SASKATOON, SASKATCHEWAN – Five local tech companies will be traveling to San Francisco next month as part the Saskatoon Regional Economic Development Authority’s (SREDA) new entrepreneurship and business expansion program, The Tech Trip. Nine companies competed in the pitch competition where they were asked a series of questions related to their readiness for capital investment.
The winners will join representatives from SREDA and Co.Labs, Saskatchewan’s first technology accelerator, in San Francisco to meet with high-impact investors, mentors and technology experts who can help them take their startups to the next level and scale. In addition, the winners will be able to build their networks at an event hosted by the Canadian in Tech (C100).
“The Tech Trip will help Saskatoon-based entrepreneurs grow their technology companies and in turn further strengthen our growing technology sector. Our local tech entrepreneurs have world-class ideas, and we’re excited for them to represent Saskatoon’s talent in San Fran,” said Alex Fallon, President and CEO, SREDA.
“Speak with any Founder of a tech startup in Canada and they will tell you the same thing, ‘you don’t need to live in The Valley in order to succeed, but The Valley does need to live in you’. Over the last number of years we have seen cities across North America flourish in building their local tech ecosystems and Saskatoon is no different. That said, in order for our local tech startups to compete on the global level and win their market, they must be exposed to people (investors, entrepreneurs, partners) who have built and scaled billion-dollar tech companies. The Tech Trip will have a seismic impact on these startups and we are thrilled to be working with SREDA on this initiative,” said Jordan Dutchak, Executive Director, Co.Labs.
The five selected companies for The Tech Trip are:
Curbie: Brings transparency and quality to the Canadian pre-owned car market and uses technology to transform the experience of buying and selling used vehicles.
Offstreet: A tool for parking lot managers and operators to improve the parking experience and reduce enforcement costs for lot owners.
SalonScale: Software that uses Bluetooth scales to measure the exact cost of each hair colour bowl to allow for a more consistent bottom line at hair salons.
SkillShark.net: A platform that allows coaches to effectively evaluate athletes in various team sports and run reports to get full information, ratings, and rankings on players.
Skylitelabs: A platform that optimizes your life by unifying all of your smart home devices with the power of machine learning.
