CAPITAL
CITY PILOTS
EDMONTON'S
INNOVATION CHALLENGE
Home-grown solutions for local and global impact
SEE OPEN CHALLENGESABOUT
CAPITAL CITY PILOTS
The Capital City Pilots project, led by Edmonton Unlimited in partnership with the City of Edmonton, calls on entrepreneurs with innovative solutions to answer a series of local and global challenges presented by the City. Pilots from this project will provide pilot-ready solutions to improve City operations, benefiting the City’s community, and growing the region’s innovative ecosystem.
Capital City Pilots opens the opportunity for entrepreneurs to develop pilot-ready projects, build valuable case studies, and gain practical knowledge to assist them in furthering their ideas and their companies to be investment ready. This approach creates more investable companies in Edmonton, attracts more global investors and talent, and brings innovative solutions within City Hall, Parks, and the Edmonton Public realm.

THE PROCESS
Exploration
Capital City Pilots program works with the City of Edmonton to define challenges for the municipality. These may be critical pain points in need of solutions or simply areas for new innovative ideas.
Engagement
Once a challenge has been defined by the City of Edmonton, Capital City Pilots launches the challenge(s) to the innovation community and offer the opportunity to submit their solution.
Submission
Innovators and entrepreneurs are invited to submit their solutions to the Innovation Challenge. From there, the submitted solutions are then evaluated and selected by a review panel of industry and academic experts.
Evaluation
Capital City Pilots will work with finalists and/or winners to develop a statement of work (deliverables) and supports the development of their proof-of-concepts within a set timeframe.
Pilot Launch
A final winner is selected to begin implementation of their solution and receive additional guidance and asset/resource support from the City of Edmonton to further develop their challenge-based solution.
Is there a challenge that your innovation solves?
Apply to Open Challenges
BENEFITS

Working Directly with the City
Gain a deep understanding of the City as a customer. Benefit from the exposure to the municipal processes and constraints to better position your product when going to market.

Business Development
Validate your technology in a real-world environment. Add a powerful case study to your marketing materials. Use the learnings to scale your solution into adjacent industries.

Expert Support System
Access 100+ hours of free one-on-one industry-specific business support to realize a pilot successfully and reach your next growth milestones.

Brand recognition
Establishing a strong and recognizable brand presence to help founders stand out from their competitors, and build trust, credibility, and familiarity among their target audience.

Access to Ecosystem Partners
Leverage the opportunity to acquire new partners and customers. Get connected to industry and ecosystem partners.

Innovate City Hall
Collaborate with the City through pilot-ready solutions to enhance and push processes to the forefront of cutting-edge innovation.

Innovation in the Public Eye
Highlight and celebrate the groundbreaking ideas, inventions, and accomplishments of home grown talent tobuild civic pride and inspires others to pursue their own endeavors.

Case Studies
Build case studies to serve as real-world examples that demonstrate the value, impact and success of founders pilot-ready solutions to attract customers and investment.