Page 19 - 03-May-2024

MAY 2024
TECH
Austin, Tech-xas
→ Innovation is just a part of what it takes to transform a start-up into a viable business.
After the eureka moment comes the hard part — selling that idea to investors and potential customers. And that takes legwork. Getting on flights. Going to conferences. More flights. More meet-and-greets.
So putting 50 tech leaders from Alberta in the same place, at the same time, is a pretty big deal — because, while Alberta is their shared home address, the world is their customer.
That brings us to SXSW. When most of us see those letters, we think of one of the most famous annual music festivals in the world.
But the annual shindig in Austin, Texas, has become so much more than a place to eat great barbecue, slug back some Lone Stars and see some of the world’s top up-and-com- ing bands in intimate venues.
SXSW has expanded into film, comedy, product showcases and even psychedelics. And, yes, there’s a whole tech-incubator facet to it, as well.
It’s a place where upstarts in the innovation space can introduce them- selves to a wider audience.
This March, 50 visionaries from tech, AI, energy and health-science companies from this province headed to SXSW as part of a delegation organized by Alberta Innovates. In 2023, a similar trip saw $6 million worth of deals struck.
This year, David James, the Alberta government’s deputy minister of tech- nology and innovation, made the trip.
EVAN CHRAPKO, FOUNDER AND CEO OF EDMONTON’S TRUST SCIENCE
This past March, Chrapko attended SXSW for the first time.
SXSW’s popularity as an uber- cultural gathering has made it very expensive to attend. Hotel rates will make you faint. And availabilities are thin. So, having one organization shepherd 50 companies to Austin at one time really helps out the budget of a start-up like Chrapko’s.
“SXSW is very pricey, very expen- sive to attend. It’s chaotic. If not for being selected, I might have foregone the opportunity, again.”
The hard truth is that Alberta tech companies need to pound the pavement because investment is tough to attract within this province. Canadian investors have a very negative international reputation, because they are so risk-averse. Because Canadians don’t like to
take chances, their money goes to traditional industries. Americans, by comparison, are far more willing to see the value in emerging industries.
“In Alberta, if you’re not in oil and gas or real estate, they don’t know what to do with you. I have to be on the road,” says Chrapko.
“Apparently, many Canadian companies make the sometimes-fatal
A COWBOY AT HEART Evan Chrapko is founder and CEO
of Edmonton’s Trust Science, a fintech startup that has developed
an AI platform designed to create a more equitable approvals process between lenders and borrowers. The AI is designed to take the bias out
of the borrowing process in order to “find credit-worthy people who are good borrowers but are stuck on the outside looking in, like young people, or immigrants,” as well as people who have declared bankruptcy and find
it almost impossible to get financing. The AI puts together a profile based on the entirety of that borrower’s circumstances. Was it a personal tragedy that led to financial disaster? Health issues? A home burning down?
When I speak to him via Google Meet, Chrapko’s at a Las Vegas motel that’s “way off the Strip.” He’s there for a conference, and he’s got to get the most bang for his buck.
“Being on the road is expensive, but being on the road is mandatory,” he says. “I live out of my suitcase. To make it sustainable or affordable on behalf of this Edmonton-based company, I can’t be like the hedge funds and stay wherever I see fit.”
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