A new one-stop shop for business development is expected to keep new Edmonton-area companies one step ahead of the game.

Technology, Entrepreneur and Company Development (TEC Edmonton), a joint venture between the University of Alberta and Edmonton Economic Development Corp. (EEDC), was officially unveiled last week.

“This is about building our companies, building new companies in the Edmonton region,” said Allan Scott, EEDC president and CEO.

“We want to ensure and enhance the opportunities for success for new companies. Right now it may be unclear where to go for various levels of support and we think that this will be a significant benefit to the community.”

The not-for-profit venture will combine existing business support programs, plus additional services that will further enable early-stage companies to grow and prosper.

Scott expects TEC Edmonton will have a positive impact on the region’s business landscape.

“In many areas we would be ahead of the curve, but there are still leading centres in the U.S. that are far ahead of us,” he said.

“What we’re doing is putting (the programs) under one roof, where there will be a single point of contact instead of going to three or four different locations. We’re eliminating duplication so the maximum number of resources can be focused on the issue.”

TEC brings together EEDC’s Deal Generator initiative and its VenturePrize business plan competition and unites them with the U of A’s Technology Transfer Program.

TEC Edmonton’s business plan also calls for building on existing services.

Three new initiatives include:

* The Prototype Development Program will create a development fund to support small-scale projects to advance a technology to a stage where it can be commercialized or gain support from other later-stage grants.

* The Innovation Gateway Program will help teach inventors and entrepreneurs about the commercialization process through information, mentoring and training to help convert their ideas into products for the marketplace.

* The JumpStart Program will work with high-potential startup companies on business strategies, strengthen links to company-development resources, and ensure accessibility to experienced entrepreneurial and management talent, facilities and seed capital.

Operating as a virtual entity since May, TEC Edmonton and its 20 staff now move into its new offices on the fourth floor of the Research Transition Facility, directly west of the University of Alberta Hospital on the city’s south side.

The organization’s total budget from the U of A is $11.4 million over five years. EEDC will also contribute $300,000 in TEC’s first year and then $100,000 annually over the next four years.

In addition, TEC has requested another $1.5 million from Western Economic Diversification Canada and the provincial government for new programs.

TEC’s goal is to create a gateway for commercialization, said Peter Robertson, TEC Edmonton’s CEO.

“It consolidates and builds on existing strengths from the university and EEDC by bringing together two entities to create a new entity that is greater than the sum of its parts. It will allow us to move forward into the next decade,” he added.

As to the first company that will come out of TEC Edmonton, Robertson said that will take a little time.

“Because it’s a morphing of two organizations, it’s hard to say who will be the first TEC Edmonton-originated company,” he said. “It will probably take about a year to say that a certain company operated through TEC Edmonton’s resources.”

However, there are numerous companies already in the individual existing TEC Edmonton components.

One of those is Cevena Bioproducts, which announced at TEC Edmonton’s opening ceremony that it has secured a second round of financing of $1.5 million.

The money, in addition to the $2.3 million the company started with when it was founded in 2002, comes from AVAC – a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to accelerating the growth of agri-products in Alberta – and the National Research Council’s Industry Research Assistance Program. It will allow Cevena to commercialize its technology.

“We’ve already been working on scale-up and this will help us to get to that final step of commercialization,” said Cevena co-founder Feral Temelli.

Cevena’s product, viscofibre, is a fractionation from barley and oats that is concentrated in beta glucan. It has a cholesterol-lowering effect, said Temelli, and would be used in “functional food products that will hopefully have the health claim associated with them and also dietary supplements.”

Cevena, itself a U of A spinoff company that received assistance from the university’s research services office (RSO), came about because of the pivotal role the RSO played in helping it to get off the ground, said Temelli.

“TEC Edmonton, or the former RSO, was very instrumental in the establishment of Cevena by bringing us together with potential funders. As academics we were not involved in that end and we needed their expertise to make it happen,” said Temelli. The newer, improved business development program is going to be a boost to the formation of other companies, helping them to grow and be successful, she added.

TECH EDMONTON Some of the existing programs that are now merged under the TEC Edmonton business development banner:

* Technology Transfer Program: A University of Alberta program that seeks opportunities for technology transfer, with priority consideration in Alberta and/or Canada. Its track record since 1994: – More than 230 patents issued (Canada, U.S., world).

– More than 185 licences and options secured, with the average now reaching 25 new deals per year.

– More than $26 million in royalty/licensing revenue generated.

– 766 new inventions reported in the last 10 years.

– In the past year, 97 new inventions reported, 18 licences and options secured (companies that license the use of a U of A-invented technology), 45 patents issued and $1.1 million in revenue from royalties, licensing and option fees.

* Deal Generator: Originally an Edmonton Economic Development Corp. (EEDC) initiative, this program helps early- and growth-stage technology-based companies get prepared for investment opportunities.

Its statistics indicate: – Membership of nearly 100 accredited investors representing more than $400 million in available capital.

– More than $5 million has been invested by venture capitalists in Deal Generator clients.

– In 2004, Deal Generator showcased 14 early-stage companies to potential investors; five have already received offers of funding.

* VenturePrize Program: Also an EEDC project, it hosts a business plan competition. It also conducts related events that encourage individuals with ideas to become entrepreneurs by providing access to support networks, educators, capital and management talent. Last year, there were more than 180 first-round participants, followed by 40 high-quality business plans submitted, culminating in one $100,000 grand prize winner and two $20,000 winners.

– Source: TEC Edmonton

(Laura Severs can be reached at laura@businessedge.ca)