👋 Good morning, and welcome to VTJ’s Sunday Briefing: your weekly digest of the city’s innovation news, deals, insights, and more.
How can B.C. fix the continuous slide in investment over the last two years? We’ve put together our key takeaways from a recent panel where experts shared the metrics that matter to your company.
Plus, read on to learn about how TransLink is headed for a $600 million deficit (which will possibly impact your transit routes). Oh, and don’t miss our feature on femtech’s $100 million bid.
Now onto today’s briefing. It’s 1,080 words: a three-minute read.
-Lisa
🚨 P.S. We're running an exclusive event in partnership with the Bank of Canada to help payment service providers stay up-to-date on registration and steps to compliance.
We're looking for payment service providers, fintech companies, and
business advisory professionals who serve PSPs. Do you want to be in the room? Let us know before Wednesday. 🚨
🗞️ FROM VTJ
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SPONSORED BY FASKEN
Achieving results for Climate Tech companies
In the Canadian climate tech industry, 2024 will mark a pivotal moment. Fasken has successfully completed over C$400M in venture financings for climate tech companies in the last 12 months. Leveraging our extensive legal expertise in this sector, we are able to navigate the current challenging fundraising environment to structure and close deals. Learn more at Climate Tech | Fasken.
🤝 FUNDING & DEALS
Boann Social Impact, a federal government social finance fund, announced its first 13 investments in Canadian impact managers, which includes Raven Indigenous Outcomes Funds and Spring Impact Capital.
VulcanX, a cleantech startup, is partnering with FortisBC to support the development of hydrogen pyrolysis tech. It will produce low cost zero-emission hydrogen and solid carbon.
The federal government is investing $9.14 million collectively toward six projects to support innovation in Canada’s clean hydrogen sector.
The provincial government put a call out for farmers to apply for a program to receive up to $2 million a year to adopt new labour-saving tech.
Get the latest funding and deals announcements and stories curated in our Members-only Morning Report.
SPONSORED BY COAST: AN INITIATIVE OF THE SOUTH ISLAND PROSPERITY PARTNERSHIP
Network with COAST
Exciting news! Join COAST on September 10, from 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. at the Blarney Stone Pub in Vancouver, for the first mixer since launching COAST’s membership program. Members attend free; non-members $25+tax.
Register here to secure your spot for an evening of networking, celebration, and community!
🗞 IN OTHER NEWS
Well Health, a healthcare provider and tech developer, announced it plans to launch and publicly list its SaaS solution, Well Provider Solutions, in 2025.
Infinitii AI, which specializes in real-time data monitoring software, has won a competitive bid with the City of Vancouver to provide its services for three years.
Wishpond, which offers marketing-focused online business solutions, has launched an integration marketplace for its AI-driven virtual sales agent.
Ontoly Carbon, a carbon registry and marketplace software for the building sector, announced that its been accepted into Foresight Canada’s Earth Tech: 2050 accelerator program.
Boast, a fintech platform, has been named a gold winner in the Stevie Awards’ technical innovation and breakthrough categories for its AI-driven R&D tax credit solution.
Playbook, a growth advisory firm, announced its expanded services. Industry tech veteran Kathleen Reid has joined as an internal advisor.
💡 IDEAS & INSIGHTS
Sonali George, founder of CelebrateAlly — which leverages AI to provide personalized celebration planning, speech writing, and gift suggestions — shared lessons learned on the company’s growth to 100K users from over 185 countries, within a year.
Sean O'Connor, CEO of 4AG Robotics — which develops fully automated solutions for mushroom harvesting — wrote about why he believes robotic companies will soon take off.
SPONSORED BY EASLY
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👀 CAN’T MISS
August 29 | End of Summer Soiree: Kick off the end of the summer with RBC Dominion Securities and its community of of investors, entrepreneurs, startups, founders, and funders. Attendees can expect to network over appetizers, canapés, and drinks.
➡️ Get tickets
September 3 | Startup TNT Investment Summit X – Company Info Session: Join the Startup TNT team for a virtual session to get an overview about its next summit to help raise capital for startups and make it easier for local investors, both seasoned and new. Attendees can expect to learn more about the eligibility requirements and application form.
➡️ Register
September 4 | An Evening with BC’s Most Prominent Investors and This Year’s Most Promising Startups: Get a first look at the top 26 companies emerging from this year’s New Venture BC competition and the top 10 that will be moving on to the final round of the competition. This event is also the perfect opportunity to meet with fellow ecosystem partners and angel investors.
➡️ Get tickets
VTJ Members get early access and discounts to all our events. Don’t miss out.
👋 YOUR COMMUNITY
🗣 Online
Join 1,000+ people in our VTJ Slack and connect with others in the community.
Reply back if you need an invite!
🤝 At the office
Job hunting? See 50+ roles open right now on VancouverTechJobs.com
Hiring? Post your job today.
🗓 In real life
See our local community calendar at VancouverTechEvents.com.
That’s it!
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