Launch Party Edmonton 1 a huge success!
Earlier this week we held the very first Launch Party Edmonton at the Matrix Hotel. It was a huge success, with over 250 entrepreneurs, investors, developers, designers, and interested people from around the city came out to celebrate our tech startup community! It was way beyond our expectations and everyone we talked to was pretty pumped to see an event like this happen in Edmonton.
It was a great time and our featured startups got plenty of love and attention during and after the event (and the kudos continue to pour in). We can’t wait to get going on the next Launch Party!
Edmonton Journal: Tech startup umbrella group shines spotlight on Edmonton (front page of the Business section!)
Global TV: News Hour Final
Edmonton Sun: The Kids Are Smart
TechVibes: Launch Party Edmonton A Huge Success
Chris LaBossiere: Edmonton’s Rockstar Tech Community
FotoJournal: Launch Party Recap
Mack Male: Recap Launch Party Edmonton
Twitter activity at #startupyeg
Some pics from the party:
Rob & Lauren from FotoJournal also put this awesome time lapse video of the evening:
A huge thanks to our event partners who generously supported this first event including Microsoft BizSpark, Venture Alberta, Cardinal Venture Partners, Robots and Pencils, Yardstick Software, Mailout Interactive, Digital Alberta and artsScene Edmonton.
A Canadian Startup Story
A Canadian Startup Story
Anyone familiar with the complex and often turbulent relationship between Canadian VC’s and entrepreneurs should get a chuckle out of this one.
Comic by Jevon MacDonald originally posted on StartupNorth at http://www.startupnorth.ca/2008/07/16/how-startups-will-save-venture-capital-in-canada/
Launch Party Edmonton Announced
We’re excited to announce the next big event from Startup Edmonton. It’s called Launch Party Edmonton and it’s happening on March 3, 2010 at the Matrix Hotel!
Founded by local entrepreneurs, Launch Party Edmonton isn’t your typical networking or tech event. No formal presentations, no panels. It’s all about giving you the opportunity to meet our city’s brightest entrepreneurs and developers, demo their products, and celebrate everything that our startup community has to offer. And do it in a way that’s creative and interesting, celebrating with drinks, demos, and DJs to set the mood. Find out more about the event and buy your tickets here.
Why Edmonton has the pieces for a great startup ecosystem
Reposted from kenbautista.com: Great post this morning on Techvibes asking “Does your city have the 5 things necessary for a Local Startup Ecosystem?” The five necessities were social density, great workspaces, events, proximity to money, and creative diversity. I think this was bang on and is definitely something many passionate people (myself included) here in Edmonton are working on through initiatives like Startup Edmonton, artsScene Edmonton, ENTS, Democamp and more. We’ve still got a way to go, but if we can get everyone working towards a common vision for a great startup ecosystem in Edmonton, we’re on our way.
Social Density – The success we’ve had with our startup has been the result of having a solid supporting network of peers and mentors that have provided us with the guidance, experience, and honest feedback that every entrepreneur needs to have around them. But for us, that network has composed primary of people outside of Edmonton – people I’ve met in other cities and through conferences. I’m starting to meet more entrepreneurs in town (which is awesome), but I think what we still need are more local mentors who have the (relevant) experience we can all draw from. Note: we’re working to get more of these kinds of mentors up to Edmonton through events like Startup Weekend and Startup School.