EDMONTON — Business incubator TEC Edmonton is joining forces with Telus to launch the T-Squared Accelerator, a joint initiative to provide early-stage technology companies with seed funding and 12 months of free incubation space and support in Edmonton’s Enterprise Square tech hub. Telus will contribute $200,000 annually to fund the program, with $100,000 going directly to the selected tech startups to advance their businesses, the two companies announced Tuesday morning.
Specifically, the T-Squared Accelerator program is interested in startups focused on developing platform technologies in the areas of seamless customer experience, the Internet of Things (IoT), big data analytics, health and wellness data integration and analytics, and technologies to improve high-speed wireline connectivity, the companies said in a news release.
“Telus is committed to leading the way with innovative solutions and encouraging Canadian technology success stories in Alberta and across Canada,” Ibrahim Gedeon, chief technology officer for Telus, said in the release. “TEC Edmonton shares our vision of growing the next-generation of great Canadian tech entrepreneurs, making them a natural fit to collaborate with on the T-Squared Accelerator.”
TEC Edmonton is a joint venture of the City of Edmonton and the University of Alberta. In addition to free incubation space, TEC Edmonton says it will provide selected tech startups with business mentorship, market research services, investor preparation assistance and access to its wide-reaching industry network, including angel investors.
Product development support, technical guidance and global market insight will be provided by Telus’s nationwide team of experts, including support from the company’s Chief Technology Office located in Edmonton.
“The young, innovative ICT (Information and Communications Technology) companies selected for the T-Squared Accelerator will receive product development guidance and customer insight from Telus, at a level they might not otherwise have access to,” said Chris Lumb, CEO of TEC Edmonton. “At the same time, they will get mentoring, market research, licensing and patenting expertise and other resources from TEC Edmonton. The combined package will grant them tremendous growth opportunities, which in turn benefits our region’s economy and startup industry.”
TEC Edmonton was rated Canada’s #1 incubator by Startup Canada in 2014 and the fourth best incubator in North America by the 2015 University Business Incubator (UBI) Index. Since 2011, TEC Edmonton clients have generated $680 million in revenue, raised $354 million in financing and funding, invested $204 million in research and development, grown employment by 21% to 26% per year, and now employ more than 2,300 people in the region, according to the news release. In addition, TEC Edmonton says it has assisted in the creation of 22 spinoffs from the University of Alberta in the last five years.
For more information about the T-Squared Accelerator program, companies can contact the program’s director and TEC Edmonton executive-in-residence, Shaheel Hooda, via email at tsquared@tecedmonton.com.
