Northern Alberta Institute of Technology
IN-2: Innovation 2

The Hatch Startup Program is a comprehensive program which connects students, alumni, and community entrepreneurs to the people, resources and training they need to create new ventures offered in partnership with Alberta Innovates Technology Futures and the JR Shaw School of Business. The Hatch Startup Program is comprised of various events and activities aimed at mentoring and educating entrepreneurs with the skills they'll need to develop a successful business venture, including: - 3 Day Startup Workshop. These 72 hour bootcamps kick off the program each semester. They focus on learning about identifying the problem the startup is solving, correlating a solution, validating and identifying customers, and building a minimum viable product. Each weekend has had 6 teams working on a startup with 15 mentors on site to help the process. - Progressive Preflight workshops from Startup Edmonton. 3 workshops were held following each 3 Day Startup bootcamp, each building on lean startup knowledge and applying this to their startups. - VA Angels Pitch Bootcamp. All applicants applying for the Hatch Startup Challenge are required to attend this bootcamp so that they can prepare and practice their business pitch. - The Hatch Startup Challenge. This is the pitch portion of the program. Current students and alumni who have graduated within the past 2 years are able to apply for up to $20,000 cash seed funding and incubation space. Applicants submit an application form and business canvas, those that are chosen to move on must make their pitches to a panel of judges who then chose the Hatch Startup Challenge finalists. Since its launch in 2009, the program has awarded $120,000 in cash to 10 startup companies. In 2015, more than 80 entrepreneurs participated and $32,500 cash and 7 incubation spaces in NAIT's Hatchery incubator were awarded to 8 finalists. By participating in the Hatch Startup program, entrepreneurs become equipped with the skills and knowledge that they will need to create both innovative and economically sustainable business ventures. Current students and recent graduates then have an opportunity to pitch to a panel of industry leaders through the Hatch Startup Challenge where finalists are awarded seed funding and given physical space in the Hatchery Incubator near the Office of Research and Innovation in the Duncan MacNeill Centre for Innovation for on-going support and mentorship to grow their ventures. The Hatch Startup Program also acts as a platform for entrepreneurs with sustainability-related business ideas to develop and grow those ideas into successful ventures that provide real-world solutions to sustainability challenges. Examples of such business from this year’s finalists include SolBird Energy, which designs, build, and sells/rents solar powered light towers for industrial uses that can operate year round in our northern climate; and NWT Morels (Mycelium) which sells highly-valued morel mushrooms harvested by local people in the Northwest Territories (NWT) to food retailers and restaurants in the Edmonton area, thereby strengthening the local economy in the NWT and providing Canadian-grown food commodities for Edmonton consumers.