Tech Roundup
Sept. 29, 2026

Headlines

• Cover All Program, Sidekick, Jobber, Aventura Marketing, CarePros, Dr. Phone Fix, Punchcard Systems, Mosaic Home Services, Insight Works, Aliter Technologies 3CIS, and SilverCreek are on the Globe and Mail's list of Canada's top growing companies of 2026. Spruce Grove's Slate Construction and Sherwood Park's Structure Group also made the list. CarePros CEO Charles Wong thanked his team and the company's partners for helping it earn the recognition.
• DrugBank is making its data available through Microsoft Copilot as a plugin. "Bringing DrugBank into Microsoft Copilot puts two decades of curated, deterministic knowledge directly into the tools our customers already use every day," DrugBank CEO Lisa Downey said in a Sept. 28 announcement. "Every answer is grounded, traceable, and repeatable: the same question returns the same answer every time, because it's retrieved from our graph, not reconstructed from scratch. That's what turns an AI answer into something a scientist can stand behind."
• Zero Point Cryogenics offered a look at its redesigned Model 1 dilution refrigerator. The new design expands the sample space, which is "where the science happens," the company said, adding that other changes have been made to enhance efficiency and accessibility.
• Samdesk has partnered with Northcott Global Solutions to connect its real-time risk alerts with NGS's Aurora travel-risk platform. The Edmonton company said the integration will combine incident detection, traveller location and status information, and 24/7 medical, security, rerouting, and evacuation support.
• Rosche Rheeder and Ricardo Rheeder of Lucid Rain Studios shared what they experienced at Gamescom in Germany on the Good Game Edmonton podcast. They said there were hour-long lineups to try INFERIUS, the studio's first-person horror game.
• Azolla Hydrogen said its Calgary station will expand the Alberta land area within reach of hydrogen refuelling infrastructure from 11% to 42%. The company's operating Edmonton station offers sought-after 700-bar fuelling; after receiving funding for a Calgary station, Azolla will have a stronger network that "gives fleets more freedom to move, creates more places to put hydrogen to work and gives industry greater confidence to invest in what comes next," the company posted.
• RNARevive co-founder and COO Nina Karpoff described her path from genetics and health-care leadership to helping commercialize RNA therapeutics, after earlier ventures in photography, an online marketplace, and a women's mountain-biking program. "I've always had a yearning spirit," she said in an Alberta School of Business alumna profile. "I need to be learning, growing, and challenging myself."
• Kris Andreychuk of the City of Edmonton's applied AI team presented its work at the Alberta Municipalities convention in Edmonton on Sept. 23. Andreychuk told CBC Edmonton that the city uses AI in nearly every department.
• Alberta Innovates is investing $20.6 million over three years in eight regional innovation networks and the Alberta Innovation Network. The funding will support commercialization, mentorship, investment readiness, and market access, including through the Edmonton Regional Innovation Network.
• The Alberta government approved the site and planning dollars for a new STEM Collegiate in the Heritage Valley neighbourhood. The charter school, one of four to get approval and the only one in Edmonton, will create 1,200 spaces for students in Grades 7 to 12 to pursue studies focused on science, technology, engineering, and math. "Our vision is to create a modern learning environment where students can solve real problems, work alongside industry and post-secondary partners, and build the skills and confidence they need for Alberta's future," founder Lisa Davis said in a release.

AI and data centres

• The City of Edmonton is inviting feedback on an application to change the area structure plan for the Edmonton Energy and Technology Park to allow for an AI data centre. Stantec's consulting arm has made the application on behalf of Walton Global Investments. Public engagement is open until Oct. 25.
• At the Alberta Municipalities convention, Premier Danielle Smith invited municipalities to help the province bring in more AI data centres. "We are happy to work with the coalition of the willing, those municipalities that want to put their hands up and say, 'I think we would like to help the tax base,'" Smith said in her address on Sept. 23.
• CBC spoke to experts about whether Meta's data centre in Sturgeon County will raise power bills for Albertans.

Innovation events

• Edmonton Startup Week kicks off on Oct. 5. Because Launch Party coincides with the Canadian Finals Rodeo, the event will have a "farm-inspired feel," Edmonton Unlimited said. "There's no dress code, but if you want to lean into the night, think trucker hats, denim, overalls and a little farm-inspired flair."
• Levven won an Alberta Business Award of Distinction for business innovation at a ceremony in Leduc on Sept. 23. The company posted that the recognition reflected years of work by its team, builders, electricians, and homeowners using its Switched Right system. At a Tech Thursday event in Edmonton, Levven president and CEO James Keirstead shared how his company's wireless switches stay competitive compared to cheap knockoffs and how he pitches the product to contractors who fear the technology will shrink their business.
• Sophie Gray of DiveThru addressed what innovation means to her at the Femtech Connect event put on by Antigoni Studios during Life Sciences Week. "Something I've really learned as an entrepreneur and around innovating is that sometimes we don't need to innovate (the core service)," she said during a company showcase as she discussed DiveThru's new reduced-rate program. "The thing we need to innovate is everything around it to make it easier for someone to access that." Meanwhile, the summit's closing panel brought together Canadian venture capitalists to discuss how to get more women-led femtech companies funded. "Women putting their money into this asset class would be super helpful," said Kristina Milke of Sprout Fund.
• Life Sciences Week began with a panel on Canadian medical countermeasures and dual-use innovation, as well as tours at the Edmonton Research Park. Day 2 shone a spotlight on Edmonton, where attendees heard from Nobel Laureate Michael Houghton of Applied Pharmaceutical Innovation, among others. Day 3 took place at Platform Calgary.
• BioAlberta handed out its annual achievement awards on Sept. 24. David M. Olson of Livmor Biosciences won the technology innovation award, the University Hospital Foundation won the vista award, and Calgary-based Orpyx Medical Technologies won company of the year.
• Videos are now posted for Edmonton's top 10 Melamoon finalists, who will be pitching at a finale during BLAXPO in Toronto on Oct. 16 and 17. The companies are Kwado Energy, which designs affordable, portable stoves; Elev Homes, which helps students find housing; Nurse on Wheels Inc., which provides post-surgical care; Surgizm, which is developing surgical simulators for cataract surgery training; Maison Tchoumzi, a hair and skincare brand; Wall2Wall Design Studios, which provides micro-fabrication; ReiSpace, a platform to ensure continuity in mental health care; LOJJ.io, which makes operating knowledge more accessible to hospitality employees; Canchuks Corrosion Inc., which detects corrosion in buried pipelines; and Steminai, which gamifies STEM learning.

Jobs and opportunities

• The University of Alberta is hiring two postdoctoral fellow positions in machine learning and AI with a focus on multimodal foundation models and related areas.
• Applications are open until Nov. 9 for the federal government's Women Entrepreneurship Strategy Ecosystem Fund.
• Applications are open until Nov. 3 for the graduate research commercialization challenge through the University of Alberta and Edmonton Unlimited.

Happenings

Here are some events coming up soon:

• Sept. 29: Facts, lies and ChatGPT: Keeping media literate in the age of slop starting at 7pm at St. Albert Public Library (Downtown)
• Sept. 30: Tech Wednesdays starting at 5:30pm at The Pint Public House
• Oct. 1: Startup TNT: Top 20 Pitch Night starting at 6pm
• Oct. 5: Post-Secondary Startup Showcase starting at 11am at Enterprise Square
• Oct. 5: Edmonton Startup Week Kickoff starting at 4:30pm Edmonton Unlimited
• Oct. 5: From Idea to Impact starting at 6pm at Grand Villa Casino
• Oct. 5: Startup & Investor Speed Dinner starting at 6pm at Enterprise Square
• Oct. 5-9: Edmonton Startup Week at various downtown locations

And here are more to keep in mind:

• Oct. 15: Regional Economic Development Summit at Matrix Hotel
• Oct. 15: ERINnovation Meetup at CAMS: Where Health Innovation Meets Simulation at NAIT (Feltham Centre)
• Oct. 19-23: Small Business Week at various locations

Visit the Taproot Edmonton Calendar for many more events in the Edmonton region.