AN 8-WEEK SPRINT TO SOLVE INDUSTRY'S THORNIEST PROBLEMS
Edmonton Unlimited’s Built World Challenge pairs local innovators with local corporations to solve technology problems those companies are facing right now.
Whether you’re a student, developer, researcher, designer, or industry professional, you’ll join a multidisciplinary team, spend eight weeks building a real solution, and compete for the chance to put it in front of a paying customer.
Great startups begin with thorny problems. This is where you find one.
Why Join the Built World Challenge?
- Solve a real problem for a real company, sourced directly from industry.
- Build alongside a multidisciplinary team of students, developers, researchers, and industry professionals.
- Compete for funding through Venture Pilots to implement your solution with actual customers.
Who Should Apply?
Anyone who wants to build something real in eight weeks. No company required, no prior startup experience required, no construction background required. Teams form after you apply, and run one to five people.
Applications open August 12, 2026 and close [Sept 9 at noon].
How it Works
Industry partners submit their technology challenges. You form a team and choose one challenge to solve. Over eight weeks your team tests ideas, builds a solution, and explores the commercial opportunity, with business and technical coaches supporting the teams that advance.
Teams present at semi-finals in October, then at a public Demo Day in November. Top teams have the potential to receive funding through Edmonton Unlimited’s Venture Pilots program to implement their solution with customers.
This is a full-circle program, from ideation to field implementation.
The Challenges
Safety Codes Challenge
Building codes are prescriptive. Innovators are creative. When a builder wants to use an alternative to what the code prescribes, they have to prepare an alternative solution application that objectively demonstrates equivalent or greater performance, then submit it to the Safety Codes Officer responsible for that jurisdiction.
Your challenge: build an AI-powered tool that gets those applications complete and code-referenced before they ever reach an officer. The tool needs to take in key information about the proposed alternative solution, identify the relevant building codes, and review the full application for completeness.
Sponsored By
Embodied Carbon Challenge
Whole-building embodied carbon assessments are too slow, too expensive, and too specialized for most residential builders. Meanwhile, Canada’s federal Standard on Embodied Carbon in Construction now requires whole-building Life Cycle Assessments on major federally-funded projects, including residential projects that increase the supply of affordable housing.
Your challenge: build a software platform that lets residential builders generate affordable, compliance-ready embodied carbon assessments directly from the building plans they already produce.
Sponsored By
KEY DATES
August 12, 2026 Innovator applications open
September 8, 2026 Program kickoff
September 12 and 13, 2026 Hackathon weekend
October 6, 2026 Semi-final presentations
November 10, 2026 Demo Day
FAQs
Who can apply?
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis starting in late January.
Do I need a team before I apply?
Once you have a company pitch deck and 1-page summary of your proposed Pilot, the application can be completed in under 30 minutes
Do I need a background in construction?
If you are a Northern-Alberta based startup with a technology serving the Built World, you are eligible. If you are outside of Northern Alberta but looking to pilot your technology with Alberta customers, you may still be eligible.
What's the time commitment?
We are curating introductions between founders and potential customers from construction, engineering, manufacturing and other industries. We are providing some funding towards the implementation of 10 pilots. We are providing each participating startup with a venture coach to help them convert their pilot customer into a long-term sale and to build a customer acquisition strategy based on the experience of the pilot.
Is there a cost to participate?
Shovel ready projects that can start in 2026. We want to see a clearly defined pilot with a value proposition to the customer. We are also looking for startups that are positioning themselves to scale – how will this pilot help you grow your business here in Alberta? The selection decision will be considering the investability of the startup in addition to the viability of the pilot.
Who owns what my team builds?
Reach out to Zack Storms directly: [email protected]
What happens if my team wins?
The selection process may require 4-6 hours of your time to answer questions from during the applicant review process. The pilot itself should be a massive time commitment! This pilot should be a key customer for your company. We also ask for light reporting on progress throughout the program. Finally we pair you with a venture coach to help you strategize on how to convert your pilots into a customer acquisition strategy (optional, time commitment of the coach will be capped).
I am a corporation. How do I submit a challenge for future cohort?
The program can fund pilot-related costs. This can be related to personnel, materials, expertise, or a variety of other expenses needed to execute the pilot. The funds cannot be used for non-pilot business expenses
Built World Challenge Sponsors & Partners
Industry Leader Sponsor
Challenge Partners
Organizing Partners
Engineering Incubator + eHub
Community Partners
VENTURE PILOTS: SHAPING THE FUTURE OF BUILT WORLD TECH
Edmonton Unlimited’s Venture Stream is connecting startups, investors, and industry partners driving innovation across the built environment.
Whether you’re working in construction technology, PropTech, smart cities, infrastructure, or sustainable development, Venture Pilots helps founders grow, scale, and bring bold ideas to life.
Program Overview
The mission is to accelerate the integration of local innovation into the local economy.
Explore the technology focus, target startups, and program goals with the button below to learn more about Venture Pilots.
Pilots
Aqua-Cell has developed a salt-water based battery for industrial scale energy storage. In this pilot, they will be using a live field demo in Medicine Hat to model the performance of their battery system under various real-world conditions. The pilot will be included in EPRI‘s deRISKED project to evaluate pre-commercial energy storage technologies with a consortium of utilities and power producers.
Aqtiva has developed a cold plasma microbubble-activated water (PAW) system designed to enhance crop yield while reducing fertilizer dependencyThe technology generates reactive species-activated irrigation water that stimulates root development, accelerates growth cycles and improves soil vitality.
Aqtiva Inc. will execute a farm-based pilot in Alberta to validate its cold plasma microbubble-activated water (PAW) system as a fertilizer-reducing, yield-enhancing input for future targeting of greenhouse and microgreen producers.
The pilot is structured as a controlled side-by-side trial (PAW vs. water + fertilizer control) and serves as a de-risking step toward scaled device installations across Alberta greenhouse and specialty crop operations.
Candle Lithium utilizes lithium extraction technology based on ion-exchange (IX) that uses proprietary beads developed at the University of Alberta. Technology can operate in difficult environments (low quality brines).
Candle is running the first field trial of their Lithium extraction system at an oil and gas well. The full treatment system will treat waste brine water and extract the lithium.
CityScan Technologies uses AI-powered infrastructure assessment software to monitor and assess roadway conditions using off-the-shelf cameras such as Go-Pros.
CityScan is going to benchmark the performance of their AI-powered road assessment software. From a technical perspective, the pilot will demonstrate successful integration of CityScan’s processed outputs into at least one representative Tetra Tech project workflow.
Elementiam’s Element X is a vision-enabled software layer that adds intelligence to industrial robots, enabling automated welding in manufacturing environments. The platform targets measurable productivity gains (up to 25%) & materially shorter capital payback periods (up to 60%), positioning automation as economically viable for complex manufacturing firms.
Elementiam will execute a 3-month pilot with a contract manufacturer specializing in oil & gas skid fabrication
RoBIM uses an end-to-end robotic manufacturing system to produce modular building components off-site.
RoBIM is going to benchmark their Robotic system against a truss manufacturing system.
InstallPROOF is a SaaS platform providing a digital system of record for flooring installations.
The pilot will be the first field trial of the platform with a major flooring retailer, TreeCo. InstallPROOF will capture real-time installation data, track installer adoption and demonstrate reduction in claims friction.
Ultracoustics has built BROADSONIC, an optical ultrasonic sensor with an acoustic bandwidth of 5 MHz that detects 250x the frequency range of human hearing. In this pilot, they will be using this novel technology to optimize the design of ultrasonic transducers for high-end oil and gas pipeline integrity measurements. This work will be done in cooperation with AIMS (PIP360 Inc.), a leader in specialized solutions for pipeline integrity monitoring.
Zylotex is developing a pulping platform that converts waste hemp fibres into high-purity cellulose materials for use in nonwovens, composites, and regenerated fibres. This pilot will produce the first product samples of their cellulose fibers for quality analysis by Lenzing, a global leader in sustainable fiber production.
Partnering to Advance Innovation in the Built Environment
Through a newly signed Memorandum of Understanding, Edmonton Unlimited and CIC will collaborate through the Venture Pilots: Built World Tech Program to help accelerate the adoption of emerging technologies across construction, infrastructure, and the broader built world ecosystem.
Investment Committee
Ali Golabchi
Executive Director, CIC
Dale Beard
Doug Johnson
James Freeman
President, Valentis International
Kristina Milke
General Partner, Sprout Fund
Matthew McGrath
Mike Riou
Technology Development Advisor, Alberta Innovates
Peter Ketih
Director of eHUB University of Alberta & Investment Lead @ UA Innovation Fund
Shauna Woo
Program Lead, Threshold Impact VMS
Sid Roy
Impact Investment Director, Alberta Ecotrust Foundation
Tiffany Linke-Boyko
Principal, Flying Fish Partners
Yasmine Al-Hussein
Investment Manager, Yaletown Partners
FAQs
When is the application due?
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis starting in late January.
How long will the application take?
Once you have a company pitch deck and 1-page summary of your proposed Pilot, the application can be completed in under 30 minutes
Is my company eligible?
If you are a Northern-Alberta based startup with a technology serving the Built World, you are eligible. If you are outside of Northern Alberta but looking to pilot your technology with Alberta customers, you may still be eligible.
What are the benefits of this program?
We are curating introductions between founders and potential customers from construction, engineering, manufacturing and other industries. We are providing some funding towards the implementation of 10 pilots. We are providing each participating startup with a venture coach to help them convert their pilot customer into a long-term sale and to build a customer acquisition strategy based on the experience of the pilot.
What are you looking for in my proposal?
Shovel ready projects that can start in 2026. We want to see a clearly defined pilot with a value proposition to the customer. We are also looking for startups that are positioning themselves to scale – how will this pilot help you grow your business here in Alberta? The selection decision will be considering the investability of the startup in addition to the viability of the pilot.
If I’m a corporation that wants to pilot technologies, how do I get involved?
Reach out to Zack Storms directly: [email protected]
What is the time commitment to participate?
The selection process may require 4-6 hours of your time to answer questions from during the applicant review process. The pilot itself should be a massive time commitment! This pilot should be a key customer for your company. We also ask for light reporting on progress throughout the program. Finally we pair you with a venture coach to help you strategize on how to convert your pilots into a customer acquisition strategy (optional, time commitment of the coach will be capped).
What are the eligible costs for the program funding?
The program can fund pilot-related costs. This can be related to personnel, materials, expertise, or a variety of other expenses needed to execute the pilot. The funds cannot be used for non-pilot business expenses
Why should I participate in this program?
To close more customers, grow your business, and impact your community. We are actively looking for local buyers of participating startups’ products. We are building an investment committee composed of leaders from across the ecosystem that can support applicants with advice, introductions, referrals, and capital. We are pairing funded projects with an exited senior executive that’s been through the scaling journey before. We are convening a community of builders to accelerate the adoption of new technologies in our province. This is more than a program. This is a culture-defining event for the Edmonton Startup Community.
Funded in part by: Government of Alberta
