The Pulse: May 20, 2022

DrugBank was awarded "Most Edmonton Startup of the Year" at the second annual YEG Startup Community Awards on May 19.

The company uses natural language processing and a team of experts to collect, verify, and structure biomedical data, making the information more accessible for researchers and physicians.

"DrugBank has a unique history. Its conception as an academic project at the University of Alberta, spinning it out and bootstrapping it in 2016 at Startup Edmonton, and the continued support we get from so many local individuals and organizations as we scale – each lending hand along the way – has been a vital part of our journey," co-founder Craig Knox said as he accepted the award from Dr. Katelyn Petersen of RUNWITHIT Synthetics, last year's winner in the Most Edmonton Startup category.

Along with this recognition for the startup's first-of-its-kind drug platform, DrugBank has previously been named one of the best places to work in Canada and took home the Best Startup Workplace at the 2021 YEG Startup Community Awards. Thanks to $9 million in seed financing from Brightspark Ventures in April, the company has been able to expand its team and is "responsible for about 130% of the tech job openings in Edmonton," joked Taproot's Emily Rendell-Watson, who co-hosted the show with Arden Tse of Yaletown Partners.

"The startup community in Edmonton continues to get stronger every year, both in terms of the cool stuff that we're building but also the recognition of how important culture and community involvement is to success," said Knox, whose company was one of 12 individuals or organizations honoured.

• Chief Dale McFee of the Edmonton Police Service told the police commission he'll be moving police officers downtown starting next week, sooner than he had indicated earlier this week in response to calls for a greater police presence. "We can't wait," he said, as homicide detectives investigated the deaths of two men in Chinatown.
• Mayor Amarjeet Sohi and Coun. Andrew Knack stood behind Coun. Anne Stevenson after police commissioner Jodi Calahoo-Stonehouse said Stevenson should be removed from the Edmonton Police Commission because she employs police critic Robert Houle. "This seems like an overly expansionist definition of conflict of interest to me. It's not clear what material benefit Anne Stevenson is gaining from employing Robert Houle," criminologist Temitope Oriola told The Progress Report. "Allegations of conflict of interest should not be used to stifle dissent." Stevenson has advocated for more transparency in police accountability structures.
• Premier Jason Kenney will remain leader of the United Conservative Party until his successor is chosen, the UCP caucus said May 19. After receiving the support of 51.4% of the party's members in a leadership review this week, Kenney declared his intention to step down, but he indicated Thursday that he would resign upon the election of a new leader, the timing of which has not been determined. Nonetheless, the retrospectives have begun.
• Edmonton should expect a shortage of housing and commercial buildings due to supply chain issues, rising construction costs, rising interest rates, and a growing population, according to industry leaders who met at the Edmonton Real Estate Forum on May 18. Rohit Gupta, president of Rohit Group of Companies, said the demand for houses may outpace real estate developers' capacity to build them.
• Reservations at Alberta Parks for the May long weekend are down from last year. As of May 18, there were openings at 66 of 95 campgrounds, compared to 30 in 2021. Nancy MacDonald with Alberta Parks believes the difference can be explained by eased COVID-19 restrictions and changes made to the online booking system, which allowed people to book sites earlier and face fewer fees for cancelling.
• Game 1 of the Battle of Alberta, which the Oilers lost 9-6 to the Flames, was the ninth highest-scoring game in NHL playoff history, says Zach Laing of Oilersnation. "To say Edmonton was flat would be, putting it quite mildly, understating things," he said. The Mega 50/50 jackpot, however, is nowhere near flat — the total pot so far is more than $2.5 million, proceeds of which will go to the Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation.

An Edmonton chocolate company that makes endurance bars for athletes has been named a semifinalist for this year's Startup Global Pitch Competition.

7 Summits Snacks is hoping that access to business development, mentorship, and potential prize money will help the company grow its consumer base so it can become a sports nutrition option known around the world.

Kristyn Carriere, a marathon runner, and her sister Liana, a triathlete, came up with the idea to create a chocolate bar designed for function about two years ago. "We were both tired of eating carbohydrate gels and Clif bars," she told Taproot's innovation podcast, Bloom.

She knew from studying nutrition and food science at the University of Alberta that chocolate has a good nutrition profile for endurance sports, where you're burning energy slowly and need a snack that can fuel a longer period of activity. Carriere's decade of experience in Europe working for some of the biggest chocolate companies in the world also helped the duo determine that there wasn't a similar product on the market.

The sisters set out to develop a bar that was more easily digestible, using ingredients that people know and understand. "A lot of endurance sport athletes have had ... upset tummies while they're doing their activities because they're eating so many of these carbohydrate gels and their body just doesn't know what to do with them," Carriere explained. That's why they decided to use ingredients like chocolate, honey, and coconut butter — food that the body already knows how to process.

Launching just before the pandemic began proved challenging because they weren't able to attend races and hand out demo bars for feedback. But with Carriere's background in consumer packaged goods, she knew they needed data to determine how to move forward. "Instead of having a focus group, we created bars and mailed them out to over 100 people," Carriere said.

The Edmonton running community made up about 75% of the 7 Summits Snacks consumer tests, and the company was able to iterate based on their feedback. The community took on the task of tasting the company's chocolate again in early 2021 to help decide on future flavours. Mountain bikers are another key demographic: 7 Summits Snacks is working with Shred Sisters out of Canmore and has plans to support Cassette Collective in Edmonton this year as well.

As the company continues to grow, its biggest challenge is manufacturing. "There's not really a chocolate industry in Edmonton," Carriere said, pointing out that the players are boutique chocolatiers like Jacek Chocolate Couture and Sweet Lollapalooza Confections, which have a different approach from 7 Summits Snacks.

"So I have to create my own path."

The May long weekend marks the kickoff to many summer activities in Edmonton. Experience days of old, visit the legislature, hang out on the patio, or cheer on the Oilers!

• May 20: Oilers Road Game Watch Party at Rogers Place
• May 21-23: Opening weekend at Fort Edmonton Park
• May 21: Visitor Centre Reopening at the Alberta Legislature
• May 21: Opening Night: The Magical Music Of Harry Potter with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra
• May 22: Soul Search Patio Day at the Backyard
• May 23: Celebration of Dance 2022 at the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village

Find even more fun things to do in the Arts Roundup.

Photo: The 1919 Baldwin Locomotive 107 will be in action for the opening of Fort Edmonton Park this weekend. (Fort Edmonton).