đź‘€ The most ambitious companies in BC?
Welcome to the Sunday Briefing.
William Johnson
October 02, 2022
ICYMI: Our parent company Overstory Media Group announced the purchase of the iconic Vancouver publication The Georgia Straight.
First established in 1967 by life-long Vancouver resident Dan McLeod, The Straight has been an outspoken alternative media outlet, setting the standard for meaningful, thought-provoking, and transformational editorial.
Our boss Farhan Mohamed, Overstory co-founder and CEO, had this to say about the news: “For decades The Straight was the place to discover the community, while also giving thousands of talented groups and individuals the chance to be discovered. I’m proud to bring it into the Overstory community, and to have the chance to rethink what the next 55 years will look like.” The Straight is now the second alt-weekly Overstory has acquired recently. In spring, Halifax’s iconic The Coast, established in 1993, joined our family of publications.
Read more about the deal on the Overstory blog: Welcoming The Georgia Straight: Overstory acquires iconic Vancouver publication
Now onto today’s briefing. It’s 787 words, a 3 & 1/2-minute read.
-William, @notionport
PS: See you soon?
- Tuesday, Oct 4, 8-10 a.m.: Vancouver Tech Morning Coffee (and IRL t-shirt giveaway)
- Oct 20: #vtjtalks: Burnaby Tech Is Booming (Super Early Bird tickets already sold-out)
- Oct 25-27: VanHack’s Women in Tech Hiring Event
Dapper Labs co-founder Sam Gharegozlou
These companies have their eye on the Spirit of BC Tech – Ambition award
The category shares the theme of this year’s BC Tech Technology Impact Awards and is proving to be a banger. Start reading »
Turtle Island NFT's treasure hunt offers new ways to engage with Web3
The project aims to showcase Indigenous art on a global scale, with half the profits to be donated to Indigenous charities. Start reading »
With a $1.1 million pre-seed raise, RELICSxyz goes independent
This new venture seeks to bring fully licensed music to the metaverse. Start reading »
The Great Resignation has intensified Canadian tech’s war for talent: report
Voluntary turnover at Canadian tech companies has doubled from previous years. Start reading »
🤝 Funding and deals
Forward Security received $150,000 of NRC IRAP funding to further develop its Eureka next-generation DevSecOps platform. Continue »
Novarc Technologies Inc., a robotics company specializing in the design and commercialization of collaborative and AI-powered robots has closed a Series A investment (specific amount not disclosed) from Graham Partners Growth. Continue »
Streamline Athletes is partnering with NIL (name, image, and likeness) platform Matchpoint Connection to open up more opportunities for track and field and cross country athletes to secure endorsement deals. Details »
Switchboard Public Relations
As the country’s leading tech PR firm, Switchboard helps innovators create positive change by driving communication strategies that get results. Whether you need brand positioning, media relations, issues management or content creation, see how they’ll get you real results.
🗞️ In other news
Pocketed and EY are working together to help companies access funding and resources. Continue »
Family care management platform Tuktu launched a seed raise for $2 million at an $8 million pre-money valuation on the Frontfundr platform. Continue »
Multiple B.C. government websites were out of service for almost 12 hours last weekend, but the government is denying they were hacked, instead blaming an issue with a firmware update. Business in Vancouver »
Polaris Realty announced it’s developing a new state-of-the-art connectivity hub in the Spencer Building Carrier Hotel, part of the iconic Harbour Centre. Business in Vancouver »Â
Vancouver unicorn Trulioo announced that it’s expanded to Singapore in response to rapidly growing customer demand in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. Biometric Update »
TTT Studios head Chris Hobbs announced that his company’s Afternoon “T” podcast has relaunched for season five. Listen now »
đź’Ľ Take your career to the next level
Everyone’s talking about hiring. And while some local companies have laid off team members, there are hundreds of other Vancouver tech businesses searching for talent, including Ari, Seaspan, LandSure, Inetco Systems Ltd, Tantalus Systems, PayPal, and Withe.
Check out who else is hiring on the Vancouver Tech Job Board »
Growing your team? Post a job with us »
đź’ˇ Ideas and insights
Geordie Rose, founder and CEO of Sanctuary AI, writing on Medium: The Case for General-Purpose Robots Over Special-Purpose Robots
Dr. Elicia Maine, SFU’s inaugural associate vice-president of knowledge mobilization and innovation, joined the Talking Tech Transfer podcast to discuss the key pre-incorporation elements that indicate whether a research institute spinouts will be successful or not. Listen now »
Chris Neumann, general partner at Panache Ventures, writing on his personal blog on why it’s time for Canada to play offence
Ryan Wong, CEO of Visier, shares on Twitter the 10 most important HR metrics you should be tracking right now
👋🏾 Before you go…
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