Executive Business Advisor Program

Accelerating the growth of scale up companies in Alberta

The EBA program is currently at capacity and not taking further applications at this time. Please check back for updates.

We’re passionate about helping technology and knowledge-based businesses innovate and grow. Our goal is to diversify the economy and help build a strong entrepreneurial culture in Alberta.

The Executive Business Advisor (EBA) Program is a competitive program for promising, high potential, high growth Alberta SMEs that are anticipated to generate jobs, exports and help diversify our economy.

Preparing your business to scale rapidly

Building on coaching and community networks provided by our technology development advisors and regional innovation network partners, our executive business advisors provide in-depth, one-on-one guidance to Alberta SMEs to prepare them to scale and grow.

The EBA program accelerates the growth of companies through network development, coaching, and access to capital to help them to scale into high-growth, fundable businesses.

Building your business for success

We don’t provide direct funding through this program. It’s intended to provide individualized advice and support on an ongoing basis, for a period of up to three years, at no cost to the applicant company. Our team of executive business advisors has extensive experience building and funding entrepreneurial enterprises.

Once a company is accepted into the program, they will be assigned a dedicated advisor. Our advisors can then guide and help structure the business for growth across several areas including:

Financial modelling,
Organizational structure,
Investment-readiness business planning,
Value proposition and product pricing strategies,
Governance, including board hiring and structure, and
Product strategy and alignment to market and customer needs.

Sales

Sales strategy,
Sales management,
Sales team and distributer compensation, and
Introductions to prospective customers and partners.

Funding strategies and assistance raising capital

Pitch coaching
Capital structure,
Valuation guidance,
Advise on investment structures,
Investment package development,
Shareholder and founder’s agreements, and
Introductions to angel or institutional investors.

Program requirements

Through this program we support pre- or early revenue companies that have developed a minimum viable product or service and are shifting their focus to evolve into a fundable, high growth, commercial business.

This program has a competitive application process consisting of company interviews and an in-depth due diligence review for each of the companies applying.

To qualify for the program, a company must have:

A market ready technology-based product or service
Technology must be unique and highly scalable at a global level
Must have an expert technical understanding of the problem being solved and its value proposition
A clear understanding of the product or service’s competitive landscape
An awareness of target market(s) with a well-developed list of prospective customers
CEO and team must be highly motivated to grow the business, and open to advice and coaching
Minimum of six months of cash flow must be available to support operations
Evidence of traction and product-market fit via revenue generation or conversion of pilots
Less than ten million in annual recurring revenue over the last three years

How the program works

Screening process

The EBA program is currently at capacity and not taking further applications at this time. Please check back for updates.

We accept applications on a continuous basis until capacity is reached. Companies that meet the program requirements stated above will submit the documents below for review.

The internal screening team will reach out with an estimated timeline for review based on the number of companies currently under review for the program. Current timelines average two weeks for the initial review.

Required documents for submission

Capitalization table,
Sales and pilot pipeline,
Five-year financial forecast
Business plan (can be in short form)
Investment deck or company overview deck, and
Financial Statements for previous three years or from inception of business.

Companies that do not submit all listed documents or meet the requirements outlined above will not move forward in the screening process and will be notified of the outstanding requirements to move forward.

Post screening

After completing a review of the documents provided, the internal review team will reach out via email or will arrange a call to discuss outstanding questions or required clarifications.

Decision

Once all additional information required has been provided, the internal review team will make a final decision and the program director will inform you if your application was accepted. If you’re unsuccessful, we will provide feedback as to why.

Assigning an executive business advisor

Once a company has completed the screening process and been accepted into the program, we’ll assign you an executive business advisor to work with an ongoing basis.

Your EBA will provide you ongoing coaching and guidance on an as required basis. There are no set time requirements for engagement with your EBA; companies, however, can be deemed inactive due to low engagement may be removed from the program.

Program resources

Program documents

Program guide

Current Executive Business Advisor Program companies

To learn more, please contact: ebaprogram@albertainnovates.ca