TELUS Community Safety and Wellness Accelerator

The TELUS Community Safety and Wellness Accelerator is a corporate venture capital program dedicated to fostering startups that address community safety and wellness challenges. Sponsored by the Edmonton Police Foundation and in partnership with organizations such as ATB Financial, TELUS, Motorola, the University of Alberta, AMII, and the Edmonton Police Service, the accelerator leverages data, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to support social impact ventures. Its mission is to solve community challenges and create sustainable models for global solutions.

The accelerator offers a comprehensive program that includes entrepreneurship, mentorship, domain expertise, funding, and structured accelerator programming. It focuses on startups that utilize AI and machine learning to develop applications or digital platforms providing social, community, or wellness benefits. The program aims to demonstrate the social impact power of Albertans and has attracted global attention, bringing in startups from countries like Israel, New Zealand, the United States, Argentina, Turkey, Russia, and Australia.

In April 2022, the accelerator announced the ScaleGood Fund, a $10 million venture capital fund designed to invest in graduating companies from the program. The fund seeks to deliver both measurable social impact and strong financial returns, with investments ranging from $25,000 to $200,000. The first investment was made in Areto Labs, an Alberta-based company focused on protecting team members from digital bullies and reducing online hate. This initiative underscores the accelerator's commitment to supporting ventures that address complex social issues while achieving financial success.