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2023 recap: The stories that mattered

2023 recap: The stories that mattered

We’ve picked one article from each month to remind you of the year-that-was for Vancouver's tech ecosystem

Kate Wilson
December 11, 2023

Photo: Shutterstock

2023 was never going to be an easy year. Inflation and rising interest rates have been the key story, which — like the tail-end of 2022 — have resulted in layoffs, layoffs, and more layoffs. The fundraising environment, we heard time and again, has been the toughest for tech than it’s been in years, which meant fewer financial opportunities for local businesses (unless, apparently, your company is in life sciences, cleantech, or AI, which have taken the lion’s share of the major deals.)

But it wasn’t all doom and gloom. Huge investments from PacifiCan and the B.C. government buoyed a raft of programs and direct funding for businesses, including over a billion dollars into battery tech in Maple Ridge and more than $700 million to build biotech infrastructure. Local quantum technologies — a specialty of Vancouver’s — got a big boost thanks to a new federal program, and General Fusion announced that it’ll be building its new reactor in Richmond after it received a big cash injection.

On top of that, the local ecosystem underwent some seismic shifts. The long-standing Vancouver Economic Commission was shuttered, ending nearly 30 years of service for the city. Tech industry stalwart Raghwa Gopal announced his retirement from his position of CEO and President of Crown corporation Innovate BC. Several of the province’s most influential industry organizations banded together to make the BC Technology Ecosystems Network, which have allied to help scale up local companies.

In short, 2023 has been a series of ups and downs for the local tech ecosystem — a characteristic that’s made it hard to keep track of the biggest stories. To help, we’ve picked one article from each month that we think captures the spirit of our Vancouver community. Read on for your year in review.

January

Mayor Ken Sim speaks: “Vancouver is open for business”

The city’s top official revealed his vision for the next four years in his State of the City address.

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February

Hiive wants to bring transparency to the private equity secondary market

The bootstrapped company hopes to soon register its trading platform in Canada.

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March

The world is watching: Frontier Collective brings Vancouver to SXSW

Mayor Ken Sim and B.C. Minister Brenda Bailey took part in a unique trade mission led by the organization. Austin’s Dirty Sixth, they say, can teach Vancouver a lot about building a tech hub.

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April

CEO Raghwa Gopal to leave Innovate BC

The long-time tech industry leader will retire from the organization this fall, and will be succeeded by current VP of Operations Tomica Divic as interim CEO.

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May

AbCellera, provincial and fed governments announce $701M co-investment in local life sciences infrastructure

Province of B.C. is chipping in $75 million, one of its largest biotech investments in history.

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June

Provincial innovation builders launch the BC Technology Ecosystems Network

Organizations including Vancouver’s entrepreneurship@UBC, SFU VentureLab, and New Ventures BC have formed an alliance to scale up local companies.

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July

Vancouver’s quantum computing industry is on the rise

Digital, B.C.’s supercluster, is offering $30 million in total investments thanks to a new partnership with NGen, which will likely help accelerate Lower Mainland companies.

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