Six Edmonton-area companies and another with Edmonton roots have been accepted into the second cohort of Plug and Play Alberta's accelerator.
The 17 startups in the sustainability program include three from the Edmonton region:
- Aurora Hydrogen, a company co-founded by Erin Bobicki of the University of Alberta that develops hydrogen production technology and raised a US$10-million Series A funding round in August;
- Electronic Grid Systems, which is developing a charging solution for electric vehicles that helps commercial charging station owners avoid infrastructure upgrades;
- element 4, a Sherwood Park company that produces batteryless, energy-independent sensor technology.
The 22 startups in the sector-agnostic program include two based here and one that started here:
- AlignVR, an offshoot of vrCave that aims to create a better way to hire, train, and coach employees;
- Trust Science, one of Canada's top growing companies, which has a software line called Credit Bureau 2.0 that helps lenders determine the risk for borrowers without a traditional track record;
- Spontivly, an Edmonton-born company now based in Florida, which has created a community management platform that helps organizations measure engagement, growth, and impact in real time.
DrugBank, billed as the source of "the world's most robust drug knowledge," is the only Edmonton company among the 11 startups in the health program. It raised $9 million in April.
The first cohort of the Calgary-based accelerator had two Edmonton representatives: True Angle Medical and 2S Water. The accelerator is one of several brought to Alberta through the Alberta Scaleup and Growth Accelerator Program.
Plug and Play Alberta's Batch 2 Expo will take place on Nov. 29-30 in Banff.
Image: Plug and Play Alberta directors Kevin Dahl and Lindsay Smylie address the crowd at the Expo Day for Batch 1 in July. (Plug and Play Tech Center/YouTube)