Global accelerator programs giving much-needed boosts to Alberta's AI-based startups

In just 15 months, a suite of business accelerators brought to the province by Alberta Innovates have created $147.5 million in investments and 118 new jobs — and it's feeding the province's growing artificial intelligence sector in the process.

"We found a problem that needed to be solved," said Doug Holt, Alberta Innovates' vice-president of investments.

"We've seen companies coming out of the woodwork to try and take advantage of what's going on here and the results speak for themselves."

The Alberta Scaleup and Growth Accelerator Program (Scaleup GAP), launched in April 2021, has improved the odds for promising startups by helping them access five distinct accelerator or pre-accelerator programs that offer mentorship, investors and other support to help them become self-sufficient.

In that time, 169 new Alberta companies have gone through a pre-accelerator program; 65 have graduated from one of the four global accelerator programs. 

Artificial intelligence technology is used by almost half of the graduates, a fact that heartens Holt, who has spent years pursuing growth in the sector.

For AI to thrive, he said, "you have to have some competency in it, you can't just plug it in and hope it'll work."

According to Stanford University's AI Index Report, Canada is ranked fifth of 29 countries in AI vibrancy and ranks third among G7 nations in artificial intelligence research, development and economy. 

Edmonton is a significant contributor to Canada's strong reputation in the field. It is home to the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute and the University of Alberta is ranked fifth in the world for its artificial intelligence and machine learning research. 

"We get to stand on the shoulders of people that have made wise decisions years ago," Holt said.

All this convinced Ali Salman to develop his business, Lawtiq, in Edmonton.

It uses AI technology to help users through the settlement, immigration and visa process, connecting them with legal and immigration experts. Salman said it started as "Expedia for lawyers" but quickly pivoted to providing support to newcomers.

It's an issue close to home for Salman, who came to Canada "before the internet" and is now seeing family, friends and international students struggling to navigate the system.

"We know that there is a lot of misinformation and disinformation and fraud exists in this industry," he said. " AI has the power to reduce this fraud."