Eight Edmonton-area startups have been accepted into the latest cohort of The Alberta Innovates Revenue Accelerator (TAIRA) by GrowthX.
One of them is Team CarePal, an app to support family and friends who are providing care for someone who is ill.
"This is an incredible opportunity for us to accelerate our growth and bring our solution to even more caregivers," founder Cindy Sim posted after her company's participation was announced.
Sim told Women of Influence that her company was born when she saw the impact of the pandemic on people with an informal but vital role in looking after loved ones.
"It highlighted the critical role that caregivers play in our healthcare system and has underscored the need for their increased support, resources, and recognition," she said. "My husband looked at me and said now is the time to help caregivers."
Team CarePal, which was founded in 2020, is a graduate of Edmonton Unlimited's Propel pre-accelerator.
Some other relatively high-profile, women-led startups in the TAIRA cohort include Birdie Break, an app created by Melanie Swerdan and Cressida Raffin to connect parents with vetted sitters and tutors, and Story City, Emily Craven's app that helps people experience a place via local stories. Both companies are past finalists at Startup TNT's investment summits.
Cindy Sim of Team CarePal, Melanie Swerdan and Cressida Raffin of Birdie Break, and Emily Craven of Story City are among the entrepreneurs taking part in Cohort 3 of The Alberta Innovates Revenue Accelerator.
TAIRA bills itself as "the only accelerator in Alberta (that is) 100% focused on helping founders win customers and grow revenue." Alberta Innovates brought San Francisco's GrowthX to the province after it created the Alberta Scaleup and Growth Accelerators Program.
Other Edmonton companies accepted into the accelerator offer a wide range of services:
- iStall Parking, a virtual parking manager for multifamily and commercial properties;
- Launch57, the software development company behind projects such as Reach, CommuniBee, and Bid Beacon;
- Revolution Strategic Consulting, an engineering services consultancy that helps energy companies develop new products;
- RS Therapeutics, which has developed FoamaDerm to deliver certain kinds of medication topically;
- Upside AMS, a provider of software for association management created by consultancy Code and Effect.
The other 12 startups in the cohort are from elsewhere in Alberta.
Here's what's happening with the other accelerators:
- Alberta Accelerator by 500 is holding its Batch 3 Demo Day on April 18.
- The TELUS Community Safety and Wellness Accelerator is in the middle of its third cohort, with a demo day scheduled for May 18.
- Plug and Play Alberta welcomed 58 startups into its spring cohort, after adding a food and beverage stream to its existing health, sustainability, and sector-agnostic streams. Demo days are set for May 29 and 30.
- The second cohort of the THRIVE Canada Accelerator program from SVG Ventures|THRIVE launched in February. Its demo day will take place in July.
- Alberta Catalyzer's latest cohorts in the Velocity stream graduated in March. Applications are open on an ongoing basis.