What Makes
the Xchange
Different From
Other Programs?
Summerside Xchange is uniquely focused on providing real-life product testing with customers and creating experimentation environments where start-ups, established innovative companies, researchers, new product developers, and investors collaborate directly with us at the City of Summerside. We leverage our infrastructure to advance product testing, development, and integration in a real-world setting.
connect with us
Through the Summerside Xchange, companies with innovative new products and services will enter our “accelerator environment” for a fixed period of intense, rapid, and immersive education. The result? Accelerating the introduction of their new products and reducing the high risks of market entry by compressing years of learning and doing into just a few short months. After all, why try and fail in the real-world market when you could test, validate, and succeed in Summerside Xchange? 
If you're an innovative company with a new product prototype, we want to partner with you!
Prospective applicants should have at least one working prototype to apply, ensuring they are best positioned to take advantage of the resources the City of Summerside has to offer.
Our program aims to increase the adoption of next-generation technologies and accelerate their large-scale deployment. We recruit clients from local, regional, and global innovation ecosystems and have assembled a team of technical and business support providers, local entrepreneurs, venture capital firms, university research labs, and industry bodies to ensure successful applicants have global support networks.
Our program aims to increase the adoption of next-generation technologies and accelerate their large-scale deployment. We recruit clients from local, regional, and global innovation ecosystems and have assembled a team of technical and business support providers, local entrepreneurs, venture capital firms, university research labs, and industry bodies to ensure successful applicants have global support networks.
While we accept companies from most disciplines, we are particularly interested in technically led innovative solutions in the following areas:
Decarbonization
of the Built
Environment:
of the Built
Environment:
Technologies addressing both existing and new developments, including geothermal exchange for heating/cooling, green building materials, district energy systems, and smart electric heating.
Renewable
Energy:
Energy:
In-city wind turbine manufacturing, building-integrated photovoltaics (solar windows and siding), small-scale geothermal energy, and wastewater-derived biogas.
Energy
Storage:
Storage:
Community-level and on-premise storage solutions, including those in the heat pump space, mechanical, flow, chemical/ electrochemical systems, and battery component production.
Grid
Modernization
and Digitization:
Modernization
and Digitization:
Software solutions for managing energy assets, grid systems, smart lighting, virtual power plants, IoT for water treatment, AI energy management, and digital twins for city systems.
Investment in
Clean Industrial
Facilities:
Clean Industrial
Facilities:
Summerside Business Commons, Prince Edward Island’s first eco-business park, offers world-class, environmentally friendly facilities targeting investors and companies focused on sustainability and cost efficiency.
What Will You Get?
The Xchange provides an invaluable platform and commercialization pathway for technology-driven companies
to validate their products and services. This validation process is critical in industries where new technologies
must meet stringent performance and environmental standards. Summerside’s real-world testing and pilot projects,
often in collaboration with industry partners and government agencies, enable technology-based businesses to demonstrate
the effectiveness and reliability of their innovations, gather feedback, and make necessary adjustments before scaling up.
Moreover, successful validation within an accelerator's ecosystem can significantly enhance a new product or service
business's credibility and attract further investment. By providing a supportive environment for rigorous testing and
validation, the City and the company will play a crucial role in advancing innovative companies and driving the
adoption of sustainable technologies.
CITY INFRASTRUCTURE AVAILABLE FOR PRODUCT/SERVICE VALIDATION
Electric Utility
Wind Farm
Smart Meters
2 Solar Farms
Fibre Network
Utility Scale Batteries
Customer Storage Devices
Waste andWater
Validation and Low-Risk Experimentation
Do you have your MVP but aren’t sure if it works in a real-life setting? Summerside Xchange reduces this risk by allowing successful applicants to tap into the city’s existing infrastructure to conduct research, interviews, and experimentation, fine-tuning, trialing, and demonstrating their products before launching them in a larger North American market.
“First Customer” Opportunities
Do you have a validated product but struggle to deploy it in a real-world setting? The Summerside Xchange helps address key commercialization challenges, from deeply understanding customer problems and validating technology claims to marketing effectively, building compelling business cases, and attracting further investment. We fast-track decision-making—whether it’s “yes,” “no,” or “yes, but…”— through the invaluable “first customer” experience.
Innovative Workspaces
Are you looking for an innovative workspace that fosters experimentation? Summerside owns and operates the Summerside ECO-Park and Building Zero—Atlantic Canada’s first passive energy building—providing Summerside Xchange members with cutting-edge infrastructure designed to support the growth of technology-driven companies like yours.
Business Development
Are you seeking business development opportunities? We offer a wealth of knowledge through case studies on the green economy, technology, and enterprise collaboration for successful applicants to learn from and build upon. Graduating Xchange members will have reduced commercialization risks, increasing their chances of market success. They’ll gain a deep understanding of their technology’s strengths and weaknesses, along with tools to address challenges and leverage opportunities as they advance their product or service in the marketplace.
A Stakeholder Network
Do you wish you had a network of key decision-makers? Look no further than our team at Summerside Xchange, who provide access to key decision-makers such as like-minded lawyers, accountants, and industry experts, including international technology investors, with quick turnaround times.
Have further questions AND WANT
TO TALK TO SOMEONE BEFORE APPLYING?
WE OFFER PRE-APPLICATION REVIEWS FOR COMPANIES BASED ON PRELIMINARY NEW PRODUCT CONCEPTS AND HOW THEY MAY FIT INSIDE OF THE XCHANGE PROGRAM. REACH OUT TO THE SUMMERSIDE XCHANGE TEAM AT allan@summersidexchange.com
Most work scopes and membership in the Xchange/Challenge Program involve product pilots, trials, proof of concepts, first customer experiences, in-depth customer testing, and validation of product claims. Companies receive hands-on support within a fast-paced customer testing environment.
