Shift by Alberta Innovates

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Welcome to part two of our Edmonton Startup Week podcast series.

On today's episode I had the great pleasure of sitting down with James Keirstead from Levven Electronics to talk about a host of topics that should resonate with every entrepreneur as well as inspire those who may be considering entrepreneurialism.

James is a tireless advocate for entrepreneurs in Edmonton and Alberta, and this candid interview really sheds light on his approach to business and life.

Bio
James is responsible for managing the vision and growth of Levven Electronics, developing and executing long-term corporate strategies, and building relationships with partners, stakeholders and investors.

Levven has a vision of making intelligent buildings available to everyone. Focused on delivering technology and products to advantage new construction, Levven’s promise is mobile device access and control of building infrastructure that lowers building costs, speeds construction and conserves building materials.

He is a life-long entrepreneur with a commitment to innovation, excellence and enhancing people’s lives. Prior to founding Levven, James and his partners founded Blue Falls Manufacturing, makers of Arctic Spas and expanded its footprint to over 30 countries.

James is an active member and contributor to several entrepreneur organizations including Entrepreneurs’ Organization, the A100, Edmonton Regional Innovation Network, and Rainforest Alberta.

When he isn’t focused on the business, you can find him on Edmonton mountain bike trails or hanging out with his family.

Shift by Alberta Innovates focuses on the people, businesses and organizations that are contributing to Alberta's strong tech ecosystem.

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Alberta has a lot to boast about when it comes to female tech leaders, and our next guest is no exception. Catherine Warren leads the newly-rebranded Edmonton Unlimited as a vital cog in Alberta's tech entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Dive in and join us as we do a deep dive to learn more about Edmonton Unlimited, their leader and Edmonton Startup Week that they're spearheading the week of October 17 to 22.

Bio

Catherine Warren, CEO Edmonton Unlimited

Living and working in Canada, the US, UK and Europe, Warren has served as a C-suite executive for publicly-traded companies, academic institutions and government-business enterprises.

Most recently, as Chief Executive Officer of Vancouver Economic Commission, she led the team in attracting $3B in foreign direct investment to the region, with a portfolio including the Vancouver Film Commission, the world’s largest animation and visual effects sector, smart cities technologies such as AI, 5G and quantum computing and the green and impact economies.

In more than two decades as a tech advisor, Warren’s track-record includes mergers and acquisitions for digital distribution and digital IP, raising capital and liquidity events for tech companies, consulting to national media funds, hedge funds, crowdfunds and coaching executives on strategic growth and monetization. Earlier in her career, she was the start-up COO of a broadcast software company that she and her partners took to the Nasdaq and grew to a $300M market cap.

Warren has a bachelor’s degree in physics from Reed College in Portland, Oregon, with a focus on climate change, and a master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York, where she did her original thesis work onsite at MIT covering the launch of its digital Media Lab.

Shift by Alberta Innovates focuses on the people, businesses and organizations that are contributing to Alberta's strong tech ecosystem.

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Zack Storms and Tim Lynn are the co-founders of Startup TNT, which is a community of entrepreneurs, scientists, investors, innovators and startup supporters that gathers every week to have fun, share stories, and build great companies.

Since its launch in 2019, Startup TNT has raised over $7M+ for 50 local companies across the Prairies, and aims to raise another $1M+ this fall, with Summit VI.

Are you located in Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatoon, Regina or Winnipeg? If so, and I highly encourage you to, check out their Thursday Night Tradition in your town!

Interested in learn more about their Investment Summit VI? Visit them online! 

Shift by Alberta Innovates focuses on the people, businesses and organizations that are contributing to Alberta's strong tech ecosystem.

Send us a text

Cats are 10, 000 years less domesticated than dogs, so they don't always tell us the truth with their body language and sweet little purrs.

Enter Sylvester ai, a Calgary-based company that unveiled Tably, a digital health platform designed to assess a cat's visual cues based on pictures you take of your cat.

Tably's AI compares those photos with  a database of veterinarian photos it's been trained to analyze and compare to then make an assessment of whether your cat is having a good day or a bad day. An understanding of bad days over time can then help cat owners to more proactively seek help from vet before something minor becomes major.

Sylvester ai and Tably have been featured in a number of publications and are taking the pet world by storm. Listen to our interview with Susan and learn more about this fascinating technology she imagines will have application's beyond cats in the years to come.

Bio

Susan Groeneveld
Susan is an entrepreneur, co-founder of WS Marketing with Soul, Cat Healthy and sylvester.ai. She's a problem solver with over 20 yrs experience shaping growth marketing approaches for mid-large size companies. Customer centric approach in the food economy from growers to consumers; as well as pet care. Predicting audience behavior based on aggregated data and experience is her super power.

Shift by Alberta Innovates focuses on the people, businesses and organizations that are contributing to Alberta's strong tech ecosystem.

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Goodlawyer is an Alberta-based interactive, online service that provides legal solutions for startups. 

When company CEO and founder Brett Colvin was working at one of Canada's largest law firms as a corporate lawyer, he saw first hand every day that most people can't afford the legal help they need. The typical firm rates are simply out of reach, so he teamed up with a developer and a designer, left the firm, and started Goodlawyer.

On this episode, Joshua Weinberger, COO, walks our cohost Katie Dean through how Goodlawyer, an interactive online service, delivers on its promise to make it faster and easier for clients to find and hire legal help to help them succeed.


Bio
Joshua Weinberger, Chief Operating Officer at Goodlawyer

Josh is committed to empowering entrepreneurs with legal knowledge to fuel their business growth. From his experience working at Canada's largest law firm, Josh understands how legal protections and legal problems can make or break a business. 

In his role with Goodlawyer, Josh shares his insights and expertise to level the playing field and help founders benefit from the legal strategies large companies use to win. Josh's unique approach to law stems from his belief in the power of teams and helping those around you. (write up taken from Josh's LinkedIn profile)

Shift by Alberta Innovates focuses on the people, businesses and organizations that are contributing to Alberta's strong tech ecosystem.

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We met with Dr. David Bressler while at Inventures on June 2, 2022. We spoke to him about his work converting lipids into hydrocarbons (biofuel), his role with Forge Hydrocarbons and about what an event like Inventures means for Alberta researchers and innovators.

Learn more about Dr. Bressler's work.

Bio
Dr. David Bressler, Professor, Associate Dean (Research) at the University of Alberta

Dr. Bressler is appointed with the Faculty of Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences where he is a Full Professor and the Associate Dean (Research).  He earned his Ph.D. in Microbiology and Cell Biotechnology from the University of Alberta.  Following his studies, David held a two-year Research Manager position, under Dr. Murray Gray.  The position, which included the instruction of two senior courses per year in Chemical and Materials Engineering (University of Alberta), also included an office and weekly participation at Syncrude Research. 

Shift by Alberta Innovates focuses on the people, businesses and organizations that are contributing to Alberta's strong tech ecosystem.

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Agriculture is in Robert Saik's blood. 

It began with his career on a mixed farm in Alberta, and he's since gone onto found and invest in many companies in the agricultural sector ranging from farming in Uganda, cattle, ag retail, fertilizer manufacturing, distribution, marketing, consulting, data, ag tech, robotics and now serves as CEO of AGvisorPRO,  a connectivity and resource platform for agriculture.

Robert is an author, keynote speaker, entrepreneur and thought leader. He was recognized as the 2006 Agrologist of the Year and the 2014 Canadian Agri-Marketer of the Year.

Our conversation was bookended by Robert's interest in space and took us across the plains of Alberta to Uganda, Africa, and the challenges and opportunities we have, as a global civilization, to feed the world.

Welcome to Shift!

Shift by Alberta Innovates focuses on the people, businesses and organizations that are contributing to Alberta's strong tech ecosystem.

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We joined Cowboy Smithx backstage at Inventures 2022 just prior to his panel #T7NFT Building Community in the Arts: Utilizing Blockchain Technology to Boost the Creative Economies.

The #T7NFT (Treaty 7 Non-Fungible Token) program is a project led by NexusVerseYYC, who Cowboy was onsite representing.

Cowboy also took the opportunity to talk about the role of identity understanding and the role of Indigenous culture in Alberta's innovation ecosystem.

"So going all the way back to that inception story, one thing that I don't see enough Treaty 7 people or Treaty 6, if it's Edmonton, I don't see people owning that identity, flexing the spirit and intent of that treaty, which was in our language is  [listen to recording]. In Cree, up in Treaty 6, it's [listen to recording] and it's this coming together and innovating and coming up with resources, knowledge, understanding of the land and understanding of the landscape and projecting into the future. Coming up with an alignment of intention that will help us carve identity and help every sector thrive. And if I can get all these tech sectors and agriculture, oil and gas, on that same page, that's one of my life's missions. We're going to do everything we can, including, make NFTS. "

Bio
Cowboy Smithx is a Blackfoot filmmaker from the Piikani Nation and Kainai Nation in Southern Alberta. He has acted in, co-produced, and directed short films and music videos. His best known work is a full feature documentary co-produced with Chris Hsiung called, Elder in the Making, a film about reconciliation between non-Aboriginal and Aboriginal Peoples in Canada.

Shift by Alberta Innovates focuses on the people, businesses and organizations that are contributing to Alberta's strong tech ecosystem.

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Inventures 2022 took place June 1 through 3 at the Telus Convention Centre in Calgary, Alberta. Attended by over 3000 people, the event brought together investors, innovators, researchers and entrepreneurs for three days of deal making and demonstrating. Over seven thematic tracks and over 200 programs fleshing out everything from doing business with artificial intelligence to pitch competitions.

The following was Shift on the floor at Inventures talking to only a handful of the businesses and initiatives on site discussing their offering.

Enjoy!

For a short time only you can buy your tickets for Inventures 2023 at a greatly reduced rate, Visit us online for more!

Shift by Alberta Innovates focuses on the people, businesses and organizations that are contributing to Alberta's strong tech ecosystem.

Send us a text

As part of a special Shift series on Inventures 2022, we’re presenting an episode for each of the seven content tracks featured at this year’s event. 

This episode puts a spotlight on the track Navigating to Net-Zero and features an interview with Alison Thompson, CEO of Borealis Geothermal, Director at Kitselas Geothermal, and Chair of the Canadian Geothermal Energy Association. Alison is working to forge a future for geothermal energy, which has enormous potential as a net-zero source of heat and energy for Canadians. 

Navigating To Net-Zero

In 2021, Canada passed the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability act, committing the country to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. 

Despite the growing push towards renewable energy sources, non-renewable resources will continue to be a major part of the energy mix for the foreseeable future. New technologies—and new applications for existing ones—are required to expand our capacity for renewable energy production, to cut greenhouse gas emissions, and to commercialize new low-carbon products and materials. 

But Alberta already has everything it needs to succeed: enormous reserves of renewable energy resources, skilled workers who already have the technical expertise required to develop them, and the ingenuity to innovate.

Hear from the innovators and thought leaders who are shaping the future of energy as part of the Navigating to Net-Zero track at Inventures 2022.

Bio 

Alison Thompson, Borealis Geothermal CEO, Kitselas Geothermal Director, Canadian Geothermal Energy Association Chair and Managing Director

Having held several positions at a coal utility in the US and hydrocarbon giants in Canada and now as CEO at Borealis and Director at Kitselas Geothermal, Alison has stood on both sides of what sometimes seems like a deep divide between renewable and fossil fuel energy. As an engineer she brings a depth of understanding of the technology behind energy production. Through her diversity of experience, she has developed an intimate understanding of the political landscape and business culture of energy in Canada and beyond. She has dedicated a substantial part of her career to demonstrating that Canada doesn't have to choose between the economy and environment. 
 
Her sustainability and ESG thought leadership is equally as diverse as her career experience. She is APEGA’s 2020 Centennial Leadership Award recipient and 2021 nominee for Engineers Canada Gold Medal Award. Borealis became the inaugural (2020) BC CleanTech Transformation Advocate winner. A Clean50 Top Project Award for the “Fuel for Reconciliation” project was shared between Borealis and Kitselas Geothermal. Remarkably, both the Borealis (Sustainaville) and Kitselas (Fuel for Reconciliation) projects were included on The Future of Good's Canada’s Top 100 Recovery Projects list for their COVID economic recovery potential. Nationally, she is the Chair and a Founder of the Canadian Geothermal Energy Association. Globally, she was a director of the International Geothermal Association and was a long-time member of a committee crafting geothermal resource specifications for the United Nations. 

Shift by Alberta Innovates focuses on the people, businesses and organizations that are contributing to Alberta's strong tech ecosystem.