Co.Labs

A huge milestone for Co.Labs and the founders we support 🚀 Prairies Economic Development Canada I Développement économique Canada pour les Prairies announced a $3.7M investment into Co.Labs on the Uniting The Prairies Main Stage! This support will help us: ➡️ Expand founder programming & mentorship through XiR ➡️ Connect more startups with investors & capital ➡️ Continue building Uniting The Prairies as the premier Prairie tech conference The announcement was as part of a broader $7.9M investment into Saskatchewan’s growing tech and AI ecosystem, with 5 other organizations receiving funding at the same time. SK tech keeps winning 🙌

It’s officially #UP Week 👊 Whether you’ve already secured your spot or still need a little convincing… this is your sign. 600+ RSVPs and counting, with the Prairie tech community pulling up ready to connect, collaborate, and make big moves. From WIT Breakfast to UP Late and Vendasta’s After-Party, the calendar’s stacked with side events you won’t want to miss! The colosseum is almost full 👀 Less than 50 tickets left to be in the room where it all happens (🔗 in comments).

What a night 🔥 Last week, Cohort 17 brought the heat at the Co.Launch Finale and raised the bar! 🏆 GoodCoach earned 1st place & $15K, along with the People’s Choice award 🏅 Veyor took home $5K Huge thanks to everyone who packed the house in support!

The sound of a stronger ecosystem 🔊 Saskatoon Audio Visual is stepping in as Co.Labs’ official AV partner, powering the events that bring our community to life. They were behind the scenes at yesterday’s Co.Launch Finale and will be helping us turn it up all year long! When the right partners step in, everything gets amplified 🙌

Revealing the worst kept secret in Prairie tech… 🤫 Co.Labs is proud to produce Uniting The Prairies, the biggest tech conference in Saskatchewan. UP unites founders, investors, and builders from across SK, AB, and MB under one roof for 2 days each year. And you should come too! What’s waiting for you: 🔥13+ world-class speakers 🔥High-signal networking (Level UP, UP Late, Vendasta after-party + more) 🔥$30K pitch competition (shoutout McKercher LLP) Get your tickets for UP and stop by the Co.Labs Caffè while you're there! ☕️

Six weeks ago, Bennett Friesen and I Joined Co.Launch through Co.Labs with a clear goal: to turn GoodCoach from a bold vision of how sports teams can function into a scalable reality. It’s been an intense, hands-on sprint of building, testing, pitching, and learning alongside other amazing founders: Rakibul Islam Chowdhury, Slade Desrochers and Michelle Petrisor. It's been an amazing cohort and has flown by in the blink of an eye! Now, it all comes together on April 16th at the Co.Launch Finale, where I’ll be pitching for the $20K grand prize! 📍 Louis’ Basement 🕔 Doors open 5:00PM 🎟️ Free to attend and cheer us on (RSVP here): https://lnkd.in/gMp-Zawu

Pull UP and win big 👊 We’re giving away a FREE Uniting The Prairies ticket ($250 value) at the Co.Launch Finale this Thursday - powered by Drawbridge (one of our late-stage startups). To enter: 🎟️ RSVP on 3common 🪩 Come to the Finale (must be present to win) Someone’s about to get very lucky, could be you!

Not your average judging panel 😈 Meet the Co.Launch Finale judges: 🔥Alex Shimla, Principal at Conexus Venture Capital 🔥Kari Harvey ICD.D, CEO at Innovation Saskatchewan 🔥Roshan Thomas CEO at Biktrix Capital. Ecosystem leadership. Founder experience. This is the room where big decisions get made. $20K on the line. See it live on April 16 (this Thursday) at Louis’ to find out who takes it home! (🔗 in comments)

I’m pitching for $20K on April 16th. Here’s what got me here. When I first came to Canada, I needed a document from back home. Shipping 100g cost me $200 and took 21 days. That didn’t make sense. Then I realized - this isn’t just my problem. Millions of immigrants constantly need to move small, meaningful items across borders. At the same time, travelers fly with unused luggage space every day. That’s why beside my day to day job, I built Shared Luggage - a marketplace that connects travelers with people who need to bring or send items. In our pilot for 100 days, we onboarded 250+ verified users and facilitated 100kg of deliveries. This isn’t just an idea anymore - it’s already happening. Six weeks ago, we got into Co.Labs' Co.Launch program through a competitive selection process. Co.Launch gave me the structure, pressure, and community to turn it into something real. Now, Shared Luggage is heading to the Finale stage. If you’re part of the community — or just curious — come be part of the momentum. It’s going to be a special night for SK tech 👊 📍 Louis’ Basement 🕔 Doors open 5:00 PM 🎟️ Free to attend (RSVP here): https://lnkd.in/grZ4ySrY

The stage is set 👊 Weeks of late nights, tough feedback, and constant iteration led to this moment. Meet the startups ready to pitch: ➡️ GoodCoach - turning scattered athlete data into smarter coaching decisions. ➡️ Shared Luggage - unlocking cross-border delivery through a traveller-powered marketplace. ➡️ Veyor - streamlining real estate transactions with AI to reduce risk and speed up deals Catch them live April 16th, 5:00pm at Louis’ Basement as they compete for $20K!