DiscoveryLab

Startups, new ventures and companies looking to scale are invited to present their business plan to a panel of investors, angels, business professionals and industry experts.

We welcome anyone looking to spin out or commercialize an innovative technology, as well as advisors who are interested in supporting entrepreneurs and tech companies, including those from VC firms, government and industry funders, early stage investors and angels.

In person admission includes coffee breaks, lunch and a light reception.

The morning virtual pitch session runs from 9 - 11 am and the afternoon hybrid pitch session runs from 1 - 4pm, with the latter focussed on energy, cleantech, materials sciences and engineering-related companies and technologies.

Speakers include:

• Rebecca Ung, Founder/CEO, Kumu Corporation

Location

This event is being held in the ICE Engineering Incubator at the University of Alberta's North Campus on the 2nd floor of the Engineering Teaching & Learning Complex (ETLC). This space offers a theatre with video screen for in-person or remote pitching and an entry area for registration, lunch and coffee breaks. 

Public Transportation: University station on the Capital Line and Metro Lines, then a 9 minute walk in a west direction. 

Parking: Paid parking lots including Windsor Car Park along 116 St NW.

Wifi connectivity is available. Please bring usb or usb-c sticks or computer to present. 

Format

Morning pitch slots are 10 minutes, with half for pitching and the rest for questions with the assembled business advisors, industry experts and investors who are given the reports, feedback, plans, decks and videos.  

Afternoon in-person pitch slots are 20 minutes and are prioritized for teams with a focus on energy, cleantech, advanced materials and engineering. 

Presenters at any stage, location or sector including agriculture, biotech, edtech, fintech, food, health, legal and travel technologies are welcome to pitch in the morning, subject to receipt of a suitable business plan summary.

Confidential disclosure agreements are not provided, but information exchanged at this private event should be considered privileged and should not be shared publicly.

Evaluation forms for each pitch will be shared and collated anonymized scores and feedback will be shared with the presenters and registered investors and advisors.

Testimonials:

"Our previous pitch connected us with three companies that are now pursuing collaborative work with us as well as accelerating our consumer testing lab at the University of Alberta. This is a major step forward as we engage customers and fine-tune our products to meet the needs of our users." -TM

"We had the pleasure of presenting at your Discovery Lab events, what a fantastic experience! A few highlights are meeting with new advisor and now we are working on a paid project with them. We also connected with folks from Edmonton Global and from there additional meetings lead to me introducing them to an Investor from Singapore who we are trying to attract to Edmonton. Now we have multiple efforts looking to bring at least part of their $100 million health fund to Alberta! " -JM

"Our DiscoveryLab presentation led to participation of 2 investors in our seed round, a strategic machine learning technology development partnership, a remote patient monitoring collaboration with a University, and this week’s announcement of an exciting product launch."

"Our project has picked up significantly since we last presented at DiscoveryLab. We have partnered to expand our program for the treatment of COVID-19 patients and we are now at 22 sites."

"The suggestions I got from the DiscoveryLab meeting were great. Thanks!"

"I would like to thank you for organizing the pitch event. We were very happy about the outcome of the pitch. We wanted some advice and that's what we got. We would love to pitch again."

“you did an admirable job of putting this together. From the quality of the participants/viewers to the administration of the process and the follow-up, I'm impressed. I have two meetings as a direct result of my presentation. Thanks for including me, and for inviting me to the next one; I fully intend to present at the next meeting.”- KH

“Thank you again for the opportunity to pitch. Actually, we are having a couple of followup calls with stakeholders from your region.” - HL

"I wanted to send a note to thank you very much for the opportunity to present yesterday. We enjoyed the experience and also were able to resolve an issue."

“This is by far the best run pitch event I’ve ever been to!” - Presenter

“Cool pitches, great people.”

“Love the feedback and analytical breakdown”

“Excellent time management and ability to make adjustments on the fly. Well done!”

"My company got funding."

Organizer:

This event is being offered by DiscoveryLab in partnership with NAIT and ERIN. For questions feel free to contact Michael Overduin (at michael at discoverylab.ca) or Richard Roy (at Richard at discoverylab.ca).

Fine print:

For clarity, DiscoveryLab does not recommend advisors or investors, but can make introductions. Each person and company has the responsibility of obtaining legal advice and performing due diligence before signing contracts or taking investments.