About the Calgary Innovation Coalition

What is the CIC?

Since it’s inception, the Calgary Innovation Coalition (CIC) has grown to represent over one hundred member organizations working directly or indirectly with innovation-based entrepreneurs in the region.

Founded in 2016, and funded in partnership with Alberta Innovates, the Calgary Innovation Coalition works in coordination with seven other Regional Innovation Networks across the province. Regional Innovation Networks are entrepreneur-centric, community-based networks with the goal of providing programs, entrepreneurial support and development, and services to accellerate the growth of technology and knowledge-based businesses.

Each Regional Innovation Network is made up of like-minded public organizations. They’re passionate about helping small technology and knowledge-based businesses innovate and grow, diversifying the economy and helping build a strong entrepreneurial culture in Alberta.

Our North Star

Our vision is to build a healthy, inclusive, and globally recognized innovation ecosystem that supports thriving ventures.

As a community-based organization, we are nothing without our network. We are bound to our technology ecosystem and with the growth and success of our members and partners, together we all benefit the economy and entrepreneurial culture in Alberta.

CIC is guided by our north star goal: the support the creation and acceleration of 1,000 technology based startups in Calgary by 2031.

Members refer to this as the 10X challenge. The presence of this many active startups in our ecosystem would mean the creation of 50,000 jobs and $50B in direct GDP contribution to the Canadian economy.