f you’ve ever worried about someone stealing your fries, spare a thought for the people losing the oil they’re cooked in.
During Monday’s Top 10 Showcase, an annual competition during Calgary Innovation Week spotlighting Calgary’s next generation of startups, HazTrack’s founder Tom McDonell told the audience that $700 million worth of used cooking oil is stolen across North America every year.
It’s an unlikely source of organized crime and a surprisingly big business opportunity.
The pitch drew laughs and raised eyebrows. For a brief moment, half the room seemed tempted to quit their jobs and get in on the grease racket, before McDonell convinced them it was probably wiser to stay on the right side of the supply chain.
Their industrial sensors and analytics help oilfield and waste-management companies monitor tanks and pumps in real time, cutting theft and inefficiencies and turning a messy, overlooked process into a data problem worth solving.
That kind of problem-solving set the tone for this year’s Top 10 Showcase, where Calgary’s newest startups took the stage at the Platform Innovation Centre to tackle real-world issues with practical innovation.
The cohort spanned healthcare, clean tech, manufacturing, education, and artificial intelligence, reflecting how broad the city’s innovation economy has become.
Today, those same companies are being celebrated again at Launch Party, the week’s closing event presented by Alberta Innovates.
Since 2010, Launch Party has been an annual celebration of startups, bringing founders, investors, and community members together to highlight the city’s emerging companies.
This year’s winners — Tarkka Manufacturing Solutions, Tutred, Possibility Neurotechnologies, and DAYY Photonics Corporation — show how Calgary founders are turning big problems into practical innovation.
Their solutions reach beyond city limits, tackling challenges that shape how we learn, heal, build, and manufacture, proof that Calgary’s innovation system is starting to deliver results that travel.
Meet the winners
Tarkka Manufacturing Solutions – Alumni Award
The Alumni Award, presented by Mount Royal University’s Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, honours a past Launch Party founder whose company continues to grow and create meaningful impact.
Tarkka Manufacturing Solutions is changing how wheelchair seating is delivered. Its Sit to Fit system shortens the evaluation-to-delivery process from 45 days to a single bedside session, giving patients safer, customized seating on the spot.
“What Tarkka does with our Sit to Fit system is provide a custom contoured seating system in a single visit, ninety minutes, and you’re done,” said co-founder Dora Tamas.
Built with recyclable carbon fibre and designed for clinicians working with full-time wheelchair users, Tarkka’s approach improves posture, prevents injuries, and reduces waste.
The team said the recognition reinforces the value of designing for people first and shows how advanced manufacturing can address both medical and system-level challenges.
Tutred – Community Award
The Community Award, presented by Neo Financial, celebrates a company demonstrating strong community engagement and social impact.
Tutred is rethinking how students and tutors connect. The AI-powered education platform automates up to 95% of teaching overhead, from lesson planning to grading, and introduces an AI co-tutor called Luna that supports live lessons.
“Luna listens to a live lesson and generates interactive problems, examples, and even visuals based on what’s being taught,” said founder Mo Fellah.
Tutred said the award affirms its mission “to make high-quality tutoring accessible for everyone, regardless of geography or income.”
Its model gives tutors more time to focus on teaching while providing students with personalized learning experiences that adapt in real time.
Possibility Neurotechnologies – Alex Rezenko Award
The Alex Rezenko Award, presented by ZayZoon, is chosen by Launch Party alumni and leadership to honour creativity, resilience, and originality.
Possibility Neurotechnologies is redefining accessibility through brain-computer interfaces that turn thought into action. Its Think2Switch platform lets people operate devices using only their brain signals, captured by a simple EEG headband.
During her pitch, founder Dion Kelly shared the story of Claire, a child whose family was told she would never walk or talk.
“Claire can wear an off-the-shelf brain-sensing headset, and her brain signals are decoded by Think2Switch software, translating them into controls so she can drive her car, create art, or blend her food, all by herself,” Kelly said.
Co-designed with users and already deployed in clinics across six countries, the system reflects a broader shift in neurotechnology, where tools once confined to research labs are now being used in everyday life.
DAYY Photonics Corporation – Sponsors’ Award
The Sponsors’ Award, presented by Blackline Safety, recognizes a standout company selected by sponsors for its potential to scale globally.
DAYY Photonics Corporation develops high-brightness, broad-spectrum light sources that combine laser and crystal technologies to deliver exceptional brightness and stability. The systems are used in defence, semiconductor inspection, and medical imaging, where precision and reliability are critical.
The company has secured prototyping contracts in the U.S. and Israel, including a 20-year supply agreement valued at $25 million, and has a customer pipeline worth an additional $7.5 million.
By building and validating its technology in Calgary, DAYY is demonstrating how advanced photonics manufacturing can take root in Alberta’s growing tech economy.
Meet the rest of this year’s Top 10 startups
Beyond the award winners, the Top 10 reflected the diversity of challenges being addressed through innovation.
VRCORE Education brings field trips into classrooms through virtual reality. Its system allows up to 40 students to explore places like the International Space Station or inside the human body at once.
With more than 30,000 students reached, four franchises in North America, and 10 licensees internationally, VRCORE is expanding how schools use immersive learning. A recent partnership with Lethbridge Polytechnic is developing A Day in the Life of a Police Officer, giving students a firsthand look at real-world careers through VR.
PataBid uses artificial intelligence to speed up construction bids. Its platform, Quantify, automates takeoffs, integrates live material pricing, and generates detailed cost estimates for electrical and mechanical contractors.
Since launching in 2022, it has processed more than $687 million in project estimates across Canada, the U.S., Ireland, and New Zealand, including $500 million in the past 12 months. The company’s impact has even turned one client into an investor after using the software.
HazTrack develops real-time sensors that track industrial tanks and pumps, helping oilfield and waste-management companies monitor operations remotely. Its system, HazTracker, replaces manual checks with automated data feeds that help operators spot problems sooner and cut down on theft and waste.
Symbiotic AI is applying artificial intelligence to cardiovascular care. Its platform analyzes patient data and clinical evidence to help cardiologists select treatments that lower risks and improve outcomes. By organizing complex medical information, it gives physicians clearer insights into each patient’s condition when time matters most.
Taste the City turns dining into exploration through mystery tasting routes that guide users by text through three to five local restaurants. The experience removes the need for reservations or planning while helping independent restaurants attract new customers and encouraging people to explore neighbourhoods on foot.
VL Energy uses artificial intelligence to monitor industrial emissions without costly hardware. Its software, ES-PEMS, predicts and tracks output in real time for sectors such as oil and gas, power generation, and manufacturing.
What began as a tool for measurement and data capture has evolved into a full digital platform that lets customers visualize operations, apply predictive monitoring, and perform preventative maintenance.
With trends shifting toward AI-driven optimization, VL Energy plans to add analytical capabilities and built-in recommendations to help clients further improve efficiency and reduce emissions.
From energy to ingenuity
Calgary Innovation Week began with a conversation about how the city’s innovation economy has matured and how collaboration, not crisis, now drives its momentum. It ends with a celebration of examples of that idea in action.
The Top 10 Showcase and Launch Party are examples of what’s to come as the city organizes itself to solve problems others overlook.
That’s what connects a story about stolen cooking grease to the larger story unfolding in Calgary. The same systems mindset that once powered an energy economy is now being applied to technology, research, and commercialization.
The difference, as Platform Calgary’s Jennifer Lussier said earlier in the week, is that progress no longer depends on a downturn to get started.
This time, the cycle is the system, and as the week’s startups showed, there’s more than one kind of grease that can fuel innovation.
Digital Journal is an official media partner of Calgary Innovation Week.
