U.S. tech company RocketSpace lands in Calgary

Some of Calgary's vacant commercial space will soon be filled by a new tenant from Silicon Valley as tech company RocketSpace launches a Canadian office in Calgary.

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It will move into the former Encana Place building across from the Fairmont Palliser which has been sitting mostly empty since employees moved into the Bow Building.

True to form the Calgary Eyeopener caught up with CEO Duncan Logan on Wednesday as he was traveling in an Uber crossing the Golden Gate Bridge.

"I have to give a lot of credit to the local people of Calgary. The Calgary Economic Development group who saw us, and told us what was going on there," said Logan.

RocketSpace is a tech accelerator for startups that helps them launch and eventually match with corporations. It's responsible for facilitating 18 "unicorns" a.k.a billion-dollar companies within the last six years.

It's in the process of renovating 75,000 square feet of space, enough for 1,000 people who may be needing flexible office space to help grow their startup.

"Calgary already has a great tech ecosystem up and running. What we look to do is pool that into one location."

Logan said he was enticed by Calgary's highly educated workforce as well as the presence of other corporate head offices in the city.

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He expects there will be eight to 10 Calgarians hired to start off, but expects to help multiple companies take off.

"We think young companies are like young people. They are a product of their environment. The better the environment we can create, the better positivity for these young startups to be successful."

The redesign will also include unusual features, such as a putting green, basketball court, golf simulator, and indoor dog park.

With files from the Calgary Eyeopener