Q1 Calgary Tech News: The Prairies Continue To Build!
Large-scale deals, AI infrastructure, fintech firsts, and much more in Calgary's Q1
Fundraising & Acquisitions 🚀
CoolIT Systems, a liquid cooling pioneer for AI data centres, is being acquired by U.S.-based Ecolab for $6.6 billion - one of the largest Canadian tech exits ever.
Founded in a Calgary garage in 2001, all 650 employees are set to receive cash payouts of up to eight years of annual salary through a broad-based ownership program. The deal is expected to close in Q3 2026.
Calgary’s Blackline Safety is going private in a deal valued at up to $850 million.
The acquisition came by an affiliate of Francisco Partners, a global investment firm focused on technology, marking one of the largest recent exits in Canada’s industrial technology sector.
Neo Financial closed a $150 million CAD inaugural credit card securitization with BMO Capital Markets and Calgary-based SAF Group, entering institutional capital markets for the first time.
The transaction marks a first for a Canadian fintech, adopting a funding model traditionally reserved for Canada’s largest banks.
Simply Silicon secured 12 MW of powered capacity in downtown Calgary as the site for their first supercomputer, Foundation.
This positions Foundation to grow over the next year to 10,000+ GPUs; Canada's largest at more than $300 million in silicon alone.
Flora Fertility closed a $6.9 million seed round to build out the first individually-owned fertility insurance platform, with plans to expand across the U.S. before coming to Canada.
The round was led by ManchesterStory, with participation from BDC Capital, TruStage Ventures, and others.
Calgary’s Krux, a leader drilling optimization technology was acquired by Austrailia’s IMDEX.
Shift Connect, a leading Canadian provider of foreign exchange and global payment services, acquired Alberta-based firm Olympia Currency and Global Payments.
Canadian aerospace company NordSpace announced the launch of NordSpace Ventures, with Alberta-based Wyvern as its first portfolio member.
Denvr partnered with Ottawa's Dominion Dynamics to develop Canada's first sovereign AI simulation environment for autonomous drone aircraft, purpose-built for the Canadian Armed Forces and NATO allies.
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In the News 📰
Neo Financial became the second fintech to join Interac e-Transfer as a direct participant.
Neo joined after Interac expanded eligibility in 2025 to RPAA registered payment service providers.
Loon said its CADC stablecoin has passed $300m in total volume.
NanoTess announced a distribution deal with diabetes care company Embecta.
The deal will see Embecta distribute NanoTess’s NanoSALV Catalytic, a topical gel that uses tiny, catalytic particles to accelerate healing in chronic wounds, to more than 14,000 pharmacies across Canada.
Wagepoint, a leading provider of payroll software for small businesses announced the launch of Timesheets, a built-in time entry feature.
Neo Financial partnered with United to launch the United MileagePlus Neo World Elite Mastercard.
Helcim launched its Payment Extension, allowing merchants to use Helcim's payment processing within their existing software.
The extension supports 20+ platforms at launch, with plans to expand to 100+ by end of 2026.
Achievements 🥇
Quickly announced they received SOC 2 certification, validating their security practices meet a recognized standard.
Alex Todorovic, CEO at Arbor was named a finalist for Technopreneur of the Year at the Canadian SME Small Business Magazine National Business Awards.
Mikata Health was named a 2025 Top Health Tech Company Globally by TIME.
Cashew, LiORA, and Eavor were named recipients of the 2026 CIX Startup Awards, chosen from 370+ applicants vetted by 94 North American investors in the Emerging, Early, and Growth categories respectively. Eavor was also named to the 2026 Global Cleantech 100.
CropMind was selected as the only Alberta company in the 14-startup 2026 Google for Startups Accelerator: Canada cohort.
New Opportunities 🚀
Kindr is hiring Founding Engineer based in Calgary.
Knead is hiring an Account Executive.
Applications are now open for the THRIVE Global Impact Challenge 2026!
The application deadline is May 15th.
Upcoming Events 👇
⚖️ April 23rd - The Future of Government Funding in Tech
Speakers:
Derrick Hunter, President & CEO at Bluesky Equities
Michelle Scarborough, Former Managing Partner of Thrive Venture Fund at BDC
Graeme Harrison, CEO & Managing Partner at Augur VC
Cam Linke, CEO at Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii)
Moderated by: Philippe Burns, Co-Founder at Tech Thursday
⚡️ April 30th - How Energy & Mining Can Lead AI Adoption in Canada
Speakers:
John Mortimer, CTO at GeologicAI
Keri Lee, Managing Director at BlueMarvel AI
Josh Malate, Co-Founder and President at Ultimarii
Moderated by: Philippe Burns, Co-Founder at Tech Thursday
A big thank you to all of our sponsors for making these events a possibility including Boast, Skip, Neo Financial, Alberta Innovates, Motiv, Crestview Strategy, and BLG.