Canada

Calgary

MEMBERS:

Calgary Technologies (Platform Calgary)

Calgary has an abundance of entrepreneurial ingenuity, talent, and community connectedness to harness innovation and transform our industrial capacity as we become a leader in the New Economy.

Ecosystem by the Numbers

EARLY-STAGE FUNDING

$104 m

GLOBAL AVG.

$687 m

ECOSYSTEM VALUE

$1.2 bn

GLOBAL AVG.

$28.6 bn

MEDIAN SEED ROUND

$600 k

GLOBAL AVG.

$671 k

MEDIAN SERIES A ROUND

$1 m

GLOBAL AVG.

$4.7 m

SOFT. ENGINEER SALARY

$58 k

GLOBAL AVG.

$46 k

Cleantech

Calgary, the corporate headquarters of Canada’s energy sector, is home to 118 of the nation’s largest companies, many acting as first customers to startups and partners in technology development. The Clean Resource Innovation Network secured $100 million in government funding to leverage private investment. The Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) accelerator has a dedicated stream for energy startups. The 16 recent CDL graduates raised $23 million in seed funding. Foresight and Platform recently launched a new cleantech venture accelerator in Calgary.

Life Sciences

Calgary is home to more than 110 life sciences companies, with leading facilities and health services, including the international microbiome lab, UCalgary’s Life Sciences Innovation Hub for research and commercialization, and soon the largest cancer hospital in Canada. In 2019, Calgary-based Parvus Therapeutics signed a $1 billion deal to develop and commercialize revolutionary new drugs for autoimmune disease.

Reasons to Move Your Startup to Calgary

COVID-19 Policy

All three levels of government are supporting Calgary Startups and SMEs via payroll support, property tax deferrals, and commercial lease payment relief. Federal funding of $250 million was directed to tech companies via the Innovation Assistance Program, and additional credit or cash flow financing options. A direct government procurement platform allows SMEs to pivot operations to COVID response.

Livable and tech-savvy

In 2019, Calgary was named the most livable city in North America and the 5th most livable in the world by EIU. Calgary is investing in digital transformation via a $30 million school for advanced technology at SAIT. Calgary is the ideal place for ambitious startups embracing open immigration with a special Startup Visa Stream that offers fast-track processing.