About Ascent
Ascent, previously known as Momentum, was established in 2023 as the continuation of the successful REHAB i2c and TENET i2c programs at the University of Calgary. The Ascent program provides funding and training to the top University of Calgary innovators to transform their research or early-stage startups into a commercial product or service.
Participants will receive entrepreneurial training and coaching from the Hunter Hub and be matched with mentors from the community. These resources equip participants with the skills and knowledge to develop their idea, and fine-tune their presentation skills for a pitch competition at the UCalgary Ingenuity Competition during Inventures. Participants will be pitching for a share of a $40,000+ prize pool to commercialize their product or service.
This four-month program is run by the Hunter Hub for Entrepreneurial Thinking at the University of Calgary and includes:
- Mentorship from experts in the innovation field
- Access to Hunter Hub resources including coaching
- Interactive workshops
- In-kind support from partners
Application
Applications close on April 2, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. MST.
Hunter Hub Startup Fund
Participants will be given the opportunity to apply to the Hunter Hub Startup Fund, which provides $1,000 seed funding to refine their pitch. For eligibility, participants must attend all workshops in the program and expenses should directly align with pitch deck development (i.e., video development, branding, slide deck layout and graphics).
Info session
A virtual information session will be held on March 23 to share pertinent information relating to the program. A Q&A session will be opened to participants during the information session. Alessandra Amato, program coordinator, will respond to questions related to the program and application process. A recording of the session will be made available afterward.
Schedule
March 23
Info session
April 2
Application deadline
April 13
Program kickoff and welcome session
April 20
Pitch Development Workshop
April 27
Value Proposition Workshop
May 4
Storytelling Workshop
May 19
Ascent Semifinals
June 2
Ascent Pitch Competition at Inventures
Key information
Did we miss your question? Email us directly at hunterhub@ucalgary.ca to let us know what you're curious about, and we'll get back to you with answers.
Don't forget to join our info session to learn more about the program.
Ascent was established in 2023 as the continuation of the successful REHAB i2c and TENET i2c programs at the University of Calgary. The Ascent program provides training to the top University of Calgary innovators to pitch their research or early-stage startups at Inventures, the flagship event of Alberta Innovates and one of the largest innovation conferences in Alberta.
The program is open to any University of Calgary researcher, student, staff, faculty, and alumni undertaking a project with commercial viability and can provide evidence of product/technology market fit.
The applicant’s project must include a compelling plan for leveraging research/R&D to create a product and/or service (e.g., TRL 5+ considered or earlier-stage projects, minimum viable product (MVP), post-prototype).
- Applicants must be available to engage in all Ascent program activities, attend the in-person semifinals, and attend the UCalgary Ingenuity Competition if selected as a top eight finalist.
- Applicants (or at least one team member) must be a part-time or full-time founder, engaged or in the process of creating a company.
- Applicants (and team members) must be legally eligible to work in Canada.
- Read the 2023 winners announcement in UToday
- Read the 2021 winners announcement in UToday
- Read the 2020 winners announcement in UToday
- Read the 2019 winners announcement in UToday
- Read the 2018 winners announcement in UToday
- Read the 2017 winners announcement in UToday
- Read the 2016 winners announcement in UToday