🏙️ Toronto tech is coming for Vancouver

I know, I know — the Vancouver tech landscape is tired of hearing about Toronto. But hear me out — Toronto’s reach extends westwards beyond its stronghold on Collision, or its wealth of venture capital, or density of startups. If I learned anything during the week back in my hometown (surprise) it’s that the city’s tech could end up on our dinner plates over here, too.

A plant-based salmon dinner sounded like something out of a West Coast foodtech startup, but it wasn’t. It was an invitation extended by New School Foods, a Toronto-based venture working tirelessly to deliver a whole-cut fillet of salmon, made out of plants. It’s the next evolution of alternative meats, company scientists and founders told me — the development of a product that transforms from raw to cooked, just as a meat substitute would; the mimicry of salmon’s distinct fishy taste thanks to algae oils, a food source for the species in the wild; and a nutritional profile of proteins and omega-3s, akin to salmon itself.

While Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat happily coexist beside beef burgers on local menus, throughout the course of the dinner I wondered if plant-based salmon could run parallel to the chinook, chum, and sockeye of B.C. But it was much closer in taste to Atlantic salmon than anything else — and given the West Coast’s fish farming woes, it was strategic to aim for the culturally fraught species than the culturally favoured ones, intentional or not.

This all took place as hazy skies hung over our dinner, with wildfire smoke that seemed like it had followed me from Vancouver to Toronto. It feels like every day there’s a new climate solution for a consumer to consider, and only time will tell whether Vancouver diners consider a plant-based salmon as one of them.

Now onto today’s briefing. It’s 760 words: a two-and-a-half-minute read.

-Allison, @allisongacad

P.S. I’d love to hear what you think. Meet me and others in our Vancouver Tech community at our upcoming Vancouver Tech Morning Coffee this Tuesday, 8:00 a.m. ‘til 10:00 a.m. at the Coffee Bar (10 Water Street, Gastown).

Launch of BC’s net-zero strategy sees role for Vancouver cleantech

The federal policy document outlines priorities for the province to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, extract natural resources, and build new jobs.

PacifiCan puts nearly $13M into local businesses

Seven Lower Mainland-based firms in zero waste and cleantech received federal funding.

Vancouver’s quantum computing industry is on the rise

Digital, B.C.’s supercluster, is offering $30 million in total investments thanks to a new partnership with NGen, which will likely help accelerate Lower Mainland companies.

Bosch plans acquisition of Vancouver-founded Paladin

The German juggernaut is looking to grow its North American presence and sought out the Vancouver vendor.

Rivian's new showroom is where in Vancouver?

Read our top member briefing from last week. Members only.

🤝 Funding and deals

• Vancouver Film Studios was acquired by Los Angeles-based Hackman Capital Partners.

• The $870 million acquisition of Absolute Software was approved by its security-holders.

• D-Wave, a commercial quantum computing outfit, announced it has regained compliance with the New York Stock Exchange as its stock price rose over the $1 minimum share price.

• For all the local funding news, become a Vancouver Tech Journal member »

🗞️ In other news

• The Supreme Court of British Columbia dismissed a constitutional challenge to the B.C. Securities Commission’s power to seek consequences for not cooperating with an investigation.

• Vancouver’s Canada Line has received the digital twin treatment.

• HTEC, a clean hydrogen solutions company, opened its fifth Canadian retail hydrogen station in Kelowna.

• iQmetrix, which builds intelligent retail management software for telecom, announced Interconnected Commerce, a new software category for the industry that is modular and flexible.

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💼 Take your career to the next level

• There are hundreds of other Vancouver tech businesses searching for talent, including Hop, Pixieset, Wecasa, Dapper Labs, and Thinkific.

• Check out who else is hiring on our Vancouver Tech Job Board »

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💡 Ideas and insights

• Chris Neumann, general partner of Panache Ventures, writing on his personal blog: It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it

• Nathan Grandjambe, senior manager of Indigenous economic prosperity at Vancouver Economic Commission, interviewed for his organization’s blog: What is Indigenous Economic Prosperity?

• VTJ contributor Erin Gee was joined on her podcast, Alt Text, by Golden Ventures’ Jamie Rosenblatt for an optimistic chat about Canada’s tech ecosystem.

• Ron Segev, founding partner of Segev LLP, was interviewed in Canadian Lawyer about why he chose to look at the Indian market.

• Shayna Rector Bleeker, co-founder of 7Gen, and Ekta Meena Bibra, a senior policy advisor for Clean Energy Canada, wrote in The Vancouver Sun: As Canada’s electric car leader, B.C. can now pave the way for electric trucks

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👋 Before you go…

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