From Pitching to Winning: A Recap of Cohort 12's Success and the People's Choice Award at Velocity North!
The Alberta Catalyzer Velocity Showcase live pitch event marked the culmination of an intensive 8-week program designed to educate first-time entrepreneurs and new tech startup founders on the foundations of building a successful company.
The impact of the program for cohort 12 was profound, with participants like Tracey Stewart, Founder and CEO of ShareMe.Chat, who initially sought to understand fundraising and non-dilutive funding, now feeling equipped and confident. “The program was very insightful and now I can better prepare the company for that direction,” Tracey shared, emphasizing how the diverse range of coaches and introductions to law firms and funding stories helped address core challenges and craft compelling strategies.
For Maado, the journey began with the challenge of early-stage sales. “I got a few leads and sales, and [Alberta Catalyzer] helped me get them,” said Yonas Halala, Maado's Co-founder & CEO. This support was crucial in gaining traction and building a customer base. Similarly, Angel-Earth faced the challenge of attracting customers despite an initially successful MVP launch and securing a pilot across 150 retail locations. The Velocity program helped them refine their marketing strategies, enabling them to confidently deliver their message and aim to triple their pilot locations by 2025.
For Jeffrey Yu and his team at WeCare Dynamics, they struggled to gain market validation for their Contactless Wellness System. The Velocity program provided invaluable mentorship and resources, connecting them with industry experts who offered critical insights. Jeffrey shares, “Velocity has equipped us with the tools and confidence to pursue pilot programs and partnerships. Through the structured support and rigorous validation processes we gained a better understanding of the market dynamics and how to position our product effectively…the experience has been transformative, enabling us to address our challenges head-on.“
These are just some of the stories coming out of cohort 12. The Velocity Showcase isn’t just a live pitch event; it’s a celebration of the diligent work, learnings, and the potential of these startups.
Cohort 12 Companies: Abilities Occupational Therapy Inc., AFRO FACTS, Angel-Earth, Colabmacs, RewardsX, Freedman Design Institute, Last Shot Apparel, Maado, ShareMe.Chat Inc., Wecare Dynamics, myLMS
Relive the Action: Velocity Showcase Photo Gallery
Couldn’t attend the live pitch night? Browse the showcase photo gallery on our Meta page.
Fasken Joins Us: Key Supporter of Alberta’s Startup Community
We are excited to welcome Fasken as a first-time sponsor for Velocity North and for their inaugural support of the People's Choice Award for both Calgary and Edmonton showcases.
The People's Choice Award recognizes the startup or founder that resonates most with attendees, shining a spotlight on their achievements and contributions to the startup community.
As a People’s Choice Award sponsor, Fasken’s generous contribution will provide the winner with access to Fasken’s comprehensive Startup Program, which includes a range of essential legal services. This suite of services offers invaluable support to startups, covering everything from incorporation and confidentiality agreements to shareholder agreements and cap table preparation. Founders will also benefit from ongoing legal assistance and meetings with Fasken’s Strategic Advisor.
About Fasken
Fasken, is a leading Canadian law firm to emerging and high-growth technology companies. Their Emerging Technology practice is comprised of 90+ dedicated legal professionals across the Canadian market. Deeply involved in the startup ecosystem they have worked closely with founders from startup to scale up to exit.
As a leading Canadian law firm for venture capital financings and tech mergers and acquisitions they act for many of the best-in-class startup and scale up innovation-based companies in Canada. Given this experience they understand market trends and can assist in guiding companies forward as they scale – they take a holistic and strategic approach to helping clients achieve their goals and provide the full suite of services including corporate, corporate finance, mergers & acquisitions, commercial, IP, data and compliance, employment, tax and beyond.
As a valued program delivery partner, Fasken has facilitated workshops on legal topics for Alberta Catalyzer Velocity startups. Stepping up as a sponsor for the People’s Choice Award, reinforces their commitment to supporting founders.
Colabmacs Wins People’s Choice Award
Applause please! We're thrilled to congratulate Michael Hume for capturing the hearts and minds of the audience. Colabmacs is a collaborative lab management and access control system. This software platform streamlines the management of specialized equipment in shared spaces, allowing technical staff to focus on innovation rather than administration.
I felt a great sense of appreciation and humility. I was truly surprised as I was certain that one of my other [peers] had a more engaging pitch with much more energy!! - Michael Hume, Founder
The picture above features People’s Choice Award winner Colabmacs Founder and CEO Michael Hume posing for the camera with Alberta Catalyzer program specialist Colin MacDonald. Photo Credit: Ampersand Grey
When asked what the showcase meant to Michael, he shares, “the showcase represented a ‘coming out party’ for me personally in this journey. Often when we build something, we forget that we need to be our biggest advocates. The showcase represented an opportunity to invite my friends and family out to learn about what I've really been up to for the past few years.”
Colabmacs: Transforming Resource Management in Shared Facilities
Colabmacs is setting new standards with how specialized equipment in shared core facilities is managed, empowering technical staff to focus on innovation rather than administrative tasks. Core (CORE) facilities provide access to advanced instruments for scientific, clinical, or industrial research. Creators and innovators book and use these resources after necessary training, but the process often faces challenges.
Colabmacs addresses three key issues:
Underutilized Resources: Facilities face peak demand periods and significant idle times.
Administrative Burden: Managing these facilities often diverts time from specialized technical staff.
Data Reporting Challenges: Meeting data reporting requirements from funding and regulatory bodies is crucial.
Colabmacs enhances resources management through configurable access rules, tracking training records to ensure only qualified users can book equipment, and monitoring usage for billing and data-driven decision-making. According to Michael, Colabmacs optimizes idle times, potentially capturing an additional $300,000 in annual revenue. It aims to free approximately 480 hours annually for innovation by streamlining administrative tasks and provides clear metrics and reporting to help facilities secure a portion of the billions of dollars available in CORE facility funding for 2024.
Originating from a system developed in 2006, Colabmacs has evolved from early iterations to become a commercial SaaS leader, with a strategy to expand into maker spaces and maintenance management. What’s next for Colabmacs? Polishing their product and landing the next customer. You can follow their traction by visiting www.colabmacs.com.
Wrapping up, cohort 12 and the Velocity North Showcase demonstrated the incredible talent and ingenuity driving Alberta's startup scene forward.
With two showcases, Velocity North in Edmonton and Velocity South in Calgary spotlighting tech startups from different regions, attendees get a firsthand look at Alberta-based innovation in action and be part of the buzzing startup tech scene. With such promising ideas and initiatives, the future looks exceptionally promising for our province's tech industry.
Thank you for joining us on this journey of celebration, collaboration, and community. See you at the next showcase.
About Alberta Catalyzer
Alberta Catalyzer is a merit-based pre-accelerator that offers company support, resources, and coaching to entrepreneurs aiming to launch and grow their tech-enabled companies, preparing them for advancement to the scale-up and acceleration stages. Launched in 2022, Alberta Catalyzer is developed and delivered by Platform Calgary and Edmonton Unlimited, with support from partners and organizations across the Alberta Innovation Network. Apply to the next cohort in one of three programs: Engage, Traction, and Velocity.
