After $4.7M first phase, Edmonton seeks sustainable future for Edge Fund
We notice Edmonton's city administration is working on identifying a viable pathway for the next phase of the Edmonton Edge Fund. In a memo to councillors sent in mid-December but made public recently, administration said it is exploring how to fund future phases, ideally with reduced dependence on the city's budget.
In Phase 1, "local innovators demonstrated a high demand for the program, and valuable learnings were gained on the local innovation ecosystem and funding landscape," the memo says. Administration is researching opportunities and gaps in Edmonton's innovation ecosystem, as well as exploring co-funding partnerships with other innovation organizations or external investment opportunities to amplify the program's reach. The 17 companies that shared $4.7 million in the fund's first phase have gone on to grow their revenue by $7.3 million, the memo says.
Council discussed the Edge Fund and other economic development initiatives at a meeting on Feb. 17 as councillors debated granting $75,000 to construction innovation company Northmark Materials (formerly known as Backroads Reclamation) if the company located its new facility in Edmonton. Coun. Anne Stevenson, who introduced the motion, said it was a worthy investment because the city would earn it back through property taxes within a year. But some councillors, including Coun. Keren Tang, said they would prefer to fund businesses through a dedicated program instead of one-off investments. "There is a hunger and desire from entrepreneurs for the city to provide this support, and quite frankly, from this side of the table, there's a hunger and desire for us to support them and to go faster," Tang said, noting the dozens of companies that applied for Edge Fund grants but received nothing. The motion to grant the money to Northmark passed 7-6.
