We are a part of something massive! Here’s where you can find us.
The mission of Creative Destruction Lab is to accelerate the commercialization of science and technology for the betterment of humankind. We do this by delivering an objectives-based mentorship program for massively scalable, seed-stage, science- and technology-based companies.
The program involves:
● An emphasis on objective-setting, helping companies focus on what’s most important to their business.
● Focused mentorship from experienced, exited entrepreneurs and world-leading scientists, engineers and economists.
● Hands-on support from top business students who work closely with founders to provide business support.
● Opportunities to raise capital from a variety of sources.
Founded in 2012 by professor Ajay Agrawal at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, the program has expanded to 12 sites across six countries: Oxford, Paris, Atlanta, Madison, Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal, Halifax, Seattle, Estonia, and Berlin. The successful commercialization of cutting-edge science and technology achieved through the program has led to the creation of more than CAD $20 billion in equity value.
It has been five years. Wow. When we were in discussions to bring Creative Destruction Lab to the Haskayne School of Business, there were those of us in the community who saw the tremendous potential in this program. We had seen the founding CDL program at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management that started in 2012 and its impact on innovation and commercialization in Toronto –creating a cluster that attracts entrepreneurs, investors, and corporations from around the globe. We wanted that for Calgary.
Since the launch of CDL-Rockies in 2017, the energy that has gathered behind the program is truly reflective of our great city. Our city, known for its entrepreneurial spirit, is home to a number of serial entrepreneurs who have a wealth of knowledge. They have come out to support the program as have world-leading researchers, many of whom are based out of UCalgary. Together, they provide critical knowledge to the deep science startups in the program. This access to knowledge is why each CDL location is based at a leading university – and it is one of the magic differentiators of the program in the world of supports available to startups.
What has resulted five short years later has exceeded our initial dreams. Alumni ventures within the program have crossed astounding milestones for equity value created. Ventures from around the globe are coming to the program – building the ecosystem in energy, ag tech and technology innovation – with some of these companies choosing to relocate to Alberta to continue to be a part of this incredible environment.
The relationship with graduate business students is genius, as every invention needs a business model to become a successful innovation. MBA and EMBA students are gaining hands-on experience and taking this to leadership roles. With all these new leaders being created, I cannot even imagine what will be achieved in the next five years.
As a CDL-Rockies community, we have much to be proud of. In January, we celebrated hitting one billion in equity value created by our alumni companies from all five years of our program - a figure that now exceeds two billion as we approach the end of 2022. This program year, we graduated 19 ventures that were able to accelerate their growth and increase their commercial potential through our intense and rigorous program. One of the biggest highlights for our team however was the return to in-person sessions for the first time in over two years. The opportunity to reconnect with this community in person was greatly energizing and rewarding.
Community is one of our biggest strengths at CDL-Rockies. Over the last five years, the CDL-Rockies’ community has seen significant growth, yet remains focused on coming together - from across industries and geographies - to support early-stage founders. And this commitment is having real impact. Our programming continues to evolve and our alumni companies continue to create economic impact within Alberta and beyond. None of this would be possible without your active participation. Each of you has contributed to the success of CDL-Rockies and the ventures that have participated in our program.
Throughout our 2021/22 Annual Report, we present a selection of stories highlighting what our CDL-Rockies community does best: meaningfully engaging with each other to create real impact. Thank you for a great program year and a remarkable five years! We are excited to continue this work alongside our CDL-Rockies community.
HEATHER MARSHALL —SiteLead,CDL-Rockies$773M
Equity value created by CDL-Rockies’ Alumni companies.
created by Alberta-based Alumni companies.
Capital raised by CDL-Rockies’ Alumni companies.
$328M
raised by Alberta-based Alumni companies.
MBA students from the University of Calgary and the University of Alberta.
Jobs created by CDL-Rockies’ Alumni companies.
$22B in equity value created across all CDL sites.
+2,300 companies representing +6,000 founders have participated in the CDL program. Currently, a total of 1,175 mentors volunteer their time to CDL.
For more information on the CDL Network, view our global Year in Review.
Prime Energy Ag
270 applications for 74 spaces across all three streams.
$63M in capital raised. 1,076 hours of mentorship provided by CDL-Rockies’ Mentors.
19 ventures graduated.
CDL is a highly sought after business mentorship program for deep science and technology based ventures. On average, 40-50% of ventures admitted into the program will graduate from CDL. This is an important part of the program design.
Ventures that graduated from the program did so having accomplished aggressive, accelerated business and technical milestones increasing their commercial potential and probability of success.
Prime For founders pursuing state of the art technological innovations across diverse industries.
24 ventures admitted - 53 mentors - 7 ventures graduated
All Skin is a health and beauty technology company that uses AI to help users detect skin sensitivities from home using a patch test kit.
Cadence Final Document Services is a digital platform built to empower bereaved families by organizing, streamlining and automating estate settlement tasks.
Convergence Medical Sciences is a medical device venture that has created a ventilator multiplexer that allows two to four patients to safely share a ventilator with each patient receiving individualized breath pressures.
Nephrodite Inc. is developing a combined implantable and wearable device that represents a change in the way end-stage renal disease treatment is delivered.
Ownly is an e-commerce platform that facilitates the purchase of new residential properties with the ease of booking a hotel room.
Umay Care is a consumer device venture that has developed REST, a wearable that helps reset the effects of screen time with a science-based wellness routine for better sleep and eye health.
Xander is developing Caption Glass, an augmented reality (AR) device that attaches to the eyeglasses of people with hearing loss and provides real-time captions of what other people are saying.
24 ventures admitted - 56 mentors - 6 ventures graduated
For founders developing transformational technologies for energy evolution.
2S Water has developed a sensor for real-time detection of metals and atomics in water, optimizing regulatory compliance and early issue identification for customers.
Aurora Hydrogen is developing a “turquoise hydrogen” technology, using efficient microwave energy to create low-cost hydrogen and solid carbon from natural gas without generating CO2.
ChargeLab builds hardware-agnostic software that runs on four out of five of the world’s most popular EV chargers, making EV charging smarter and easier to use.
IronSight bridges the gap between the teams that operate and manage field assets, and the teams that execute that work in the field.
Moment Energy provides affordable, performant, and reliable energy storage by repurposing retired EV batteries.
SunGreenH2 has developed high-performance electrolyzer components and is building a modular, scalable, high-efficiency anion exchange membrane (AEM) electrolyzer system that uses renewable power to produce low cost green hydrogen.
24 ventures admitted - 43 mentors - 6 ventures graduated
For founders building solutions applicable throughout the entire Ag value chain—from producer to plate.
Avalo is a plant improvement company leveraging recent advances in interpretable machine learning to create the next generation of crops.
Holganix uses a patented methodology of stacking, concentrating, and stabilizing large consortiums of microbes.
Liven Proteins creates protein ingredients without involving animals by upcycling food and agriculture by-products.
IXON has developed a food sterilization and packaging technology called Advanced Sous-vide Aseptic Packaging (ASAP) that enables lightly-cooked meat, fish, seafood and eggs to be stored at room temperature for up to two years.
Re-Nuble uses a proprietary Organic Cycling Science approach that takes unrecoverable vegetative waste from food production and turns it into nutrients and growing media for indoor growing.
Root Applied Sciences is developing a pathogen monitoring system that provides farmers and agronomists with early warning of airborne pathogens.
IXON Food Technology CEO and Founder Felix Cheung says the mentors he worked with in the CDL program, including Michael Gaenzle and Alison Sunstrum, played an important role in IXON’s success.
“I really didn't expect the mentors to get so involved in the whole mentoring process,” he says. “They helped us in further refining the commercialization map, which was key to understanding the right path for us to take.”
IXON is a Hong Kong-based company that has created a food packaging technology that sterilizes and preserves foods using low temperatures. IXON’s team believes its technology will help reduce food waste and eliminate greenhouse gas emissions related to cold-chain storage and transportation for meats.
After completing the CDL program, the team embarked on a “world-discovery trip” and, at the encouragement of their CDL-Rockies mentors, made a stop in Alberta. It was this visit that led to IXON’s decision to launch their packaging innovation company in the province.
“IXON already planned to establish a presence abroad when they started with the CDL cohort,” says Gaenzle, adding that Alberta was not a top contender at first. “I think the decision-making process to come to Alberta started during their visit, which included discussions with CDL and its mentors, scientists with relevant expertise, potential investors and representatives from the provincial government."
Gaenzle was one of the mentors who helped IXON with scientific expertise and to establish connections with NAIT and the University of Alberta’s Agri-Food Discovery Place, an institution that ended up being a big draw for Cheung and his team.
“We realized that [industry connections through mentors] really opened doors for us, especially with technology like ours, where there is consumer skepticism. The mentors really helped increase our credibility so that we could engage in deeper conversations past explaining our product,” says Cheung.
IXON plans to launch the packaging facility in Edmonton in early 2023, which will include a pilot automated line that is expected to introduce products to customers worldwide by 2024. Not only will this help IXON expand its business globally, it will also support Alberta’s economy by bringing in $10 million and 20 jobs. The company will also continue researching and developing its food-packaging technologies in the province, furthering Alberta’s position as the ideal place for growth and development in the food technology sector.
Seamus MacIsaac was one of the Haskayne EMBA students in last year’s cohort. For him, the opportunity to take the CDL Course was a “once-in-a-lifetime experience”.
“Being in the room with all the mentors and seeing the camaraderie with all of them to help students and businesses. We got so much exposure that we wouldn’t have in a classroom alone. How many opportunities do you get to do that?” MacIsaac says.
Every CDL site is housed within a top-tier post secondary institution, with CDL-Rockies situated at the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary. This is done, in part, to provide a unique learning experience for MBA and Executive MBA (EMBA) students. The CDL Course is offered to students in MBA and EMBA programs at UCalgary and the University of Alberta. Students learn about the formation, financing and management of massively scalable ventures. Students then work directly with ventures participating in the CDL program, providing them with a living-lab for learning opportunities.
MacIsaac worked with All Skin, a Prime stream venture that created the first at-home patch test and AI-enabled mobile app that helps people with sensitive skin find products best suited to them.
For the All Skin team, the student support was a major benefit.
“Right from day one, we learned about several aspects that were pretty foreign to us - how to build a business plan, how to build a go-to-market strategy, how to build a financial model, et cetera,” Ryan Lewinson, CEO & Co-Founder, All Skin, says.
“[Business students] really do serve as a catalyst to help onboard the company in those early stages, which was critical for us. We would continually be bouncing ideas off of [Seamus] and clarifying questions we had about mentor feedback. Having someone who has more business expertise helped bolster our team when we had no formal business training.”
Shortly after graduating, MacIsaac left his position at a software development company and took on a new role in Calgary’s tech industry. He is currently a Product Lead for Calgary-based fintech company Neo Financial.
PhotobyAdrianShellard PhotobyKellyHofer
In 2020, Crunchbase reported that out of the billions in global venture capital raised, just 2.3% of that was received by female founders (source). CDL-Rockies collaborated with CDL-Atlantic and CDL-Montreal to pilot the Female+ Founders program, which focused on empowering change by educating the CDL community on gender-based bias and the unique needs of this group of founders.
The program offered founders the opportunity to build their network, gain peer-to-peer support and learn the basics of business. Mentors learned about how to address the gender gap and gender-based bias to become more inclusive. The program featured three main events, which hosted more than 80 founders and 50 mentors.
PhotobyAdrianShellard
PhotobyAdrianShellard
Every year, each site within the CDL network recognizes mentors whose work with ventures epitomizes what it means to be a CDL mentor. These individuals are generous with their time and mentorship, making significant contributions to our site and the larger network. This year's recipients shared their thoughts on the role mentorship plays in their lives.
Mentors - both formal and informal - have played a significant role in my life and career. Receiving advice, encouragement and critical feedback, from those that you trust and admire, helped develop my confidence and impact. Knowing you have cheerleaders in your corner is very important as you navigate through the good and tough times.
Being part of the CDL community fuels my curiosity, inspires my creativity and feeds my energy. Working with entrepreneurs who are, by definition, passionate, is a privilege as their passion rubs off on you. Imparting some wisdom and honesty at a critical time in a founder’s entrepreneurial journey is both fun and highly rewarding.
My most memorable CDL experiences are the ones that revolve around people. Technology development, strategy and fundraising are critical elements to building a massively scalable venture. But if leadership is underdeveloped, or the founders are not aligned, no amount of effort on these critical elements will deliver success. Being able to both mentor and coach the founders on leadership and team building is exciting since it really is part of the secret sauce!
I have been very fortunate to have had several mentors across all my interests; business, investing, sport and music. They are always long-term, treasured relationships but as your experiences evolve, so too does the nature of the relationship. The key elements are the connection, the guiding experiences that the mentor brings, and just having someone to turn to who has real interest in who you are and what you are doing.
Working with emerging leaders, sharing experiences, and providing guidance is important to me because in my mind it is a way of giving back to a community that supported me throughout my professional growth. If I can help others avoid costly mistakes by offering my experiences, hopefully it leads to more resilient businesses which will grow, generate value, and employ many people.
One of my favorite stories was when we worked closely with a CDL venture, Toku, at Jupiter Resources to pilot their technology in a field operating application. Our field operators embraced the technology and became great advocates for the system, which was a big win for both companies. It was a great example of how the CDL community can provide real-life industrial opportunities for ventures, which is a critical role CDL mentors play.
Fellow of the Year Elizabeth Cannon Associate of the Year Patrick ElliottMentorship has been a daily component of my life for a long time. One of my PhD advisors liked to point out how many important discoveries happened because somebody looked at the results of an experiment and said, “Hmm…that’s interesting.” (Penicillin is the classic example.) The lesson is that if you are so focused on supporting an assumed outcome, you rush past negative, inconclusive or outlier results and may miss opportunities to discover things. Sometimes, those discoveries are a lot more interesting that what you were originally working on. I’ve been pushing students to approach research this way ever since.
CDL mentorship is a real learning opportunity. I get to meet bright, energetic and passionate people who are keen to implement new technologies into the real world. Prior to joining CDL, I mentored a handful of ventures I have co-founded; however, being a CDL mentor has given me the opportunity to increase my mentorship tenfold. It’s also provided valuable insight into how to structure mentorship for researchers on UCalgary’s campus, so that we can accelerate the real-world impact of innovators coming out of our labs.
I would say one of my top memorable experiences was when a venture was bringing an end-of-pipe solution to market. The mentors pressed for a simple presentation of what distinguished the technology from competitors and in doing so, the mentors and CEO realized the venture had a much bigger opportunity “inside the fence” with customers. That a-ha moment was a great example of what happens when a handful of people with diverse backgrounds and a shared goal can bounce ideas off each other and have the time to build on one of them.
Steven Bryant PhotocourtesyofSchulichSchool ofEngineeringCDL helps future-proof partner organizations by educating leadership on frontier technologies and creating meaningful engagements between partners and the global startup community. Partners Nutrien and Coril shared their thoughts on the value of supporting CDL.
For Nutrien, CDL provides a unique chance to connect with a broad range of interesting startups and do so in a meaningful and timely way. CDL’s program is an excellent platform for emerging companies and founders, vetting them through a rigorous process and setting them on a path towards success, investment and growth.
Marshall Vice President, Strategy Nutrien
CDL provides an excellent avenue for emerging startups to build their companies and their technologies, tapping into the mentorship and exposure that CDL provides, as well as providing connection to industry. CDL’s structure helps bring needed attention and focus to various sub-sectors, driving greater collaboration and supporting startups in those fields.
At Coril, we value the opportunity to work with and support promising startups that are participating in the CDL program. Sponsoring helps us stay on the cutting edge of innovation and potentially gain access to new technologies and business opportunities strategic to our growth and operations.
The CDL program's focus on high-impact ventures and its structured approach to helping them grow and succeed. CDL is known for its mentorship-driven model, which brings together successful entrepreneurs and business leaders to provide guidance and support to participating startups. Coril benefits almost as much as the ventures in terms of learning from the mentors and getting to work with vetted startups.
Matthew Mike Mannix Board Director Coril Holdings Inc.Thank you to our Partners in Innovation, whose support is critical in enabling the work we do at CDL-Rockies.
Alison Sunstrum
Campbell Family as represented by Kevin Campbell Chen Fong Craig Senyk Michael and Jacqueline Broadfoot Michael and Heather Culbert Michael Kanovsky Sharon Siebens Viewpoint Foundation as represented by Mac H. Van Wielingen
Corporate Partners Borden Ladner Gervais LLP Canadian Natural Resources Limited
Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP Cenovus Energy Coril Group of Companies Enbridge Farm Credit Canada Imperial KPMG The Mancal Group Suncor
Catalyst Partner Nutrien
Government Partners Western Economic Diversification Canada Alberta Innovates Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund
CDL Global Founding Partners John Harris ThresholdImpact (Dr. Ray Muzyka and Leona De Boer)
CDL Global Corporate Partners Business Development Bank of Canada
Canadian Special Operations Forces Command Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP Royal Canadian Navy
Founding Corporate Partner, CDL Apprentice Program Scotiabank
Our deepest gratitude to CDL-Rockies’ Mentors, who believe in the program’s potential and play a major role in its impact and success.
Alexander Whalley
Alison Sunstrum
Andrea Drager
Andrew Thompson
Anup Srivastava
Arjun Ganesan
Art Froehlich
Ash Munshi
Azita Owlia
Barry Allen
Barry Sanders
Bettina Hamelin
Bettina Pierre-Gilles
Blake Shaffer
Cameron Walker
Chen Fong
Chris Hannam
Chris Theriault
Christine Schuh
Christopher Micetich
Christopher Paterson
Claude Piché
Cory Janssen
Curtis Cook
Dale Dusterhoft
Dan Balaban
David Bressler
David Sinton
David Thompson
Dawn Farrell
Deborah Peacock
Derek Exner
Derrick Hunter
Deval Pandya
Devan Dass
Dion Madsen
Doug Beach
Doug Gray
Dustin Wilkes
Ed Whittingham
Elizabeth Cannon
Evan Hu
Fred Gallagher
Gary Griffiths
Gary Haley
George Shimizu
Georgina Rizik
Graham Drake
Heather Koshinsky
Ian Lewis
James Lochrie
James Tansey
Jeff Gill
Jehangir Appoo
Jeroen De Buck
Jim Baker
Jim Davidson
Jim Stannard
John Cranfield
John Rossall
Jordan Balaban
Judy Fairburn
Juliana Uto
Keith Brown
Keith Driver
Kelly Matheson-King
Kent Brown
Kevin Campbell
Kristina Rinker
Kristina Williams
Laleh Behjat
Lauren Epstein
Laurie Wallace
Lenore Newman
Lina Kattan
Lindsay Machan
Lingyun Chen
Lori Ell
Lorraine Mitchelmore
Manon Boisclair
Marcia Clark
Marcos Lopez
Mark Andreychuk
Mark Blackwell
Marlea Sleeman
Marty Reed
Matt Brister
Matt Lucas
Michael Gaenzle
Michael Kanovsky
Michael Lake
Mike Begin
Mike Culbert
Nancy Peters
Nancy Smith
Naweed Syed
Neeraj Gupta
Niki Panich
Noel Hall
Pat Lor
Patricia Hume
Patrick Elliott
Paul Lee
Peter Tertzakian
Randy Goebel
Ray Kruck
Ray Muzyka
Ray Price
Remi Schmaltz
Rhiannon Davies
Rob Jones
Ron Bridges
Sara Hastings-Simon
Scott Saxberg
Shawn Abbott
Simon Barber
Stephen Larter
Steve Liang
Steven Bryant
Susan Anderson
Sylvain Charlebois
Terry Freeman
Tom Rand
Tom Urban
Venkataraman Thangadurai
Vincent Chahley
Wilf Keller
Will Bridge
Yves Potvin
This year, we added new faces to our team, welcomed summer students and saw others move forward in their careers.
A sincere thank you to all of the team members, past and present, who were part of the 2021/22 cohort year.
View our team members here.
PhotobyKellyHofer
Creative Destruction Lab - Rockies Haskayne School of Business
Learn more about CDL-Rockies here.