Cultivator celebrates 3 years of fostering growth in tech industry

Cultivator companies have generated more than $14 million in revenue, raised $22.7 million in private capital and created over 300 jobs.

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Just like the tech startups it tries to help flourish, Cultivator is seeing impressive growth.

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The business incubator, which is owned by Conexus Credit Union and based in Regina, recently celebrated its three-year anniversary. During that time, Cultivator companies have generated more than $14 million in revenue, raised $22.7 million in private capital and created more than 300 jobs.

According to Jordan McFarlen, incubator manager, Cultivator has incubated more than 80 tech companies. He said Cultivator’s biggest focus is on ensuring the success of these companies

“When founders succeed, we succeed. And there’s just such an impressive community of founders, and a continual flow of new founders who really believe in breakthroughs in various industries,” said McFarlen.

In a news release, Conexus said there previously wasn’t much support available for tech startups, causing many founders to leave Saskatchewan. It’s believed Cultivator has helped retain these founders and their companies.

Cultivator started out in a small space filled with IKEA desks on the University of Regina campus, but now inhabits a 15,000 square foot headquarters on College Avenue.

Some of the success stories coming out of Cultivator include the agtech company PrecisionAI, which has raised more than $20 million in private and public funding. myComply, which makes safety technology for job sites in the construction industry, recently won a contract to provide its software to New York City, which will see it used by more than 150,000 construction workers.

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Jordan McFarlen, business incubation manager at Cultivator, speaks with Breanne Dmytriw inside the Cultivator workspace.
Jordan McFarlen, business incubation manager at Cultivator, speaks with Breanne Dmytriw inside the Cultivator workspace. Photo by TROY FLEECE /Regina Leader-Post

Both companies have also recently graduated from Cultivator’s Scale program, which is geared towards businesses that are exceeding $250,000 in annual revenue or have reached a significant fundraising milestone.

LimbusAI has received FDA and EU approval to sell radiation therapy software internationally. Prairie Robotics raised a $690,000 seed round led by Conexus Venture Capital Inc., and became the first Saskatchewan-based company to receive funding from Sustainable Development Technology Canada.

McFarlen said Cultivator’s pre-revenue Start program now typically sees approximately 50 applications for cohorts with a dozen spots. Approximately 50 per cent of companies that have gone through the Start program were founded by women.

Several Cultivator companies also grew from having no monthly recurring revenue to $20,000 in less than a year.

David Thomas is a co-founder of BudSense, a Regina-Calgary startup that helps cannabis stores create print, digital and web menus. BudSense started in Cultivator’s Start program last spring. Prior to joining Cultivator, BudSense was working with approximately 20 stores. That number has now grown to over 200.

Thomas said Cultivator has been a huge support, and its office space that’s available for companies to use has also been a big help.

“We get to focus on being in the moment instead of whether or not we can justify a five-year lease or something,” said Thomas.

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Cultivator has companies from the Regina and Saskatoon areas, but also from other parts of the province. McFarlen said he’s been impressed by the talent coming out of Moose Jaw.

“There’s something in the water out in Moose Jaw that builds really good founder DNA,” said McFarlen.

McFarlen explained that Cultivator’s mentorship and programming services are vital for tech startups hoping to produce a breakthrough technology. The opportunity for growth at these types of companies is high, but so is the potential for failure. What Cultivator does is provide founders with guidance so they aren’t going it alone.

“We deal with the highest possible opportunity for growth and really push to accelerate that, but we also deal with an extremely high potential for failure,” said McFarlen.

McFarlen said the goal for the future of Cultivator is to continue removing barriers that stand in front of people who want to build a tech startup, and increase the growth rate of its companies.

Cultivator is also focusing on providing industry-specific programming through its involvement in the venture-capital backed Agtech Accelerator, which is meant to foster the growth of Canada’s top agtech startups. The first cohort is set to begin in March, and will be supporting companies from not just Canada, but also the United Kingdom.

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