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The co-founder of Canadian tech success story Skip the Dishes is establishing a not-for-profit pilot program in Calgary aimed at helping local startups build and grow.

Chris Simair — who along with his brother, Josh, founded the well-known Winnipeg-based food delivery company in 2012 and sold it for $200 million four years later — has relocated from the Manitoba capital to Calgary to launch Harvest, a “venture building studio” that aims to help entrepreneurs create globally competitive companies right here on the Canadian Prairies.

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Simair said following the sale of his successful company (which has grown to become one of Canada’s largest tech firms, with 2,500 employees), he wanted to give back by using some of the lessons learned through Skip the Dishes to help the burgeoning tech sector in Calgary and other western Canadian cities.

“Starting a business is tough. It’s even tougher on the Prairies,” said Simair. “Through Skip the Dishes, we developed a playbook for the Prairies. So we thought, rather than ripping it up and throwing it away, wouldn’t it be great to take this playbook and make it reusable?”