The newest company honoured at the ninth annual Start Alberta Tech Awards last week at Studio Bell in Calgary was EnerNode AI, an oil and gas software company founded in February. Its co-founder, Cheng (Jack) Su, was named Most Promising Founder. Su, who worked in production engineering at Calgary-based IHH Energy before starting the company, is building EnerNode without outside funding, and several Western Canadian operators have adopted its Heptix platform.

At the other end of the timeline was CoolIT Systems, founded in 2001, which won Deal of the Year after Ecolab acquired it in July for US$4.75 billion, the largest disclosed exit by an Alberta-headquartered company to date. CoolIT makes liquid cooling systems for demanding computing environments, including AI data centres, and it had been recognized for a deal once before, when KKR bought a majority stake in 2023 and every employee became an owner. That ownership meant this year’s sale paid out across the whole team, from roughly one year of pay to more than eight depending on tenure.

CoolIT wasn’t the only winner tied to a major deal this year. In September, Grindr announced an agreement to acquire PurposeMed, a Calgary company that runs virtual clinics for HIV prevention, adult ADHD and gender-affirming care, for US$250 million, the biggest disclosed exit Alberta has seen in health technology. PurposeMed won Anchor of the Year, and its chief medical officer, Dr. Caley Shukalek, was named Leader of the Year. Shukalek helped build the company’s HIV prevention service, Freddie, after seeing how hard it was for friends in the queer community to access prevention and affirming sexual healthcare.

Other winners included Calgary payments company Helcim, which took Scaleup of the Year, Flora Fertility co-founder Dr. Christy Lane, who won Woman in Tech, and Peer Guidance founder Jade Alberts, who received the VCAA Rod Charko Service Award. Edmonton-based NiaHealth won A100 One to Watch, Graphite Ventures was named Investor of the Year, and Sprout Fund’s Kristina Milke won Ecosystem Supporter of the Year.

Start Alberta says 2026 is already a record year for Alberta tech exits by disclosed value.