In partnership with
Hey everyone,
You’ll notice a new voice in your inbox next week—Emily, a longtime Vancouver Tech Journal contributor, is taking the lead on the Sunday Briefing. I’ll still be sharing commentary from time to time, but Emily will be guiding you through the week’s news moving forward.
This week is a strong one. UBC and InBC are launching a new fund to back university spinouts, pointing to growing momentum around deep tech commercialization in BC. At the same time, Vancouver-based Miraterra raised $16 million to scale its AI-driven approach to soil intelligence.
Beyond that, there’s activity across the ecosystem—from space infrastructure and supercomputing to legal AI, defence tech, and critical minerals.
By the way, Vancouver Startup Week early bird tickets end today.
Now, let’s get into it.
Payroll errors cost more than you think
While many businesses are solving problems at lightspeed, their payroll systems seem to stay stuck in the past. Deel's free Payroll Toolkit shows you what's actually changing in payroll this year, which problems hit first, and how to fix them before they cost you. Because new compliance rules, AI automation, and multi-country remote teams are all colliding at once.
Check out the free Deel Payroll Toolkit today and get a step-by-step roadmap to modernize operations, reduce manual work, and build a payroll strategy that scales with confidence.
From The Journal
SPONSORED BY FASKEN MARTINEAU
Legal advice from startup, to scale-up, to exit
Is your idea set to redefine an industry? For over 30 years, Fasken has helped thousands of startups transform their vision into tangible impact. Our fixed-fee startup program includes formation, IP strategy and venture capital fundraising services. Learn more.
Funding, Deals, and More
Richmond-based MDA Space has received a $32 million federal contract to build and operate three ground-based space surveillance telescopes, expanding Canada’s ability to track objects in orbit.
Read more →SFU has teamed up with Queen’s University on a bid for roughly $900 million in federal funding to build next-generation supercomputing infrastructure, including a B.C. system aimed at ranking among the world’s top academic supercomputers.
Read more →Vancouver AI startup Caseway and online legal database CanLII have settled their copyright dispute, ending a closely watched legal fight over how AI companies use legal information to build new tools.
Read more →Vancouver defence startup Juno Industries has announced the development of Polar Nexus, an Arctic-ready autonomous platform designed for northern and remote operating environments.
Read more →Fortinet is leading the cybersecurity evolution in Canada. Powered by R&D and threat intelligence operations in Burnaby, Fortinet delivers high-performance, integrated cybersecurity solutions that help organizations modernize securely while maintaining resilience and compliance.
Learn more →**Sponsored listing
In Other News
Vancouver Startup Week has unveiled its 2026 lineup, with five days of founder, investor, and operator programming set to run from April 27 to May 1 across the city.
Read more →Vancouver founder Annika Ng is profiled by BCBusiness as Blossom Social continues its rise, with the fintech platform reaching 500,000 users and expanding further into the U.S.
Read more →Vancouver-based pH7 Technologies is expanding its local processing facility to increase recovery of platinum group metals, backed by up to $4 million from NRC IRAP to help strengthen North American critical minerals supply chains.
Read more →SoGal Ventures founder Pocket Sun argues the world is splitting between rapid AI acceleration and growing demand for more human-centred products and support systems—and says both sides of that divide will define the next generation of company-building.
Read more →
👋 Your Community
🗣 VTJ Community Slack – reply back if you need access.
💪 Become a VTJ Corporate Member and get your brand in front of thousands of tech professionals, investors, decision makers, and leaders. Get in touch today.