University of Alberta opens venture space for commercializing health innovation

The University of Alberta has opened a $2.3 million venture hub called TEC Centre Labs that aims to help scientists and researchers commercialize their discoveries. Located in downtown Edmonton, the facility encompasses 8,000 square feet of wet lab and collaboration space, and houses two accelerator programs: the UAlberta Health Accelerator, which concentrates on assisting researchers at the university’s Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, and the Merck Invention Accelerator, which focuses on emerging health technologies that could find global applications. Funders for TEC Centre Labs included Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED), Western Economic Diversification Canada, and the University Hospital Foundation, as well as provincial and municipal partners.