Tech Roundup
June 2, 2026
A resource-sharing hub for social good is gathering builders for the inaugural Tech For Good Alliance event on June 24 at Arcadia Brewing. The event, which will take place on the last Wednesday of each month, is not just another tech mixer, said Michelle Frechette, the founder of the Social Impact Innovation Hub.
"The initiatives under the Social Impact Innovation Hub currently are three-pronged. One, we're looking for a physical space. Two, we are launching the Tech For Good Alliance, which is a working group, not just a networking event," she told Taproot. "The third prong is the events, which is the In The Loop events." At the first In The Loop event at Brighton Block on May 27, Taproot saw robots by Aro Robotic Systems serve ads and help to bus dishware, learned Technology Alberta is collaborating with Frechette, and heard mostly from people focused on environmental sustainability — more reporting on them is coming soon. The event, which has another edition scheduled for Sept. 16, was co-hosted by another of Frechette's ventures called The Connected Kitchen Project and involved a wide consortium of partners.
The Social Impact Innovation Hub is just past the ideation phase, Frechette said, with goals to secure space to help social-good organizations accomplish their work and to recruit board members who mean business. Meanwhile, Frechette said she already leverages "super-connectors" to solve problems through shared resources. For instance, she is on an advisory board for Action for Healthy Communities and is exploring opportunities to spin off a suite of SaaS capabilities for tax training and other professional services that a for-good company may lack.
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Headlines
- T.rex AI, a company that seeks to make electrical grids more efficient and reliable, won the finale of Startup TNT's Edmonton investment summit on May 28. The amount invested was not disclosed, but winners typically come away with at least $150,000. A side deal also went to hi finance, which helps students secure grants, scholarships, and bursaries. The other finalists were Fairly Staffing, which manages temp work for dental hygienists and eventually other professionals; Innovative Coating Technology Systems, which manufactures surfaces made of diamonds for high durability; and RNARevive, a biotech company developing reprogrammable RNA therapeutics.
- Swift Charge is partnering with InnVest Hotels, Canada's largest hotel owner and operator. The deal will bring Swift Charge stations to more than 75 locations across Canada, with more than 300 chargers expected in the full rollout. "We're proud to support InnVest as they expand EV charging across their portfolio", Swift Charge CEO Sheldon Zhang said in a release. "Our focus is on delivering a dependable, hotel-tailored charging experience that works consistently across a wide range of locations and operating environments."
- Northernmost is raising a Series A investment round to further develop its new kidney transport device. Founder and CEO Ron Mills worked on the machine-perfusion device preferred by United States health providers today, and said the world needs an upgrade. "Nobody's really done anything in 27 years," Mills told Taproot. "That's too long for something so good to not have a next act. My unfinished business — if I'm angry about anything — is that we're still using so much static cold storage, those ice coolers, for kidney transport."
- Edmonton is among North America's fastest growing tech ecosystems, according to Dealroom's 2026 Global Tech Ecosystem Index. The city earned 18th place in North America in the rising stars category, with its top sectors being AI, gaming, and space. Calgary ranked ninth in the same category. "These rankings reflect the province's continued growth trajectory in the innovation sector," Start Alberta said. Technology and Innovation Minister Nate Glubish welcomed the recognition; "No one doubts anymore that Alberta is a tech giant," he posted.
- Edmonton Unlimited has partnered with the Construction Innovation Centre at the University of Alberta to accelerate innovation in building. A memorandum of understanding announced at the CIC Forum will see collaboration through the Venture Pilots: Built World Tech Program to "help accelerate the adoption of emerging technologies across construction, infrastructure, and the broader built world ecosystem."
- Bruce Alton, who is developing robotic solutions at RoBIM Technologies, said Edmonton should focus innovation efforts on construction and engineering tech, where the city has domain expertise through firms such as Stantec and PCL. "We could be the global centre for construction innovation," he told Edify. "We have all the pieces in place."
- RUNWITHIT Synthetics has soft-launched the Synthetic Waterloo Intelligent Futures Technology Hub at the University of Waterloo, using RWI tech to help deepen research insights. It is led by Dillon Browne, a Canada Research Chair in child and family clinical psychology. "(This hub ensures) that the best ideas, research and knowledge can be seen by many, that the relationship between ideas converging across disciplines and generations is visible and tangible, and that the resultant sharing translates directly into beneficial impact for many communities and future generations," CEO Myrna Bittner said in an announcement.
- Levven Electronics and Sarcomere Dynamics are finalists for the Business Innovation award at the Alberta Business Awards of Distinction. The awards will be announced at an event in September.
- AltaML co-founder and serial entrepreneur Nicole Janssen joined the Executive Wins podcast to discuss her transition to Diffusion Advisory, where she now works with organizations, governments, and academia to improve Canada's commercialization and adoption of AI.
- Edmonton's vrCAVE is a finalist for Best Indie Creator at the 17th annual Auggie Awards. Winners will be announced at the Augmented World Expo on June 17.
- The Good Game YEG podcast discussed the North American Games Industry Summit, a new B2B event launching June 18 to 19 in Edmonton alongside Game Con Canada. Marc Belisle and Chris Meilleur of Meibel Consulting, Ronnie Villanueva of Edmonton Screen, and John Nguyen of Xsolla discussed what the event will mean for indie developers. Mobile Syrup also previewed NAGIS and Game Con Canada.
- The Canadian Press spent some time with members of PEV Edmonton, a group that encourages people to ride personal electric vehicles together. "It's like a modern-day biker group," joked organizer Josh Hunter. "All age groups are allowed so long as you have a personal electric vehicle and a helmet."
- The Edmonton Chamber of Commerce is distributing 500 Google AI Essentials scholarships to members, as well as launching AI instruction with AI Edge.
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Jobs and opportunities
- Beamdog is hiring a concept artist.
- AltaML is hiring an intermediate full stack software engineer.
- The Government of Alberta is hiring a full stack developer in the Ministry of Technology and Innovation.
Happenings
Here are some events coming up over the next seven days:
- June 3: IDEAS Webinars - Innovation in Advanced Manufacturing starting at 12pm online
- June 3: Welcome to SRF | FREE VR Escape Room Launch Party starting at 5:30pm at Game OVR
- June 3: Edmonton Tech Wednesdays starting at 5:30pm at GRETA Bar YEG
- June 4: Voices of Alberta Entrepreneurs with Aaron Tong starting at 12pm online
- June 4: Perplexity Meetup starting at 6pm at Goodspace by Mercer
- June 5: Friendly Fridays: Marketing Brief starting at 2:30pm at Edmonton Research Park
- June 8: Health Innovators Breakfast: Innovating for Diabetes starting at 7:30pm at Matrix Hotel
And here are some upcoming events to keep in mind:
- June 12: ScaleUP Breakfast Social at Edmonton Unlimited
- June 18: Percolating Perspectives with Dr. Murtaza Haider at University of Alberta (Peter Lougheed Hall)
- June 19-21: Game Con Canada at Edmonton EXPO Centre
Visit the Taproot Edmonton Calendar for many more events in the Edmonton region.
This roundup was sponsored by Edmonton Unlimited.
Now is the time for us, Edmonton's innovators, and our city. Headquartered in Alberta's capital city, Edmonton Unlimited harnesses the power of possibility and brings the very best of Edmonton to the world.