👋 Good morning, and welcome to VTJ’s Sunday Briefing: your weekly digest of the city’s innovation news, deals, insights, and more.
I’ve got something special for you this Sunday.
This week marked World News Day — a global campaign to showcase the value of fact-based journalism. Our writers and editors at Vancouver Tech Journal have been working their butts off over the last four years to bring you the truth of the news that matters to you: our community.
I wanted to take this moment to thank our VTJ members, who support us with their subscriptions of only $8.25 a month. None of this is possible without you.
And to celebrate World News Day, we want to give more of you the opportunity to see how good members’ life is. Want to join our members-only events? Get half-price on all events VTJ runs? Read our exclusive articles? Be sent playbooks and cheatsheets to advance your career in Vancouver tech? You can have it all — and more — as a member:
Join us! It’s pretty cool over here.
Now onto today’s briefing. It’s 1,194 words: a three-minute read.
-Kate
🗞️ FROM VTJ
Read more at vantechjournal.com
SPONSORED BY FORESIGHT CANADA
Celebrate Canada's top cleantech innovators
For Canada to reduce emissions at the pace our current climate challenges demand, innovators need access to capital to scale, deploy, and reach new markets. And so far, most of them are struggling.
The Foresight 50 list, an initiative organized by Foresight Canada, is changing that. Now in its fourth year, the list recognizes Canada’s most investible startups, connecting them with a vast network of international investors.
Find out who made the 2024 list! Join us for the Foresight 50 Celebration (November 6) and the Investor Forum (November 7) where ventures, investors, industry leaders, and government partners will gather to find out who is selected as Canada's 50 most investible cleantech ventures of 2024.
Read about our speakers.
Register now to secure your spot.
🤝 FUNDING & DEALS
Aja Health and Wellness, a telehealth creator, began trading on the TSX-V.
Trulioo, a Vancouver unicorn which offers personal and business verification, partnered with Airwallex to prevent fraud across 181 countries.
ShipTop, a platform for eCommerce logistics, announced the closing of its $500,000 seed round.
BTQ, a quantum technology company focused on securing networks, acquired Radical Semiconductor's entire portfolio of technology assets.
Westport Fuel Systems, which works on clean-burning fuel, established an equity offering program where it can to issue and sell up to USD $35 million of common shares.
🚨 This is only a sample of this week’s news. Want all of the latest funding and deals announcements? Become a VTJ member to receive our Morning Report newsletter.
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🗞 IN OTHER NEWS
Human in Motion Robotics announced that its exoskeleton had passed its first regulatory approval.
TAP Network released the results of its 2024 Tech Sector Salary and Total Rewards Survey, highlighting salary increases in hardware and cleantech roles.
Electric bike and scooter company Lime launched shared electric scooters in Vancouver.
Visier, which builds workforce AI solutions, announced new product innovations and solutions designed explicitly for executives.
Riipen, developer of a platform that enables learners to connect with real-world work projects, launched an integration to make it easier for educators and students to translate their educational experiences to the labour market.
A couple of lighter stories from Vancouver tech companies:
Lululemon’s Global Wellbeing Report shows the pressure to keep up with wellbeing is making people feel unwell.
Dating app Plenty of Fish revealed its annual list of dating trends, providing singles with new lingo to describe their evolving dating experiences.
🚨 Don’t miss any stories like these. For all of the Vancouver tech news, become a VTJ member to receive our Morning Report newsletter.
SPONSORED BY DEVENGINE
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💡 IDEAS & INSIGHTS
Jonathan Narvey, founder and CEO of Mind Meld PR, shared thoughts on how companies use PR, journalism, thought leadership, and advertorials.
Raquel Hirsch, founder of GoDemandGeneration, discussed how to generate demand for your products.
Chris Neumann, partner of Panache Ventures, discussed why he doesn’t invest in startups that outsource some of their work.
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👀 CAN’T MISS
October 3 | Breaking Barriers: Challenges and Opportunities for Underrepresented Voices in Tech: VTJ and Mastercard will be hosting a stacked panel on how inclusion drives business success. Industry leaders will share strategies to break down barriers, promote diversity, and create more opportunities for underrepresented voices in tech. Expect to network with executives from diverse backgrounds and receive valuable insights and advice to further your career. VTJ members get 50% off.
➡️ Get tickets
October 8 | Inside the Series Entrepreneur’s Journey: This event brings together tech leaders and successful entrepreneurs who have launched multiple businesses, faced countless challenges, and emerged stronger with each venture. A panel discussion will delve into the key aspects of their journeys — how they navigate failure, pivot their strategies, and continue to scale businesses across different industries. VTJ members get 40% off.
➡️ Get tickets
October 9 | Richmond Founders Huddle: Are you a founder who is working on an exciting startup idea? Do you want to connect with other founders and get feedback, advice, and support? Founders Huddle is a monthly event where up to three founders can use 5-10 minutes to share what business they are building, what kind of challenges they are facing, and what kind of help they need from the community.
➡️ Get tickets
🚨 Remember: VTJ members get early access and 50% off all our events. Don’t miss out — become a member now.
👋 YOUR COMMUNITY
🗣 VTJ Community Slack | Can’t make it to any in-person events? Network and chat with your friendly neighbourhood tech professionals using our dedicated Slack.
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🗓️Vancouver Tech Events Calendar | All local events in one place.
💪 Become a VTJ Corporate Member | Get your brand in front of thousands of tech professionals, investors, decision makers, and leaders. Get in touch today.
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