00 | Virtual Online
Event Information:
We’re giving away 100 copies of Cory Bray’s book at the April 9th kick-off of Founder Fridays. During the fireside chat, author and Alchemist Accelerator Sales Mentor Cory Bray will cover some of the key elements from his book Sales Playbooks: The Builder’s Toolkit Paperback and end with a 15 minute Q & A session with participants.Join us to learn how a sales playbook can create more consistent top performers faster, reduce the gap between your top performers and everyone else, develop sales teams that engage with more prospects, produce more pipeline, AND close more deals. Founder Fridays is a series of fireside chats with authors of books that are typically held on the 1st and 3rd Friday of each month, the initiative is based on the success of a fireside chat with Ian Hathaway (Brad Feld’s co-author on their latest book) that had 300+ participants and gave away 100 copies of The Startup Community Way to attendees from across Alberta. Each month you can register for either or both of two sessions: A fireside chat with an author that shares a link where the last 15 minutes is a Q & A session with the participants and a link is provided so those from Alberta can request a free copy of the author’s book. Table discussions held two weeks later (sometimes with, sometimes without the author) to discuss the different ways the content from the fireside chat and the author’s book can be applied to Alberta’s Startup Community. Founder Fridays are designed to support Alberta’s entrepreneurs, mentors, investors, ecosystem builders and service providers by: Upskilling entrepreneurs, mentors, ecosystem builders and service providers

Developing entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship support in and around post-secondary institutions. Helping startups grow faster and develop the expertise and traction required to attract capital.
Increasing the volume of startups and the velocity at which they progress through the Startup Commons stages
Working with existing entrepreneurship support organizations to expand their mentor networkFounder Fridays is a joint initiative of 150 Startups, Bow Valley College, Futurepreneur, Rainforest Alberta, and the Venture Mentoring Service of Alberta and are made possible by the generous support of Bow Valley College, RBC, The Hunter Family Foundation, Calgary Innovation Coalition, RINSA, and Women in STEM.
