For someone who has played an outsized role in Vancouver’s tech sector, Dennis Pilarinos has spent much of his career avoiding the spotlight. His résumé stretches from Microsoft and Amazon to Buddybuild, Apple, and now Unblocked. Along the way, he helped establish Amazon Web Services’ presence in Vancouver, built and sold a developer tools company, […]
BC Tech Finalist hyperlocal Is Building the Missing Layer for Real-Life Connection
This article is part of a series presented in partnership with BC Tech, profiling the finalists for the 2026 Technology Impact Awards‘ Company of the Year – Startup category. Cities do not lack activities or people looking for connection. What they lack, according to hyperlocal CEO Hadi Ekaputra, is the infrastructure to reliably bring the […]
How GroundedAI Is Bringing AI Below the Surface
Canada is preparing to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on transit, energy, mining, and other major infrastructure projects. But some of the biggest threats to delivering that work on time and on budget lie beneath the surface. Unlike above-ground construction, where drones and satellite imagery have made detailed data easier to collect, tunnelling projects […]
Peter Evans on Xtract One’s PNE Deployment and the Future of AI-Powered Physical Security
As Vancouver continues to build its reputation as a host city for major international events, the technology protecting attendees is becoming just as important as the events themselves. Toronto-based Xtract One Technologies recently announced that its AI-powered SmartGateway screening system was selected to help secure the Pacific National Exhibition (PNE), enabling attendees to move through […]
GroundedAI Raises $2 Million to Modernize Underground Construction
Vancouver-based GroundedAI has raised $2 million to accelerate the expansion of its underground intelligence platform into the tunnelling sector. The financing round was led by Stand Up Ventures, with participation from SOSV, Accelia, BoxOne, The51, LOI VC, and other investors. GroundedAI is developing technology designed to help construction teams understand changing subsurface conditions before they […]
Victoria Founder Builds Hobby Card Index for Booming Trading Card Market
A Victoria founder is taking on the sports and trading card market with a data platform built for collectors, dealers, and sellers. Sean Charman, founder of Hobby Card Index, has built an independent trading card platform that tracks real sold-price data across more than seven million cards, giving users tools to scan cards, monitor values, […]
Startup Zamala Uses AI to Bring Cultural Context to Event Planning
When Juliana Morais and Raphael Andrade helped friends plan celebrations in Vancouver, they kept running into the same problem: finding the right local people for the right kind of event was harder than it should be. A wedding, birthday, quinceañera, tea ceremony, sangeet, or sofreh aghd may all fall under the broad category of “event […]
Kelowna’s MSM Unify Launches MSM CampusOS to Help Higher Education Institutions Run Leaner
Kelowna-based MSM Unify has launched MSM CampusOS, a new institutional operating system designed to help universities, colleges, education groups, and academic institutions streamline operations, improve efficiency, and support sustainable growth. The student recruitment platform says MSM CampusOS arrives as higher education institutions face mounting pressure to improve student experiences, digitize operations, maintain compliance, and meet […]
Vancouver’s Wafr Raises $100M to Build Sustainable AI Infrastructure
Vancouver’s Wafr Technologies is betting that Canada can become a global leader in sustainable artificial intelligence infrastructure. The B.C.-based company announced this week that it plans to develop an artificial intelligence research lab in Canada, while also advancing a $300 million fundraising campaign to commercialize its cooling technology for AI data centres. Wafr says it […]
Farpoint’s Nicholas Ning on Building AI That Actually Works
For many organizations, the challenge with artificial intelligence is no longer deciding whether it matters. It is figuring out how to move beyond strategy decks, pilot projects, and consumer-facing tools into systems that actually work inside complex enterprises. That is the space Farpoint Technologies is trying to occupy. Led by Nicholas Ning, Farpoint describes itself […]