The Innovation Fund is a for-profit independent entity and a wholly owned subsidiary of the University of Alberta. The Fund invests in startups in 4 sectors: AI, Health, Energy, and Agriculture, with the purpose of uplifting entrepreneurship and innovation in Alberta; and providing support to scale. The Fund officially launched on October 17th, 2023 at Enterprise Square.

The Fund was created for 5 main reasons:

1. To unlock the potential of new ventures from concept to reality and to create high-value jobs to build Alberta’s economy and contribute to global innovation.
2. To leverage areas of excellence that can solve some of the world’s biggest challenges.
3. To generate financial gains and inspire more entrepreneurs.
4. To strengthen the University’s position as a global leader in entrepreneurship.
5. Directly benefit provincial economic priorities, including the Alberta Recovery Plan and economic diversification.

The Fund aims to strategically empower Alberta and University of Alberta sustainable start-ups to access smart funding, programming, mentoring and scale opportunities so that through their success and returns are realised to further capitalise the Fund. We will only invest in companies that match our investment criteria and who we know we can help scale through our strategic networks globally.

The Innovation Fund is proud to announce that the first investment was made in RL Core Technologies. The investment was in partnership with Flying Fish Partners for a total of 800K. RL Core Technologies’ first application is to reduce energy consumption in processing drinking water using AI. We are making our second and third investments in March 2024.

• Open to undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, staff, U of A alumni (connection to U of A preferred, but not crucial) and a diverse team with full-time commitment
• Addresses a challenge that will result in positive social impact while leveraging our sector-focus areas of excellence
• Unconstrained growth potential in a large market
• Must be present within the AI, Health, Agriculture, and Energy sectors
• Registered Ltd. company in Alberta preferred

Entrepreneurship is at the heart of the Fund and will pursue program-related investments in the following areas:

1. Energy

   • Hydrogen
   • Carbon sequestration
   • Utilisation/storage
   • Greenhouse gas-abated fossil fuels
   • Renewable energy sources and technologies
   • Solar manufacturing
   • Biomass, waste and nuclear
   • Electric vehicles

2. Agriculture and Food

   • Genomics, crop and animal genetics
   • Bio-industrial technology and manufacturing
   • Environmentally contained agriculture and engineering
   • Agriculture data analysis
   • Logistics, smart agriculture
   • Alternative proteins, food
   • Wildland management

3. Life, health and biomedical sciences

   • Biotechnology
   • Pharmaceuticals and therapeutics
   • Digital health
   • Mental health
   • Novel diagnostic tools and platforms

4. Emerging and enabling technologies

   • Machine learning, artificial intelligence
   • Education tech
   • Fintech
   • Cybersecurity
   • Blockchain, digitization and NFTs
   • Infrastructure, Marketplaces, Enterprise
   • Robotics and industrial automation
   • Virtual/augmented reality
   • Digital Humanities
   • Novel materials and fabrication

1. Interested entrepreneurs will submit an application form on our web portal.
2. The Innovation Fund’s preliminary due diligence team will arrange a short interview. The team will ensure that the company’s science, investment history, financial history, and founder are sound.
3. A second round of due diligence will be conducted.
4. Successful candidates will have their information passed on to the investment committee, which will use their expertise and advisors to decide on the funding status

The investment process (outlined above) will take approximately a month. The Fund will continue open conversations at each stage to ensure transparency.

The investment model, which the Fund owns, is based on best practices of due diligence from Stanford to Cambridge to top VCs worldwide with whom the Fund has engaged. Our investment committee and network of advisors are subject matter experts and have experience in venture capital. The Fund’s vast network allows us to have broad investment sectors as we enlist experts’ help to make final investment decisions.

Equity investments will generally be made in a Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE) or equivalent instruments. A “SAFE” is an investment contract early-stage startups use to raise capital. It’s a relatively new financial instrument that provides investors with the right to acquire shares in a company at a future date, typically upon a specific triggering event, such as a subsequent funding round or acquisition. The terms of a SAFE agreement can vary, but it’s designed to simplify the investment process compared to traditional equity investments.

The Fund will invest pre-seed up to $250K and upwards of $250K on a case-by-case basis.

Where appropriate, the Fund will lead; however, we will seek to attract co-investors and follow on funding.

• We have set up various opportunities for education, mentoring, follow-on funding, and scaling through strategic networks.

• In-person and online education will be provided, including topics such as entrepreneurship, “Perfect your Pitch,” and financial literacy, delivered through boot camps and masterclasses.

• Deal-making and introductions to follow on funding, advisors and customers.

The University of Alberta is aiming to raise over $10 million in support of the U of A Innovation Fund and launched at $5 million.

The Fund is a philanthropic Fund capitalised through donations from alumni and industry. Based on the structure of venture philanthropy funds, all gains are recycled back into the University of Alberta Innovation Fund for further investments in a pay-it-forward model. Donor money is recycled continuously to support future start-ups and to provide follow-on funding.

Through advancement, the University is attracting donations from alumni and industry. The donors receive a tax receipt for their gift, and all gains are recycled back into the University.Through advancement, the University is attracting donations from alumni and industry. The donors receive a tax receipt for their gift, and all gains are recycled back into the University.

After donating, donors can also directly invest in the companies we engage with based on their investor accreditation and consultation with their lawyers. Donors will not have influence or engage in decision-making about investments of the Fund.

• Active outreach programs across faculty and students from the Office Research and Innovation and Technology Transfer Services

• Alberta ecosystem partnerships, including venture capitalists (VCs)

• Applications on our our web page

• Weekly office hours, called Venture Connect Hours, run by the Innovation Fund Student Involvement team

• Events for the startup community in Alberta

• Outreach via students

• Word of mouth

• Like the venture capital due diligence process, the Fund management team analyses potential investment opportunities based on the founder’s experience, funding to date, problems they solve, go-to-market potential, social impacts and overall prospects for success. Our investment committee uses a hands-on approach and our advisors are called upon as required based on each company’s sector and needs.

• Investments are made when the Fund clearly identifies a proactive way to help scale the business which will result in a return on investment.

The IP strategy will be announced shortly and will be very transparent and friendly. For all investments made by the Innovation Fund, we will work on a case-by-case basis to ensure a company’s IP aligns with our policy. In the case where the University owns IP, we can convert our ownership into shares.

We have officially conducted outreach for applications and have completed an initial due diligence of 100+ companies. Daily, we see new start-ups arise and researchers are being inspired to spin out and create start-ups.

• We accept donations which are used for investment into companies that match corporate sector interests

• We co-invest in a start-up together

• Together we create opportunity mapping to find white spaces of innovation where our companies can solve a problem for a corporation

• Position our portfolio companies to become service providers and potentially be acquired