Checking in on Vancouver’s unicorns

From 2020 to 2021, B.C. generated nine “true unicorns” — private tech startups worth over $1 billion. Clio, Dapper Labs, GeoComply, Nexii, Semios, Trulioo, Visier, and Blockstream clinched the coveted achievement by the close of that year. LayerZero officially became a unicorn in 2022.

Four other companies also reached the $1-billion-or-more valuation during the same period, through either IPO or acquisition: AbCellera (IPO), Thinkific (IPO), Copperleaf (IPO), and Galvanize (acquired at $1 billion).

There have been no new Vancouver companies to gain the title since then (though Squamish-based Carbon Engineering’s $1.1 billion sale is worth a mention) — largely due to downturns in the economy around the pandemic, leading to a bust in IPOs and VC capital. And the intervening three years haven’t been kind to those in the three-comma-club either, with one company declaring bankruptcy and several more seeing their market cap tank below the billion mark. Fortunately, a handful have bucked the trend and seen their worth increase even further — including two businesses that have added big stacks to their valuation.

Find out how each of these 13 companies are faring today.

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