Sector advocates Tech Manitoba, Manitoba Technology Accelerator to merge

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This article was published 24/02/2025 (225 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba Tech Week kicked off with a bang Monday night, as the CEOs of Tech Manitoba and Manitoba Technology Accelerator announced the two organizations will soon merge.

The new entity, to be called Manitoba Innovates, which has received endorsements from the respective boards of directors, will not officially exist until the end of the year. However, Kelly Fournel, CEO of Tech Manitoba and Paul Card, CEO of MTA, said they are already effectively working together.

Card, who took over MTA in June after the resignation of Marshall Ring, said he believes the merger will create more opportunities for its startup clients to engage with the more established companies who are members of Tech Manitoba.

While many organizations have existed ostensibly to support the growth of the tech sector since the digital economy became obvious before the turn of the last century, Fournel said Manitoba continues to see up to 50 per cent of its tech graduates leave the province for employment.

“We don’t yet have a clear enough pathway for graduates to get into the industry,” she said. “I think there is more to be done, especially on the industry side, to be open to offer co-op placements, internships and the like.

“If you have a hub like Manitoba Innovates to advocate on behalf of those pathways, we will have more companies with access to startups, generating procurement opportunities and you will have more of the talent stay here in Manitoba.”

Card said the provincial and federal departments that have supported both organizations in the past are on-board with the merger.

It has been a while since SkipTheDishes effectively became MTA’s only home run in terms of successfully helping one of its client companies scale-up to capture a large national or international market.

Card believes, among other items, there has not been enough collaboration when it comes to supporting local early-stage technology companies. (He added MTA meets monthly with North Forge Technology Exchange and they have a great relationship.)

Like Fournel, he said the early-stage companies MTA works with (a current total of 16) will benefit from greater access to the larger tech community in Manitoba.

Among other things, Card said the groups are working on creating a short-term loan fund to help address the prickly access to capital needs that has long plagued the startup space in Manitoba. (In the past, MTA had taken equity stakes in the companies it supported.)

“There is a large community of startups that are not ready to be invested in who are missing core pieces. Instead of taking equity stakes, we are moving to a loan model where we can wrap services and expertise around them,” he said.

Fournel characterized the merger as an evolution for the tech sector that represents a crucial part of the province’s economic productivity.

“Manitoba industry is still a laggard when it comes to ICT (information and communications technology) up-skilling and tech adoption,” she said.

“If we can address those three on-the-ground truths for different groups that are members and soon to be members, then I think we will make a tremendous impact in Manitoba.”

Manitoba Tech Week runs Feb. 24 to March 2, with a schedule of more than 30 events.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca