Founded in 2019 to empower entrepreneurs across Western Canada, Startup TNT hosts Investment Summits that aim to help raise capital for startups and make it easier for local investors, both seasoned and new, to angel investing.
Startup TNT this week announced the top companies from the organization’s 2024 Sector Summits, with a host of Calgary and Edmonton firms successful in securing capital.
The three winners collectively took home more than $500,000 in investments, according to Startup TNT, who has established a reputation as Western Canada’s most active pre-seed and seed investor.
The winners were crowned in March across three concurrent Summit Finale events, held in Edmonton, Calgary, and Regina.
“Once again, this year’s Startup TNT Sector Summit showcased an incredible crop of companies that are fueling the next wave of innovation,” stated Zack Storms, co-founder of Startup TNT.
Calgary-based Cleantech Summit winner Connect X secured over $200,000 to modernize aging electricity grids.
“This transformative nine-week journey has not only validated our efforts at Connect X but has also refined our value propositions by leaps and bounds,” said Pratik Ghoshal, founder of the startup. “With the meaningful investment secured, we are eager to further refine our technology, expand our team, and execute our pilot with confidence, driving impactful change in the cleantech industry globally, as a proud Canadian/Albertan company.”
Cleantech finalists included Edmonton-based Aqua-Cell Energy and Calgary companies C02 Brew, Ena Solution, and MissionNet.
Life Sciences Summit winner OligomicsTx secured over $175,000. OligomicsTx is in the early stages of developing advanced therapies that can effectively combat rare and hard-to-treat nervous system disorders.
“It’s wonderful to have the support of our community through this collaborative process in terms of scientific and business diligence,” stated Dr. Toshi Yokota, co-founder and chief strategy officer at OligomicsTx. “As a company with several exciting preclinical assets to develop, the funding from Startup TNT will help us build the foundations of our business operations and facilitate work on the critical IP for our lead program.”
Finalists included Qualisure, PulmVita MACH32, Wave View Imaging, and Vancouver-based Difinity Solutions.
Agri-Food Summit winner BetterCart Analytics secured over $140,000. BetterCart leverages AI to help organizations access real-time food supply chain data for a range of purposes to improve their business. The startup previously secured an investment deal from Startup TNT as part of the 2023 regional Saskatchewan Investment Summit.
Melanie Morrison, cofounder and CEO of BetterCart, “valued the opportunity to have our company introduced to more individuals in the investor ecosystem across Western Canada, and to meet new investors throughout the due diligence process.”
“As a big data company with AI as part of our core tech, we’re laser-focused on data acquisition, model testing and training, and application for the purposes of horizontal and vertical growth,” said Morrison. “With this new capital, we’ll be investing in R&D and accelerating our client growth.”
Finalists included Calgary-based AgGene, Vancouver-based Geco Engineering, Saskatoon’s Rayhawk Technologies, and North Vancouver’s Maia Farms.
“These ventures are focused on improving outcomes for people and the planet,” said Storms, “and we’re thrilled to be able to support these entrepreneurs in their mission.”
Several of the finalists also secured their own investment deals through the summit separate of the winning prizes, Storms noted.
“Congratulations to everyone,” he said, “including the founders who took part, as well as the investors and partners who made this year’s program possible.”
Startup TNT is now accepting applications for its Spring Summit IX, which aims to raise $1M for Prairie-based startups across all industry verticals. Four unique Summit streams will be held for startup companies located in Edmonton (Northern Alberta), Calgary (Southern Alberta), Saskatchewan (Provincial), and Manitoba (Provincial).
Over the past five years, Startup TNT has hosted 30 summits, engaged 375 angel investors, and facilitated $12.5 million of investments in 90 startups.
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