Saskatchewan startup turns to AI to launch business and accelerate growth

For Saskatoon-based real estate agent Greg Bamford, who has been in the industry for more than 20 years, customers are at the heart of his business.

But sometimes these relationships can be difficult to manage, he says. That’s why, he says, when business partner Caroline Gilmore approached him with the idea of ​​streamlining the communication process for clients last fall, he went all in.

“I basically vibe-coded the first version of the app and went to the realtor team, including Greg, and said, ‘Is this going to make my job easier?’ It grew from there,” Gilmore said.

Gilmore said he built the first version of the app, called Rivra, entirely using artificial intelligence (AI) and leveraged large-scale language models like ChatGPT to help with coding.

“Over the past nine months, we have gone from an idea to a production-grade app that is now available to our first test users,” said Gilmore.

The two then pitched the idea to Co.Labs, a Saskatoon-based technology incubator that has supported more than 250 startups in its nine years of operation.

According to the incubator’s program director, all supported startups are currently leveraging AI in some capacity, from developing minimally viable products to integrating more advanced products into business operations.

“That can range from using tools like OpenAI and Anthropic chat products to coding agents and tools that help with the very deep technical parts of building a product,” said Graeme Jobe, program director at Co.Labs.

The incubator is funded by both the federal and state governments and currently supports approximately 30 resident entrepreneurs.

Jobe notes that AI is reshaping the state’s entrepreneurial landscape, lowering barriers to entry by allowing founders to build things “at a lower cost and much faster.”

“I’m really excited to see where it takes us and how AI can lower the barrier to entry for people who have great ideas and uniquely know how to solve problems,” he said.

Jay Maharaj’s sports management app TeamLinkt started at Co.Labs seven years ago. Since then, we’ve grown beyond the Co.Labs workspace to a team of 30 people, serving approximately 600,000 users.

He says AI is changing the way entrepreneurs spend their time.

“Now it’s not about the product anymore. We can build the product more efficiently and quickly, and we have a better understanding of go-to-market, including how to deliver that product to customers in an efficient way,” he said.

But while AI is helping founders build faster, it’s also lowering the bar for competitors. This is not lost on Bamford.

“I think what we’re building is a great concept, but at the same time, it’s possible that other people could completely beat us on that,” he said.

Nevertheless, Bamford says he is largely grateful to AI and its capabilities for allowing him to scale his business so quickly.

“If we had done it two or three years ago, I don’t think we would have been able to do it. If you look at the user interface of what we’ve actually built, it probably would have cost more than $100,000 just to build it,” he said.

“Without AI, we wouldn’t be here today.”

The companies say they have begun beta testing the app and are targeting a release in the third quarter of this year.

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