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- Five women, $2.46M, and a climate tech shakeup
Five women, $2.46M, and a climate tech shakeup
Money talks—and it’s backing BC’s women climate founders.
William Johnson
April 27, 2025
🗞️ This week, BC tech is charging ahead—with women-led innovation, smart packaging breakthroughs, and global gaming spotlights. Five climate tech startups just landed major funding from CICE. Reusables and Traction Complete are fueling their next stages of growth. And Vancouver’s gaming law scene is having a global moment.
Also inside: UBC’s next generation of startups takes the stage, Properate’s Arman Mottaghi makes the case for smarter buildings, and Unblocked’s Dennis Pilarinos rethinks how good UX starts with the right prompt. Plus, a record jump for Trulioo, crypto scams exposed, and a downtown scooter expansion finally hits the streets.
P.S. Will we see you at #VTJTalks: From AWS to Apple to Unblocked — A Founder’s Journey?
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🗞️ FROM VTJ
Credit: CICE/EnviCore
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What started with just 25 users has become one of Canada’s fastest-growing fintechs—and now, it’s made history.
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💸 FUNDING & DEALS
Reusables.com raises $2.6M to scale smart packaging tech: Vancouver’s Reusables.com secured $2.6 million USD in an oversubscribed seed round, backed by StandUp Ventures and Amplify Capital, to expand its smart return bins and "tap to reuse" software for the circular economy.
Traction Complete secures funding from CIBC Innovation Banking: Burnaby-based Traction Complete, a provider of Salesforce data management solutions, announced new financing from CIBC Innovation Banking to fuel its expansion plans.
7Gen and Zenobe close $7M fleet charging deal: Vancouver’s 7Gen partnered with UK-based Zenobe Energy to secure $7 million in debt financing to expand commercial EV fleet charging infrastructure across Canada.
📰 IN OTHER NEWS
UBC startups gear up for the 2025 Investor Showcase: 17 teams from entrepreneurship@UBC’s accelerator programs will pitch to investors this year, featuring ventures in biotech, clean tech, and advanced materials, including MagnaCarta and Cathexis Materials.
B.C. securities regulator uncovers $43M in crypto thefts: The B.C. Securities Commission reported that scammers stole over $43 million from Canadian investors through fraudulent crypto schemes, urging tighter enforcement and public awareness.
Five B.C. companies breaking the mold: From Mint Cleaning's eco-friendly products to Novarc Technologies' robotic welding innovations, BCBusiness highlights five B.C.-based companies disrupting their industries.
Defang simplifies agentic cloud deployments: Vancouver’s Defang Software Labs integrated its platform with Minimal Cloud Platform (MCP), allowing developers to deploy secure, scalable agent-based applications with just a few clicks, according to co-founder Adam Gibson.
B.C. clean tech finds new global demand amid trade shifts: Burnaby-based Inventys and other B.C. climate tech innovators are gaining traction in global markets as buyers diversify away from China, according to a new B.C. Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy (CICE) report.
Properate’s Arman Mottaghi on retrofitting the future: On the High Agency Podcast, Properate founder and CEO Arman Mottaghi shares how his Vancouver-based startup is helping homeowners, builders, and governments make smarter energy decisions to accelerate climate action.
Svante aims to take carbon capture mainstream: Burnaby-based Svante, led by CEO Claude Letourneau, is scaling up its operations to make carbon capture technology as accessible and vital as solar panels, targeting global markets.
Plus…
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💡 IDEAS & INSIGHTS
The right prompt changes everything
In a fresh take on user experience design, Unblocked CEO Dennis Pilarinos shares why good UX in the AI era starts with crafting the right prompts. He argues that prompts are no longer just inputs—they're the foundation of how users interact with software, and getting them right is key to unlocking powerful outcomes. It’s a shift that challenges traditional product thinking.
👀 CAN’T MISS
Join us for a special fireside chat with Dennis Pilarinos, where he’ll share lessons from both sides of the tech world — from leading teams at Microsoft and AWS, to founding Buddybuild (acquired by Apple), and now launching his newest venture, Unblocked, focused on AI tools for developers. Register now.
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