Hi everyone,
This week in BC tech was all about returns and reinvention. Gumloop, the AI startup that once said it was heading south, has reopened in Vancouver, sparking fresh debate on the city’s talent pull. Genomics researchers, meanwhile, solved a mystery that saved B.C.’s $236M blueberry industry.
On the deal side, UDP Software landed $250K for an AI food pilot, NorthX backed local grid innovators, and Build Canada debuted in Vancouver with a bold call for faster, riskier innovation. Add in Angie Schick’s 21-year reflection at New Ventures BC and our updated list of 60+ local funders, and you’ve got a week that shows both the staying power and future promise of the ecosystem.
P.S. On October 9th, CFIN will be announced the Foodtech Frontier 25 – Canada’s most promising foodtech companies of 2025. Think you should be in the room, reply and let me know so I can connect you to the organizers.
From The Journal
Funding, Deals & More
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Read more →Innovate BC and NRC IRAP invest $1.5M in cleantech pilots: Through the BC Fast Pilot program, the agencies are funding 11 B.C. companies to validate climate and environmental technologies in real-world conditions—this seventh round brings total program investment to $13M since 2019.
Read more →Vancouver biotech inks up to US$349M Merck collaboration: Variational AI announced a deal with Merck to apply its Enki generative platform to design novel small-molecule candidates against undisclosed targets, with a potential total deal value near US$350M.
Read more →ShopVision raises $5.6M CAD seed led by Brightspark: Elastic Path founder Harry Chemko’s new venture, ShopVision, secured $5.6M to scale its AI-powered market research platform for retailers, with participation from BDC Capital and Rhino Ventures.
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In Other News
BC Tech names top three Startup of the Year finalists: Following a live pitch in Vancouver, FireSwarm, Glüxkind, and Insporos advanced to the TIAs gala on October 23, where the winner will be announced.
Read more →Heather Tanaka joins New Market Funds as Director of Lending: The impact investor moves from InBC Investment Corp. to focus on financing solutions for affordable housing across Canada, strengthening the country’s social finance ecosystem.
Read more →Naqsmist Storytellers helps execs lead differently: BCBusiness profiles the Indigenous-led startup creating safe spaces and teaching leadership through story—an approach reshaping executive education in B.C.
Read more →TELUS launches a sovereign AI factory in Canada: TELUS unveiled what it calls Canada’s first sovereign AI factory, aiming to provide compliant, domestic infrastructure for training and deploying enterprise AI models.
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