Harvest launches as a New Venture Builder for the Prairies

Co-founder of SkipTheDishes creates venture building studio to drive innovation in the Canadian Prairies


CALGARY, Alberta, Dec. 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Harvest is pleased to announce today its launch as a venture builder for the Canadian Prairies. Created by one of the co-founders of start-up success SkipTheDishes, Harvest takes founders with disruptive ideas and provides them with world-class talent, funding and support to co-build their businesses into globally competitive companies. By leveraging the unique infrastructure that built SkipTheDishes, Harvest develops and ultimately keeps such companies here in the Prairies.

To date, Harvest has secured initial investment capital from Western Economic Diversification Canada to enable the company to begin operations and launch a pilot program for the venture builder. Harvest plans to set up offices across the Prairies and has started with its recent move into Calgary’s M2 building in East Village.

Harvest is eyeing Western Canadian cities including Calgary, Winnipeg and Saskatoon to call its potential headquarters. “Calgary is very much a contender in our process of selecting a headquarters for Harvest,” said Chris Simair, founder of Harvest. “Opportunities within the city, including its growing workforce, create a ripe climate for entrepreneurs to succeed alongside our venture builder. In fact, our first portfolio company, Neo Financial, has grown to over 20 employees with plans to go to market next year.”

The Harvest model is designed to grow meaningful companies through a simple process. Known as the Harvest Platform, it contains elements that work together to provide talent, early-stage funding and access to sector leaders for each Harvest company.  These founders and builders share the ethos of collaboration and values to make the Canadian Prairies a better place to live.

For more information on Harvest, visit harvest.ventures.

About Harvest

Harvest is a not-for-profit co-builder of companies in the Canadian Prairies. It does this by taking founders with disruptive ideas and equipping them with world-class talent, funding, and support to co-build their company into a successful, fast-growing business. Harvest was founded by Chris Simair, co-founder and former CEO of SkipTheDishes, which sold for $200M in 2016 and is one of the largest tech companies in Canada, with over 2,500 employees across Winnipeg, Saskatoon and Calgary. The same infrastructure that made SkipTheDishes a success is what powers the Harvest Platform today. Harvest’s mission is nothing less than to create globally competitive companies right here in the Canadian Prairies and, in doing so, make the region a better place to live for future generations.

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Shauna MacDonald
Brookline Public Relations, Inc.
403-538-5645 
smacdonald@brooklinepr.com