In Episode 13 of Bloom, co-hosts Emily Rendell-Watson and Faaiza Ramji discuss the success of several local companies, including Ventrify, a product design business that helped Vancouver's Tails Designs develop a dog treat dispenser that raised $69,724 on Kickstarter.
"In the food and beverage world you see a lot of companies that help people develop a product based on an idea. We did that for Field Notes," said Ramji, referring to her own company that makes pea-based liqueur.
"We didn't know the chemistry behind distilling and how to actually achieve what we wanted ... it to taste like. I could have spent a year or two learning the process myself and then investing in the equipment, or I could use somebody who already knows how to do all that stuff, speed up the process, get some traction and validate that this product is even a good idea, and then I can invest in all of that stuff down the road."
Also covered in the episode, the ScaleGood Fund has selected Areto Labs, which uses AI to make digital communities more positive and inclusive, for its first investment. And Areto Labs is part of a large Edmonton contingent headed to Uniting the Prairies next week, a conference in Saskatoon that's aiming to connect startups with investors and tech leaders.
Plus, Beamdog announced its acquisition by American game company Aspyr Media, Digital Alberta is looking for its first full-time executive director, San Francisco-based GrowthX has announced the launch of the Alberta Innovates Revenue Accelerator, and applications are open until May 31 for Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii)'s Kickstart Program, which offers training and guidance to women and gender-diverse people seeking careers in AI.
Applications for Startup TNT's Investment Summit V closed earlier this week, and co-host Ramji has put Field Notes in for consideration. The summit is June 23, but the top 20 will pitch on May 12.
Bloom is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and everywhere else you get your podcasts.