Photo courtesy of Community Futures Central Alberta/Facebook.
Presenters and stakeholders gathered to watch the final pitches from Catalyst Incubator entrepreneurs on Dec. 9.
The presentations were the finale of the Central Alberta Regional Innovation Network’s (CARIN) Catalyst Incubator program.
CARIN is designed to support Central Alberta entrepreneurs and assist technology and knowledge-based companies in moving from idea to export in an efficient and seamless way, a Community Futures Central Alberta news release said.
The Catalyst Incubator program focuses on supporting start-ups in manufacturing, agriculture, technology, and energy innovation.
During the eight-week program, each entrepreneur received over 50 hours of training from mentors.
At the final event, seven learners gave five-minute pitches, where they provided background about their business idea, explained their product, and explained why investors should support it.
Stakeholders watched the pitches, asked questions, and gave feedback following the presentations.
“The Catalyst Incubator is really for early-stage entrepreneurs who want to discover what problem they are solving, and who their potential customers are,” said Cathy Forner of C4ner Consulting and project manager for Catalyst Incubator.
Since the program launched, five cohorts of learners have completed the program.
Mentors are chosen based on the needs of the learners in the cohort, allowing the program to tailor its knowledge to the issues faced by the group.
“Catalyst Incubator really moved me forward in terms of determining who my customers are and how to reach them,” said Gergory Bundschoks program participant. “The wayfinding that Catalyst provides has saved me huge amounts of time and energy rather than figuring everything out on my own.”
**With information provided by Community Futures Central Alberta
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