Alberta tech sector catches eye of The Logic

Sometimes it takes an outsider’s perspective to notice what stands out about a place.

Last week, David Skok, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of Toronto-based The Logic visited Calgary and observed, “What gets lost in heated rhetoric over equalization payments, carbon-pricing and pipelines is that Alberta is quietly transforming its economy.” And we’re doing it in tech.

The observation in his Letter from the editor carries weight given David Skok knows a lot about spotting promising tech hubs. He was formerly Associate Editor of The Toronto Star, and Managing Editor of The Boston Globe, before starting up The Logic to provide in-depth reporting on Canada’s innovation economy.

It’s a story of opportunity though, not a slam dunk. David goes on to comment, “Despite the number of startups in Calgary growing over the past decade, Alberta isn’t receiving as much venture capital funding as Ontario, Quebec or British Columbia.”

The A100 member, Brad Zumwalt, makes a pitch in the article about how the newly elected government could have a greater impact: “$1 billion in funding from the province focused on tech investments and programming in education, government and industry can kickstart Calgary’s startup scene to the tune of 1,000 new companies, which would add 50,000 jobs and $10 billion in annual revenue to the provincial coffers by 2031.”

Already Alberta Enterprise Corporation contributes to local startups with the Accelerate Fund which has contributed $20 million to help scale local technology businesses – including Passportal that was recently acquired by SolarWinds.

The Logic letter is worth a read. And we second the rally cry that, “while tech won’t fill the energy job gap on its own it’s a great place to start rebuilding Alberta’s economy for the future.”