Meet our new Vancouver Tech Journal staff writer!

We’ve got some big news from the Vancouver Tech Journal team! I’m excited to introduce our new staff writer for Vancouver Tech Journal: Lisa Tanh.

Lisa has spent nine years working in and covering business, tech, and innovation. Some of her career highlights to date include helping to build a privacy-focused social network in Silicon Valley; producing content for news, TV and film, and various brands; and breaking political stories that prompted action from the government. She’s a tech generalist and is excited to cover companies and founders working in all sectors, but has a special interest in highlighting diverse voices and perspectives.

Lisa will be at our coffee meetup on Tuesday and Tech Industry Social on Thursday, as well as out and about in the community as she digs into the stories that matter in Vancouver tech. You can reach her at [email protected] — feel free to pop into her inbox to say hi!

Now onto today’s briefing. It’s 1,204 words: a four-minute read.

-Kate (@KateWilsonSays)

🗞️ VTJ Stories

🤝 Funding and deals:

• CICE, the Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy, anticipates awarding up to $10 million in non-dilutive funding for clean energy projects that address ‘hard to decarbonize’ challenges across industries such as forestry, mining, transportation, agriculture and technology. Applications for the money are open.

• CICE is also is introducing a new funding avenue for emerging B.C.-based ventures that have recently graduated from a university entrepreneurship program offered through SFU, UBC, UBCO, UNBC, and UVic. Applications are open now.

• UploadCare, a file management platform and content delivery network, has been acquired by U.S.-based Tiugo Technologies to strengthen its developer tools.

• For all the local funding and deals stories, become a member now »

🗞️ In other news:

• Nexii, a green building material company and previously one of Vancouver’s unicorns, is searching for a buyer after entering creditor protection.

• Felicia Bochicchio, CEO of Unbounce, has quietly left the company, to be replaced by New York executive Steve Oriola, BC Business reports. VTJ has yet to verify this story.

• AbCellera, one of the province’s biggest biotech companies, will announce its full year 2023 financial results next month, after the company laid off 10 percent of its workforce last November.

• Black Press, the largest independent media company in Canada, announced its corporate restructuring and sale transaction.

• Brightspark Ventures, a venture capital firm, has opened a new office in Vancouver, marking a significant step in increasing its presence across Canada.

• Prior to the transit strike, the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade released a statement on how it believes the move will impact businesses.

• For eight more stories, become a member now »

Capturing the AI opportunity in B.C.

🗓️ Tuesday, Feb 13 | 🎟️ Invite-only for VTJ members

• ​Join Vancouver Tech Journal in partnership with Microsoft Vancouver for the launch of ‘AI in Action’ At Microsoft, a series of conversations that highlight diverse perspectives to cultivate AI literacy, ethics, and innovation to ensure that AI benefits everyone.

• This first event focuses on the AI opportunity in B.C. and how it can contribute to a more sustainable economy and society.

• Speakers include:

  • ​​Hon. Brenda Bailey, Minister of Jobs, Economic Development and Innovation.

  • David Seymour, VP and GM of Microsoft Vancouver

Only a limited number of spaces are available — register early to avoid disappointment.

Not a member yet? Get access to our curated events and more »

💡 Ideas and insights:

• Dan Burgar, CEO of the Frontier Collective, was featured in an article in AdAge discussing the new Apple Vision Pro AR headset.

• Aman Mann, CEO of Procurify, interviewed on CNBC about how moving to a four-day work week helped his company avoid layoffs.

• Avi Gill, business director at Talk Shop, wrote her key takeaways on LinkedIn about the company’s panel on Bill C-18 and the use of AI in media.

• Leigh Christie, co-founder of MistyWest, posted a recording of his panel at CES about hardware and the practical building blocks of generative AI.

💼 Take your career to the next level

Whether you're looking for a dream role or a dream employee, Vancouver Tech Jobs has you covered, with open jobs including:

• The BC Public Service is hiring for multiple roles

• MyFO (My Family Office) is hiring for multiple roles

• BrainStation is hiring an Associate Educator, Cybersecurity

• TTT Studios is hiring a Backend Engineer .Net / C#

• Powertech Labs is hiring an Engineering & Operations Team Lead- High Voltage Laboratory

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

Growing your team? Post a job with us »

🙋 Join your online community

Did you know you can connect with your tech community using our dedicated VTJ Slack? We know not all of you can get to our events in person, so this is your chance to network and chat with your friendly neighbourhood tech professionals from the comfort of your home. Join your VTJ Community Slack now.

👋 Before you go…