Each month, Kathleen Reid (Founder + Managing Director at Switchboard Public Relations) connects the dots between the trends, headlines and narratives that are informing the BC tech sector.
This month, she sheds light on how Launch Academy, entrepreneurship@UBC and Vancouver Startup Week made May a month to remember for the province’s next generation of innovators.
Launch Academy supports aspiring entrepreneurs with six-figure scholarships
The short: On May 18, Launch Academy announced that it is giving away $100,000 worth of scholarships to as many as 300 applicants through its “Launch Your Startup” program.
The long: While the BC labour market is steadily recovering from the historic one-month plunge it suffered last April, when it shed nearly a quarter of a million jobs, many aspiring entrepreneurs still find themselves unemployed, or faced with reduced hours, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
That’s why this news from Launch Academy is so heartening. For aspiring entrepreneurs who are ready to make a career change and start their own business but need training to learn how, the new scholarships represent game-changing opportunities.
“I’ve seen firsthand how some of my friends in hospitality and tourism have been affected by COVID, and the challenges not only for them but for their staff,” Launch Academy co-founder and CEO Ray Walia told BetaKit. “Some staff that had reduced hours turned to creating content and entering the creator economy, and others toying around with app ideas in their idle time.”
In a prime example of success breeding success, Launch Your Startup was created on the Thinkific course-creation platform. Thinkific, which recently raised $184 million in gross proceeds by going public on the Toronto Stock Exchange, counts itself among the 6,000-plus ventures that have collectively raised more than $1.2 billion in funding while being incubated by Launch Academy. Others include Koho, FansUnite, Klue, Victory Square, Later, Thinkific, Lighthouse Labs, and Picatic.
To apply, visit launch.launchacademy.ca.
Investor Showcase shines a light on entrepreneurship@UBC’s most promising ventures
The short: On May 26, the 2021 Investor Showcase saw 12 ready-to-raise ventures from entrepreneurship@UBC pitch their solutions to more than 120 investors.
The long: The 20-minute private breakout room sessions following the pitches were in especially high demand this year owing to recent news from entrepreneurship@UBC alumni.
ChopValue, for one, announced $3.15 million in new funding for its design and manufacturing of circular economy products made entirely of recycled chopsticks. Complex Biotech Discovery Ventures, for another, announced that its federally-authorized psilocybin and cannabis research business had been acquired by Delic Holdings for around $7 million. Last but not least there’s Susgrainable, which turns dehydrated barley from craft breweries into our Signature Upcycled Barley Flour into fibre-, protein- and mineral-packed baked goods and baking mixes. It just launched a Kickstarter campaign that already has more than 110 backers and is well over halfway towards reaching its $15,000 goal.
This year’s Investor Showcase included Pocketed, which helps Canadian businesses access grant funding with a free intelligent matching platform and online marketplace; Total Flow Canula, which is developing medical devices that prevent injury caused by medical equipment used to keep patients alive when their heart and lungs stop working; and Neupeak Robotics, which is developing fully autonomous strawberry harvesting robots.
With a virtual crowd of more than 300 in attendance, the event was a testament to the high-quality ventures being incubated by UBC. And it made me crave strawberries like nobody’s business!
Vancouver Startup Week goes above and beyond yet again
The short: Back for its eighth consecutive year, Vancouver Startup Week connected hundreds of entrepreneurs, investors, community leaders, and friends from May 21 to 28.
The long: I’m always inspired by the passionate and dedicated team of volunteers that runs VSW. But this year was extra-special in so many ways, especially since Switchboard PR was proud to play it’s most prominent role yet.
It was an honour to sponsor a fascinating virtual discussion on “BC’s Emerging Martech Scene” featuring Lumen5 CEO Michael Cheng, Creator.co CEO Vinod Varma, Rival Technologies COO Niamh Cunningham, and BetaKit Associate Editor Meagan Simpson. It revealed numerous insights into the growth trajectory of each company, how they identified their niche, why BC is home to a growing number of the country’s top martech players, and how investing in martech solutions can help startups attract new customers and increase ROI.
It was similarly rewarding to take part in “State of the BC Tech Sector,” a virtual discussion including Launch Academy CEO Ray Walia, BC Tech CEO Jill Tipping, and Brenda Bailey, the B.C. government’s Parliamentary Secretary for Technology and Innovation. Getting this group’s take on issues such as the province’s next tech unicorn, and the arrival of multinationals like Apple, Amazon and MasterCard, was uniquely illuminating.
Speaking of illumination, BC Place was lit up with VSW colours all week. IMHO, it has never looked better.
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