People working together in an open space

Startup Edmonton

A building full of startups, and the city that had what they needed.

A 10,000-square-foot startup hub with no partnership function, and the model that turned the city's founders, companies and events into more than $1M of partnership value in a year.

In-house / Head of Partnerships

Partnership model
Community
Startups

$1M+

Partnership revenue and value in 12 months

$750K

From corporate partners

How it worked

The value that only existed between the two of them.

01 · The gap
Startup Edmonton opened in 2013 with a 10,000-square-foot building and no partnership function: startup offices on one side, open community space on the other.
I was brought in to think about partnerships whole: not who might write a cheque, but how the building, the startups and the city's business community could create value for one another.
02 · The fit
Startups needed mentors, capital and customers. Edmonton's established business community had all three.
I mapped the opportunity, took the strategy to the leadership team, and we built the model together: Founders 50, a corporate partnership program built on mutual value, and a calendar of sponsored events and hackathons.
03 · What it compounded into
More than $1M in partnership revenue and value within twelve months: $250K from Founders 50, $750K from corporate partners including TELUS, Intuit, KPMG and Edmonton Economic Development Corporation, and the events on top.
What began as a sponsorship function became part of the ecosystem: founders backing founders, companies with real access to talent, and a diversified revenue model built on the community that was already there.

Inside the work

A team working through ideas pinned on the wall

$250K from 50 founders

Founders 50

Fifty established Edmonton entrepreneurs, $5,000 each, and a direct line from the city's most successful founders to its next generation.

$750K from corporate partners

Corporate partnership program

TELUS, Intuit, KPMG and Edmonton Economic Development Corporation, and more than sponsorship dollars: TELUS put in $250,000 in cash, internet for the whole building for five years, and executives in the room with the startups.

YEG, the Oilers and others

Industry-sponsored hackathons and events

Sponsored hackathons and industry events that paid for themselves and put startups in the same room as Edmonton International Airport and the NHL's Edmonton Oilers.