👋 Did you think Vancouver Tech Journal was really going to leave you hanging over Cyber Week? Until 9:00 p.m. on Monday December 2, we’re offering 20% off our Vancouver Tech Journal membership. A reminder — that gives you:
50% off all #VTJTalks, like next week’s panel on scaling world-class products and teams,
Access to exclusive articles, like this week’s midterm report on Ken Sim’s impact on the tech industry,
The morning report exclusive newsletter, which on Thursday broke down how Taylor Swift is bringing $157 million to Vancouver businesses next week.
Oh — and a whole bunch more as well.
Better yet, you can write your Vancouver Tech Journal membership off as a business expense. And trust us — you’ll want to be receiving our exclusive content ahead of Web Summit Vancouver in a few months.
-Kate Wilson, managing editor
🗞️ FROM VTJ
Read more at vantechjournal.com
SPONSORED BY GREEN & GREEN | GIFTS WITH FLAIR
Holiday gifting made easy
Spread holiday cheer effortlessly! Green & Green offers beautifully curated gift boxes designed to impress, featuring premium contents and handcrafted bows. Crafted with care, making it a perfect way to show appreciation to your team and clients. They offer personalized options, stress-free service, luxurious presentation, and they ship worldwide
Order your holiday gifts online or call 604-689-5027
------------------------------
Green & Green is a Vancouver-based company specializing in gift delivery and branded merchandise since 1993.
They offer a wide range of thoughtfully curated gifts, including:
Gourmet Gifts
Employee Gifts (onboarding, get well soon, new baby, sympathy, and more)
Indigenous-themed gifts
Branded merchandise
And much more!
Contact them today to discuss your gifting needs!
🤝 FUNDING & DEALS
Forget circle-back-after-the-holidays season. This week has seen a raft of new funding announcements — particularly those for early-stage businesses.
Innovate BC — a provincial crown corporation — announced that it’s invested $1.5 million into five local R&D projects this week, which run the gamut from urine testing to mining developments. Not to be outdone, the B.C. Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy (CICE) — which provides non-dilutive funding for clean energy solutions — tapped 13 climatetech companies in the province to receive a piece of $7.7 million.
There’s still money left in the coffers, though. League of Innovators (LOI) Venture — a firm founded by Hootsuite’s Ryan Holmes and angel investor Manny Padda — told Vancouver Tech Journal exclusively that it’s looking to put money into more pre-seed and seed-stage startups before the year ends, through its $20 million Fund I. Plus, applications opened this week for CICE’s decarbonization funding, where you can get a part of $3 million. Get prepping those spreadsheets!
🚨 Want all of the latest funding and deals announcements? VTJ members got it in their newsletter. Not a member? Fix that now.
SPONSORED BY COAST (CENTRE FOR OCEAN APPLIED SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGIES)
Free ocean courses, co-working space, events, and more
Are you looking to join the wave of ocean companies in BC? Interested in new opportunities to take courses and explore the world of BC's "blue economy"? Individuals join COAST for free, and access subsidized courses, workspace, networking opportunities, and special events year-round in BC and beyond. Sign up today!
🗞 IN OTHER NEWS
If you don’t have a family doctor in Vancouver (or, to be honest, even if you do), you’ve probably come across Medimap. The lower mainland-founded business lets you locate physicians near you, see clinic wait times, and book an appointment online.
This week, the company announced a boost from two multinational giants. Nvidia has selected the business for its Inception Program, which will provide the latest AI tools, resources, and a vast network of experts to help the company grow its own AI strategy (and to get you to a Vancouver doctor faster). Medimap was also picked by Amazon Web Services to join its Health Equity Initiative, which will give the company a portion of USD $60 million in cloud credits and expertise in order to increase access to healthcare to underserved communities.
B.C. has the longest wait times in the country for walk-in clinics. Here’s to hoping Medimap’s developments will help reduce those 93 minutes down to, say, zero.
🚨 VTJ members got 12 more stories like these in their Morning Report newsletter. If you’re not already a member, fix that now.
SPONSORED BY FORESIGHT CANADA
Reduce the cost and environmental impact of mining
Adopting cleantech is a path to operational efficiency and significant cost savings.
In the mining sector, water management is both a significant cost and the second highest ESG risk. Adopting water treatment technology can result in significant cost savings over a mine's lifetime and reduce environmental impact risk.
💡 IDEAS & INSIGHTS
SPONSORED BY GREEN & GREEN | GIFTS WITH FLAIR
Shop stress-free! Green & Green offers beautifully curated holiday gift boxes & baskets with something for everyone. Order now to beat the rush.
What’s the biggest opportunity in eCommerce right now? According to Charlie Grinnell, co-CEO of Vancouver-based digital strategy research service RightMetric, it’s TikTok Shop. And you’re probably missing out.
U.S.-based companies that used the feature in summer this year raked in a share of $1.5 billion in revenue. Grinnell suggests that’s just the beginning, especially if your businesses is in the beauty, womenswear, health, fitness, and electronics space, which collectively made up $913 million of that sum.
The CEO highlights that affiliate creators drove $885 million in sales, and live streams alone generated $313 million. Grinnell’s key takeaways? Live-selling (think the upgraded version of the shopping channel) is the future, and if you don’t have an affiliate strategy, you’re leaving money on the table.
SPONSORED BY UBER CANADA
What happens when you give a Vancouverite $1,300 to give up their car for a month? Uber wanted to find out with the One Less Car challenge - and the results may surprise you.
👀 CAN’T MISS
December 3 | 🎟️ Vancouver Tech Morning Coffee in Burnaby: Meet the team, along with local founders, innovators, and tech enthusiasts, at WeWork Burnaby. At this meetup, you can expect to discover exciting developments in the city, learn something new, make meaningful connections, and potentially find your next co-founder, startup idea, or career.
➡️ Register
December 11 | 🎟️ #VTJTalks: Scaling World-class Products and Teams: Uncover the secrets behind scaling world-class products and building exceptional teams. Hear directly from leaders — with experience at Clio, Hootsuite, and TikTok — who have transformed innovative ideas into industry-leading products and managed teams that set global standards. This event offers an exclusive chance to learn actionable insights on scaling strategy, product development, and team dynamics.
➡️ Get tickets
🚨 Remember: VTJ members get early access and 50% off all our events as well as exclusive gatherings. Don’t miss out — if you’re not already a member, fix that now.