In 2024, Taproot reported on several stories that evolved after we published them. In this, our final retrospective of 2024, we caught up with two specific stories that will continue to offer new details in 2025.
edmonton.taproot.news
Edmonton Edge Fund continues to reverberate in 2025
The original story: In May, the City of Edmonton
granted $4.7 million to 17 organizations through Phase 1 of the Edmonton Edge Fund. The fund is intended to drive economic and social benefits. There were two categories of funding: Scale & Grow, which offered from $250,000 to $1 million to companies that could prove a matching 50% investment, and the Start Stream for earlier-stage companies, which offered up to $100,000. Scale & Grow recipients included
DiveThru,
Future Fields, and
Kind Ice Cream Select Start Stream recipients included
OligomicsTx (which won a
Startup TNT summit
earlier in the year),
Swift Charge,
UpRow, and
ZerOne.
Then what? In October, ZerOne held a
grand opening for its Hockeyology and Atheleticare facility after
telling Taproot that it uses tech and multidisciplinary medicine to support athletes. Kind Ice Cream also
spoke to Taproot to detail its plans for modular ice cream shops, acquiring a larger production facility, and offering business-to-business sales. Elsewhere, UpRow
won a pitch competition at Inventures by
Alberta Innovates in May. In November, Future Fields
opened its Instar 1.0 biomanufacturing facility.
What’s next? The city’s reference to the Edge Fund in May as Phase 1 suggested that a Phase 2 was at least possible. Nik George from the City of Edmonton told Taproot in an email that the city is “actively exploring options for the future of the Edge Fund,” but the fund does not “have additional funding to support new projects” yet. Companies that received Edge funding have shared further updates with Taproot. Kind Ice Cream said in an email that its first modular location, dubbed “Bestie,” will open this summer at a location “that is currently underserved when it comes to ice cream and dessert options.” Swift Charge said in an email that its fast electric vehicle charger is done with testing and should be operational in south Edmonton and Lloydminster by the end of January. DiveThru, meanwhile, said in an email that it will open its newest location in “early 2025.”
-Colin Gallant