The Pulse
Aug. 13, 2026

An Edmonton-based company is seeking to harness the power of RNA to help people live longer and healthier lives.

"Our big, hairy audacious goal is freedom from disease," said Nina Karpoff, co-founder and business development lead for RNARevive. "We're not going to manage disease, because we can do with technology so much more … We're in the business of making recipes to empower you to be your own personalized, medicine-making factory."

RNARevive is one of 10 companies that will be showcased during Edmonton Startup Week, the latest in a string of recognition and support amassed over the past two years.

It all started in the hallways of the University of Alberta, where Karpoff was inspired by founder Mardin (Asghar) Fallah's desire to make the world a healthier place, she told Taproot in an interview on the Technology Alberta stage during KDays on July 23.

"He had this vision of how the world would be so much different if we just had his technology commercialized, and he really didn't understand how to build that out," she said. "I'm a very roadmap-thinking person, and I got very excited. Fast forward, my son was born in September of 2024, and I took that chance to rethink my career, took a leap of faith, and went headfirst into this technology company with them and helped them launch."

RNARevive is developing a platform to deliver self-amplifying RNA therapeutics. The company is looking at improvements in bone and eye health related to aging right now. Its therapeutics stimulate the body's own healing mechanisms and can reduce the number of doses required to treat patients, thus saving precious time and money in care. They can be personalized to patients in a single batch, so there's no need for mass production to take place before accessing care.

Existing therapies for age-related macular degeneration, or AMD, are "not perfect," Karpoff said. "What we've discovered is we could just do it so much better."

Figuring out a repeatable process for that condition opens the way for RNARevive to do even more, she added. "Once we tackle AMD, we can start to tackle other kinds of diseases — rare diseases that never before had the economics make sense."

The company has a lot of momentum heading into Edmonton Startup Week, which runs from Oct. 5 to 9. Fallah received an Innovation Catalyst Grant in January 2025, and the company has been part of programs offered by Plug and Play, Edmonton Unlimited, Startup TNT, UCeed, and others. Karpoff has just been selected for the Movement51 Fall Founder Lab to deepen the company's investor readiness and scalability.

• The Edmonton Transit Service is reviewing its park-and-ride performance after traffic bottlenecked during the Edmonton Heritage Festival at Hawrelak Park. The surge in demand was partly driven by visitors making up for two weather-related closures on the first two days of the festival. ETS branch manager Carrie Hotton-MacDonald said she would like to see bus priority in place for next year's festival.
• Representatives of the Chinatown and Area Business Association told Edmonton city council's executive committee that its failed audit was due to unfinished projects and pledged to rectify its books by the end of the year. Mayor Andrew Knack said governance needs to improve before council makes its decisions on the annual budgets of the city's 13 Business Improvement Areas during budget deliberations this fall. "Realistically, if they don't fulfil that, council could choose to not approve their budget," Knack said. "At the end of the day we need to make sure the appropriate checks and balances are in place."
• Elections Alberta says it has received 25,000 applications for the 60,000 positions it will need to fill for electoral workers during the Oct. 19 referendum. The ballot will contain 10 questions: one on whether Alberta should stay in Canada or start to process for a binding referendum on independence, five on immigration-related matters, and four on constitutional matters. Alberta's Voice is among the groups urging Albertans to vote to stay in Canada and say "no to the nine" other questions on the ballot. "Each question is written so badly that you don't actually know what it's trying to convey," organizer Stephen Carter told the St. Albert Gazette. "And when something like that is happening in a democracy, you know you're being manipulated."
• The Royal Alexandra Hospital's CHARGE program is performing complex hernia surgeries that many patients were told could never be done. CHARGE, which stands for Complex Hernia and Abdominal Reconstruction Group of Edmonton, has become recognized nationally as a leader in the field under the leadership of Ram Anantha. "It impacted my life in more ways than you can imagine," hernia patient Corry Coyne told Postmedia. "It actually brings tears to my eyes because I went from somebody who had a very full life to somebody who did nothing."
• Some international students who studied at career colleges in Alberta through a public-private partnership with Portage College are speaking out after their post-graduation work permits were denied. Lovepreet Singh, who studied at Campbell College in Edmonton, said the college assured him he was eligible for the permit, but he was denied because his course was not for credit. Students whose work permits are denied have 90 days after being notified to apply for a different visa or leave Canada.
• The Algal Bloom Tracker launched on Aug. 13 with up-to-date information on the presence of algal blooms at six Alberta lakes, including Wabamun and Pigeon, using satellite imagery to detect the presence and severity of blooms.
• Air North announced it will offer year-round flights between Yellowknife and Edmonton, as well as between Yellowknife and Whitehorse, beginning in December 2026. The expansion also includes seasonal flights to Victoria and Kelowna to facilitate trips north to see the aurora borealis.

The 10 companies to be showcased at Launch Party during Edmonton Startup Week span health, food, fibre, aviation, defence, and — of course — all things AI.

The startups were chosen from among 59 applicants, "highlighting the depth and momentum of Edmonton's growing tech and startup community," Edmonton Unlimited said in its Aug. 12 announcement. The "10 companies to watch" are as follows:

• 7 Summits Snacks makes chocolate snacks tailored to high-performance athletes. Co-founder Kristyn Carriere, who has won several pitch competitions and grants, worked on the product with fellow food scientists at NAIT's Centre for Culinary Innovation.
• Aqtiva makes plasma-activated water for improved crop outcomes. It was named the New Startup of the Year at the most recent YEG Startup Community Awards, and founder Tanay Kumar received an Innovation Catalyst Grant in May to continue the work.
• Dualchemy makes advanced AI hiring solutions, promising to "replace black-box algorithms with a real-time preference engine." Co-founder Bahar Boroomand had a chance to showcase the startup at Upper Bound in May.
• InnovativAI makes AI tools for aircraft that translate and display subtitles for passengers in real time, among other services, to improve accessibility in air travel. The company, led by Ali Akbarian, showcased its Nexora technology in Hamburg earlier this year.
• Osprey Systems makes AI tools for operating unmanned vehicles in extreme environments, such as those with no satellite connectivity. It sells to defence and dual-use clients.
• Proholistic Discovery, led by Richard Tseng, makes an inference-powered engine meant to reduce failure rates in drug development, something it recently showed off a conference in Taiwan.
• Pulmvita makes an improved version of a nasal breathing tube that earned it the top prize at Startup TNT's Summit XII last year. Founder Cole Christianson also received an Innovation Catalyst Grant.
• RNARevive, led by Mardin Falla and Nina Karpoff, is developing a platform to deliver self-amplifying RNA therapeutics that allow the body to make its own medicine. The tech has garnered the company a long list of accolades in the past year.
• TaxFormify, "built by tax accountants, for tax accountants," makes AI-powered software for Canadian and American tax firms that it says can save 30 hours per month per 100 clients.
• Zylotex, founded by Lelia Lawson, Wade Chute, and Ken Barker, makes fibre from hemp for applications such as clothing, medical products, and industrial processes, which are now being explored as part of Edmonton Unlimited's Venture Pilots: Built World Tech.

The companies were selected by Ashif Mawji of ScaleGood Fund, Yasmine Al-Hussein of Yaletown Partners, and Aroon Sequeira of Valuepath Partners.

The 10 companies will make their pitches at the Edmonton Startup Week Kickoff on Oct. 5, and they will be celebrated at the 17th edition of Launch Party on Oct. 8.

This file has updated with further details from the official announcement.

Here are some events happening today in the Edmonton area.

• Plug'n Drive starting at 10am at Alberta Motor Association (Edmonton South)
• Public Safety and Edmonton's Economic Future: A Conversation with Secretary of State Ruby Sahota starting at 10am at Westin Edmonton
• Listed to Linked - Meet the Members of the CAPE Directory: NRC - Aquatic and Crop Resource Development Research Centre (ACRD) starting at 11am online
• Antique Car Show starting at 11am at Touchmark at Wedgewood Retirement Community
• ECAMP Curiosity Walking Tours - Strikes, Struggles and Success starting at 12pm at Royal Alberta Museum
• 124 Grand Market: Thursdays at 108 starting at 4pm at 124 Grand Market
• Patio Series - Calvin Vollrath & Friends starting at 6pm at La Cité francophone
• Startup TNT Happy Hour starting at 6pm at Pub 1905
• Film Screening: Animal Nation - Caribou starting at 6pm at Royal Alberta Museum
• Free Writing Workshop with Anita Lafferty and Isabella Carriere starting at 6:30pm at Edmonton Public Library (Sprucewood)
• River Valley Walk starting at 6:30pm at ᐄᓃᐤ (ÎNÎW) River Lot 11∞ Indigenous Art Park
• Cultural Campfires: Chinese Heritage starting at 7pm at Shikaoi Park

And here are some upcoming events to keep in mind:

• Aug. 20: ESO Outdoors at Centennial Park
• Aug. 25: Mass Impact: A Fireside Chat with Ray Muzyka and Kristina Milke at Edmonton Unlimited
• Aug. 26: Opera al Fresco at University of Alberta Botanic Garden

Visit the Taproot Edmonton Calendar for many more events in the Edmonton region.

Test your crossword prowess and deploy a little of your Edmonton knowledge. Complete the puzzle.

Need a hint for 5-Across? Here you go.