MindFuel is pleased to announce that it has received $500,000 in funding over two years from RBC Foundation. This seed funding will help support MindFuel's development efforts for the Connect2Innovate technology platform, which connects youth audiences aged 15 to 29 from across Canada to major stakeholders and supports the innovation journey of aspiring entrepreneurs.
Connect2Innovate (C2I) is a dynamic community driven platform that connects youth across Canada to the innovation ecosystem by providing youth innovation teams with supports critical to developing and advancing their technology-based projects, which include nanotechnology, synthetic biology, robotics, and AI. Through C2I, youth talent will be able to accelerate their prototyped solutions to real world problems by developing sector specific innovations in clean-tech, energy, environment, health, agriculture and bio/health tech. Critically, C2I helps youth gain access to much needed support including skills development through workshops, design-thinking seminars, subject matter expert guidance, project funding, and development of mentor, peer, and alumni connections.
"As the world of work and technology continue to transform, equipping people with the skills for a thriving future has never been more important," says Gayle Corcoran, Senior Director, Social Impact, RBC. "That's why we are proud to support MindFuel's Connect2Innovate project, which will give youth a chance to develop in-demand skills for the jobs of tomorrow, gain access to valuable work experience, and provide them with other critical support as they progress on their paths to innovation."
Connect2Innovate is community-based and is the result of critical insights gained from a post 10-year survey based on Albertan alumni of MindFuel's innovation programming for high school and post-secondary youth, then aged 15 to 25 years old during 2013 to 2022. Key insights from the two-part in-depth survey from 76 of 79 project teams, include:
- 13% or 9 teams (out of 69 teams surveyed) commercialized their projects in bio-tech / life sciences
- Commercialization of projects occurred in under five years from idea inception
- $32.5M in venture capital funding secured as of December 2024
- $13.2M in product revenues earned
- 138 high skilled jobs created, with 52.5% in AB, 30.4% in Quebec, 16,7% in USA.
- 23 patents, trade secrets filed, pending, issued
- 91% talent retention in Canada, 79% in Alberta
- A brief summary of study insights is available here.
Connect2Innovate is very well timed given our nation's current economic concerns which highlight a pressing national need for accelerated innovation, and critically, the need to catalyze productivity across the country," says Cassy Weber, CEO, MindFuel. "We've spent over 10 years understanding, modelling, and validating the requirements to not only support the development of youth innovation talent, but most importantly, to incentivize productivity and talent retention, and C2I will play a key role as a launchpad that mobilizes youth innovation talent across Canada."
C2I facilitates innovation challenges and training initiatives, encouraging real-world problem-solving through rapid applied skills development. MindFuel welcomed its 2025 Tech Futures Challenge youth innovation teams to C2I as part of its user testing product development cycle. Aspiring innovators from British Columbia, Ontario, Alberta, and Manitoba will continue to provide critical insights into user experience over the next six to twelve months specific to marketing pages, membership access, community discussion forums, and analytics tools to support engagement and growth in the STEM innovation space. Critically, member organizations can post job and internship opportunities, scholarships, funding resources, and mentorship programs, all geared to supporting aspiring innovators.
"As a multiyear alumni of Tech Futures Challenge program, I can say that FREDsense would not be the company we are today without the critical experience we got from MindFuel," says David Lloyd, CEO, co-founder of FREDsense Technologies. "Connect2Innovate will not only allow MindFuel to scale its programming to youth across Canada based on over ten years of insights gathered from its work with Albertan youth alumni, but critically, for employers such as FREDsense, we know that a MindFuel alumni is a top of pile potential recruit for our growing talents needs in the biotech sector."
MindFuel extends appreciation and gratitude to other funding partners' support for its Tech Futures Challenge program, a critical element in C2I, including Cenovus Energy, The Hunter Family Foundation, ATB Financial, DRAX Foundation, TELUS Friendly Future Foundation, TC Energy, NSERC PromoScience, ISED (Innovation, Science and Economic Development, Canada), Government of Canada's Community Services Recovery Fund administered by Canadian Red Cross, Honda Canada Foundation, and more.
