The Foundry, the new innovation space on Charlottetown’s Great George Street, is seeking founder-members, especially those aiming at international markets, its new director told Entrevestor.

The Foundry seeks to foster innovation and community by enabling water cooler collisions and the rapid exploration and rejection or development of ideas.

“We are looking for founders striving for exports beyond the Atlantic region,” said Chris Gallant, Executive Director of the PEI IT Alliance and the person heading up the new incubator space.

“Participants need a new technology or a new product or service built around technology with a focus on global export,” said Gallant, who is also a co-founder of Iron Fox Games.

Run by the PEI IT Alliance with funds provided by the province and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, The Foundry is supporting the delivery of programming and mentorship services for the province’s tech industry.

Gallant said there are currently an estimated 3,000 technology professionals working in the island’s IT industry.  

The Foundry offers a physical space for interaction.  PEIDevs, the local group for developers, now hold their monthly meetups out of The Foundry, he said.

“It’s a place for tech workers to gather, get help, fail fast, and recombine,” said Gallant.

Coaching at The Foundry is based on a 90-day plan. Ideally, Gallant said, participant-clients are at the mid-validation or post-validation stage, approaching revenue, and solving real problems.

The PEI IT Alliance was established in 2022 and currently supports a membership of 908, including 89 organizations, along with startups, professionals, remote workers, and students.

Membership of both the IT Alliance and The Foundry is expanding, Gallant said.  

“Some of our members are startup founders and others are remote workers for big technology companies,” he said.

“We have held events to get people in technology and on the periphery aware of what we are doing… I'm talking to a lot of prospective founders and coaching them through taking the plunge (into entrepreneurship).”

Gallant said The Foundry aims to avoid duplicating the work of other support organizations, and founders may be referred to other groups if programs offered elsewhere seem more appropriate.

“2025 is the year we figure out what we are good at and what differentiates us,” he said.