The Fort McMurray Chamber of Commerce and Startup YMM Celebrate Small Business Week with Exciting Partnership. For Immediate Release Fort McMurray, Alberta (October 18 th, 2021). The Fort McMurray Chamber of Commerce, together with Startup YMM, are making history during this year’s Small Business Week celebrations by offering six contest prizes valued at over $13,000 in total. Three local businesses and three community members have the chance to win. This exciting partnership will drive community engagement during Small Business Week in Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo from October 17th to 23rd . Es ..read more

Lean Entrepreneur Acceleration Program (LEAP) is inspired by Launch, one of Canada’s most successful tech incubators. Since its launch in 2012, Launch has been putting up results that speak volumes! ● 3500+ entrepreneurs trained ● 300+ graduates have grown from Seed to Series A ● $300M+ raised ● Thousands of connections made In our short history, our Lean Entrepreneur Acceleration Program (LEAP) has had a very similar impact on entrepreneurs in our region. We’ve hosted 3 cohorts since we started, and we can see the connections building. As we learn and grow, we’re making some changes that will ..read more

“The moment we stop learning and trying new things we stop living, we just exist.” – Hayrapet  Lrnkey.com founder, Hayrapet Hambardzumyan, is someone who values education and growth; constantly looking forward to overcoming new challenges and reaching new heights. So, he created a company that would help others do the same!  Lrnkey.com is a platform that connects individuals with instructors who provide a personalized learning experience. Whether you would like to learn how to play the piano, or how to invest in the stock market, Lrnkey.com helps everyone reach their highest pot ..read more

After suffering a stroke during her pregnancy, Startup YMM member Koryn Krekoski, was no longer able to work her regular 9-5 job running a day home. So, she took matters into her own hands to find a new way to provide for her family, and in 2020 Wandering World was born! Wandering World sells “Busy Bags for Kids” – reusable bags filled with simple toys and activities that encourage imaginative play within children. The idea came to Koryn when she constantly found herself surrounded by kids who were on their devices instead of enjoying the world around them – even when she was at Downtown Disne ..read more

Beyond Adventures founder, David Stirling, has lived in YMM for 8 years and within that time has always found new places to explore with his son and fiancée. When he was at a demo day on The Snye, it became clear to him that not many people knew how beautiful our region was, and he decided it needed to be displayed for everyone here and beyond. So, he created Beyond Adventures and Sales – a company that provides consumers with the equipment and knowledge to explore the Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo region for themselves. A cultural re-vamp David is not only passionate about adventure but also abo ..read more

Johnny “Cupcakes” Earle is an entrepreneur, an innovator, and most importantly, a prankster. In fact, the idea for his incredibly successful t-shirt brand, Johnny Cupcakes, started off as a joke; an advertisement for a bakery that didn’t exist! In 2000, Johnny Earle had been given the nickname “Johnny Cupcakes” by his co-workers at the record shop where he was working. He thought the name was funny, so he decided to make a logo for this name, put it on a t-shirt, and trick people into thinking this was an actual bakery. The customers that shopped at the store started taking note of the shirts ..read more

Best known for her role as a “Dragon/Venture Capitalist” on the hit TV Show, Dragons Den, Arlene Dickinson is a Canadian business icon. Before she was a venture capitalist, Arlene was (and remains) a marketing genius. At age 31, she had lost her job in advertising sales, and was recruited by an old coworker to be a partner at his new firm; An independent marketing firm based in Calgary called Venture Communications. Even though being a partner meant she would not earn a salary, she still accepted the opportunity, giving it her all. Eventually, she was able to buy out her 2 partners to become s ..read more

There are some people who let “what ifs” deter them from pursuing their passions, and some who let the “what ifs” guide them. Debbie Travis is the latter. A British-Canadian star, Debbie has conquered many career changes in her life on her way to continuously grow, learn, and figure out “what’s next for Debbie.” Modeling and remodeling her career.  Beginning her career at 16, Debbie left her family to start modeling in London. She soon realized she enjoyed being behind-the-scenes more than in front of a camera, so instead of staying where she was, she decided to follow her gut. She got a ..read more

David Segal is a Canadian entrepreneur, retail thought leader, and the first guest on our Thinkers. Inventors. Doers. speaker series, kicking off Tuesday January 19. Best known for co-founding DAVIDsTEA, Segal’s road to success stems from identifying the need for innovation within existing industries. DAVIDsTEA began when David recognized a way to make a 500-year-old product feel younger and more modern. His goal was to make tea “fun” by introducing specialty flavours and providing a place for people to buy tea outside of just grocery stores. Segal was able to build on this idea and open his f ..read more

2020 has definitely been one for the memory books! Together, the world has experienced something that many of us have never been through before, and something we definitely didn’t see coming. And for us here in Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo, we’ve had an even bigger share of challenges. We experienced a global pandemic, a natural disaster, and an economic crisis all at the same time.  Like so many entrepreneurs in our community, we at Startup YMM have been going through this while trying to launch and grow our business. And though things have not gone exactly as planned, we’re extremely prou ..read more