CALGARY, Alberta, June 11, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- INVENTURE$ 2024 (Inventures) wrapped up for another year. The sixth year for Calgary’s premier innovation event came to a close on May 31st. Nearly 4,000 people attended the three-day conference. Delegates heard from over 400 speakers, panelists and presenters in over 200 sessions. Inventures 2024 ran from May 29 – May 31, covering six streams, including:
| Blurring Boundaries: Tech at Work | Growing Up: Food Tech Farm to Fork |
| Earth Tech: Building Everything Better | Live Long, Live Well: Unveiling Health Data |
| Entrepreneurship: Accelerating Scale-up | Tech Triathlon: Quantum, AI, and IOT |
Keynote Presentations:
Conference attendees heard from keynote presenters:
- Marcus Collins, PhD, spoke on culture and its impact on innovation.
- AMECA – the world’s most humanoid robot, engaged Alberta Innovates CEO, Laura Kilcrease in a discussion about artificial intelligence.
- David Usher – former frontman of the band Moist – presented on his work in the field of artificial intelligence.
- Poppy Crum – a neuroscientist who spoke about the intersection of humanity and technology.
Pitch Competitions:
Inventures hosts a pitch competition where companies come together to pitch themselves and their companies. At stake was $10,000 for each of the six conference themes. Almost 1,100 companies applied for a spot to pitch at Inventures. That number was narrowed down to 30 companies who were invited to pitch their best ideas and innovations to an expert panel, hoping to take home one of the $10,000 prizes. A team of judges made up of venture capitalists, selected this year’s winners.
| Blurring Boundaries: | RESVR Inc. | Growing Up: | Cattle Scan |
| Earth Tech: | CO2BREW | Live Long, Live Well: | AIIMSENSE Inc. |
| Entrepreneurship: | Kredit Academy | Tech Triathalon: | UPROW |
Concurrently, other pitch competitions were happening at Inventures, sponsored by agencies and organizations like Neurotech, Plug and Play, SVG Thrive and the University of Calgary. Winners of those pitch competitions included:
| Inventures Neurotech Pitch Competition | Possibility Neurotechnologies | $25,000 | |
| Plug and Play AI in Energy Innovation Challenge | Verano AI | $10,000 | |
| SVG Ventures | Thrive & Alberta Innovates - Climate Challenge Pitch | Rimrock Renewables | $10,000 | |
| SVG Ventures | Thrive & Alberta Innovates - Climate Challenge Pitch (People’s Choice Award) | Solar Steam | $10,000 | |
| UCalgary & TC Energy Ingenuity Pitch Prize | Munitora Livestock Management | $50,000 | |
A student pitch competition also took place during the conference with these three finalists participating in a Student Entrepreneur Showcase:
| First Place Winner | INTERVIEWPAL |
| Second Place Winner | WORKFLOW |
| Third Place Winner | BEE SAFE |
“Inventures 2024 was another stellar event. We drew a record number of attendees and speakers with 33 countries represented. We staged more networking and immersive sessions than ever. Inventures is where innovators connect, do business and pitch solutions. It’s where research and industry leaders bring breakthrough ideas that energize new, positive impacts. Be part of this at Inventures 2025 May 28-30.”
Laura Kilcrease, CEO, Alberta Innovates
Inventures is a global innovation experience hosted by Alberta Innovates to bring together the world’s brightest minds, angel investors, venture capitalists and industry leaders. Launched in 2018, Inventures is the place to discover new technologies, talent, capital, customers and markets.
Get your Inventures 2025 tickets at a limited time only rate of $499 at inventurescanada.com/register/
Media Contact:
Dwayne Brunner, Senior Manager, Media and Strategic Community Relations
Alberta Innovates | 587.572.4091
