Welcome to this week's Sunday Briefing. In this issue, learn about the two leaders who are reinventing who gets to become one, plus 11 other stories you've probably missed. Have a great day. We'll see you again Wednesday.
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Monark co-founders Amanda Julian and Dr. Kelsey Hahn
Monark secures UCeed investment to democratize access to leadership development
"The antidote to old school, ineffective training." That's the promise of Monark, a startup that's taking a modern approach to leadership training that its founders say "combines evidence-based content, an on-demand platform, and engaging activities and reminders to drive real, lasting behaviour change."
Started by CEO Kelsey Hahn and chief research officer Dr. Amanda Julian, the Calgary-based startup just received an injection of capital from the UCeed Social Impact Fund to supercharge its mission to democratize access to leadership development.
UCeed is a group of pre-seed/seed-stage investment funds that make investments ranging from $50,000 to $300,000 depending on the venture’s stage of development.
Monark's leadership platform has four unique elements: on-demand, personalized learning; reminders, nudges and cohort-based team learning; 360 assessment and real-time insights; and a leadership community of practice so leaders can share knowledge and lived experiences with each other.
According to UCalgary, it all adds up to a tool that can "profoundly change resource and authority flow in leadership training, impacting the skills in the future workforce."
🤝 Funding, Deals + Partnerships
Sprout nets $2.5M investment from AEC. The Alberta investor's $14 million second fund will provide seed capital to B2B software startups. Mario Toneguzzi / Calgary Tech Journal
Federal government announces $80M for critical drug initiative led by Applied Pharmaceutical Innovation, a not-for-profit organization, in partnership with the University of Alberta. The Canadian Press
📰 Need To Know
Plug and Play Alberta has announced 58 startups for the spring cohort of its industry-specific health, sustainability, food and beverage, and sector-agnostic startup accelerator programs. A few of the Calgary companies selected are Carbon Upcycling Technologies, Earthware Reusables, and Quickly. Mario Toneguzzi / Calgary Tech Journal
ICYMI: 72 hours in Calgary tech. A too-detailed dispatch from ground zero of Alberta’s innovation economy. William Johnson / Calgary Tech Journal
Iconic Alberta grain elevators being digitally preserved in virtual reality project. Dan McGarvey / CBC News
The third annual Alberta Technology Symposium on April 26-27 will unite a wide spectrum of emerging fields like IoT, Machine Learning and blockchain applications. Learn more
This is cool, right? A $3.5M home for the tech lover. Shane Dingman / Globe and Mail
Avatar Innovations and Hawk & Squirrel Innovation announced that Bradley Wamboldt, principal associate at Hawk & Squirrel has been contracted to work part-time as Avatar's vice president of technology development. Continue
India's tech industry sees opportunity for Calgary. Calgary Economic Development
💡 POV: Ideas and Insights
Sandi Gilbert, chief executive of Calgary-based venture capital firm InterGen, is worried the loss of SVB will mean fewer opportunities for startups at the big banks: "Trying to even understand that space has been difficult for traditional banks and now that there’s not as much risk of their clients going somewhere else, I don’t think they’re going to step up their risk levels anytime soon."
The key to innovation in the workplace? Embracing neurodiversity. Elyse Bouvier / Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning
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