Earlier this year, Innovate Calgary’s Aerospace Innovation Hub alongside WestJet and Calgary Airports launched the Soaring Higher Innovation Challenge.
The Soaring Higher Innovation Challenge was a global call for innovative solutions to elevate the guest experience in air travel, inviting startups and smaller enterprises to showcase game-changing technologies.
“We are thrilled to collaborate with YYC and WestJet to invite innovators from around the world to help solve some of the most pressing challenges in the air travel industry,” Innovate Calgary CEO John Wilson stated in March. “This initiative is designed to foster creative solutions that not only enhance the guest experience but also shape the future of travel.”
Two winners of the Challenge were recently announced by Innovate Calgary: RozieAI Journey based out of the U.S. and Canada’s own Shift AI.
By combining fragmented information bits into a unified dashboard, RozieAI’s platform curates the passenger experience from home to gate through hyper-personalized, real-time support.
“Guests miss opportunities to resolve issues because services are poorly timed or disconnected from their real needs,” explains Vinay Sukumar, Head of Product and Innovation for RozieAI.
“RozieAI Journey solves this by creating a single, journey-aware layer where airlines and airports can jointly position and deliver services,” Sukumar said. “Whether it’s check-in, security updates, baggage, retail, or boarding, the platform adapts to the traveler’s actual context, not organizational silos.”
Shift AI, meanwhile, is addressing visibility and operational efficiency. The startup’s fleet-focused solution emphasizes real-time asset tracking and predictive insights, ensuring that ground support vehicles and other critical assets are in the right place, at the right time, and safe to use.
“In aerospace, every asset plays a role in keeping operations safe and on time,” posits cofounder Sana Srithas. “But without accurate, real-time data, it’s difficult to know where things are, how they’re performing, or when they might fail.”
“Something very small behind the scenes can have a big impact on a passenger’s journey—even a short delay in finding a fuel truck or a baggage cart can ripple across the schedule, causing late departures, missed connections, and a frustrating experience,” the entrepreneur continued. “By turning raw data into actionable insights, we help teams make better decisions, improve safety, and reduce costs, while creating smoother passenger experiences.”
The winners received complimentary membership to Innovate Calgary’s Aerospace Innovation Hub, which includes lab equipment and expertise, as well as mentorship from leaders at WestJet and Calgary Airports. They will also continue to work with the organizations to improve air travel for Albertans and Canadians.
Calgary’s Aerospace hub launched last year with a $4M, four-year investment from the Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund.
“We are fortifying Calgary as an aerospace centre of excellence,” Brad Parry, chief executive officer of Calgary Economic Development, stated at the time. “Innovators will be able to create, test, and scale their ideas more effectively while existing industry players gain visibility and input into up-and-coming technologies.”
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