Ottawa is thinking about food differently

Good morning,

This week we covered a $50 million federal investment in the Canadian Food Innovation Network, which will fund projects helping food and beverage processors bring automation, AI and digital manufacturing tools into their operations — part of a broader push to modernize an industry that has been slower to digitize than most.

On the events side, Women Who Build is coming up — a VTJ Talks bringing together women founders and funders to talk leadership.

The rest of the week’s news is below.

—Emily

P.S. Have a tip or a story you think we should cover? Reach out to me at [email protected] — always happy to hear from you.

Events

WAITLIST: Tech Days Vol. 2

Vancouver Tech Days is back for round two. Vol. 1 sold out in five days and went over capacity — proof that this city's builders want more than another networking mixer.

Builders Collective Powered by AWS — Vol. 6

We’re putting together a small group of founders for real conversations about what it actually takes to build something from the ground up. No panels, no pitches—just honest talk, shared lessons, and a chance to connect with people who get it.

#VTJTalks: Women Who Build - Leadership Lessons from Women Founders & Funders

Behind every great company is a story of vision, resilience, and bold decision-making. In this session, we bring together women who are shaping the entrepreneurial landscape as founders building companies from the ground up and as funders backing the next generation of ideas.

From The Journal

Canada bets $50 million on domestic food innovation

The investment in CFIN will help food and beverage processors adopt automation, AI, and digital manufacturing tools.

Vancouver Tech Journal • Emily Edwards

Funding, Deals, and More

Cognitive3D has launched Embeddable Session Replay, allowing customers and partners to integrate the Vancouver company’s 3D XR playback technology directly into their own portals, products and reporting workflows. Read more →
A UBC Sauder graduate has launched Vresk, a Vancouver-built web workspace that lets users run the same prompt through up to three AI models simultaneously and compare the results side by side. Read more →
Is your office keeping up with your growth? Whether scaling up, downsizing, or optimizing costs, The High Technology Facilities Group at CBRE helps BC tech teams build spaces that attract top talent. Let’s chat strategy.*
_{*Sponsored listing}

In Other News

AltFee has won the 2026 Clio Integration Award for Best Business of Law App, recognizing the Vancouver company’s platform for helping law firms build more consistent, data-driven approaches to pricing and alternative fee arrangements. Read more →
Orchid, the Vancouver-founded AI startup, is at the centre of a BetaKit feature on why some startups are deliberately leaning into dystopian, outrage-driven marketing — its relationship-intervention ad drew 21 million views on X before being taken down over a music copyright issue. Read more →
Koho CEO Daniel Eberhard discussed the company’s path to a Schedule 1 banking licence, the flood of international competition into Canadian fintech, and why he won’t be adding prediction markets to Koho’s product lineup. Read more →
Business in Vancouver has announced its 2026 Forty Under 40 winners, with several Vancouver tech and startup figures among the cohort, including Jointly Solutions co-founder Amanda Baron and VoxCell BioInnovation CEO Karolina Valente. Read more →

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