Sask. startups benefit from $1.29M raised by angel investors

Dozens of tech startups in Saskatchewan were able to connect with over a million dollars put forward by angel investors, thanks to Saskatchewan TNT.

The organization started weekly get togethers just a year ago and according to their lead, Jesse Wiebe, the money went towards 13 startups.

“There's just been a steady stream of stuff going on with us and with others, the ecosystem as well,” Wiebe said.

The companies include:

StoreToDoor, a delivery scheduling and management platform.

“They've been expanding like crazy,” Wiebe said.

Omnee, which is an app to help people connect to home maintenance and renovation help.

“You can have a subscription where somebody comes and does all your maintenance for you. So you don't have to clean out your gutters on a regular basis or change your filters and all that stuff,” he said.

Luxsonic Technologies, a startup that seeks to improve healthcare with immersive technology. Wiebe said they do virtual reality radiology rooms and many other things.

Fidu, which connects people to legal services.

“You don't have to pay by the hour anymore,” Wiebe said adding Fidu offered flat fees for lawyers. “You can do it through this through their platform, it makes it a lot easier.”

Supracut systems

“They do like a sort of automatic slicer for lemon and lime wedges for restaurants, bars and casinos and things,” Wiebe said. “They’ve got contracts with Disney with the Dallas Cowboys, cruise lines, Cactus Club,” he said.

For the greentech industry, Wiebe said that Environmental Material Science Inc. won out against several other startups from different provinces.

“There was almost 50 companies that applied, and Saskatchewan ended up coming out on top.” He said the company does soil remediation and monitoring.

“For oil and gas companies and anything where there's sort of like a spill, they can sort of clean up the soil and for cheaper and faster than any of the competition.”

There were over 83 total investors into the Saskatchewan companies. Wiebe said that about 60 percent of the investment came from within the province.

“What we do is we make angel investing a team sport.”

The organization has a pitch marathon coming up on Thursday where over 200 companies from Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta will showcase what they do and try and attract investors.

“We've got almost 500 people registered to attend from across the country and around the world. It's going to be a great showcase for all things innovation,” Wiebe said.

“Our mission is to be the best seed stage angel investors in these underserved markets and help activate and train folks that want to invest in a local community want to invest in these type of companies,”