INNOVATE Vancouver by Sven Boermeester

VOLUME 1

VANCOUVER

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“Whatever we plant in our subconscious mind and nourish with repetition and emotion will one day become reality.” — EARL NIGHTINGALE

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Over the course of 12 months, I had the opportunity to embark on a completely new venture that involved researching and highlighting Vancouver’s innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem. When I was first introduced to the potential to collaborate with a global publishing firm and showcase this beautiful city, there was an immediate desire to say yes.

as a woman with a newly found sense of confidence and gratitude watch out world! Probably not the best year to dive into the business world, given that 4 months into my journey we went into a lockdown. However, despite the challenges the COVID-19 pandemic brought to our means of doing business, it showed resilience, ingenuity, and critical thinking on part of many entrepreneurs and innovators that call Vancouver home. It wasn’t just about going into damage control but rather, how to support one another and come out of this stronger and well-equipped for future events.

A glance back at my first few phone calls, emails, and meetings reveals how much I’ve grown both professionally and mentally. At first, I was terrified and intimidated to enter into a ball game where seasoned professionals regularly play. What if I‘m not taken seriously!? Someone once told me that regardless of the position held, name it CEO, Shareholder, President, etc. we are human first, don’t be intimidated, and just have a conversation - a sound piece of advice that made this book possible. So, with fondness, I remember my stumbles, crackling voice, and nervousness that came in the beginning months, to now

Meeting with some of the best and brightest minds in the city offered me a unique perspective, an ‘insider’s look’ into the innovations and companies that fuel the ecosystem. From the beginning of this endeavor, I was aware of the vast and valuable knowledge that would come from 1

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VANCOUVER’S FORWARD-THINKING MINDSET WILL CONTINUE TO MAKE IT A COMPETITIVE AND RIPE CITY FOR INNOVATION.” RUBY K. SANDHU taking on this opportunity and the potential to streamline my education in the innovation sector in British Columbia.

problems and combined with mentors who have experienced the trials and tribulations of early entrepreneurship, makes for a killer combination. Why wouldn’t you want to have skilled and experienced people around to collaborate and succeed with?

I’d like to share with you my top three insights. In all honesty, it was difficult to pin down just a handful of observations but here are some of the things I’ve learned:

OPPORTUNITIES - There’s more than one way to go

AUTHENTICITY - We do things for a purpose

Vancouver is often considered a young city but this in no shape limits the potential and opportunities that are accessible here. Fostering connections with tech giants worldwide and creating strategic partnerships with our neighbors down south has landed Vancouver the role as a tech hotspot, where the likes of Hollywood choose to play.

Whether we are talking about the circular economy, sustainability, or social purpose, Vancouver businesses are looking to reach impactful achievements beyond racing in a numbers game. Innovators and entrepreneurs strive to make a meaningful and significant change in their respective fields, a deeper purpose is sought after and this is further evident in the innovations born here.

The multicultural dynamic the city offers is a powerful driving force for the opportunities available. Innovators from different and vibrant cultural backgrounds come together to brainstorm and build community, this creates an idiosyncratic blend of ideas and possibilities.

Providing clean drinking water, alternative sources of energy, or reducing our carbon footprint aren’t just aspirational ideals but daily goals for entrepreneurs. A proud and distinguishing principle of Vancouver businesses.

INNOVATE™ Vancouver holds the success stories of innovators and entrepreneurs that are fuelling the city’s ecosystem and I invite you to read further about what this vibrant and energetic city has to offer.

EXPERIENCE - Not our first rodeo Innovation isn’t a one-time phenomenon, but rather exists and permeates through generations and each generation has valuable information to pass down to the next. Vancouver is home to many recognized experts in their fields who remain active in the ecosystem. The collaboration between younger and older entrepreneurs allows for a very unique fusion of ideas and creativity and in my opinion a necessity for a long-term sustainable ecosystem. Bright-eyed innovators offer fresh perspectives to existing

Cheers, Ruby Ruby K. Sandhu ruby@globalvillage.world Ruby K. Sandhu

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The “INNOVATE® Vancouver” Team would like to give a special thanks to all the participants and the following companies for their support and assistance in making this project a reality.

Meet the people that are building a better Vancouver for tomorrow

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INNOVATE TM VANCOUVER: A MULTIMEDIA EXPERIENCE AND MORE.

SVEN BOERMEESTER, FOUNDER/CEO, INTERNATIONAL GROUP PUBLISHER

Sven Boermeester, Founder/CEO, International Group Publisher with Callie Van Graan, Global Village COO

INNOVATE TM Vancouver showcases the best of the city’s innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem. Embedded in its pages, you will find augmented reality videos that accompany certain features, and when you use the free GLOBAL VILLAGE AR app, the world of the future will open up before your very eyes.

recently transpired in the Vancouver ecosystem, and who play or want to play an active role in its growth and development. This inaugural edition of INNOVATE TM Vancouver is just part of a global series. We are currently launching volumes in cities throughout the GlobalVillage.world publishing partnership network.

But INNOVATETM Vancouver is far more than a tech-enabled publication; it is a multimedia experience centered around the deluxe hardcover coffee-table book you are now holding, which includes AR videos, an online web platform, and multilevel social media networking. Online, the full e-book will be viewed in the millions through the InnovationsoftheWorld.com online library.

By experiencing INNOVATE TM Vancouver, you are part of our Global Village network, and we are happy to have you. I trust you will join us as we continue the journey of the INNOVATETM series. Sven Boermeester Founder/CEO International Group Publisher

This publication aims to celebrate those involved in the Vancouver ecosystem, but it is also meant for all business leaders and decisionmakers who can effect change in their industries throughout Canada and throughout the world. We publish INNOVATE TM Vancouver for the openminded folk who want to know more about the exciting changes that have

Belinda Van Graan CMO

Ruby K. Sandhu Publishing Partner

Gia Bischofberger Chief Production Officer

Anita Naidoo Production Manager

Susan Heiman Art & Design

Ravi Handve Art & Design

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13 37 45 55 69 CHAPTER ONE

THOUGHT LEADERS

CHAPTER TWO

GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

FUTURE CITIES & COMMUNITY ENERGY, GREEN TECH DEVELOPMENT & SUSTAINABILITY

CHAPTER FIVE

BIOTECHNOLOGY

131 143 151 159 173 CHAPTER ELEVEN

E-COMMERCE & DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY

CHAPTER TWELVE

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

BUILDING, ARCHITECTURE & INTERIOR DESIGN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

EVENTS, MEDIA & NETWORKING

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

MARKETING, ADVERTISING & COMMUNICATIONS

CONTENTS Global Village CEO Sven Boermeester

Publishing Partner Ruby K. Sandhu

Global Village COO Callie Van Graan

Chief Production Officer Gia Bischofberger

Global Village CMO Belinda Van Graan

Art Direction & Design Ravi Handve

Managing Editor Ruby K. Sandhu

Production Team Anita Naidoo

Research & Selection Ruby K. Sandhu info@globalvillage.world www.InnovationsoftheWorld.com www.GlobalVillage.world © Global Village Ventures LLC ISBN: 978-1-949677-18-8

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85 95 105 113 121 CHAPTER SIX

GAMING

CHAPTER SEVEN

VIRTUAL REALITY/ AUGMENTED REALITY

CHAPTER EIGHT

FINTECH & REGTECH

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY PRODUCTION INNOVATION & RETAIL

185 193 209 219 225 CHAPTER SIXTEEN

FOOD, BEVERAGE & HOSPITALITY

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

ACCELERATORS, INCUBATORS & MENTORS

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

BANKING, FUNDERS & INVESTORS

CO-WORKING SPACES

CHAPTER TWENTY

HUMAN RESOURCES

IT’S A KIND OF MAGIC...

DOWNLOAD THE GLOBAL VILLAGE AR APP TO VIEW 100 AUGMENTED REALITY VIDEOS IN THIS BOOK!

To experience the future of print, download the Global Village AR App from the IOS or Android App stores. Open the App and hold it about 30cm above any page that contains an image with the “play” Icon.

Make sure your back camera is pointing at the page. Click the Play button that appears onscreen and immerse yourself in the latest updated content with reference to that page. Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information in The “INNOVATE™ Vancouver” vol 1. Neither “INNOVATE™ Vancouver” nor Global Village assume any responsibility for errors or omissions. All rights reserved: No part of this publication shall be reproduced, copied, transmitted, adapted, or modified in any form or by any means. This publication shall not be stored in whole or in part in any form in any retrieval system.

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WHAT MAKES VANCOUVER AWESOME FOR STARTUPS Vancouver is a city where brilliant ideas meet their creation, serving as a portal to the world for startups and entrepreneurs alike. Here, along streets of possibility and opportunity, developers lead the software frontier, plastic waste becomes currency, and clean drinkable water for 7 billion people around the globe is not just a dream. Perched under the gaze of the North Shore Mountains on Canada’s western coastline, a cocktail of ski slopes, wooded wilderness, and watersports ensure Vancouver has inspiration on tap. There’s a reason why locals say the city’s name with such verve. For anyone with a big idea, welcome to startup utopia. To establish itself as a global wellpoint for innovative ideas, startups and entrepreneurs need an ecosystem where they can thrive. So what sets Vancouver apart from hubs like Silicon Valley, New York, and San Francisco? We first have to look at the setting. Having immediate access to such variety in nature isn’t a luxury for many cities around the world, but Vancouver has it in surplus — and whatever your interest, there’s a season for it. Its work-life balance makes it a particularly attractive city to start a business, as lifestyle and business co-exist here beautifully. Brainstorming sessions, business handshakes and networking don’t need boardrooms, and oftentimes take place on ski slopes, hiking trails and sailing boats, and it’s this ethos that forms a sandbox environment where creativity and collaboration are born. Vancouver has also been hard at work creating a name for itself as one of Canada’s tech-hub giants, which means connecting with like-minded individuals is just a button’s push away. A few of Vancouver’s breakout successes are software companies like Hootsuite, Avigilon and Slack, with many large-scale businesses dependent on their tech. Yet, these names only form a handful of more than 10,000 tech companies in the city, each contributing to more than $23 billion in revenue and $15 billion in GDP in British Columbia. Vancouver is also a high-tech haven for power pioneers like Portable Electric, a solution-driven business that provides soundless, emission-free battery generators suited to a range of purposes. Companies like these are a masterclass and inspiration for other businesses making their mark in the space. 7

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Vancouver is a city in celebration of itself. With its zest for innovation and business, this is where entrepreneurs can put lights around their ideas and bring them to life. —Ruby K. Sandhu

Startups and entrepreneurs in the industry are pushing the sector forward in a number of other areas like AI, Software as a Service (SaaS), social media, business intelligence, security and fintech, e-commerce, and web tech. If this sector has proven anything at all, it’s shown that it’s adaptable and resilient. The coronavirus pandemic has created immeasurable challenges for our global village, but for LNG Studios, it has been a playground of obstacles. While social distancing and lockdowns have shaken up the real estate industry, companies like LNG brought viewings to the virtual world through augmented and virtual reality video. On the entertainment spectrum, Vancouver is also called by its sobriquet, “Hollywood North,” 8

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and for good reason too. Each year, Vancouver hosts roughly 65 films and a further 55 TV series, making it the third-largest film and television production center in North America. This sets the scene for startup opportunities in the industry, with a focus on film, digital, and design businesses. Hollywood North’s popularity also has to do with its location, as the city is reasonably close to Los Angeles and shares the same time zone. Additionally, the local British Columbia government provides enticing tax credits, which only adds to the incentive. Yet, it’s not just film companies that are backed by the government. Vancouver’s flourishing ecosystem for startups has grown from a few important seeds, like favourable policy, enjoyably-low taxes, and world-leading infrastructure. The result is perfect growing conditions for startups and entrepreneurs. Globally, Vancouver ranks as one of the most competitive cities in the world for startup business and comes in ahead of all US west coast competitors. While listed in StartupBlink’s top 50 ecosystems, Vancouver has relatively few startups but excels with its highly competitive valuations. Perhaps one of the most promising aspects for entrepreneurs is the metrics around early-stage funding, which typically figures around an impressive $334,000 per startup.

Vancouver’s web of connectivity is a defining feature of the beautiful coastal city. On a digital level, communication companies are rolling out the latest generation of network coverage, with 5G bringing smoothness and speed to young businesses. But it’s not just information that is moving 9

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around with such efficiency — it’s the people too. Vancouver’s commute system brings the future of public transport to the present day. With a SkyTrain, and road and sea bus schedules to be taken advantage of, this BC metropolis’ commute time is one of the lowest of major cities in the world. Enjoying these modes of transport aren’t just locals, as tourists make use of conveniently placed transit stations like Lonsdale Quay, and Waterfront Station. Although much of Vancouver’s startup scene

is geared toward a B2B style, there is a steady rise in B2C startups, and many of the customers and clients for these businesses are tourists. Every year, Vancouver’s urban delight and natural splendour attract millions of tourists, with 2019 a particularly popular year with just over 11 million visits. This tourism supports over 104,000 local jobs and contributes a whopping $14 billion in total revenue. There is logic to Vancouver’s must-visit destination status: it’s a surprisingly central location. This plays out particularly well for startups and entrepreneurs looking for close proximity to foreign markets and international funding. As Canada’s biggest trade partner, American economic hives like Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles are found further along the coast. While businesses might be based in Vancouver, many opportunities also lie across the ocean. Given their auspicious geography, Vancouver-based businesses sit across a metaphorical meeting table from the Asia Pacific. This market is in rapid evolution, and thanks to the city’s startup conditions, local business can keep up. If you turn around though, and peer beyond the slick cityscape, toward the Coast Mountains filled with forests, gorges, trails and slopes, you might feel burning inspiration — a common symptom for entrepreneurs. In Vancouver, city and nature are entwined to create the eco-conscious DNA on which many local businesses are

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built. Clean and green make for innovative thinking among Vancouver’s startups, with the city’s closeness to untouched wilderness a likely catalyst behind this thinking. Another contributing factor is the city’s planet-friendly power solutions, with an impressive 93% of its electricity derived from hydroelectric sources. As a result, inspiring ideas germinate, with companies like Acuva Technologies creating clean tech to purify water and disinfect surfaces with a variety of gadgets. Yet, inspiration has many faces, and one of them is ethics, which also happens to be a cornerstone value for Nala Care, a cosmetics company with a mission to change the self-care industry using their range of free-from products. Free-from is their transparent set of standards which promises no negative side-effects and no animal cruelty through testing. Just like our bodies, the planet deserves our care and attention too. Vancouver-based businesses like Plastic Bank are ever conscious of unnecessary waste that is harming the Earth. They’re combating pollution by changing the perception of plastic and turning it into gold. Revolutionizing recycling ecosystems, supplying social plastic and blockchain transparency are all being used to improve and empower lives. Vancouver is a city in celebration of itself. With its zest for innovation and business, this is where entrepreneurs can put lights around their ideas and bring them to life. A spunky local population embraces this startup culture and creates fertile grounds for entrepreneurs to grow their businesses. In harmony 11

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with the city are enchanting surroundings, like the calm Pacific waters of the Strait of Georgia, the snow-capped Northshore Mountains, and wild woodlands in between. So come and discover the very best of Canada, and revel in it.

GLOBAL INNOVATION MARKETING CANADA SHOWCASING THE BEST OF CANADA

Global Innovation Marketing Canada Inc. Innovate Vancouver

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Written by: Dane Hansen 12

CHAPTER 1

THOUGHT LEADERS

“Never before in history has innovation offered promise of so much to so many in so short a time.” — BILL GATES

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AS THE WORLD MOVES TOWARDS A CARBON-FREE FUTURE, B.C. TECH COMPANIES WILL PLAY A PIVOTAL ROLE IN SHAPING THE GLOBAL GREEN ECONOMY. RAGHWA GOPAL , PRESIDENT + CEO , INNOVATE BC

Suite 900, 1188 West Georgia Street Vancouver, B.C., Canada V6E 4A2 +1-604-757-1069 +1-800-573-0488 innovatebc innovate_bc

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If you’re reading this book right now, there’s a good chance you already know that: • B.C.’s tech sector is growing year over year • Dozens of tech giants – including Amazon, Apple, and Shopify – are racing to set up shop in Vancouver • ‘Access to Talent’ and ‘Access to Capital’ are the two major pain points for local companies • We’re home to some of the best tech companies in the world that are solving the world’s biggest challenges In other words – we’re growing fast, we have challenges to overcome, and the future looks extremely bright. Yet, despite the mounting momentum and optimistic outlook, it’s difficult to pin down exactly what our tech 15

sector will look like ten years from now. Will we establish ourselves as the country’s top tech market? Will our new wave of high-profile startups successfully scale up and become anchor companies in the province? How fast can our regional tech communities grow? The answer to these questions can determine whether the work that’s being done today will fuel the exponential growth our tech sector’s capable of over the next decade. So with that, let’s peer into the crystal ball and explore what the future holds for our provincial tech industry.

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PREDICTIONS #1:

B.C.’S CLEANTECH COMPANIES ESTABLISH THE PROVINCE AS THE WORLD’S TOP CLEANTECH HUB

#2:

THE GROWTH OF OUR REGIONAL TECH COMMUNITIES WILL MAKE B.C. THE STRONGEST TECH MARKET IN CANADA

Earning the distinction of ‘the world’s top cleantech hub’ can be subjective and hard to quantify. But, there are a few indicators that can certainly tip the scales in B.C.’s favour.

Over the next decade, B.C.’s tech sector will continue to experience rapid growth and our regional communities will be the driving force that pushes us forward.

As it stands right now, our cleantech sector is already the envy of tech jurisdictions across the globe. Each year, multiple B.C. companies crack the Global Cleantech 100 List, with some ventures earning this recognition on an annual basis. Our biggest companies have an army of blue-chip investors at their backs, including Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates. And all levels of government have made strong commitments and investments to spur cleantech innovations across the province.

Tech success stories can be found all over the province. Kamloops was named startup community of the year in 2017, the city of Nelson opened a brand-new innovation centre earlier this year, and Cloudhead Games has become an industry powerhouse while operating out of their 8,000 square foot Vancouver Island headquarters.

With all of this momentum behind us, the next few years offer a huge opportunity for B.C. to stake our claim as a global cleantech leader. We’ll start to see outcomes from Foresight’s CORE Cleantech Cluster, which aims to mobilize all of the key players in the B.C. cleantech ecosystem to collaborate on projects and enhance the province’s reputation as a hotbed for high impact cleantech innovation.

But the key to our sector’s growth over the next decade will be contingent on the continual growth of Victoria and Kelowna. Both regions have followed a remarkably similar trajectory over the past few years. Their tech sectors each contribute more than $1 billion to their local economies, with Greater Victoria producing an eye-popping $5.22B in total economic impact and employing nearly 17,000 workers. Both regions have standout companies that are raising money, creating jobs, and attracting international attention. And for good measure, they both have direct access to a replenishing talent pipeline through local postsecondary institutions.

We’ll see flagship companies like General Fusion, Terramera, and Saltworks change the way the world harvests energy, grows food, and treats wastewater, while early-stage ventures like Open Ocean Robotics, Acuva Technologies, and Delta-Q Technologies take meaningful steps to scale their ventures and save the planet.

Over the next decade, both tech sectors are projected to grow significantly. The Victoria Innovation, Advanced Technology & Entrepreneurship Council (VIATEC) believes the Greater Victoria tech sector can become a $10B economic contributor by 2030. Not to be outdone, their Kelowna-based counterparts at Accelerate Okanagan have presided over their tech sector’s 15% year-over-year economic growth since 2013 and are producing a new wave of homegrown success stories like Minga, Trellis, and Tonit.

As the world moves towards a carbonfree future, B.C. tech companies will play a pivotal role in shaping the global green economy.

Simply put, B.C. takes a backseat to no other province and our regional communities will be the driving force in our rise as the country’s strongest tech market.

#3:

OUR CURRENT WAVE OF SUPERSTAR STARTUPS WILL BECOME THE ANCHOR COMPANIES OUR TECH SECTOR NEEDS In the last decade, B.C.’s tech sector became known for companies like Hootsuite, Slack, and Avigilon. However, over the last few years, a new wave of high-profile startups has emerged and they’re raising unprecedented capital and changing the world with homegrown, B.C. innovation. Over the next decade, we’ll see these companies successfully scale their ventures and become the local anchor companies that are vital for the growth and credibility of a world-class tech ecosystem. Companies like Terramera, Trulioo, and Semios come to mind, as they’re each fresh off significant funding raises that will accelerate their growth over the next few years. Companies that are a bit further away from reaching their full growth potential – but have the potential to become future anchor companies – include life science standout Aspect Biosystems, Squamishbased Carbon Engineering, and AI-powered video creation platform Lumen5. For years, B.C. has been home to one of the best startup ecosystems in the world. But now, it’s time for these startups to take the next step in their journey and become anchor companies that will create jobs, spur economic growth, and ultimately, change the world.

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CANADA’S FUTURE ECONOMY IS INNOVATIVE, GREEN AND CLEANTECH DRIVEN. COLLABORATION IS THE WAY TO GET US THERE. JEANETTE JACKSON, CEO, FORESIGHT CAC The Economy is Transforming

As the innovation ecosystem in B.C., we must transform along with the economy. We have to become what we aspire to be—community-focused, distributed and powerful—a force for change.

As the world shifts into a zero emission sustainable economy, there will be a transformation of the entire infrastructure of our society. Canada has a role to play in this shift, and I believe British Columbia should take a profound and pivotable leadership role in this transition.

Vancouver, B.C. - Canada’s Hub for People-Centred Cleantech Innovation

Innovations that a few years ago people were predicting would be decades away are rapidly gaining traction in the market, from electric vehicles to zero emission buildings to renewable energy and low-carbon fuels.

But of course, strategies and frameworks are not enough. We have to move into action. We know things are changing, but what are they changing to? What will be the new ways of working together, getting around, providing energy and food to our communities? How will we live healthy, safe and prosperous lives?

We are in the midst of a transition to a circular, cleantech-focused economy, and I believe this is the biggest opportunity for transforming how we organize production and consumption since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution 250 years ago. I also believe that many established industry players, government and even investors are seriously underestimating the speed and depth of this transition.

To move into action, and find these answers, the entire community has to be engaged - we all have to dig in, not to the status quo, but to the vision of what a regenerative, circular economy means to us and to our future. Vancouver is the place where these unbelievably complex and sophisticated (but easily understood) strategies that have been created around the transition to a green economy can come to life. Vancouver is resilient; culturally diverse, environmentally aware, and home of a digital supercluster that is attracting top talent to the region. We also have world-leading green building policies, strong carbon tax policies, and a cleantech cluster.

Positive Disruption: We Have to Transform Along with the Economy As CEO of Vancouver-based Foresight Cleantech Accelerator Centre, I am leading an agile team that is focused on energizing the cleantech industry and positioning Canada to be a leading centre for innovation, talent and capital required to scale clean technology companies.

In the past centuries great cities emerged because of their locations next to trade routes, seaports or river junctions. Today’s great centres of innovation and trade—today’s great cities, are less dependent on physical location, and are more about creating smart, strategic, collaborative environments.

We are ecosystem builders, which means we are really looking at how to engage with the whole community, how to break down the communication and innovation silos that exist within industry sectors, small and medium-sized enterprises and stakeholder groups like investors, government and academia.

The exciting thing for me is that we are in the right place, at the right time, with all the right tools to be a global centre of cleantech innovation. Now is the time to lead the change.

In order for B.C. to pivot to a zero-carbon circular economy and hold on to a leadership position in cleantech, we have to break down communication silos, make strategic connections, and create the environment that allows cleantech companies to scale up into global solutions.

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I’D MUCH RATHER BE THE PERSON WHO HAS ALL THE QUESTIONS. THAT’S HOW INNOVATION HAPPENS. KARM SUMAL, CO-FOUNDER AND CEO OF DAILY HIVE

Being an entrepreneur can be extremely rewarding and extremely difficult -- and that’s all before lunch. You never know what the day, week, or year can bring. Innovation is an integral part of staying relevant, so if you’re thinking of taking the entrepreneurial leap, here are 3 pieces of advice I’ve learned along the way. 1. Don’t pretend to know everything. Because you don’t. Starting out, I thought I had to have all of the answers, otherwise people wouldn’t respect me or take me seriously. Now, I’m the first person to admit when I don’t know something. I’ve realized it’s not a sign of weakness, but rather a sign of strength.

The alternative to pretending you know it all is that you alienate your staff from offering sound advice or expertise that could make a difference to your business. It also empowers those around you to be a part of the solution. It’s a lot more stressful to be the person who has all the answers. I’d much rather be the person who has all the questions. That’s how innovation happens.

2. Carve out time to think. When you run your own business, you can be so bogged down with the day-to-day that you have little to no time to actually think. However, it’s so important to keep your company at the forefront of your industry. Ideas are how innovation happens.

That’s why I schedule time in my calendar each week where I simply just think about where my company is, what other industries are doing, and how we can reinvent and innovate what we do.

3. It’s okay to make mistakes -- except when you make them twice. When you’re trying new things, you’re bound to make mistakes. And that’s okay. Sometimes mistakes are easy to recover from. Others can seem catastrophic. You’re not going to get it right the first time every time, so don’t beat yourself up if you misstep. It sounds cliché, but the most important thing is that you learn from what went wrong.

The trouble is when you find yourself repeating the same mistake over and over again. That’s where you need to pay closer attention. Are you continuously hiring the wrong people for a role? Are there continuous delays in your services? If so, hone in on where the road bumps are and take the steps needed to stop repeating the same cycle.

Daily Hive dailyhivevancouver

dailyhive.com

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WE CAN NO LONGER STAND BY WHILE OTHERS PROFIT AT OUR PLANET’S EXPENSE. DAVID KATZ, FOUNDER & CEO OF PLASTIC BANK, SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR

We are consuming earth’s resources faster than they can be regenerated, and common sense tells us the result will be a series of mutually reinforcing economic, social, and ecological crises - a catastrophe on a scale without historical precedent.

Our amazing brand partners - like Henkel, SC Johnson and Lombard Odier - are industry leaders that have built environmental, social, and economic impact into the core of their businesses. By leading with purpose, they are proving that it is possible to do well while doing good for the world.

Today, it’s no longer enough to be sustainable. We need to be regenerative and leave nature and society healthier, better off and more resilient than we found it. Business as usual is no longer working - we can no longer stand by as a select few profit at the expense of people and the planet.

The way forward I am inspired to shape a global regenerative society that will benefit all people, regions, communities, and our planet. We need to redefine the way we do business and build impact - this renewed sense of purpose needs to be instituted into our operating model. We are shifting our paradigm of investment and creating a powerful model that alleviates poverty, protects the environment, and builds strong economic systems. This is how we will change our world.

We must expand and evolve our view of what constitutes a return on investment. What if we look beyond traditional financial definitions and embrace environmental, social, and economic impact as our new ROI?

Plastic Bank®

We’re at an extraordinary inflection point where a fundamental change in our behavior will help us recreate our future potential. We must change our outlook - our reason for being that guides everything we are and do. To create a world where we no longer consume to survive, but awaken ourselves to thrive.

In 2013, I made a choice to put my empathy into action to drive meaningful change. I founded Plastic Bank to help the world stop ocean plastic while improving the lives of collector communities. My company builds ethical recycling ecosystems around the world to collect plastic waste and reintroduce it back into the supply chain as Social Plastic®. By enabling the exchange of all kinds of plastic for currency and other rewards, we effectively monetize plastic waste, making plastic too valuable to discard in the first place. By partnering with global brands we are creating exponential impact throughout the entire value chain.

Plastic Bank plasticbank 1333 Johnston St #350, Vancouver, BC, V6H 3R9

plasticbank.com

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INDIGENOUS PEOPLES HAVE EXISTED ON THE MARGINS OF THE BALANCE SHEET, VIEWED AS A LIABILITY. CAROL ANNE HILTON, MBA, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, INDIGENOMICS INSTITUTE

Questions are the architecture for tomorrow. In asking better questions we can shape stronger innovation. The question of today is, how do we collectively facilitate the development of Canada’s $100 billion Indigenous economy? Setting the stage for a next-level Canada today means actualizing this growing story of Indigenous economic potential. Indigenomics is a platform for economic reconciliation. Indigenous peoples have existed on the margins of the balance sheet, viewed as a liability. Reconciliation must now occur in the balance sheet of this country. To achieve a $100 billion Indigenous economy requires a shift in how we relate to Indigenous peoples – to see Indigenous peoples as economic powerhouses in our own right. The $100 billion Indigenous economy is a modern stake in the ground, the marker of a new economic reality on which Canada’s larger economic future now depends. Who wants to play Indigenomics?

I am the CEO and Founder of the Indigenomics Institute and the Global Center of Indigenomics. I am of Nuu chah nulth descent from the Hesquiaht Nation on Vancouver Island. In leading the establishment of a line of thought called #indigenomics- growing from a single word to an entire movement which focuses on the re-building and strengthening of Indigenous economies. Indigenomics is a new word. I define Indigenomics as the collective economic response to the lasting legacy of the systematic exclusion of Indigenous peoples in the development of Canada. It is this economic displacement that has shaped the polarization of the Indigenous relationship across time. It’s time for a new story, one where Indigenous people assume their rightful place at the economic table of this country. Why Indigenomics? The truths of this country lie in the experience of Indigenous communities in poverty without access to clean water, warm housing, clean power or good jobs. The root of this can be traced to centuries of being excluded economically.

Indigenomics Institute cawaaknis@me.com (250) 508 1778 Carol Anne Hilton Hesquiaht / #indigenomics 20

Who Wants to Play Indigenomics Indigenomics Hesquiaht

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BELIEVE THAT YOU CAN DO ANYTHING, BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, FALL IN LOVE WITH THE PROCESS AND FOLLOW YOUR PASSIONS, NOT ONLY YOUR DREAMS. BRITTANY WHITMORE, CEO, EXVERA COMMUNICATIONS INC. As it turns out, one’s underlying passions are much more flexible than you might initially think. And it took abandoning the superficial version of my dream to discover what mine truly are. What I am truly passionate about is storytelling, connecting with, learning about and moving people, constantly learning, and making an impact.

Brittany is a public relations professional who calls herself a “Professional Noisemaker.” She is the founder of Exvera Communications Inc., specializing in PR for emerging industries and disruptive innovation. She also advises startups and regularly does public speaking. Brittany was named as one of BC Business Magazine’s Top 30 Under 30 and as one of Langara College’s Outstanding Alumni in 2017. If anyone would have told me growing up that I would end up working in advanced science and technology, I don’t think I would have believed them. Not that I didn’t find it interesting (because I always have!), but I couldn’t see the bigger picture about how my unique passions and skills could be applied. I had always been the creative type, loved the performing arts, and was fascinated with big ideas and and stories about people, so I expected to find myself on a film set, backstage in a musical, or in a recording studio. But much to my own surprise (and delight) I now feel that I am exactly where I am supposed to be, despite it looking much different than I ever imagined it would. What was your dream as a child? We’re constantly told that the route to our happiness is to follow our dreams. But looking back on my own journey, I would say that this advice is flawed, and that we ought to be more concerned with our passions than our dreams - and no, they are not the same.

And these passions apply brilliantly to what I do today in public relations, and interestingly - to everything I have ever loved to do, including music and the performing arts. Success has followed naturally on this path, and I believe that it is because it is a path that is truly in tune with my passions - and not some externally motivated dream. I get to constantly learn about new technology and fascinating entrepreneurs, and tell those stories to the world, getting people excited about what the future could look like. What a great honour it is to spend my days on the forefront of innovation, with those visionary people who are solving problems and building a better future for all of us.

What’s the difference, you ask? Dreams are shaped by external factors; for example, so many dream of being rich, famous, climbing Everest or making a medical discovery. But these are ends, they are not the means, and for your life to be a journey that you can truly love, you must focus on the means - and this is where your passions come in. You must love the process, not the result.

I leave you with this: follow your instinct, if something feels wrong - don’t do it. Work hard and be open to opportunity. Believe that you can do anything (because you can), but most importantly, fall in love with the process and follow your passions, not only your dreams.

For me, it was actually giving up the very dreams I once believed would shape my future, that helped me to discover what my passions had been all along. Like many young girls, I dreamt of being an actress and a singer, and while I surely do have talent in these areas, I should have recognized some inconsistency when I also wanted to be a judge (actually - I wanted to be Judge Judy, specifically). So, this tells me that my vision for my future wasn’t shaped as much by passion, and more by what I saw around me that appeared to be success and became my dream.

Exvera Communications Inc. brittany@exvera.com +1-778-238-6096

britwhitmore BritWhitmore

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GOOD COMPANIES WILL ALWAYS GET FUNDED. THE KEY HERE IS, WHAT’S “GOOD”? MICHAEL VOLKER - CEO WUTIF CAPITAL, ANGEL INVESTOR, WEST VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA VANCOUVER’S CLIMATE FOR FUNDING START-UPS I’ve been doing angel investing since the early 1980s after I took my first venture, a computer terminals manufacturer in Waterloo, public on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Since then, I’ve invested in well over 200 startup ventures. I often hear entrepreneurs complain about the lack of funding. One of the reasons often given for failure is that companies couldn’t raise the required capital. I believe that’s nonsense. Good companies will always get funded. The key here is, what’s “good”? A compelling business case is a good start. However, as an investor, I need to be convinced that the company has the experience that it takes to build a successful venture. In Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Outliers, he talks about the 10,000 hours of practice that it takes for someone to become accomplished in their profession. However, Vancouver and British Columbia have a unique global advantage when it comes to raising capital. The B.C. government provides support to qualifying startups by giving investors a 30% refundable tax credit – which is as good as cash. If a startup needs $500K, it only needs to raise $350K, This program started over 20 years ago and has helped entrepreneurs raise millions of dollars. For the past several years, B.C. companies have raised more than $100 million annually using these tax credits.

Just as I’d be averse to be operated on by a surgeon with only a few hours experience, I should be averse to investing in an inexperienced entrepreneur. So, how can nascent entrepreneurs overcome such an aversion? Technical founders can recruit, and deal-in, co-founders with critical business skills in sales, marketing, finance, and operations. This will make it much easier to attract risk capital from investors.

As companies grow and prosper and ultimately provide liquidity for their founders and investors, new angel investors are created. I have seen substantial growth in the number of individuals who are willing to write a cheque and take a risk on a new venture. What’s great about angel investors is that, unlike institutional venture capital investors, they are not a homogeneous group. Each investor is unique about the stage of investment, degree of due diligence, investment amount, risk appetite, industry sector, and personal involvement.

Fortunately, in Vancouver’s vibrant technology community, there’s an abundance of opportunities open to entrepreneurs for attracting both human and financial capital. A good example of this is New Ventures BC. This is an annual business competition that has a vast network of successful entrepreneurs who can act as investors, mentors, advisors, or even employees to help a startup become investor-ready. Vancouver also boasts numerous accelerators that support entrepreneurs with their business development. One of the larger ones, VentureLabs, is supported by Simon Fraser University. Another one with a specific sector focus is the Foresight Cleantech Accelerator.

Remember that angel investors invest their own money whereas institutional investors manage other peoples’ money. This means that they can make decisions faster and be more flexible and accommodating. However, most investors prefer privacy and there’s no directory where entrepreneurs can find them. That’s why the angel meetings and other networking events are so important. And, in Vancouver, there’s no shortage of them!

There are on-going, regular angel events where companies can meet with potential investors. These would include VANTEC and the Angel Forum that cater mainly to startups seeking seed capital and the Keiretsu Forum that helps companies raise post-seed capital.

mikevolker

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WE WERE REMINDED THAT HUMAN CONNECTION ISN’T AN OPTION, IT’S A NECESSITY. RIAZ MEGHJI - AUTHOR, KEYNOTE SPEAKER, TELEVISION BROADCASTER OUR FUTURE IS HUMAN

Ask, Don’t Tell

In 2020, everything changed, except for who we are. When social distancing became our next normal, so did our deep desire to stay connected in isolation. No, I’m not just talking about Zoom happy hours. Virtual workouts, weddings and graduations are just a few examples of how we creatively connected remotely. We were reminded that human connection isn’t an option, it’s a requirement. Especially given that another difficult challenge already existed pre-COVID; loneliness.

An active listener asks the questions that help someone discover the meaning behind their own personal experiences. When people open up about their pain points, what if we didn’t try to fix their problem, but instead simply listened and felt their pain. Ask more questions, instead of instantly giving advice. Questions such as ‘what’s on your mind?’ and ‘tell me more’ are simple cues that enable us to lead by listening, allow others to feel seen and heard and ultimately build trust with clients, customers and co-workers.

Embrace and Share Your Failures Loneliness, commonly defined as the perceived For many, the fear of failure is kryptonite to lack of social connections, has long been projecting confidence. If self-doubt starts to become a concern around the world. In 2017, The a factor, a popular tool to recalibrate your mindset Vancouver Foundation discovered close to is to draw from the After Action Review, a process a third of people aged 18-24 in our city felt developed by the U.S. Army. This system is used by lonely. A 2019 study by the Angus Reid Photo credit, Charles Zuckermann organizations to help teams learn from failure, prevent Institute later found that loneliness was future mistakes and discover new solutions to current problems. When a notable problem for people in Canada. Loneliness has been proven we’re dealing with our next setback, to combat losing our confidence, to negatively impact our mental and physical well-being, lifespan and embrace failure by asking these questions: productivity. How do we combat this epidemic? Social connection. 1. What was the desired outcome? Describe the ideal scenario. 2. What actually happened? Be honest about the reality, the good and While modern life and business innovation emphasize convenience, the the bad. coronavirus pandemic ignited the desire for connection. For instance, 3. What went well and why? Look at the positives and document what Canada was a leader with the ‘Caremongering’ campaign, where members worked well. of our communities helped each other during desperate times. The 4. What can be improved and how? Be objective and learn from what Caremongering YVR Facebook account is one small way the people in our went sideways and how can we adjust things for future projects. ecosystem would reach out and offer support. Social media was finally being used for good. With a powerful idea, you can become the network If failure is feedback, these questions will provide the insight to build our and inspire others to create positive change. confidence, allowing us to share important lessons that motivate others to navigate their next roadblock with more conviction. There are many habits of human connection that build key relationships to help us thrive in uncertain times. Here are three simple strategies Communities that are connected rally when crisis and disaster hit. This for creators and entrepreneurs to connect with their teams using a unified front is key for us to use adversity to our advantage and drive relationship-first mindset: innovation. The result? A resilient mindset that can help us succeed in any Go First situation, as we build an even greater new reality, together. A few years ago, I had the chance to connect with thought leader Darren Hardy, the former publisher of SUCCESS magazine. Now, he’s a successful Bio: Riaz Meghji is a Keynote Speaker on Human Connection, Speaker mentor to many CEOs around the world and I remember asking him, Coach and 17 Year Television Broadcaster. He’s also the author of ‘Every “what is the secret to having people open up in conversations?” He shared Conversation Counts: The Five Habits Of Human Connection That Build two words… ‘go first’. He said think about it, “if you want someone to Extraordinary Relationships’ (To be released Feb 2021). For more info, give you something raw, authentic and vulnerable, teach them that it’s check out RiazMeghji.com. a safe space to open up and go first with something extraordinary that’s happened in your life.” This idea, especially in stressful times will invite others to do the exact same thing. If you can be as human as possible in RIAZ MEGHJI RiazMeghji your conversations and share your truth, watch how the nature of your riaz@riazmeghji.com relationships begins to change for the better. +1-604-657-2020

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IN A WORLD DEPENDENT ON DATA, IT IS BOTH AN OPERATIONAL NECESSITY AND AN ASSET. NJERI WATKINS - BUSINESS LEADER, DATA ANALYST & EDUCATOR

reporting tools, analytics platforms and a few skilled experts to determine the fate of the business is the way of the past. Today, the fastest growing businesses embrace a data-driven culture, a culture where everyone is asking the question “What is the problem we want data to solve?” In a world dependent on data, it is both an operational necessity and an asset. Data-driven organizations that effectively leverage data gain a competitive advantage and greater business intelligence. Access to relevant, actionable data is blurring the dividing line between the voice of the customer and business insights. The role of the customer is evolving into a curated partnership. Customer preferences, behaviors and opinions now have a seat at the table and play a critical role in influencing equitable decision making. As our global community strives to manage the democratization of data, information, privacy and communication channels, we have reached an inflection point concerning the role of leadership in these times. The demand for effective leadership can be heard across every corner of the globe. It is time for a fresh new approach, one founded on the principles of agility, ingenuity and community. The answer to the call is the productive disruptor: A data-driven, technologically competent and socially conscious business leader with the cultural acuity to lead tough conversations and skillfully navigate the minefield of inclusive engagement. Photo by Sombilon Studios

Makeup by Gentille Umubyeyi Njeri Watkins is a catalytic leader, business advisor and cultural innovator with over 15 years of expertise in leading, educating and navigating organizations to a better digital world through data.

As a Vancouver based Business Leader, Data Analyst and Educator, I am an active contributor in the digital technology ecosystem cultivated by our beautiful global metropolis. In this community rooted in collaborative cross pollination between industry, academia, the public sector and entrepreneurs, the galvanizing force is the desire to build, invest and innovate for a liveable smart city. It is an honour to contribute to the industry through my work in leading and advising organizations to a better digital world through data.

An influential educator in the areas of leadership, business intelligence and data analytics, Njeri has been an Instructor with The University of British Columbia for over a decade. Njeri has presented at over 100 conferences, digital technology events, academic institutions and government programs in Canada, United States and the Caribbean.

The organizations and structures that led us into the digital and technological revolution are reengineering their processes to adapt to a more equitable and sustainable future. The road ahead is challenging, the problems are complex and require solutions grounded in critical, computational and systematic thinking. Data is the new currency. The future belongs to organizations that can design, lead and innovate for a rapidly changing world.

Njeri’s combined experience as an entrepreneur, data analyst and educator has given rise to her highly acclaimed leadership programs “Building Data-Driven Organizations”, “Integrity Leadership” and “The Future of Cultural Innovation”. Njeri received distinguished recognition as one of the “100 Accomplished Black Canadian Women” and actively provides advisory services and training in business intelligence, data-driven leadership and disruption management to entrepreneurs, business leaders and corporations.

Large tech companies are investing billions on data infrastructure and data-driven technology startups are innovating faster than many established businesses. Leveraging data insights is imperative for a profitable and sustainable business.

njeri@njeriwatkins.com njeriwatkins

Business leaders must champion a scalable data-driven culture and integrated operations that allow for the free exchange of critical data in real time across an entire organization. The approach of relying solely on

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WE’RE BUILDING A SPOTIFY-STYLE SERVICE FOR NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES. ALEX KROOGMAN, CEO | PRESSREADER GROUP OF COMPANIES

interaction special. Just like music, when it comes to newspapers and magazines, the company that will succeed at the end (and, perhaps, it’s more than one), is the company that can provide the widest selection of quality content that satisfies all interests. Better yet, it offers the best reading experience built around the relevancy of that content specific to each user. And, that’s exactly what we’re building at PressReader. Whether our readers want top newspapers like The Guardian, The Globe and Mail, and The Wall Street Journal or magazines to keep them entertained like Rolling Stone, Vogue, and GQ – you’ve got over 7,500 of the world’s best publications.

Yes, a streaming service can support quality journalism. We’re building a bridge between content consumers who are ready to pay and those who aren’t. We’re part of an ecosystem that supports content creators, publishers and essentially the journalist. Because, as we connect readers to the stories that matter most to them, we create a profitable future for quality content. And, we’ve tailored our two distinct business models to support that ecosystem. Through our direct subscription model, readers get all-you-can-consume access to the world’s best content while paying for quality journalism. On the other hand, for those that can’t or won’t pay for content, our extensive B2B network uniquely sets us apart from other digital newsstands. Through this business model, our brand partners in the library, hospitality, aviation, and marine verticals sponsor access for readers. With both approaches, we get publishers’ content into hard-to-reach places and connect publishers to an audience of hundreds of millions of people, worldwide. Just how Spotify puts thousands of songs in the palm on your hand, so do we with newspapers and magazines. Don’t get me wrong – I enjoy a record just as much as the next person, but I’m not carrying it around with me. Like our readers, I want convenience and choice. No matter how you slice it, at PressReader, we keep content creators paid while letting readers discover new and personalized content, on-demand and in their pocket.

Alex transformed PressReader from an innovative printmedia solution to a globally driven, game-changing platform. He has played an integral leadership role at PressReader for 20 years. In that time, he led the creation of our worldwide network, built our library service platform, and developed new technologies that continue to set the industry standard. To this day, I look forward to each Monday when Spotify releases my new Discover Weekly playlist. Why, because it’s built entirely for me. It’s personalized with the music I know, plus lots of music I haven’t even heard of before but know I’ll instantly love. That’s the goal for all of us in business. Every company, I hope, wants to give their customers exactly what they’re looking for to enhance their experience and make their

PressReader Inc. @pressreader

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THE PATH LESS TRAVELLED – FOLLOW YOUR PASSION. JAMES MUTTER, LAWYER, CO-FOUNDER, WHITEBOARD LAW

Whiteboard Law I started focusing on the technology sector in the mid -90s when I joined a large national law firm in Vancouver. Over the span of 25+ years, I have been a lawyer, co-founder of a software company, President of the BC Premier’s Technology Council, CEO of a fintech company, Senior Client Partner at the world’s largest executive recruiting company and I am now building a virtual law firm. In the current Covid world, the ability to be flexible and adapt is critical. Here are some of the lessons I learned through my unconventional career path. Educate Yourself. In the mid-’90s, as a lawyer at a large firm breaking into a new practise area, I had to pay close attention to the dynamic change that was happening as the technology sector started to take hold in Vancouver. Without the credibility of understanding the ecosystem, at least at a high level, it was virtually impossible to relate to potential clients. At first, it was a bit like drinking from a fire hose but over time I began to start to piece together how the new companies I met fit into the ecosystem. While I didn’t need to understand how their technology worked, I did need to understand how their application or solution was relevant.

Adapt Quickly. When our CEO had his second major health issue at 38 I took on the role of interim CEO. This was similar to learning to swim by jumping into the deep end of the pool. My first job was to get up on stage and give the financing pitch at one of the largest venture capital gatherings in the Pacific Northwest. I had to learn the job on the fly and to adapt as circumstances changed. That year we also closed the largest Series A round for a software company in Canada that year.

Focus on Great People. While I was at the law firm, a key focus was to support clients in a number of non-legal ways so they would continue to grow. This included making introductions or referrals of very talented people to my clients. If I was able to help my clients expand through introductions then we would both benefit. I was never disappointed with the results. Many of the referrals went on to start multiple companies.

Do The Right Thing. I was then approached to become the President of the BC Premier’s Technology Council (PTC). I am not particularly political, but the idea of a senior role assisting government to adopt technology and to help grow the technology sector appealed to me. I was amazed at the significant roles that government can play in encouraging business growth. Of particular satisfaction was that the PTC was able to get close to 95% of its recommendations enacted provided we focused on “doing the right thing”.

Don’t Be Afraid to Take Some Risk. In mid-2000, I joined 3 other individuals and co-founded a venture backed technology company (now www.appneta.com). At the time, I had recently become a partner at the law firm, my wife and I had just celebrated our third child being born, and we had just moved to a new house. Even with all of the changes and stress at home, it was the chance of a lifetime which I never regretted jumping into.

Optimize, Optimize, Optimize. As a lawyer I had always looked for ways to make things more efficient and as an entrepreneur I began to understand the intersection between adopting solutions and being part of the process to develop better alternatives. Since 2012 I have been building one of the first fully virtual law firms in North America which was born out of an interest in creating a solid platform to assist both clients and lawyers to optimize the ability to deliver high quality legal services. We are just getting started.

The Entrepreneur Mindset and Relentless Execution. For a lawyer, transitioning from an advisor to a co- founder was not easy. My early attempts to do my job centered on building consensus within the senior team. It was about 2-3 months before it became clear the route to success was less of an “ask permission” approach and more of a “beg forgiveness” approach. I learned to focus on understanding the business objectives and using my common sense and experience to determine the next steps and get it done and to get it done quickly. I would make mistakes but I would learn from them and quickly move on.

WHITEBOARD LAW CORPORATION +1-250-869-5992 Unit 3, 6th Floor, 123 Cambie Street Vancouver, BC V6B 1B8 26

Whiteboard Law Corporation

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INNOVATION IS A DISCIPLINE FOR TRANSFORMATIVE CHANGE. CLINT UNDSETH, CEO, HOWE SOUND SOLUTIONS.

Change management we learned had to quickly become one of our core competencies, as did agility, which came in the form of a matrixbased team structure. A critical success factor included a team of collaborative diverse talent while continuously improving company and industry wide engagement. Successful change occurs when there is a clear purpose and vision, a sense of organizational urgency, a healthy and ethical team, sincere stakeholder engagement, transparent communications, and a disciplined execution plan to enable greatest results. Only with these elements in place could our organization hope to successfully address systemic construction inefficiencies hindering the achievement of high performing sustainable buildings.

Having studied and worked in both technology and construction industries I recognized significant inefficiencies and the disruption technology was creating in construction and real estate. Construction and operations of large real estate facilities consume 50% of our natural resources, generate 30% of our landfills, and represent 30% of our embodied carbon. These figures stand against a backdrop of multiple technologies, utilized throughout the lifecycle of a building, where processes often create inefficiencies while generating massive amounts of data that regularly go unutilized. We saw this as an opportunity to develop Canada’s Centre for Building Performance to optimally employ technology at the intersection of circular process and materials for productivity and unique differentiation within a regenerative economic model. But we soon learned that our technology strategy was in fact the least challenging aspect of ensuring high performing sustainable buildings. What proved to be most difficult was addressing the process inefficiencies related to procurement,

lack of integrated design methods, and inefficient project handover, all too common in the construction industry. This is where we first recognized the opportunity for algorithms. Through this learning process, our team developed a vision 11 years past that remains as relevant today: “We see a future where high-performing buildings are intelligently connected, environmentally proud, healthy, and financially justified.” As we grew in our experience our team’s Massive Transformative Purpose matured to this: “Transform waste (energy, materials and data) into liquid assets.” I learned that when trying to innovate, the internal immune system is one of the greatest challenges, whether at the company or the industry level. Innovation is about strategic change. Change management requires alignment and collaborative teamwork. A business must align its innovation with growth strategies—including financial and operational priorities—while at the same time creating collaborative ecosystem aligned to a shared purpose. 27

As sustainability performance increasingly influences organizations’ investment or procurement decisions, clear results-oriented metrics are becoming standard. Sustainability is not just about building performance ratings or certifications. Analysts their decisions or recommendations based on transparent metrics that can only be supported by insightful information that comes through transforming data into assets. Going forward the rate of change is only accelerating. We need to embrace this change through continuous learning and experimentation while celebrating purpose driven success. Looking forward, having a passionate team who have an infinite mindset and are purpose driven with consistency is key. This I believe is the foundation to success, creating a culture of innovation in our knowledge economy.

Howe Sound Solutions 1-800-915-Howe info@howesoundsolutions.com

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GO OUT, TRY NEW THINGS, BE BRAVE, BE UNIQUE. INNOVATION WILL FOLLOW. ALE BROWN MBA, CIPP, CIPT, CIPM, PMP PRESIDENT AND PRINCIPAL CONSULTANT Innovation to me means a lot of different things. It means courage, it means ability to adapt, it means embracing the unknown. It means a brighter and more promising future if you can see where the opportunities lie and just reach out and grab them. In my life, I have experienced innovation personally and professionally. I immigrated to Vancouver in May 2000. It was still the height of the dot com era. I had a promising corporate career in IT back in Mexico, but I needed something else and I needed to try my luck in a country as beautiful as Canada. I was old enough to be bold and take a risk but young enough that if the opportunities did not work out, I could start all over. So, when I got my permanent resident visa due to the fact that Vancouver needed more tech people, I made a plan, packed my bags, said goodbye to my life, and embraced my new country. I had my choice of jobs back then. That is, until the dot com bubble burst and tech jobs became scarce. I was lucky enough that my skills were sought out but usually I was the only or just one of few women in tech. I knew I had to look for a community of women that were experiencing the same challenges that I was and then I found Vancouver Women in Technology.

for the occasion but don’t forget that you are there for a reason and that you know more than you think. Your attitude is everything. Keep an ear to the ground at all times and learn something every day. Whether it is expanding your area of expertise or coming up with the newest thing, keep the pulse on the world. Listen to what happens, read between the lines, keep your eyes open and one day you will wake up with the certainty that a new innovative idea is about to take shape. Have a strong community that will support you through good and bad. Having a place where you are able to trust your peers and share what is in your mind knowing that you will get objective and different perspectives is priceless.

I joined their events and eventually became part of the board of directors where now I am the president. Having that support group inspired me to continue innovating until I founded my own consulting firm. They were the first ones that invited me to be a guest speaker as a newly minted entrepreneur! And now my passion is to help and mentor women that are pursuing a career in technology to be bold, to be fearless and to be innovative. Being an immigrant and a woman in tech has been a challenge and a gift at the same time because feeling like the underdog has forced me to be focused, to work hard and not take anything for granted. If something sounds like an opportunity to innovate, I pursue it without hesitation, with the same hunger and passion that I had back when I just arrived. So, I would like to offer some thoughts about what I have found through my career that has helped me move forward to achieve my dreams:

Go out, try new things, be brave, be unique. Innovation will follow. Ale started her career as an IT professional working for large corporations such as Procter & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson. She also ventured into the entrepreneurial world working for boutique consulting firms when she moved to Vancouver.

Never lose faith. If a door closes it is because there was nothing behind it for you and you would have missed the beauty of looking through the window next to it. You cannot make sense of what is currently happening but trust the process. With faith and perseverance, good things happen. Have an ability to adapt. Maybe what you are doing feels right but one day it may not, and you have to have the courage to do something differently in order to keep growing. You will be surprised at how much you grow when you adapt. Self-confidence is your best weapon. As a woman in technology I know what it is like to stand in front of experts, people with more seniority or just a tough crowd. Sometimes it feels like you should be the last choice

She founded a consulting firm where her area of expertise is operationalizing Privacy and Security Programs for organizations to be compliant with Privacy Regulations.

Kirke Management Consulting contact@kirke-consulting.com Kirke Management Consulting

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Vancouver Women in Technology

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INNOVATION IS A MINDSET AND CULTURE, NOT AN END-RESULT. RYAN PERNIA, PRESIDENT, ENTAX

second child. Many, including my bosses at the firm and my parents, tried to talk me out of it. But with the backing of my wife, I decided to take the leap. What began with me and one client six years ago, is a firm of 10 employees servicing hundreds of clients across the country today. None of it would have been possible if I hadn’t embraced the risk and believed in myself.

Innovation is about bringing the best out of people I see our clients struggle a lot with human capital. Successful companies I see really develop people leaders that orient their teams around a mission and purpose, rather than just a job or function. Successful companies also empower everyone to contribute with a culture of openness and transparency. You can’t push the envelope and break new barriers when you are afraid of repercussions or mistakes.

Innovation is a mindset and culture, not an end-result When I started the firm, I created a set of five values that each employee would be measured and live by. We call them “The ENTAX Way”. One of the values is “We apply innovative thinking to our practice - we practice what we preach.” To me, this means every day, every engagement, every client we look at what we do, how we do it and ask ourselves “Is there a better way?” In our past six years we’ve gone through four different workflow tools. I don’t consider this a bad thing but something that helps us innovate and get better results. When I help our clients discuss their technology challenges, roadblocks and deliverables they get both excited and worried. They get excited at the prospect of solving a problem and potentially opening up new opportunities for their company. They get worried at the time and money it will cost them. Thankfully, the Government of Canada offers very generous tax incentives like the SR&ED tax credit program that helps businesses push through these challenges and incentivize them to take these risks. Innovation may not be easy, but it is certainly made easier when you have advisors and Government programs that can help support your company through the challenges.

Everyday I’m inspired by the innovators and their dreams to change the world. Our clients are building everything; from next-generation AI models, advanced robotics, creative and award-winning games, lifesaving medical devices, end-to-end software platforms, to environment saving industrial processes. As the founder of ENTAX, one of Canada’s preeminent Government Funding and SR&ED tax credit advisory firms, every day we’re entrusted to provide advice to hundreds of entrepreneurs, innovators, and inventors from coast to coast. There is no better feeling than to wake up every day knowing that the work you do is making a difference to help Canadian technology companies grow.

Ryan is the President of ENTAX and leads the ENTAX team consisting of scientists, technologists, accountants and project managers. He prides himself on a diverse understanding of different technologies and business models and is acutely aware of the challenges of growing technology businesses. In addition to 15 years of professional government funding and SR&ED claim experience, he also has 10 additional years of industry software development experience. Ryan lives in Vancouver and is active in the local technology community as both an investor and advisor to early stage technology companies.

The innovation I see is often the result of years of struggle and hardship. There is rarely a ‘big-bang’ moment of success but a series of smaller achievements and some failures that require patience, dedication and risk-taking to persevere through. Because we help companies with their Research and Development challenges we hear what technology companies struggle with. Here are some of the things I’ve observed when it comes to innovation - both as an advisor and as an entrepreneur myself:

ENTAX info@entax.ca

Innovation is risk-taking In 2014 I left my high-paying salary as a Sr. Manager in a Big 4 firm to go out on my own and pursue my own entrepreneurial dream. It was a risky move at the time. My wife was six-months pregnant with our

Unit 300 - 6060 Silver Drive., Burnaby, BC V5H0H5

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IT TAKES A VILLAGE TO BUILD GREAT COMPANIES, ESPECIALLY IN HARD TECH. VANCOUVER IS THE VILLAGE WITH A WORLD-CLASS PARTNER ECOSYSTEM THAT ARE HUNGRY TO SEE FOUNDERS AND STARTUP COMPANIES SUCCEED. KOOKAI CHAIMAHAWONG, ASSOCIATE been funding companies with solutions to solve the world’s fundamental problems in climate change, food & water security, and health outcomes. Vancouver might be best known for the great outdoors, the natural beauty, cultural diversity, or the rain. But the thriving technology scene is also adding to Vancouver’s reputation as a growing innovation hub. To me, Vancouver is like a big city with a ‘small town’ feel. It often calls itself the ‘Silicon Valley of the North’ and has been consistently ranked as the ‘best city for start-ups and technology’. But once you’re a part of the community, you could quickly recognize familiar faces and can eventually find your tribe (hence the ‘small town’ feel). At the same time, every person you meet is working on their big ideas that could change the world. Take our portfolio company, Aspect Biosystems, as an example. They are pioneering the microfluidic 3D bioprinting of living human tissues. Their vision is a future in which drugs are developed without the use of animals, doctors know how a patient will react to a drug before prescribing it, and lifesaving transplant organs are created, not harvested. It takes a village to build great companies, especially in hard tech. Great innovation often comes out from an ecosystem that shares knowledge, network, and resources. Vancouver is the village with a partner ecosystem that are hungry to see founders and startup companies succeed. From local angel groups that are helping startups take the first steps (shoutout to Valhalla Angels, VANTEC Angel Network and E-Fund), to top-tier accelerators & incubators that will get your ideas off the ground (shoutout to Creative Destruction Lab, Spring Activator, Foresight CAC, Founder Institute, Forum for Women Entrepreneurs, Entrepreneurship at UBC, and SFU VentureLabs), to an early-stage VC like Pangaea that will support companies through commercialization and growth. There are a growing number of organizations here that will help turn your ideas into reality. I moved to Vancouver in 2017 to pursue my Master of Business Administration (MBA) at the University of British Columbia. Little did I know then that I would be calling Vancouver my second home and that I’d be devoting my career to support the technology ecosystem here.

While we may not be Silicon Valley, we are a strong community that’s poised for growth. I believe that your impact is only as big as your networks of relationships and only as innovative as the diversity of the people in your networks. Which is why Vancouver, a city that values diversity and growth as a community is the place to be. I’m excited to be a part of the equation to fund the next innovations that will change the world.

Right after my graduation, I was given the opportunity to join Pangaea ventures, the world leader in advanced materials venture capital. Pangaea Ventures is one of the few VC funds in the world dedicated to funding materials for our future. We invest in hard tech companies leveraging materials science, chemistry, biology, and physics to develop breakthrough solutions. Pangaea was founded in Vancouver in 2000 and has since

1500 W Georgia St, Suite 1520 Vancouver BC, V6G 2Z6

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PERFECTION IS NOT POSSIBLE, BUT CONSTANT IMPROVEMENT IS. COLIN WESTON, CO-FOUNDER, COMMUNITY BUILDER Gratitude. Empathy. Curiosity. Tenacity. Patience. Like a muscle you train, these are character traits that through consistent use, entrepreneurship will help you build up. When I first embarked upon my “accidental innovator” journey seven years ago as my career shifted from architecture to entrepreneurship, I processed a few of these traits in any great abundance. Over the past few years, I’ve managed to strengthen my ability to be more gracious, empathic, curious, tenacious, and patient - all due to the amazing, kind people in our Vancouver innovation ecosystem that have generously offered their time and mentorship to help me become a better entrepreneur, leader, and human being. As an innovator in the Sports Technology space, I’d like to use a sports metaphor to share what I’ve so far learned to become a better entrepreneur.

Five Startup Lessons I’ve Learned From Hot Yoga Ok, I admit it. I do Hot Yoga. This is not an attempt to get you to try it. My wife and best friends HATE it, so I no longer dare recommend it to anyone. Although I’ve been going for years, I often struggle through a 90-minute class mere days after having a strong one. After limping along in an especially difficult class this week where I barely made it through the 26 postures, my bruised ego looked for excuses. Once my body and brain had cooled down, my re-energized state allowed me to instead analyze why I continue practicing hot yoga. I go because of the many short and long term benefits I receive after and outside the hot room “torture chamber” as some teachers like to call it. The things I’ve learned about myself through yoga, I realized, are also lessons that are deeply embedded in our startup journey. So here are five startup insights I’ve gathered between sweaty postures in a hot yoga room: Clayton M. Christensen (The Innovator’s Dilemma) stress repeatedly throughout their books, the pursuit of perfection is not only unachievable, it’s downright harmful to the success of your disruptive innovation. I’ve read these books and use them as a road map, but what jumps off the pages as black and white best practices become a bit greyer in the heat of the startup battle.

1. Perfection is not possible, but constant improvement is Can I hold the “standing head to knee” posture as well as the woman next to me? Nope. But has my strength, endurance and flexibility improved now that I’ve done this posture 500+ times? Absolutely. And that’s my takeaway. Comparing the trajectory of our business to the most recent startup darling that received $40 million in funding is deflating and unproductive. “Only worry about the things you can control” my dad says. Turns out he’s quite wise after all.

This is where we need to muster the courage to create and test prototypes and proofs-of-concept that will inevitably be flawed. Our egos want to “design for perfection”, but the most valuable insights are learned when you are willing to release a simple, lean version of the product or experience. No one wants to hear that part of what they are creating sucks, but it’s better to get that feedback early so you can quickly pivot, iterate, and improve.

We all want our business efforts and product offerings to be perfect. Amazing things unleashed on the world that show everyone how clever, tenacious, and successful we are. But as Eric Ries (The Lean Startup and 31

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2. Set long term goals, but hitting milestones fuels your fire

calmly controlling their breath, standing motionless while they focus on their own gaze in the mirrored walls. I once was like the new students but am now becoming more like the seasoned veterans.

Although we are the founders of a startup in a relatively new tech sector, we are subject to the same desires, fears, realities, and constraints that all entrepreneurs face. Yes, we envision our startup scaling globally based on the market segment size we are poised to unlock, but let’s be realistic here. We must learn to crawl before we can run. Sure, I can tell investors that “our goal is to build a passionate fan base of over 5,000,000 Millennials”, but saying this is like me walking into a yoga class for the first time and announcing “I’m going to hold a 60 second handstand!”

Designing yet-unseen things mean we must navigate through the murky labyrinth of trying to know what is currently unknowable. By focusing on the tangible issues and tasks that will actually move us forward, we are able to simplify our goals and our message.

5. If you stick with it, the journey reveals previously unimagined possibilities

Creating lofty goals within a timeframe that you can’t control only sets yourself up for frustration and disappointment. Setting reachable milestones such as “build, market, launch, test and measure the first iteration of our product” or “I’ll work toward just being able to grab the back of my feet” puts one more positive brick in your success wall.

Turns out my mom was right. Patience really is a virtue. Sure, we want to be “first to market in every market” so that we aren’t overrun by the “fast followers”, but one of the fundamental lessons I’ve learned is what we are building takes time, passion, commitment and multiple skillsets to execute. We embrace what my father-in-law calls “stick-to-it-ive-ness”. A completely made-up word that accurately encapsulates his approach to life.

3. You don’t have to (and shouldn’t try to) go it alone I don’t like practicing yoga alone in my basement (although during COVID19 times I reluctantly do). That kind of solitary activity doesn’t work for me. The silent camaraderie of a hot room full of people struggling through the identical series of movements encourages me to hang in there. We share a collective, unspoken purpose and energy while our instructor continually barks “lock your standing knee!!”. I can’t be insane if thirty other people are doing the exact same thing as me, right?

I thought a hot yoga class was hard. Turns out this “create something that doesn’t exist yet” thing is even harder. But that’s okay. I’ve turned over previously unseen rocks to discover things I didn’t even know were there, both about the world and myself. And the most exciting aspect is that there are many more rocks waiting to be turned over. Until then, I’ll continue to struggle through hot yoga while the classmate on either side of me makes it look ridiculously easy. But I remind myself that it’s not about them. Instead, I’ll focus on locking that standing knee just a little bit longer.

The same mindset holds true for our startup. I am the co-creator of our innovative solutions to what troubles the game of golf and the $100 billion/year this industry generates in North America. I could not have started down this path alone, as our combined talents, conviction, and courage were necessary ingredients that allowed us to take that first big, scary step.

And don’t forget to breathe.

Although we spent a good chunk of our early time on research, design development, investor pitch desks, and market assessment, we also made a point of connecting with influencers, endorsers, and most importantly our assumed user and fan base for validation. These early conversations with like-minded people have now blossomed into deep, meaningful relationships that help propel us forward. We consider our network of advocates, advisors, partners, and vendors to be one of our greatest assets. Without building a community around a vision that they are helping to co-create, our big “AHA” problem-solving moment more than two years ago would still have people saying “wow, that’s a really cool idea”. And nothing more.

About Colin Weston Sport Innovator and entrepreneurship community builder: Colin’s passion is re imagining sport to make the experience more diverse, engaging, relevant and welcoming for fans, athletes and brand sponsors. As a founding partner at REVIVER Sport Entertainment, Colin loves being part of the community-building process. Building a vibrant community around the Future of Golf is his inspiration for creating The ModGolf Podcast. Colin is also the Co-Founder and Community Leader of Startup Vancouver, which is one of over 40 chapters of Startup Canada. He also shares his experiences at entrepreneurship, golf industry and business leadership events. You can connect by email or Twitter @ColinWeston01 if you would like to explore having Colin share his stories and insights at your virtual or in-venue events. colin@ modgolfpodcast.com

4. Focused, sustained effort moves you forward So much to do in so little time. Create your “Minimal Viable Product”, extend your runway, get market validation, create buzz to gain traction and, of course, raise capital without overly-diluting your ownership position. These are just some of the balls that every entrepreneur and startup company must juggle in order to successfully execute their amazing idea. However, we can quickly become overwhelmed and paralyzed by the sheer volume of information available to us.

Forget multitasking. It’s just a way of saying we’re doing several things Startup Vancouver at once in a mediocre fashion. Instead, we embrace focused uni-tasking. colin@modgolfpodcast.com I look around the yoga room between postures and see newer people Startup_YVR expending precious energy fidgeting with their hair, wiping sweat off startupvancouver their hands, and gulping down water. I also see more experienced students 32

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ENCOURAGING TREND LINE IS IN GREAT OPPOSITION TO A HISTORICAL STRUGGLE THIS CITY AND COUNTRY HAS FACED AT MULTIPLE LEVELS. ANDREW RAE, WOODGREEN VENTURES

has faced at multiple levels. A lack of capital markets acumen was perpetuated by very few sophisticated Canadian institutional healthcare investors as well as the limited devotion of “big bank” resources to this sector because ROI was elsewhere, particularly in resources. As a result much more sophisticated capital market mechanisms were put in place for non-healthcare industries. Tax and border barriers led to little foreign direct investment given easier investment in other ecosystems. Critical mass issues were legion and related to human capital and infrastructure. The lack of well-trained senior executives in areas such a regulatory, finance and business development who had “been there, done that” and the near absence of the ‘fully integrated’ aspects of the biopharmaceutical business (typical later stages of enormous internal value creation) were rampant, including in the manufacturing arena. Furthermore, asymmetries based on federal and provincial government policy were based on the willingness of government to support “ersatz” venture capital and establish very costly incubators with little to no ROI. Focus on rewarding early private developers with SR&ED tax incentives failed to understand the inherent importance of incentivizing a fully integrated industry where fruits of early labours could remain in Canada and be monetized by Canadians not foreign entities. Consequently, very few biopharmaceutical firms created exciting ROI. Only a handful of examples of success existed – but never enough at a single juncture to achieve a “tipping point” in the eyes of the investment community. Little veneration and a paucity of serial entrepreneurs was also observed. Acquisition or demise of key ‘tenants’ led to the outflow of already meagre core competencies and key assets in biopharmaceutical arena, including US/international management teams which returned home, leading to lack of “cross-pollination” between Canadian managers and these sophisticated international managers, or new company creation by said participants. Pharmaceutical ‘branch plant’ creation, a direct response to the lack of reimbursement of novel therapeutics and failure to invest in innovation further stymied growth. Canada missed out on decades of truly novel R&D and as a result our country did not develop the inherent competencies which have led to the emergence of a potent US biotechnology industry which has created billions of dollars in value, both through IPOs of biotechnology companies and sales of bona fide drugs (think gene therapies, CAR Ts, CRISPR, monoclonal antibodies, antisense, etc.). Historically low R&D investment commitment relative to many other developed nations was also on shocking display. As for “Paradise Down South”, easy access of Canadian human capital to the US market under prior immigration policies were very friendly to inducing a “brain drain”.

Andrew is a former biotechnology equities analyst and a serial entrepreneur. Mr. Rae has partnered with many leading biopharmaceutical companies globally, including Ionis, Alexion and AstraZeneca and has invested in numerous start-ups. A New Hope: Addressing Historical Capital Markets Inefficiencies and Value Creation in the Canadian Healthcare Arena

A new hope exists. The emergence of new technologies such as AI have allowed our Canadian economy to scale and ‘leap frog’ well-known historical structural deficits in the healthcare arena. A toxic immigration policy in the US has led global players to seek alternatives to an “American zip code” and instead adopt an orientation towards states which remain “close” or “semi-integrated” with the US economy (we fit that bill). A pandemic has focused all eyes on the security of our nation as it pertains to therapeutics, diagnostics and manufacturing. A surprising sprouting of some very novel biopharmaceutical companies and entrepreneurs, perhaps due to inflow of more than modest sophisticated foreign capital and the rise of a few bona fide Canadian VCs provide a ray of light through the grey clouds which have hovered over this industry. Sectoral rotation is occurring, with the demise of traditional resource industries.

Let us not repeat past mistakes but instead harness the new hope which our country and great city of Vancouver appear to have found.

Lest we forget. It was not always this way. This encouraging trend line is in great opposition to an historical struggle this city and country

Woodgreen Ventures woodgreenventures@gmail.com 33

+1-778-772-7775 Andrew Rae

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TIME IS THE MOST VALUABLE ASSET I HOLD, AND TO SPEND IT HOW I CHOOSE IS TRUE SUCCESS. SOLON BUCHOLTZ, FOUNDER & CEO, LBC STUDIOS

I used to live out of my car. When things got worse, I slept on gas station bathroom floors, behind buildings, constantly watching my back. I made a series of bad decisions that caused a lot of pain, and left me with a criminal record (now pardoned). But it wasn’t until I was facing a long time in jail, and a lack of a positive support system that I decided to turn my life around. I entered a 10-day detox program and started a real-estate course. After my time on the streets, I had to switch gears to learn how to not just survive, but to thrive in a business environment. When I began dating my now-wife, our relationship inspired me to work for others. I stopped expecting success and started creating it. I made a list of five goals: buy a house, make a million dollars, sell 20 homes per year, learn how to fly a plane and to scuba dive. I held myself accountable to doing something every day towards each goal. Two homes, a million dollars, 400 houses sold and a certified scuba diver and pilot-in-training later, I had accomplished and expanded upon every goal I’d set. But I was also burnt out. So I redefined my vision of success. I decided that success would be having the financial freedom to choose work that could positively impact as many people as I could, without risking my family’s happiness. Time is the most valuable asset I hold, and to spend it how I choose is true success. honest about how difficult the journey was going to be, and transparent about costs, with a take-it-or-leave-it attitude.

I had a friend who shared my values, and we decided to start our own company. It had to be remotely manageable so we could travel and spend time with our families. One field ticked all our criteria: apps. Did we know ANYTHING about technology or making games? Nope!

And he delivered. He helped us build our team and allowed us to drive our project, while supporting us. And I can tell you that’s how we’ve run LBC Studios to this day. We acknowledge we’re not experts in any gaming discipline, but we hire people who are, and we support them in what they need to thrive in both their professional and personal lives.

When it came to generating ideas for apps, we leaned on our personal experiences and realized that we were both passionate about destigmatizing cannabis culture—and with Canadian cannabis legalization on the horizon, it was prime time to join the industry. As someone who had cannabis to thank for breaking the cycle of addiction, I wanted to change society’s view of cannabis. Hempire could educate and entertain a mass audience and also achieve my goal of creating something both meaningful and financially rewarding.

That’s how we’ve managed to secure top-tier talent in BC’s booming tech sector as a smaller studio. We hope to inspire the same growth in our people, that we’ve been fortunate enough to be mentored through, and continue to expand upon. We’re LBC. We grow games. We grow communities. We grow careers. Come grow with us! LBC Studios solon@lbcstudios.ca +1-778-995-7467

After that, we set an appointment with a gaming consultant. At that first meeting, all we had to go on were our guts. But by the end of the meeting, we trusted him, because he genuinely believed in our idea, was brutally 34

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VANCOUVER IS WELL PLACED TO PLAY A CENTRAL ROLE IN LEADING CANADA INTO THE KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY. CYBELE NEGRIS, CEO - WEBNAMES.CA

Role of Women in Tech and Business “When a woman does stand up, it’s imperative that outsiders champion her; we also must nurture institutions to protect such people.” - from “Half the Sky”, a book by Nicolas Kristof and Sheryl WeDunn. As a co-founder of Webnames.ca, along with John Demco, the inventor of the .CA domain extension, I have seen the Canadian economy transformed by the Internet. As Webnames.ca has grown over the last 20 years, I remain grateful to women leaders and role models that have paved the way for my success and am conscious of the responsibility I have, to advocate for gender equality in all aspects of life, including the tech industry in Canada. Today, I serve on the boards of the Royal Canadian Mint, BC Automobile Association (BCAA), Science World and a number of other organisations and bring a perspective informed by my experience as a serial entrepreneur as well as my lived experience as a visible minority woman leader in technology. I am conscious that the path to my success has run through the success of my predecessors, opportunities from my mentors and my own work ethic. I speak widely to women in technology and entrepreneurship about overcoming limiting feelings of impostor syndrome, something I struggled with myself. I hope that I can inspire and support the new generations of young women to chart their own path to success through my involvement with initiatives such as Vancouver Women in Tech, Science World Girls and STEAM, Women’s Executive Network, Women Get on Board among others, as a speaker, mentor, advocate and organizer.

Life is so fast paced that we take too much for granted, whether it is the Internet which has now practically become a basic right or the growing role of women in positions of power, which is an outcome that has not come easily. All these giant leaps in progress have been the result of visionary leadership, incredible conviction and relentless hard work.

Innovation in Vancouver Vancouver has long had a reputation as an ecosystem that supports innovation and sustainable development in equal measures. As resource extraction becomes a shrinking part of the economic pie, Vancouver is well placed to play a central role in leading Canada into the knowledge economy. Blessed with a vibrant multicultural population, well-regarded educational institutions and located in the same time zone as Silicon Valley and Seattle which are crucial hubs of the knowledge economy, I see a bright future for Vancouver that echoes the value-based model for growth that we prize at Webnames.ca.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created significant challenges and opportunities for the future of business in Canada. On the one hand, we have witnessed devastating health and economic impacts, while the push to work remotely and transact digitally has created a variety of opportunities for the tech industry. Once the health impacts are mitigated through public health measures, a steady and sustainable economic recovery will require measures that address social inequities that disproportionately affect women and minority groups, as well as efforts to support small businesses to adapt to the changed normal.

Webnames.ca Inc. marketing@webnames.ca 1-866-221-7878 Webnames

webnames.ca / corporate.webnames.ca

Cybele Negris, ICD.D, is a Serial Entrepreneur, Board Member, Business Leader, Mentor, Speaker and Columnist based in Vancouver, BC. She is the CEO of Webnames.ca Inc. Canada’s leading domain registrar for small businesses and corporations alike.

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INNOVATION COMES IN MANY SHAPES AND FORMS, BUT AT ITS CORE, IT IS ALL ABOUT MAKING OR DOING SOMETHING BETTER. CALLIE VAN GRAAN - CEO, GLOBAL INNOVATION MARKETING CANADA INC.

5 SIMPLE STEPS FOR ENCOURAGING INNOVATION IN YOUR BUSINESS As head of the Global INNOVATE Series, I see some of the most exciting innovations from around the globe. The thing that excites me the most, though, is when I find companies that created an internal culture of innovation. I believe that the foundation of a better tomorrow lies in small, incremental innovations across every aspect of our lives. The best way to achieve that as leaders is by listening to everyone in our organizations and encouraging them to tell us how things can be improved. Here are 5 simple steps you can use to foster innovation in your business:

Collaborate Use an online platform for anyone to share their innovations, ideas, or problems that need solving. Visual platforms with discussion boards typically work better than simple lists or spreadsheets.

Gamify the process Have people vote, like, or comment on ideas and reward them points for engaging.

Treat each idea seriously Everyone must know that any idea they submit will be seriously considered by management.

Be nice Don’t belittle or joke about ideas on the list. Even if it is a bad idea, treat it with respect. The Innovation platform has to be safe for people to submit their ideas. Often times, the ideas that initially sound the silliest are the real winners.

Acknowledge and reward all innovations If a great idea comes from the process you have to reward the people involved and make a big deal to encourage other people to participate. There are plenty of existing SAAS platforms out there that are made specifically for this purpose, but you can also use something as simple as an online whiteboard or Kanban board tool to create your innovation platform. Feel free to email me, and I’ll share some of the best tools and advice with you. I am also available to brainstorm with your team on the best way to encourage innovation in your organization. Let’s all collaborate and make life better! 36

Carel Van Graan is a born entrepreneur. Over the years, he has built several companies ranging from manufacturing to marketing. He joined Global Village Publishing in 2017 as COO, after a mini-retirement and traveling the world with his family for a year. He has a keen interest in understanding how the mind works and why people do the things they do.

GLOBAL INNOVATION MARKETING CANADA SHOWCASING THE BEST OF CANADA

Scan the QR code to connect with me on LinkedIn

callie@innovationsoftheworld.com in/callie-van-graan innovationsoftheworld innovateseries

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“Your actions are your only true belongings” — BUDDHA

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CORPORATE TAX CREDITS AND INCENTIVES The Canadian Government has plenty of different initiatives and grants to help foster innovation and entrepreneurship. Any startup or entrepreneur would do well to take full advantage of all the available mechanisms that exist.

Canada provides significant incentives for a wide range of industries and regions. Some of the incentives available are: Foreign tax credits: Taxpayers that have foreign-source income and are resident in Canada at any time in the year are eligible for foreign tax credit relief Regional incentives Industry incentives: Canada offers many tax incentives at the federal, provincial, and territorial levels, for various industries and activities: research and development film, media, computer animation, and special effects, interactive digital media, and multi-media productions manufacturing and processing liquefied natural gas development, and environmental sustainability.

INVEST CANADA Invest in Canada is Canada’s global investment attraction and promotion agency. Their customized services help global companies unlock investment opportunities in Canada: Accelerated Investment Incentive Strategic Innovation Fund Canada’s Free Trade Agreements Global Skills Strategy Pan Canadian AI Strategy Innovation Superclusters Initiative

See https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/canada/corporate/taxcredits-and-incentives for more information

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RESOURCES TO HELP INNOVATORS IN CANADA

WAGE ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS INNOVATION CANADA Canada has a number of different wage assistance programs to help develop the workforce. Some of the more notable programs are:

A handy tool from the Canadian Government that helps entrepreneurs search through all the available programs to find the ones that match their situation. Answering a few simple questions will see you matched with programs like:

Apprenticeship tax credits Hiring summer students Financial assistance for training Funding for persons with disabilities Funding for youth starting environmental careers Young Canada Works for employers Youth employment programs Other

Funding Advice and Expertise Tax Credits Loans & Capital Investments Partnering & Collaboration Wage Subsidies & Interns Other

See https://www.canada.ca/en/services/business/hire/ wagesubsidiesotherassistanceprograms.html for more Information.

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Mitacs drives innovation across Canada starting from Vancouver

Mitacs solves R&D challenges and develops innovation capacity by creating the essential links between businesses and post-secondary students.

To further the development of its products cost-effectively, 1QBit partners with Mitacs to source top talent. In seven years, 1QBit has grown from a four-person startup to a global leader in quantum computing with over 100 people located across Canada.

With the support of the Governments of Canada, British Columbia, and provinces across the country, more than one hundred post-secondary institutions, and industry and not-for-profit partners, Mitacs provides the platform to allow businesses and students to achieve their goals.

“Mitacs has been an invaluable resource supporting the growth of 1QBit. It has connected us to universities and helped us source top research talent and has enabled us to leverage government funding to maximize our investment in groundbreaking research,” says Landon Downs, president and co-founder of 1QBit.

Whether commercializing research or developing products, Mitacs connects highly trained students with businesses and not-for-profit organizations to drive Canadian innovation.

Mitacs has connected 1QBit with more than 55 interns, including graduate and undergraduate students from Canadian and international universities. These interns have helped develop computing algorithms to study the capabilities of the first commercially available quantum computers to assess their potential to solve a large variety of complex problems faster than classical computers. Approximately one-third of the 1QBit team comprises current or former Mitacs interns, including four key senior researchers.

For over 20 years, Mitacs has funded research, created job opportunities for students, and helped companies reach their business goals.

1QBit A recipient of the World Economic Forum 2015 Technology Pioneer Award, 1QBit is a leader among the most promising technology companies. 1QBit partners with Fortune 500 clients and leading hardware providers to solve problems in the areas of optimization, simulation, and machine learning.

Hydrogen-In-Motion Hydrogen in Motion (H2M), dedicated to creating innovative hydrogen solutions, drives towards a more sustainable future. Mitacs Award 41

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Research-and-development lead and Mitacs Entrepreneur Award Winner Miayan Yeremi is part of the Barrelwise team improving wine production. By delivering consistent quality and data-driven insights, Barrelwise brings science and innovation to the forefront of winemaking today and into the future. “The global pandemic highlights more than ever how important it is to support local innovation, and Mitacs is extremely proud of the continued creativity and ingenuity shown by our network of young entrepreneurs,” says Mitacs CEO and Scientific Director John Hepburn. “Not only will their innovations ultimately help Canada recover from this crisis, but with continued investment in talent, research and development, they will help propel the country forward in the global innovation economy.”

Mitacs quick facts: Mitacs is a not-for-profit organization that fosters growth and innovation in Canada by solving business challenges with research solutions from the best academic institutions at home and around the world. Winner, H2M CEO Grace Quan leads the company with a passion and vision to empower a carbon-free economy.

Mitacs is funded by the Government of Canada and the Government of British Columbia, along with the Government of Alberta, Research Manitoba, the Government of New Brunswick, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Government of Nova Scotia, the Government of Ontario, Innovation PEI, the Government of Quebec, the Government of Saskatchewan, and the Government of Yukon.

“At Hydrogen in Motion, we partner with Mitacs, an organization that supports internships for students from any discipline. Internships allow us to support our innovation needs and access highly skilled, motivated workers,” says Quan.

Mitacs by the numbers

With the help of Mitacs, Hydrogen in Motion has grown to become a trusted Canadian hydrogen-storage business, continuously solving complex technological challenges every day. Mitacs and Hydrogen in Motion have partnered on 10 projects with researchers from the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University. As a recognized innovator in its field, Hydrogen in Motion and Quan have received numerous recognitions including the Clean 50, Convergx’s Innovation award, and Business BC’s Most Influential Women in Business Award.

92% of companies recommend Mitacs internships 66% of projects have been/will be commercialized 31% of companies saw market segment expansion

Mitacs +1-604-679-3198 szhao@mitacs.ca MitacsCanada Mitacs

BarrelWise Technologies Founded in 2018 by four business and engineering graduate students, BarrelWise Technologies is based out of the Hatch Accelerator at UBC. The company applies its expertise to build and improve tools that enable winemakers to better practice their art.

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Supporting Innovators through expertise, experience and excellent service

the charge and be innovative in his own delivery of service. The company immediately invested in proprietary software tools to better enable SR&ED compliance and tracking by its clients. By the end of the first year, they had developed a set of government funding tools through their “ENTAX Labs” program, and also launched www.sredscore.com - Canada’s first do-it-yourself SR&ED claim system.

ENTAX is a professional technology advisory firm that provides valuable support to companies looking to obtain non-dilutive government funding and tax credits for Scientific Research & Experimental Development (SR&ED). Every year, over 20,000 innovative companies access Canada’s SR&ED program which is estimated to be worth over $3 Billion annually. ENTAX was founded in 2014 as a sole practitioner consulting firm by Vancouver native Ryan Pernia, after a career in various technology roles with TELUS, SAP and multiple startups. Having spent years working with technology companies at one of the well-respected, but predictable Big-Four accounting firms in their SR&ED practice, Ryan endeavoured to create a much more progressive-thinking firm that was focussed on servicing other like-minded innovators.

In the 6 years since its inception, ENTAX has grown to be the top independent SR&ED consultant firm in Western Canada servicing innovative businesses and clients in every province and across all industries; from software companies, to game developers, manufacturing companies, bio-technology, food processing and clean technology companies.

When our clients win, ENTAX wins too

“There was talk of innovation, but in a large firm run by accountants, the actual execution of it was non-existent. I knew that the market was ready for an alternative,” says Ryan.

When asked about his personal experience with ENTAX, Jae Reichel, the CEO and Co-Founder Lightship Works Inc. remarked, “We ran a comprehensive, national search for a SR&ED consultant, and got proposals back from a number of well-known SR&ED advisors. Ryan and the team at ENTAX were the clear winners, and in the last 4 years he and his team have proven repeatedly that we made the right decision. Unlike other

Innovation Delivered With ENTAX, Ryan decided that the only way to convey a message of productivity, efficiency and innovation to prospective clients was to lead 43

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firms, who will take you through a flashy sales process then pass you off to a Jr. Associate, ENTAX has walked us through the process every year. Through millions of dollars in claims, ENTAX has advised us on how to legitimately maximize our claims while minimizing the likelihood of an audit.” Lightship Works Inc. is a cutting-edge developer of emergency response and industrial monitoring software based in Kamloops. Since ENTAX supports technology companies that are doing Research and Development it has a direct frontline to innovation in Canada. It is seeing significant trends in companies investing in monetizing their data through Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning projects. It is also seeing significant investment into Canada from US and foreignbased companies seeking our country’s cost advantage, stable economy and easier access to global talent. “I see it everyday and the future of innovation in our Country is strong. It’s not a perfect system but I believe, in general, Canada’s tech ecosystem and innovation is thriving.”

“ENTAX are very professional and knowledgeable about government incentive programs and qualifications. The strong technical background of ENTAX team also makes it easy to communicate the scope and results of our research and development projects. Our experience with ENTAX is nothing but positive.” - Henry Chan, President of Fortune Valve Canada

As Ryan concludes “Our goal is to stay agile and ready to pivot at a moment’s notice to enable innovation and meet the needs of our clients. As we expand our reach across Canada in pursuit of new talent, new clients and new partners. And like our clients, we will continue to innovate from within because we believe the opportunity for innovators, like ENTAX, to thrive is limitless.”

ENTAX Unit 300 - 6060 Silver Drive., Burnaby, BC V5H0H5 +1-604-343-1185 44

info@entax.ca entaxconsulting

entax.ca

CHAPTER 3

FUTURE CITIES & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” — MARGARET MEAD

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CONNECTING B.C. INNOVATORS TO FUNDING, RESOURCES, AND SUPPORT

The 2019 #BCTECHSummit

A thriving tech ecosystem is made up of several key parts. It features breakthrough R&D efforts from world-leading post-secondary institutions. It attracts outside capital to accelerate the growth of local companies. It provides industry with access to talent, capital, and markets

so they can build successful, homegrown companies. And amidst all of that, it relies on strong government support for the startups, scaleups, and researchers that are creating jobs, securing investment, and changing the world.

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INNOVATE BC IMPACT STATS

1,400 Companies Supported

181M

Revenue

Innovate BC’s VP of Operations Tomica Divic with Jeanette Jackson (Foresight) and Trevor Burgess (Voltsafe) at the first-ever BC Cleantech Awards

3,330 Jobs + Placements

366M

Investment Raised Since 2018

Innovate BC’s President + CEO Raghwa Gopal and B.C. Premier John Horgan at the #BCTECHSummit

In British Columbia, Innovate BC is the government conduit that connects local innovators to funding, resources, and support. Their work helps local industries grow, while ensuring the benefits of B.C.’s thriving tech sector are felt by people in all regions of the province.

Whether it’s through funding, mentoring, event planning, or strategic partnering, Innovate BC is committed to helping tech companies of all sizes start, scale, and stay in British Columbia.

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How does Innovate BC help? Innovate BC offers several programs and services that help innovators access funding, launch their ideas, and connect with the experts they need to build great companies. Whether it’s a small startup from Nelson, a rapidly growing cleantech company out of Victoria, or a multinational tech giant setting up shop in Vancouver, Innovate BC helps businesses grow.

Between 2016-2020, Innovate BC invested more than $6.5M into 28 research projects. When including matching funds from industry and government sources, total investment into these projects jumps to more than $24.8M. Some of the province’s biggest post-secondary institutions (UBC, UVIC, SFU) and most innovative companies (Acuva Technologies, Jetti Resources, Aspect Biosystems) have all leveraged the Ignite Program to commercialize their research and change the world with homegrown, B.C. innovation.

Through their multiple student hiring grant programs, Innovate BC has distributed more than $9.5M in funding to over 1,000 B.C.-based companies since 2015. The hiring grants provide companies with talent and funding in one shot, while giving B.C.’s next generation of tech talent an opportunity to break into the workforce and contribute directly to the province’s innovation economy.

In 2011, Innovate BC formed the province’s first-ever B.C. Acceleration Network (BCAN). The network consists of nearly a dozen tech accelerators across the province that provide hands-on support for early-stage tech ventures. By funding each accelerator directly, Innovate BC ensures that tech entrepreneurs across the province have access to funding, mentorship, and resources they need to build strong companies in the communities they’re from.

The crown agency’s signature funding initiative is the Ignite Program, which funds B.C.-based research projects up to $300K. These projects are realized by a group of industry and academia, address a significant industry problem, and must commercialize within three years.

2018 Ignite Award recipients Dr. Juli Carillo (UBC), Dr. Zamir Punja (SFU), and Terramera

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Innovate BC’s VP of Operations Tomica Divic and Global BC News Anchor Sophie Lui on stage at the 2018 #BCTECHSummit

Lastly, a key part of Innovate BC’s mandate is to leverage tech and innovation to help make the province’s traditional sectors more efficient, competitive, scalable, and profitable. Through its Innovation Marketplace, Innovate BC connects large tech buyers with B.C. tech SMEs to find homegrown solutions for pressing business challenges.

Additionally, Innovate BC has developed key partnerships across academia and industry. One of the organization’s most impactful partnerships has been with Foresight Cleantech Accelerator. Innovate BC has been Foresight’s longest serving funder and has proudly supported the accelerator as it’s become one of the most important and influential cleantech organizations in the country.

In all, Innovate BC has had a significant impact on the B.C. economy. Since 2018, the crown agency has supported 1,400 companies. In total, those companies have created 3,330 jobs and placements, generated $181M in revenue, and attracted more than $365M in investment.

The Future B.C. has emerged as one of the world’s top tech ecosystems and there are no signs of slowing down. As the tech sector continues to develop and produce globally leading companies, strong government support will be critical to ensure B.C. is able to keep pace with competing tech jurisdictions all over the world. Innovate BC is committed to providing tech companies with direct access to the funding, resources, and support they need to start, scale, and stay in British Columbia.

#BCTECHSummit In addition to running year-round programs, Innovate BC also puts on the #BCTECHSummit, which is Western Canada’s largest annual innovation conference. Since 2016, the event has been a staple on the provincial tech calendar and attracts thousands of delegates from all over the world. As the province’s flagship tech event, the Summit has become the preeminent showcase for B.C.’s thriving tech sector and has served as a launchpad for local companies to get discovered, develop partnerships, and attract investment.

Innovate BC Suite 900, 1188 West Georgia Street Vancouver, B.C., Canada V6E 4A2 +1-604-757-1069 +1-800-573-0488 innovatebc innovate_bc

Companies and Partners Over the last five years, Innovate BC has directly supported thousands of B.C. tech companies, researchers, and organizations. This includes prominent life science companies like Terramera and AbCellera, cleantech standouts like General Fusion and Carbon Engineering, and regional success stories like ThoughtExchange and Bananatag.

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STARTUP VANCOUVER- SERVING AND CONNECTING LOCAL ENTREPRENEURS AND INNOVATORS IN VANCOUVER

to succeed. 2019 saw explosive growth in their community building efforts, culminating with Co-Founder Colin Weston receiving The Startup Canada Award for Community Leader of The Year.

A vibrant hub created by entrepreneurs, for entrepreneurs at all stages to connect, learn, network and grow their ideas. Founded in mid-2017, Startup Vancouver - the official Vancouver chapter of Startup Canada - is a volunteer-based organization that connects local entrepreneurs to the resources and people that help increase their ability

Embracing the core values of collaboration and diversity, Startup Vancouver passionately makes entrepreneurship welcoming and

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equitable for everyone, no matter their gender, age, cultural identity or sexual orientation. Startup Vancouver strives to become the go-to entrepreneurship and innovation hub in Vancouver for both tech and non-tech pre-startups, founders and early stage companies. They support entrepreneurs at all stages of their journey, along with showcasing all the great happenings in our city through events, partnerships and online community building. Over the years, the City of Vancouver has evolved into one of the most vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystems in the world. As they grow, Startup Vancouver has leveraged this momentum and become the innovation hub that helps establish their home as a truly global startup city. Pre-COVID19, Startup Vancouver staged impactful in-venue #VanStartupStories speaker events, monthly #VanStartupDrinks social mixers and #VanMentorMeetups. In true entrepreneurial spirit, they recalibrated their efforts by transforming offerings as virtual community building events. They reimaged #VanStartupStories to now connect with a national audience as #CanStartupStories, staging “Celebrating Women Entrepreneurs”, “Celebrating Black Entrepreneurs” and “Celebrating Indigenous Entrepreneurs” in 2020. In summer 2020 they also launched their weekly “What Keeps You Up At Night -Entrepreneurship During Challenging Times” livestream show that provides support, inspiration and levity for innovators across the county. Startup Vancouver has quickly become the central gathering place for entrepreneurial community to celebrate success, share our challenges, expand their networks and acquire the knowledge necessary to reveal a market fit for their passion and ideas. Because their events are built to serve the community - which their supporting partners are an integral part of - they strive to improve and add value with every event they stage.

Startup Vancouver colin@modgolfpodcast.com (604) 8388431 Startup_YVR startupvancouver

startupyvr startup-vancouver/

startupvancouver.org

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Futurpreneur Canada has been fuelling the entrepreneurial passions of young Canadians since 1996.

Innovative Small Businesses in Vancouver

More than 13,400 young Canadian entrepreneurs, located in small towns and cities from coast to coast to coast, have successfully launched businesses with Futurpreneur’s support. As the only national nonprofit organization in Canada that provides financing, mentorship and resources to aspiring business owners aged 18-39, we’re here to help the next generation of businesses succeed.

Resilient, creative, and innovative, Futurpreneur Canada’s young entrepreneurs are leaders in their respective industries. These three case studies are just a few inspiring examples of how Vancouver’s young business owners are charting a path to a brighter future! Nada is an innovative sustainability-focused small business. Their package-free grocery store is on a mission to directly connect people to food, championing a community food system by linking buyers to suppliers and offering healthy, unpackaged products. Nada uses an innovative approach to tackle and reduce waste in the supply chain by choosing to support vendors that prioritize sustainability in their packaging choices, product design and raw ingredient sourcing.

Futurpreneur offers the following to aspiring young entrepreneurs: Pre-Launch Coaching: Our knowledgeable Entrepreneurs-in-Residence help young entrepreneurs turn their ideas into businesses. Online Resources: Our Business Resource Centre provides a range of free tools, articles and an interactive Business Plan Writer to help entrepreneurs create a viable business plan.

Their program includes three main tenets:

Financing: Entrepreneurs can receive up to $60,000 in loan financing from Futurpreneur and our partner, the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC).

A supplier container return program, in which local suppliers deliver shipments in reusable containers (from totes to bins to containers and growlers).

Mentoring: We offer all our clients up to two years of business mentoring through our industry-leading mentoring program.

Switching up packaging when using reusable items isn’t possible, so they look for alternative ways to reduce waste. This might mean swapping virgin materials for 100% recycled content or compostable options, replacing single-use items like pallet shrink wrap with reusable moving blankets or removing the packaging altogether.

Futurpreneur is a founding member of the G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance, the Canadian member of Youth Business International, and the Canadian host of Global Entrepreneurship Week.

A “surplus food challenge,” which involves championing businesses that are reducing surplus food in their manufacturing, using imperfect or recovered ingredients in their sourcing, or supporting foodinsecure households via donations.

To learn more about how you can benefit from our startup financing, mentorship and resources, visit our website: https://www.futurpreneur. ca/innovate 53

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Formation Studio, a dance-based group fitness studio, opened a few months before the onset of COVID-19 in Canada. At the time, they were dealing with setting up their space, and launching was taking longer than expected. When COVID hit, Saschie MacLean was worried about her business but reacted quickly to close the studio and take her classes online. Saschie and the Formation Studio’s team quickly invested in quality performance video equipment and used their skills to create a high-quality digital streaming experience, an innovative move that put them ahead of their competition. Over the following months, her membership attracted many more types of clients to her business. Saschie has also introduced “bubble classes,” with the same people attending every week in order to keep the group consistent. Casca Designs Inc. saw a gap in the market for footwear that blends aesthetics with usability and sustainability. Thanks to innovative technology that increases efficiency and reduces waste, one pair of Casca shoes is meant to replace several pairs of typical shoes. The co-founders noted that the footwear industry is among the most wasteful in the world. Being innovative both with sustainability and design, they created a shoe that has potential to be much lower impact from an environmental standpoint. Casca’s founders worked with orthotic experts in a lab, analyzing products and learning about how feet are the foundation for the entire body’s alignment. The company pioneered a system of custom-printed insoles, FootB3D, which delivers a precise fit and comfort through a second patented orthotic support system, Lift OS. Customers can choose between waterproof leather and knit shoe styles, and then download the Casca app to scan each foot with three photographs. From there, a 3D model is generated to design the printed insoles. Casca hopes to fully decentralize the supply chain by manufacturing 100% custom-fit shoes in-store by 2029. The company’s co-founders are excited to build the future of footwear for the Vancouver community.

Futurpreneur Canada 133 Richmond Street West, Suite 700 Toronto ON, M5H 2L3 1-866-646-2922 Futurpreneur Futurpreneur Canada futurpreneur-canada

futurpreneur.ca

CHAPTER 4

ENERGY, GREEN TECH & SUSTAINABILITY

“When the winds of change blow, some people build walls and others build windmills.” — CHINESE PROVERB

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PLASTIC BANK: STOPPING OCEAN PLASTIC WHILE IMPROVING THE LIVES OF COLLECTOR COMMUNITIES

In 2013, David Katz and Shaun Frankson founded Plastic Bank with the bold intention to gather the world together to stop ocean plastic. The social entrepreneurs set out to “turn off the tap” – to prevent plastic from reaching the ocean in the first place. Rather than seeing plastic as just a convenience, they created a way to reveal its inherent value and empower marginalized communities.

Plastic Bank® builds ethical recycling ecosystems in coastal communities and reprocesses the materials for reintroduction into the global manufacturing supply chain. Headquartered in Vancouver, BC, the social enterprise has a global footprint with operations in Haiti, Indonesia, the Philippines, Brazil and Egypt. Plastic has become ubiquitous in human society. It is incredibly functional and convenient, however we haven’t considered the long-term consequences to our wellbeing and the future health of the planet. In an effort to make our lives easier, we have conditioned ourselves to see such plastic as worthless – so we throw it away without thinking twice. And yet, every minute a garbage truck full of plastic is dumped into the ocean.

Today, Plastic Bank has grown to over 320 collection branches across 4 countries, and has successfully collected over 15 million kg of oceanbound plastic - the equivalent of 750 million plastic bottles. The company has engaged over 22,000 members globally, increasing their incomes by up to 60% and providing new opportunities for financial inclusion. 57

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Closed-Loop Recycling Ecosystems Plastic Bank’s breakthrough, closed-loop recycling model allows the company to rapidly scale and enter new geographies. Recycling ecosystems are vertically integrated, ensuring that all stakeholders benefit at every step in the supply value chain. By working with local collection branches and processing partners, Plastic Bank is able to quickly gain the trust of communities and seamlessly establish operations that directly impact the lives of collectors and their families. Plastic Bank members receive a premium for the materials they collect. This helps them provide basic family necessities such as groceries, cooking fuel, school tuition, and health insurance. Plastic Bank’s global network of recycling ecosystems is now collecting over 1,000,000 kg of plastic per month - that’s the equivalent of preventing 600 million plastic bottles from entering the ocean every year.

Social Plastic® Regenerative Impact

The material collected in Plastic Bank’s closed-loop recycling ecosystems is reborn as Social Plastic® to be reintroduced into the supply chain for the creation of new products and packaging materials. Global brand partners including Henkel, SC Johnson, Advansa, Carton Pack, and Hugo Boss have all introduced new products, packaging, and apparel made with Social Plastic®. By integrating Social Plastic® back into the supply chain, these brands are building a regenerative plastic economy that is stopping ocean plastic and improving the lives of collector communities. Social Plastic® is regenerating ocean-bound plastic into environmental, social, and economic impact.

Plastic Bank is at an extraordinary inflection point where rapid scale is allowing the company to amplify its environmental, social and economic impact. The company is building on its South Asian footprint with expansions into Vietnam and Thailand. The first foothold in Africa is planned with Egypt in fall 2020, followed by Cameroon in 2021. As access grows, so too will consumer awareness and engagement - and direct impact into new communities. By designing out environmental waste and pollution, Plastic Bank is renewing our resources as part of a natural process that empowers people and communities, manufacturers and brands, and the world in which we live. Today, it’s no longer enough to be sustainable. For Plastic Bank, impact speaks louder than words.

Ensuring Trust and Transparency The Plastic Bank App ensures that all plastic is ethically collected, and provides a fair and transparent payment system while validating the identity of all members. By employing blockchain technology, the App ensures a complete audit trail of every transaction and exchange - from the initial point of collection through to the reintroduction of Social Plastic® product on the retail shelf.

Plastic Bank 800 W Pender St #215, Vancouver, BC V6C 2V6, Canada plasticbank

With over 100,000 transactions processed, the Plastic Bank App offers access to a secure supply chain of recycled Social Plastic® feedstock, while storing authentic impact data, demonstrating environmental, social, and economic impact for their brand partners.

plasticbank.com

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Get Better At Garbage, Rock The Recycling and Save Some Serious Dough When RecycleSmart was founded the seed that started the company was “There must be a better way”. This concept of constantly innovating and searching for more efficient, frictionless, and transparent ways of managing waste and recycling for businesses across Canada has continued to drive the business more than a decade later. Unlike the slew of companies innovating in trendy areas such as blockchain and big data, RecycleSmart is focused on the decidedly untrendy area of waste and recycling services. Long deemed a smelly, messy industry that largely operates out of sight and mind this essential service has proved ripe for innovation for one of Canada’s fastest growing companies. “I have a philosophy that innovation is often overlooked in certain areas of society because it’s just off the radar of most people” explains co-founder Colin Bell. He calls this concept of finding opportunities where others don’t see opportunity as “Looking Under Bridges”, alluding to the fact that the area under bridges is often a hidden, overlooked area in many urban environments. “When you look under bridges you often find interesting areas - hidden parks, quirky people, or just a place that most people never go”. RecycleSmart has taken that same approach, innovating in an industry that is often passed over when innovators look for an industry to disrupt. The business dynamic of RecycleSmart is unique in that the 3 partners share very different backgrounds that combine to create a powerhouse. The co-founders, Jaclyn McPhadden and Colin Bell bring a combination of business acumen, project management and a passion for applying technology to solve real world problems. A few years after founding

RecycleSmart they realized that the one aspect they were lacking was deep industry experience, having never driven a garbage truck or operated a waste hauling company lacked that “on the ground” industry specific perspective. Enter Graeme Dobinson who partnered with the then fledgling company in 2013. Dobinson brought decades of experience in the waste industry including a stint founding and running one of Western Canada’s fastest growing waste and recycling companies in Calgary. After selling the hauling business in 2009 Dobinson had the itch to stay in the waste industry but in a different manner. “I knew there was tremendous opportunity to do things differently, better, and smarter in this industry but I didn’t want to go back to the traditional model of trucks, drivers, and bins” says Dobinson. When he came upon the technology enabled business model that RecycleSmart was developing he saw that the young company had a unique approach to this age old industry. RecycleSmart can be defined as a technology enabled service provider of waste and recycling services to mid to large size Canadian enterprises who are looking to improve their waste and recycling programs. RecycleSmart 59

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data on which containers need adjustments in terms of service levels or recycling programs. This data is analyzed to ensure that containers are being collected when full, so customers aren’t being billed for unnecessary service or in industry lingo “dumping air”.

does not own trucks or bins but instead subcontracts services to a network of over 500 vendors that provide services at over 8000 client sites across Canada. With this vendor network RecycleSmart can provide a wide range of services that is unequalled by any traditional environmental services provider, everything from cardboard to hazardous waste is handled by RecycleSmart in a streamlined manner with one centralized point of contact for customer service and invoicing. “I often explain the concept as the Priceline or Expedia of waste and recycling, we act as a platform to streamline the purchasing and management of waste and recycling services for businesses within a technology platform” explains co-founder Colin Bell.

RecycleSmart provides a platform for businesses to purchase, manage, measure and monitor their waste and recycling services across Canada. If you’re a business that wants to spend more time doing whatever you do best and less time dealing with waste and recycling, call Canada’s Waste Wizards.

RecycleSmart has long been an industry pioneer in the area of “Internet of Things” or IOT devices. RecycleSmart operates an extensive network of small, battery powered container sensor devices that feed data back to RecycleSmart’s team of self proclaimed “Waste Wizards”. Data such as container fill levels and images of what materials customers are placing in recycling bins are transmitted in real time which provides powerful

RecycleSmart colin@recycle-smart.com (888) 8921796 RecycleSmartSolutions

wastewatchers recycle-smart RecycleSmart

recycle-smart.com

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Helping to make dirty water clean by making water treatment easier

Boydel’s Story

affordable and easy to install to minimize the pollution we put back into the environment and ensure clean water stays clean.

Water is one of our most critical resources, and yet we continually deplete the clean water supplies we do have, and then discharge dirty water back to the environment with minimal treatment, or in many cases no treatment at all. The UN considers water scarcity to be one the greatest challenges of our time, and it is currently getting worse, not better. We believe that one of the best solutions is to make effective treatment

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The Company was founded in innovation when two entrepreneurs, Randy Boyle and Randy DeLuca, realized that there had to be a better way to treat sewage than the centuries old “bugs and bubbles” of traditional biological treatment plants. They were seeing communities around them either dumping essentially untreated water directly into the environment, because they didn’t have the space or funds to build their own plants, or installing traditional wastewater treatment systems, with high cost and high odor, that still only succeeded in removing some of the contaminants polluting the waterways they were supposed to protect. The Founders determined that they could do a better job using electrochemistry instead of biochemical options and in 2009 the WaterMiner® was born and patented. They found their novel process worked even better than expected, treating water in a fraction of the time and space of traditional plants while removing more contaminants, including many of the emerging pollutants that stress environments and water supplies throughout the world. On top of that, they found that they could easily treat waters with high solids content that are considered very challenging to impossible for traditional plants to cost effectively manage.

treatment cell. Electrocoagulation and Electrooxidation have each been used successfully to treat wastewater for decades, but when we combined them together, we found each process enhanced the performance of the other, creating a powerful treatment platform where 1 plus 1 ended up being much greater than 2. With total treatment times that are more than 10x faster than competing options, we can make smaller plants that operate at lower costs, making it much easier to find the space and budgets needed for the best available water treatment solution in new or existing wastewater treatment plants.

In 2017 Norman Keevil joined as the companies first new President, bringing important management and engineering expertise, and helping to add Research, Engineering and Project talent to the team to position Boydel for growth.

Like so many new innovations, the WaterMiner® spent thousands of hours in development as we worked with customers, operating at scales from benchtop to full commercial platforms, to refine our systems and processes to be the best option to address their emerging challenges. After a lot of effort from our team, and great support from the Clean Tech community in Southern British Columbia and NRC-IRAP we have developed a truly high performance and low-cost effective way to treat difficult wastewaters that can easily be adopted in almost any wastewater management solution.

Our Technology The core innovation in Boydel’s WaterMiner® system is our dual-zone reactor that combines two electrochemical processes within a single

The Future The world is changing quickly, and both industrial and municipal water managers are beginning to take much more proactive measures to reduce their environmental footprint, with water being a major contributor. Community expectations around these issues are increasing and putting pressure on companies and regulators to be continually improving to maintain their license to operate. At Boydel we’re pretty excited to be able to be a part of the solution to this growing challenge. With engineering, manufacturing, laboratory capabilities in BC, Boydel is ready to take off and 2020 is proving to be a pivotal year for our Company. With new systems being delivered to treat oily waters, selenium in mine tailings and agri-food processing water, we are already starting to make a positive impact on our customers water footprint. We are already seeing success breed success, as other operators are taking notice of what we are doing in their industry and what we can do for them. It is an exciting time to be building clean technology when the World needs positive solutions to our pollution challenges, and Southern BC is one of the great places to be doing it.

Boydel Wastewater norman.keevil@boydel.ca 250-508-8581

boydel.ca

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ACUVA: CHANGING THE WORLD ONE PURIFIED DROP AT A TIME Acuva is a global leader in UVC-LED water disinfection technology. We design and develop advanced water disinfection systems using the unique science of ultraviolet germicidal irradiation that kill harmful pathogens in water. Our mission is to enable access to safe, clean drinking water and a higher quality of life. We specialize in point-of-use water disinfection systems as well as modular integration applications. Growing up in India, President & CEO Manoj Singh witnessed firsthand the negative health effects of unclean water. This became a source of inspiration when he met CTO Fariborz Taghipour through UBC’s University-Industry Liaison Office. They realized they shared a passion and determination to change the world, and together founded Acuva in 2014. The powerful pairing of Taghipour’s UVC inventions and Singh’s business acumen led to the development of a product strategy to commercialise UV-LED water disinfection technology, while solving global challenges and barriers to safe drinking water. 63

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In 2015, Acuva launched its first product, Arrow; a compact, state-ofthe-art water disinfection unit that installs under the sink. Since then, Acuva has continued designing and developing more advanced systems, including the more compact and Class B certified Eco series and the Smart Faucet, a sleek stainless-steel faucet with a UV-LED blue light indicator. In addition, Acuva introduced the market to its Strike Platform, the UVLED disinfection units in modular form, designed for OEM applications integration. The entire product portfolio is environmentally-friendly, chemical-free and maintenance-free. All the while reducing plastic bottle pollution.

Acuva Technologies +1-778-222-1757 acuva-technologies-inc acuvatech

acuvatech.com | acuvastore.com

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Putting Power in People’s Hands

Batteries store power, and when charged from a grid source like B.C.’s hydro, can be a clean source of energy. But an all-in-one battery, inverter, charger system of a big enough size to power an event didn’t exist. It was this inception moment that sparked the VOLTstack® – a complete renewable energy, battery electric and solar, industrial-grade power system, capable of powering whatever a generator could.

Portable Electric® was born when CEO and Founder Mark Rabin recognized the absence of an alternative to a gas and diesel generator. In working with a B.C. running series that focused on climate change awareness, he was required to source power for the event that did not require fossil fuels. There were few options apparent. Solar panels alone wouldn’t work, you needed to have a means to convert that power directly into electricity – and what if it was cloudy? 65

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Since that moment the company has focused on building a product and brand that will stand the test of time. But it all started with a deep understanding of what mattered to users.

simple to use. Make it fast to charge, to the point where charging is as fast as filling up a jerry-can. Bring power online, make people see it and understand it.

The most important part was that the product worked. The initial prototypes didn’t need all the bells and whistles. They needed to deliver the power that they said they would, without fail, and when they were done with being used, they needed to charge as fast as possible.

Every interaction with a VOLTstack® in the world means someone gets to experience what the electrification and clean energy revolution feels like, sounds like, and smells like. Every new person who uses one is a person converted. No one ever goes back to using a generator.

With prototypes out in the field and rigorously tested and revamped via a newly founded green power rental shop, the company focused on R&D, in order to build the next generation of VOLTstack® units that work with a booming global industry – film. These now commercially ready e-Generators™ have spread like wildfire amongst film professionals, who see the VOLTstack® as an integral tool to get the shots they want. The product has been so popular that it’s gone from behind the camera to in front of the camera, debuting as a gadget in the arsenal of Daniel Craig’s Bond, in his final film ‘No Time To Die’.

Portable Electric Ltd. +1-604-901-2500 info@portable-electric.com

For Portable Electric, the goal is simple, electrify the world by providing a more reliable, safe and clean energy alternative to fossil fuels. Make it

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Improving Life At Its Core

Each suite in Vancouver House incorporates a CORE enthalpy exchanger On a quiet street in East Vancouver, you’ll find a component manufacturer with market-leading solutions to two of the most pressing sustainability challenges of our time: decarbonizing both transportation and the built environment. Founded as dPoint technologies in 2005, CORE Energy Recovery Solutions is a diversified manufacturer that specializes in the design and manufacture of components for ventilation and Fuel Cell systems.

dPoint ‘Ax100’ humidifier, a component used in hydrogen fuel cell systems beneath the black fuel cell humidifier

In the early days, CORE’s focus was centred on Fuel Cell Humidifiers (FCH). The FCH built by CORE utilizes a unique polymer membrane that optimizes the functionality and durability of a hydrogen fuel system. As lofty predictions of a hydrogen economy failed to materialize in the late 2000’s,CORE was spurred to consider alternative applications for the membrane technology underpinning its hydrogen fuel cell humidifiers. After some market research (read: googling), the team landed on enthalpy exchangers, a component used in ventilation systems to save energy. Prototypes demonstrated that the polymer membrane conferred a number of game-changing characteristics that enabled CORE to find early and sustained success in the ventilation market. Over the last decade, CORE has sold over 1 million exchangers around the world. This growth trajectory did not go unnoticed, and in 2015, CORE was acquired by the Zehdner group, a Swiss multinational with a reputation for excellence in the Passive House space. The investment proved synergistic, as CORE supplied polymer membrane to Zehnder subsidiaries while leveraging European design expertise. CORE is now working with Canadian and European manufacturers to create the next generation of high-efficiency exchangers for the North American market.

CORE M-Series enthalpy exchanger beneath the white enthalpy exchanger 67

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CORE’s research and development program has pushed the industry to new height While consistent revenue growth, increasing market size, and a slew of patents bode well for CORE’s margins, the CORE team knows that its solutions are bigger than business. The CORE and dPoint team have helped prevent the emission of countless tonnes of CO2, while dramatically improving the spaces in which we work, live, and play. As the reality of climate change pushes the world to green solutions, expect this Vancouver-based company to be a little less quiet.

With the onset of COVID-19, CORE’s mission to provide healthy indoor air has taken on a new sense of urgency. The polymer membrane that underpins each CORE exchanger is certified to ASTM F-1671, meaning that viruses, including COVID-19, cannot penetrate it. Throughout the pandemic, CORE’s team of engineers and production operators have worked overtime in an effort to supply exchangers for critical applications such as COVID vaccine research centers, senior living facilities, and schools. As CORE expanded its vision to the ventilation market, it maintained a diligent research and development program focused on fuel cell humidifiers, retaining the dPoint brand as a subsidiary of CORE. This focus has begun to pay dividends as interest in alternatives to fossil fuels has accelerated. While hydrogen cars and trucks have not yet displaced the internal combustion engine, dPoint has found a strong niche in the forklift market and range extension applications.

1455 East Georgia Street Vancouver, BC, V5L 2A9, Canada +1-604-488-1132 core-energy-recovery-solutions CORE Energy Recovery Solutions

As retailers such as Amazon and Walmart build out networks of warehouses to enable online shopping, the forklift market is expected to grow consistently. Concurrently, dPoint is working with major automotive manufacturers on mass market offerings. With strong partnerships and consistent growth, dPoint is doubling down on the future of hydrogen and investing in automation processes to improve capacity.

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“You can’t solve a problem on the same level that it was created. You have to rise above it to the next level.” — ALBERT EINSTEIN

CHAPTER 5

BIOTECHNOLOGY

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CREATING BIOPRINTED THERAPEUTICS WITH MICROFLUIDIC 3D BIOPRINTING TECHNOLOGY At Aspect Biosystems, we have combined the power of microfluidics and 3D bioprinting to fuel medical research and the development of bioprinted therapeutics that will save lives and make people healthier. We are passionate about collaborating with researchers and industry around the world to push the limits of our technology and make a real impact.

technology and finding innovative ways to apply it within our own research programs. But we are also putting our platform out to an ecosystem of researchers to enable their innovations. We deeply value the commercial partnerships and research collaborations that we have, and strongly believe that we can get further, faster by working together.

Our story began at the University of British Columbia (UBC), where Tamer Mohamed and fellow co-founders Simon Beyer, Sam Wadsworth, and Konrad Walus were focused on the development and application of an innovative microfluidics-based 3D bioprinting platform that could be used to fabricate living human tissue. They understood the fundamental building blocks of the human body and started applying the most advanced engineering principles and technologies to build living structures from the bottom-up.

Our bold team of innovators and entrepreneurs come from all over the globe and we depend on our diversity to drive us forward. We are incredibly fortunate to be part of a country with values that mirror our own. Canada, and Vancouver specifically, is compatible for not just the type of team that we want to build, but the type of team that we need to build to achieve success. Aside from the obvious natural beauty of our surroundings here in Vancouver, this city also provides us with excellent access to talent. We have strong roots at the University of British Columbia and are proud that many people on our team were trained there. Our strong connections with academia not only gives us access to talent, but has also primed us for key collaborations.

Fast forward to today and we consider ourselves to be both an innovator and an enabler of innovation. We are continually developing our core 71

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We can’t even count how many times we’ve been asked to move the company elsewhere, but Vancouver is our home. Our identity is so closely tied to this place—even our logo was inspired by our mountainous surroundings! We wouldn’t want to be based anywhere else. During our first two years, we were at the university, refining our technology and business strategy, and slowly beginning to grow our team. In 2016 we were named BC’s Most Promising Tech Startup and left campus with a team of 10 to start our own operations. Today we have a team of over 45 and are adding a few new faces every month. We continue to expand the applications of our technology, grow our Discovery Ecosystem (a global network of researchers using our technology), and strengthen our partnerships. We are proud of our accomplishments so far, but we keep looking forward and setting our sights on the day that our technology directly effects real change in the life of a patient. Curing them of a disease like type 1 diabetes. Helping them manage a disease. Enabling them to live longer, healthier lives. Knowing that an action from us can have a result like that is both thrilling and humbling. We can’t wait for the day that we can celebrate that, and know we have a lot of work to put in to get there. But we know that we have the team, partners, investors, and technology to get us there.

Aspect Biosystems info@aspectbiosystems.com +1-604-263-0502 aspectbiosys aspect-biosystems

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Scientists Helping Scientists Reach the Forefront of Innovation and Discovery As a team of Scientists Helping Scientists, STEMCELL Technologies is dedicated to improving lives through scientific research. Passionate about the pursuit of scientific knowledge, STEMCELL maintains strong links to academia and helps researchers globally reach and flourish at the forefront of innovation and discovery. Founded on quality and expertise, STEMCELL offers specialized reagents, tools, and services for scientists working on curing cancer and other devastating diseases.

STEMCELL’s Story STEMCELL’s story began in the early 1980s when scientists were making their own tissue culture nutrient media in which to grow the blood-forming stem cells needed to study leukemia. However, without standardized media, it was difficult for scientists to compare results from one laboratory to another. Unsatisfied with this inconsistency, Dr. Allen Eaves, Director of Vancouver’s Terry Fox Laboratory, began selling standardized culture media using carefully screened raw materials. The first product was called MethoCult™. In 1993, when the demand for MethoCult™ had grown beyond what could be made in his laboratory, Dr. Eaves was encouraged by the British Columbia Cancer Foundation to move production into a company he called STEMCELL Technologies. He mortgaged his home and obtained a loan from Western Economic Diversification Canada to launch the company and build a cleanroom for manufacturing. With this expanded production capability, MethoCult™ quickly became the global “gold standard” for growing and studying normal blood-forming stem cells and how they become abnormal and cause leukemia. STEMCELL has since grown to be the largest biotechnology company in Canada, and now offers more than 2500 products for culturing and assaying all types of cells. Dr. Eaves continues to serve as President

Left: Dr. Allen Eaves at the Terry Fox Laboratory in the 1980s. Right: Cells grown in a dish are used to study diseases such as cancer. 73

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MethoCult cell culture media was STEMCELL’s first product. TM

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Dr. Eaves with the bronze portraits of stem cell pioneers Drs. James Till and Ernest McCulloch in front of Vancouver’s Science World. Artist: Ruth Abernethy

After 27 years of building STEMCELL, I am proud to see our staff still passionate about helping scientists find cures for cancer and other diseases. We believe in meaningful partnerships that can spark ideas, enhance research, and accelerate progress toward the next breakthrough. You can feel this drive for scientific excellence in our labs and facilities. By anchoring here in Vancouver, which is a beautiful place to live and raise a family, we will continue to build a culture of creative innovation and help make the world a better place.”

and CEO. He remains committed to fostering innovation and scientific progress by reinvesting all profits back into the company. This enables the continued development of new reagents, tools, and technologies and ensures that STEMCELL can continue to employ highly skilled scientists in Vancouver and around the world.

Community and Mentorship Dr. Allen Eaves and his wife Dr. Connie Eaves have spent their careers building and nurturing the scientific community in Vancouver. To support the development of a strong cancer research program, they founded the Terry Fox Laboratory in 1981. Allen served as Director for 25 years and, with Connie, helped build it into an internationally recognized leader in understanding stem cells and their role in cancer. Allen also became Professor and Head of Clinical Hematology at the University of British Columbia, the Vancouver Hospital, and the BC Cancer Agency. In this capacity, together with his colleague Dr. Gordon Phillips, he helped build the Leukemia and Bone Marrow Transplant Program of British Columbia, the first large-scale bone marrow transplant program in Canada.

— Dr. Allen Eaves, Founder, President, and CEO, STEMCELL Technologies

What Lies Ahead With more than 1000 Vancouver-based employees, STEMCELL continues to be a key contributor to Greater Vancouver’s technology and innovation sector. In 2018, the company began construction on a Burnaby campus that includes a 200,000 square-foot advanced biologics manufacturing facility, a distribution center, and associated laboratories and offices. This will enable the company to produce products that better support scientists globally whose research is nearing clinical application.

Dr. Eaves attributes his success as a cancer specialist and business leader to the advice of his early mentors. After completing his MD and internship at Dalhousie University, he took the advice of his hematology mentor, Dr. Ross Langley, and pursued a PhD at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto. There he completed his thesis on experimental cancer chemotherapy under Dr. Robert Bruce and was mentored by the fathers of stem cell biology, Drs. James Till and Ernest McCulloch. In 2016, Dr. Eaves commissioned Canadian sculptor Ruth Abernethy to create bronze portraits of these two iconic stem cell scientists and gifted the statues to Science World in Vancouver.

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LLAMAS SAVE THE WORLD FROM DANGEROUS PATHOGENS

Since their discovery at Vrije Universiteit Brussel in 1989, Nanobodies have become an exciting tool in the pathogen-fighting arsenal of researchers and biotherapeutic developers. Essentially fragments of special antibodies only found in sharks and camelids (llamas), Nanobodies are far smaller than conventional antibodies and thus capable of accessing small binding spaces. Highly scalable, Nanobodies provide a scaffold that can be engineered for a given application, making them uniquely suited to develop targeted anti-infectives.

Using Nanobodies derived from llamas, NovoBind Livestock Therapeutics is developing novel biotherapeutics to combat rising resistance to anti-infectives.

YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT Once ready, NovoBind decided to deliver their novel Salmonella NBXs to chickens via feed. This presented several advantages. Firstly, it was a cost-effective delivery method familiar to the poultry industry. More importantly, it kept the Nanobodies in the gastrointestinal tract, preventing any contamination of the meat that would eventually reach consumer markets. In addition, NovoBind’s NBXs could effectively target and neutralize harmful pathogens in the intestinal microbiome without disturbing the natural and vital flora.

In the world of agricultural biotechnology, NovoBind is a rapidly growing global superhero. Launched in 2016, the Vancouver-based company’s driving cause is to combat rising resistance to antibiotics, antivirals, and antiparasitics. They do this by developing next-generation biologics (NBXs) derived from llamas that target and neutralize the specific bacteria, viruses, and parasites that cause intestinal ailments in livestock, aquaculture, and pets.

Encouraged by the results, NovoBind quickly expanded its development pipeline, applying its expertise to combat Necrotic Enteritis and Coccidiosis. Having rounded out its arsenal against the top three infectious diseases affecting poultry, NovoBind began to address the Early Mortality and White Spot syndromes affecting aquaculture (particularly shrimp and crustaceans), and then branched beyond livestock to address Parvovirus, a deadly affliction of household cats and dogs.

THE CHICKEN AND THE EGG For 50 years, daily doses of antibiotics have been added to poultry feed because the practice was found to promote growth rates. But this came with unintended consequences—namely, the growth of antibiotic-resistant pathogens and the build-up of undesirable residues in the environment. Recognition of these impacts has prompted many regulatory bodies to ban or limit the use of antibiotics in daily feed in recent years.

GLOBAL LLAMA-NATION For NovoBind’s highly specialized team of biochemists, microbiologists, veterinary pathologists, academics and business professionals, the possibilities are endless. Today, they tackle pathogens, revolutionizing conventional treatments that imperil the health and welfare of livestock, aquaculture, and pets. Tomorrow, they may take on the diseases and pesticides affecting plant life and insects. Every morning, they roll out of bed with the recognition that we, humanity, are part of the natural system and that the impact of their work is social, economic, and widespread. And who wouldn’t want to wake up feeling like a superhero?

An alternative was clearly needed, and NovoBind answered the call. Their first project was a big one—finding a treatment for Salmonella, a pathogen which annually results in significant global losses for the food and poultry industry and which the World Health Organization pegs as one of four key enteric diseases that contribute to foodborne diarrhoeal illnesses in humans (nearly half of those among children). LLAMA TELL YOU NovoBind’s vision was to become a global leader in targeted antiinfectives. That meant they had to identify a biotherapeutic platform that was not only capable of tackling Salmonella, but that could eventually be expanded beyond poultry and antibiotics. They chose … llamas. More specifically, Nanobodies1 derived from llamas.

1. The term “Nanobodies “ is a Trade Mark of Ablynx

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Radmila Juristovski-Bosnic

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NovoBind novobind

novobind.com

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SCIENTIFIC CONSULTING: An Innovation Revolution for Efficient Biotech & Healthcare Start-ups

Rachel Luu, Foun der &

Principal Consult ant via the Operation Channel. I invested my undergraduate years at the University of British Columbia studying Microbiology & Immunology, as it struck the perfect balance for me between the study of illness and health. Mentors were vital through the UBC Work Study Program with chemistry professor Dr. Stephen Withers, the Directed Studies project with bacterial pathogenesis expert Dr. Rachel Fernandez, and the Co-operative Education Program. These provided the opportunity to work in academic labs and in industrial settings including Abgenix Biopharma (now Amgen) in Burnaby, BC, and the interdisciplinary Institute for Biological Sciences at the National Research Council in Ottawa where I later completed my M.Sc. in Microbiology & Immunology on T cell development in chronic Salmonella infection.

Immunomind is a scientific consulting business established in 2018 to provide biotech companies with a means to get the job done in a streamlined fashion. The modern scientist has increasingly diverse roles to play and tight deadlines to face on a daily basis. Scientific consulting goes against the traditional grain of full-time permanent hiring but can be more effective to achieve specific goals with demanding timelines. Scientific expertise is provided by Immunomind on a contract basis where the objectives are fine-tuned, and the commitment is concentrated. Services of insightful protocol development, knowledgeable laboratory guidance, valuable data analysis and direct tech transfer are swiftly available on short notice, leading teams to informed decisions for the next steps in research and development. Immunomind has successfully worked with start-ups including Ascension Sciences and Genevant Sciences, is an active member of the LifeSciencesBC community, and supports educational outreach programs through the Fraser River Discovery Centre and Science World.

As a scientist working across multiple groups and project teams including preclinical research, translational research, and clinical development, I learned to continuously adapt through several companies: vaccine development at Coley Pharmaceutical Group and Pfizer Global R&D, immune assessment of interference RNA delivered by lipid nanoparticle formulations at Tekmira Pharmaceuticals, and immunotherapy with small molecule drug discovery for treatment of chronic Hepatitis B Virus

I have always been fascinated with the microscopic world of life beneath the surface. Growing up, I contemplated the idea of becoming a marine biologist, while finding myself attracted by novel techniques demonstrated 77

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at Arbutus Biopharma. I have worn many hats simultaneously: from power user of a new online purchasing system; to troubleshooting and circulating strategies to integrate the use of an electronic lab notebook; demonstrating techniques to colleagues including ELISA, Luminex, and PBMC isolation; and (my favourite) connoisseur in flow cytometry covering sample processing, immune cell subset & cytokine staining, and intricate analysis of responding populations. This culminated in transferring immune assays to CROs and clinical sites internationally to ensure sample integrity for clinical studies.

polished expertise that is so imperative to effective delivery. Collaboration through this network has indeed been fruitful, for example, through partnerships with Adventus Research for colleagues Louis Blais of Lions Leap Consulting and Ramona Rea, specialists in Project Management, Market Assessment & Market Validation. Hasnaa Fatehi of QARALogic delivers sound Regulatory strategy and Quality Assurance for companies developing medical devices, while Curtis Harwig manages CMO and CRO activities, implements documentation and accomplishes due diligence for CMC projects.

With extensive experience cultivated over the years, new challenges continue to entice me, and I am passionate about applying these qualities of flexibility and determination to boost the industry as numerous startups and scale-ups arise in a biotech renewal.

In these times of economic upheaval, it has become critical to re-assess project goals and to gather the necessary capabilities to complete cutting edge research and development in new ways. Immunomind and the Vancouver Life Sciences Consultants Network are readily poised to accomplish great strides for the biotech & healthcare industry as we embrace innovative approaches together.

The Vancouver Life Sciences Consultants Network was created by Immunomind and colleagues in 2019 to link experienced minds and collaborate on projects with a synergistic approach. This network comprises a unique combination of the brightest talent, covering specialties from Regulatory Affairs and Medical Devices to Immunotherapy, Medicinal Chemistry, Toxicology, Medical Writing, Clinical Operations and Business Development to serve start-ups and scale-ups, empowering teams to advance their products rapidly with the

Immunomind rachel@immunomind.com immunomind

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Founded in 2014 by a group of entrepreneur-scientists, Integrated Nanotherapeutics (INT) is a leader in the development of lipid-based nanomedicines for human health.

Our core beliefs Drug therapies should only go to where they are needed in the body Side effects can be greatly reduced or eliminated using specialized drug delivery carriers Many drugs can be made better using nanomedicines technology Advances in drug discovery and genomic research have resulted in many promising drugs or bioactive agents with impressive potential in disease treatment. Unfortunately, many of these agents fall short to become life-saving therapeutics due to their inherent properties and undesirable side effects, such as the inability to enter disease cells and the interaction with healthy tissues.

Our solution Drug delivery systems are carefully designed technologies that bring drugs to their required sites of action and release them in a 79

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controlled manner. The mission of INT is to engineer and develop biocompatible lipid-based delivery systems that allow various drugs to reach their full therapeutic potential as safe and effective nanomedicines.

envision INT will play a key role in engineering new nanomedicines and in supporting other innovation efforts to improve human health.”

The drug delivery industry is highly competitive, but INT has an edge that allows the company to solve major problems faced by the pharmaceutical industry. While most delivery systems are restricted to a specific type of drug, INT’s scaffold-lipid platform technology allows almost any drug (small molecules, nucleic acids or peptides) to be efficiently encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles, the most clinically advanced drug delivery system to-date. INT is currently exploiting this easy-to-use, flexible platform technology to develop new nanomedicines for a multitude of conditions, including autoimmune diseases and cancers. The versatility and robustness of the technology also allows INT to provide innovative solutions to biomedical and pharmaceutical companies worldwide in advancing lipidbased delivery systems for small molecules, peptide and nucleic acids as novel therapeutics for various diseases.

Our future Going forward, our plan is to expand our scientific team, advance our current research and development programs in gene therapy and immune tolerance, and strengthen the INT intellectual property portfolio, which currently comprises several issued and pending patents related to our proprietary platform technology. We will also continue to collaborate with researchers in academia and industry to fortify Vancouver’s position as the top innovator in nanomedicines development.

Our team Vancouver is recognized as a centre of excellence in nanomedicines research and innovation. INT was founded by 9 scientists from the University of British Columbia who wanted to bring together their world-class expertise in drug delivery, medicinal chemistry and immunology. Our team has over 80 years of combined experience in nanomedicines research and development, and our prior research contributions have led to 4 currently approved lipid-based nanomedicines on the market (Abelcet®, Myocet®, Marqibo®, Onpattro®). Our commercialization track record in this space is strong, with several co-founders having successfully established other nanomedicines companies in the past.

Integrated Nanotherapeutics info@integratedntx.com +1-778-819-1622 integratedntx IntegratedNTX

“It is an exciting time to be in this space, with new lipid-based nanomedicines in mature stages of development and approved for clinical use,” says INT CEO and co-founder Dr. Chris Tam. “Various pharmaceutical companies are recognizing the value and potential of lipid-based delivery systems, and opportunities are arising in many therapeutic areas, particularly in vaccines development as a response to the recent global pandemic. We

integratedntx.com

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We are developing technology that pioneers the relationship between AI and humanity in a way which unlocks innate healing ability, awakens true potential and creates a more peaceful world, inside and out.

Our Story Evolve Biologix was founded in 2017 by Steve Curtis, a serial entrepreneur, cancer survivor, business leader, innovator and adventurer with the mission of measuring emotion and quantifying consciousness. We help people develop resilience to stress and work their way to states of higher enlightenment through emotional understanding, meditation and relaxation techniques, support from thought-leaders and clinical professionals and a community grown and nurtured through our organization.

breakthroughs in science have shed light on the heart’s neurological, biochemical, biophysical, and energetic communication with our bodies and have reminded us once again, to look into our hearts. At Evolve, we are doing just that - looking into the heart as a source of wisdom, knowledge and healing this time with the benefit of cutting-edge science and technology.

Look into your heart In the ancient world, the heart was considered to be the source of wisdom, intelligence, trust and intuition. While modern medicine has largely shifted the focus to the heart’s anatomical functions, we still use expressions like follow your heart, listen to your heart and look into your heart when it comes to matters of love, meaning, and significance. Recent

At the core of our platform is a wearable sensor coupled with an App that measures the variability in the rhythm of the heart. Biofeedback allows you to visualize and interact with heart signals in real time and to review

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patterns and progress. Coupled with a set of guided meditations, breathing exercises, and structured programs, Evolve helps you on your journey to bring about positive change in your life - improving health, happiness, and relationships. And to assist the task of decoding the messages of the heart, we have developed sophisticated analytical tools backed by powerful AI to identify and analyze moments of powerful emotion. Understanding and states of powerful emotion including moments of stress, moments of peace and coherence, and moments of bliss assists and nurtures a journey towards a deeper understanding, power, insight, self-knowledge and self-control and ultimately, to deeper happiness.

The road ahead Our efforts begin with the heart, but do not end there. We are actively engaged in applied research and development of new hardware devices, analytical tools, aids to learning and understanding. Expanding upon the heart’s insights to detecting emotion from other physiological indicators, patterns in voice and facial expression, we continue to forge ahead on our mission to understand and quantify consciousness and to enable people to live their best life.

Evolve Biologix fuad@evolvebiologix.com (604) 346-8511

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Pawsperity Biotechnologies probes the depths of molecular data to improve the wellbeing of our precious companion animals.

In recent years, advanced biotechnologies and artificial intelligence have taken “precision medicine” to new heights, shifting human healthcare from the one-size-fits-all approach towards true personalization of care. Our team has been successful in using machine learning technologies to rapidly analyze massive data sets from various biospecimens to accurately determine patient diagnosis, disease risk, or possible treatment options or outcomes, followed by translation of these innovative discoveries into clinically useful tools. While struggling to identify health issues affecting our own pets, we found ourselves wishing that someone would make similar tools to help them. Such advances in animal health have not been pursued and precision medicine tools are relatively sparse as solutions in veterinary care. We recognized our unique position to make a big difference in the lives of pets around the world, by adapting techniques that have been used to improve human medicine for decades.

Pawsperity Biotechnologies is enhancing veterinary care of companion animals with innovative molecular diagnostic tools that enable precision healthcare. Our driving vision is to tailor healthcare to each of our unique companion cats and dogs. Leveraging core skills in high-throughput biology and artificial intelligence, we are identifying the many individual differences in the genes, molecular signals, microbes, environments and lifestyles of these pets to establish accurate diagnoses and further targeted treatment. A combined love for animals and a passion for science catalyzed the founding of Pawsperity Biotechnologies in 2018 by a team of Vancouverbased medical researchers and data scientists. As pet parents, we know how distressing it can be when pets fall ill. Animals are unable to tell us exactly how they feel or what is wrong with their bodies. The diagnostic journey, from the correct identification of risk or disease to effective management, can be extremely frustrating for pet owners and veterinarians. Without better diagnostics, the most effective and appropriate treatment is missed or delayed, pet owners incur added expenses and anxiety, and animals undergo unnecessary and sometimes invasive testing and procedures.

Drawing on specialized and complementary expertise from veterinary medicine, biotechnology and data science, Pawsperity Biotechnologies is taking its decades of experience in molecular diagnostics development forward to develop novel biological markers of disease and testing algorithms specifically for use in cats and dogs. Our innovative intent 83

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Pawsperity Biotechnologies team (L-R): Dr. Ursula Neumann, Virginia Chen, Casey Shannon, Dr. Zsuzsanna Hollander and Dr. Karen Lam will yield three big wins - 1) modernize and transform disease diagnosis and monitoring, 2) enable targeted and proactive care, and 3) reduce the use of invasive or costly diagnostics in veterinary medicine.

organizations in refining and activating strategic research, development and deployment efforts. Our companion animals deserve the best that science has to offer.

In Vancouver, we are perfectly situated among an extensive network of industry pioneers while being bolstered by a strong startup ecosystem. By advancing cutting-edge research and innovation, we hope to establish Vancouver and Canada as a frontrunner in a growing animal health industry. With promising results from recent clinical studies regarding a common and difficult-to-monitor ailment in cats, we are excited about completing validation work for our leading diagnostic tests in the coming year. At the same time, we are accelerating our partnerships with veterinary schools, animal health companies, private clinics, and not-for-profit animal welfare

Pawsperity Biotechnologies headquartered - Vancouver, BC, Canada info@pawsperitybio.ca pawsperitybio

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CHAPTER 6

GAMING

“Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the things you can think up if only you try.” — DR. SEUSS

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On the surface, ATA is a mobile gaming company. That’s the simplest way to describe what we do. Behind the scenes, we’ve become really good at building social communities, which frames every decision we make. It’s not just a games thing—it’s a very human thing. And this focus is multifaceted. We’re enthusiastic about building communities on every level, from our players to our internal team and externally with the people and organizations we interact with.

. s e i t i n u m om C d l i u B e W

Our original co-founders were two Amazon engineers striking out on their own startup after completing YCombinator, an incubator accelerator program out of Silicon Valley. They already knew they wanted to be involved in creating communities online. The social web was exploding. After YC in 2008, they started building ‘Chatterous’, a group chat platform that combined email, SMS, IM, and the web. They had great success getting the word out and drawing crowds—but user retention was the real challenge. Communities don’t form in a void; knew they needed a common interest to keep people together. From there, our co-founders saw the opportunity to bind the online community to gameplay and built Kingdoms at War, which won an instant following. The startup experienced rapid growth, invited a third

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co-founder to join the team, and from there, tapped into an enormous potential around building community-driven games.

constantly adapt is fundamental to innovation. It’s what has made us an innovator in our field.

Today, ATA creates games that encourage emergent behavior. That means players aren’t just performing simple actions, they are contributing to a collective narrative—a universe—that, on the whole, demonstrates complex behaviors. Emergent behavior allows for a rich player-driven history with real friendships, rivalries, and even political intrigue. Because ATA’s games are highly social and free to play, players can create their own content and turn otherwise trivial online banter into a blood feud, for example.

And this innovation is uniquely possible in Vancouver’s creative tech ecosystem. Being here has allowed us to hire top talent and experts in the game development industry, thanks both to the lifestyle that Vancouver offers and the flexible and desirable work/life balance ATA provides. It allows our employees to work hard and grow while enjoying their personal hobbies without compromise. We understand that when we learn, we see exponential improvement in ourselves, our products, and our company. (Our CEO Kenshi is a big fan of Ray Dalio’s famous quote ‘Pain + Reflection = Progress’.) We repeatedly iterate on the scientific method because we believe the potential for exponential growth in the right environment must never be underestimated.

In the future, we see our communities growing and expanding outside of mobile to a multitude of mediums. We create our own IP and are excited about adding new resources to our team right now so that we can achieve our ambitious goal of producing more games—faster. We believe great communities only become stronger when they are set in compelling universes that we’ve created. We find this stuff fascinating and we want our communities and the universes we create to have a massive cultural impact on the world.

Communities don’t form in a void. ATA builds them.

A Thinking Ape Entertainment press@athinkingape.com A Thinking Ape Entertainment

Everything ATA does is rooted in the core value to ‘Keep Growing’ and in the belief that people are the most dynamic element of our business. To

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. d e e d n i s e v o m Bold

approach for the company where it would license old beloved PC Games and renew these brands. By acquiring these licenses, PGI is in full control of not only developing the game but also in developing custom tools and technology, marketing and most importantly, developing monetization platforms. Located in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Piranha Games is one of the Canada’s oldest independent video game studios. Anyone can make great games, but what sets PGI apart is a non-compromising approach to everything we do.

So why was this change so bold? Simply put, the company had no previous experience in free-to-play games or self-publishing. Also, they had to develop a front end and back end architecture for an engine that was simply not designed to do so. These were all very immense, innovative moves that promised only two outcomes. That was in 2011. Now, almost 10 years later the MWO continues to be enjoyed by gamers worldwide. A bold move indeed.

It all started in 1999, when a group of friends who met each other on the internet got together in a small apartment in Victoria, BC. Piranha Games was born in early 2000 thanks to their big break, a contract with Fox Interactive to develop a PC video game, Diehard: Nakatomi Plaza. After several sleepless nights, towers of empty pizza boxes, the game was shipped on time and our first game to market.

Now at a respectable size of 65 employees and rapidly growing, the studio decided to build on their strengths, so they set their crosshairs on another AAA MechWarrior game, single player/co-op and mission based. MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries was launched in December 2019 and was the first single player game to be released since 2002. Using Unreal 4 Engine, MW5 once again redefined the genre bringing back to life the good old days.

Since those early days the passion and sheer will to make great video games is what continues to drive founder and CEO, Russ Bullock. Over the next 10 years the company relocated to Vancouver, BC, and focused on co-production opportunities, honing their skills and working with large publishers such as Electronic Arts, Activision, and 2K Games. However, work-for-hire has its challenges and the 2009 financial crisis had a significant impact on the video games industry. Co-production opportunities were scarce. Russ knew they were at a crossroads. They needed to be bold.

“MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries honors the 30-year MechWarrior legacy very closely: in mechanics, in controls, and even in soundtrack. Bombastic guitar riffs thunder over every combat encounter, lasers sizzle, PPCs crackle, and Gauss Rifles make that weird pew noise. Mechs stomp and break and explode spectacularly, leveling buildings around them.” PC Gamer, December 10, 2019

In October 2011, the company announced MechWarrior Online, a Freeto-Play PC Game platform using the latest engine CryEngine technology. Following the footsteps of exceptionally successful Free-to-Play Games such as League of Legends and World of Tanks, MWO began a new

“With two very successful self-published games in the market we are just getting started,” says Russ Bullock. “We are very fortunate to have an experienced group of talented developers here who can use what they learned and take us to the next level.” 89

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Passion for making great games is unfortunately not enough to keep an independent video game studio in business for over 20 years. The secret is building a talented team of employees, making sound financial decisions and having the courage to be bold and non-compromising.

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LBC Studios cultivates the freshest interactive experiences in the mobile world. From concept to publishing, their free-to-play games are 100% home-grown, an expression of their passion, commitment to quality and driven by purpose that will be remembered forever.

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growing in dollar volume and while there were a few cannabis games on the market in 2015, there was a clear appetite for more high quality content. When I co-founded LBC Studios with my partner Dennis, we set out to be to be featured in a number of advertising spaces. Their work paid off, with a high quality, authentic and meaningful way. We challenged ourselves to do this in a way that promoted the culture and community while creating a game that was fun and proﬁtable, so we could also support the professional and personal growth of our team members. We couldn’t think of anywhere else this could be achieved but Vancouver, as both a tech hub and ground zero for much of the Canadian cannabis legalization movement”

LBC Studios is an independent mobile gaming studio and publisher based in Vancouver, BC. It’s home to the world’s highest-rated cannabis-themed game. Their ﬂagship title, Hempire, has been downloaded over 14 million times since launch in April of 2017 and installed by 1 in 74 Canadians, and 1 in 55 Americans. Hempire is one of the top 100 grossing apps in 63 countries, generating over 30M in revenue to date. Building off this success, LBC continues to be the category leader for cannabis-themed games as they launch their second title, Tasty Buds, worldwide this summer. Growing from a small all-star crew to a 35+ strong person studio today, LBC Studios is also branching into celebrity licensed IP games with a late 2021 launch. Driven by core values of accountability, growth, honesty, and passion, LBC continues to innovate what it means to be a thriving indie gaming studio in

What makes LBC’s success story unique among Vancouver startups is that neither co-founder had prior experience in game development. While both were successful entrepreneurs the duo relied on their talent for asking the right questions to the right people, to secure support from investors, leading mentors and experts, to grow their napkin-idea into a multi-million dollar studio. But grit isn’t enough to succeed in one of the most ﬁnancially competitive industries. LBC also faced a huge hurdle unique to their games—getting published on the major platforms amongst harsh stigma against cannabis. They had to innovate with marketing, from keywords to creative ads that saw them break barriers as the ﬁrst cannabis-themed app

Solon Bucholtz recognized, “the free-to-play mobile game market was

that’s known as a safe place to form life-long friendships and learn more about cannabis, especially for players who live in countries where it’s still socially unacceptable or illegal. On top of that - we achieved our goal of becoming the highest rated simulation game, and building a reputation as a game for the people. This is particularly remarkable because we are the only successful cannabis-game competing without an established IP, which speaks to our ability to identify stories, characters and mechanics that appeal to our target audience.” Their efforts culminated in LBC Studios placing 3rd in the 2019 Startup 50 ranking of Canada’s Top New Growth Companies, with two-year revenue “We’re grateful for the opportunity to deﬁne a company culture that values work/life balance, and fosters integrity and accountability while having fun. Our team embodies these values daily and I couldn’t be more proud of the journey we share as we continue to grow together.”

LBC Studios solon@lbcstudios.ca +1-778-995-7467 company/18059208 LBCStudiosCA

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Solon Bucholtz recognized, “the free-to-play mobile game market was

LBC Studios solon@lbcstudios.ca +1-778-995-7467 company/18059208 LBCStudiosCA

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SHERWA, CONNECTING ALL GAMERS IN ANY GAME, ANY DEVICE, AT ANY TIME.

The seed was planted.

Sherwa is a social platform to connect gamers. The mobile app helps users find friends to play together online, connect them with guides to help them improve in their favourite games, and even connect them to their favourite gaming influencers. All in one place, with the touch of one button.

The next morning Luiz decided it was more than a question, it was a business idea. He then sought out to create a business plan and to validate it with the gaming community. The research was done and the conclusion was unanimous, “Why doesn’t something like this already exist?” In fact a platform that connected gamers instantly through the touch of one button had never been done before. After more research and surveys, a prototype was commissioned, and the company was taking shape.

Ever since meeting in 2016, Luiz Persechini and André Gross spent countless hours discussing their favourite pastime, gaming. In December 2018, during one of those late night deep dives about the industry, one question was left unanswered: “Why don’t gaming companies invest in hiring experienced players as guides to new players in their games?”

Luiz, with 12 years of experience in business and finance, and Andre, with over 8 years of experience in game development and design, brought on Pedro Vasconcellos, marketing expert with 5 years working in influencer marketing, as a co-founder to complement their strengths, with that, in June 2019, Sherwa was born.

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Sherwa is how one says “Sherpa” in Nepalese. Just as the Sherpas help climbers summit Mount Everest, Sherwas could now be hired to help gamers reach their peak, in online gaming. But somewhere along the way it became more than that. Sherwa became the place for gamers to connect, be it with other gamers looking for someone to play, with guides as the original idea suggested or even with influencers. After months of development and iterations, even battling a global pandemic, the beta platform was released on iOS and Android on June 15th, 2020, and it took off fast. The solution resonated with hardcore and casual gamers alike, who embraced it and started using it daily to connect, play and interact.

be the driving force of the company’s main goal for 2021, achieving 1 million users across the globe. The multi-cultural team mixes experienced veterans and eager junior professionals.Their different world views and experiences help create an environment focused on innovation and improving the technology developed so far to be more inclusive, open and accessible. They are tirelessly working together to improve the lives of all gamers in any game, any device, at any time. One of the core principles of the company is to create connections that are healthy and engaging, creating a better experience for online gamers. Often the gaming community is not a friendly and welcoming place, so Sherwa adopted peer-reviews and a zero-tolerance policy with bullying and toxicity, to create the best gaming experience for its users.

Sherwa Online Services pedro@sherwaonline.com sherwaapp sherwaonline sherwa sherwaonline

By the end of 2020, the Sherwa family had grown to over 20 employees in 3 different countries, working together from home to help achieve the 300,000 downloads the app gathered since the beta launch, and over 1,000,000 requests on its quick-match system. Their hard work will

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“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” — MAYA ANGELOU

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The voice of Vancouver and BC’s VR/AR ecosystem

It is the Vancouver AR/VR Association’s mission to make Vancouver and BC a world-leading hub for growing and scaling VR/AR companies. Through its leadership and advocacy, Vancouver AR/VR Association represents the region’s VR/AR industry and improves its global competitiveness. The association also promotes technology adoption, incubates early-stage companies, facilitates international trade, attracts foreign investment, and builds communities.

“As leaders in the VR/AR & Mixed Reality community, it’s important to continue to grow the ecosystem and advance the technology along, especially in our own community,” says Dan Burgar, Co-president of the Vancouver VR/AR Association. “We’re at a time where education and discovery are crucial to what this technology can achieve and how it can help companies to develop their strategic thinking to roadmap their future.”

With more than 230 immersive technology companies at work in 2019, Vancouver is recognized as a leading VR/AR ecosystem in the world, second only to the Bay Area and Silicon Valley. The city has achieved this stature in a relatively short period of time; around 71% of the VR/AR companies here were founded in the past 10 years.

Despite being a young industry, VR/AR technology in Vancouver is backed by a decades-long legacy of excellence in film and television, video gaming, and VFX and animation. It is the association’s duty not only to enable but also to track the industry’s growth, and it does so through the comprehensive Reality Check report, a must-read for VR/AR companies in the BC ecosystem and beyond.

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Vancouver Hotel Destination Association, Tourism Vancouver, Creative BC, Launch Academy, BC Trade and Invest, Global Affairs, VEC and other key partners) led eight missions from around the US and Europe, totaling over $30+ million in potential deals, partnerships, and investments and $3+ million in actual deals. More than 20 VR/AR companies in Vancouver and BC were supported via these delegations. The Vancouver VR/AR Association has promoted Vancouver and BC as a top VR/AR ecosystem at various global conferences including SXSW, TED, Laval Virtual, Annecy Film and Animation Festival, AWE EU, VR/ AR Global Summit, VR Days, and On the Lot. Delegates were often given the opportunity to demo their products at trade show booths or speak on stage. Moreover, delegates often participated in B2B meetings and dinners organized by the Vancouver VR/AR Association. As a result of Vancouver VR/AR Association’s effort in connecting and promoting local companies, more than $30 million dollars of potential deals have been added to the delegates’ sales pipelines and more than $3 million dollars worth of deals have already been closed.

For the report, the Vancouver VR/AR Association and the Vancouver Economic Commission (VEC) created an extensive database of all known VR/AR entities comprised of VR/AR businesses, post-secondary institutions, nonprofit organizations, investors, and other organizations adopting VR/AR technology. This database of 253 entities is the most complete database produced to date and is an accurate representation of British Columbia’s entire VR/AR ecosystem.

Whatever the future brings for VR/AR, the Vancouver VR/AR Association will be there to help its member organization usher that future in. “I’m excited to help lead this initiative in Vancouver,” Dan Burgar says, “and bring together people from different industries to understand the power of immersive technology.”

The association’s parent organization puts on the annual VR/AR Global Summit Conference + Expo. Though the event has been moved online in 2020 to eliminate social-distancing concerns, it’s hard to imagine an organization in a better position to deliver a meaningful conference than one specializing in VR/AR. For those looking to establish themselves in Vancouver’s VR/AR space specifically, they needn’t look further than the VR/AR Hub. New companies and founding partners alike can find a home in the 12,000-square-foot facility, which includes a device lab to test out new technologies and access to top mentors/influencers, programs, events, and workshops to help companies to grow and scale. The existing infrastructure built from Launch Academy of incubating 600+ companies, raising a collective $150M and supporting entrepreneurs from over 35 countries. In 2019, the Vancouver VR/AR Association (with the support of

Vancouver VR/AR Association dan@thevrara.com (604) 8808983 vrara_Vancouver vraravancouver

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Leaders in architectural visualization in Western Canada

After graduating from the New York Film Academy and working on sets in Toronto, LNG Studios founder and CEO Leon Ng returned home to Vancouver to run local community channel NOVUS TV. While working in this role, two things happened that set the tone for Leon’s future. First, he realized there was a technology gap with the way that content was being shot, managed, and archived: everything was on VHS tapes. Although this was standard practice in 2004, it was clunky, difficult to manage, and Leon wanted a better solution. He decided to invest in digitizing the entire channel of film.

Within the first year of the company’s establishment, Leon discovered the 3D scanning technology made available for creating virtual tours and obtained the right to employ this new service to Canada. Since then, LNG Studios has pioneered the use of virtual reality in real estate showrooms and presentation centers, as well as interactive virtual tours on touchscreens. “We’ve embraced every new discovery and leap in technological advancements in the visualization space throughout the years, always with the intention of passing on these new solutions to our clients,” Leon says.

By today’s standards, digitization sounds like a no-brainer, but this was the pre-YouTube era, and Leon’s move was a huge leap ahead of any competitor. It was also one he planned to keep at the core of everything he did.

Today, LNG Studios bills itself as a 3D-visualization studio and encompasses over 10 businesses in which Leon currently has an active stake. Together, the businesses form an ecosystem that has grown from three staff to over 50 and beyond Vancouver to include offices in Toronto and San Francisco.

But that wasn’t Leon’s only important observation at the time. He’d also noticed that Vancouver’s real estate market was taking off, making it a natural content opportunity, and he wanted to be the first to own it. Leon created a real estate channel that expanded across Canada on SaskTel, MTS, and Rogers with over 2.5 million viewers. Since then, Leon has continued to work at the intersection of technology and real estate, layering on businesses to build up a proptech enterprise.

“We’ve become best known for our ability to find emerging technologies and to package up practical applications for our clients to give them a competitive edge,” Leon says. “At the core of LNG Studios is that constant pursuit of innovation.” 99

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Since 2009, LNG Studios has been producing award-winning 3D visualizations and immersive experiences to the real estate development industry and local marketing agencies. Its vertically integrated services combine creative and technological solutions for a seamless production pipeline that delivers stunning assets to any client. In the first quarter of 2020, LNG Studios made its first business acquisition: DG Works, a friendly industry competitor established around the same time as LNG Studios. With the acquisition of DG Works, LNG Studios immediately increased its 3D visualization capabilities and also expanded into the 3D printing sector. Having seen firsthand how rapidly businesses and pre-sale marketing services in real estate have shifted during the pandemic, LNG Studios is excited to explore new virtual tools and digital solutions within the real estate industry. With respect to 3D visualization services like 3D printing and project mapping, LNG Studios looks forward to discovering possibilities through R&D.

The move was a serendipitous one; it coincided almost exactly with frontline healthcare workers’ dire need for Personal Protective Equipment in the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic. LNG Studios found an open-source 3D printing file of a medically certified face shield online and immediately put its new 3D printers to work, producing a handful of prototypes for local hospitals.

“While there are many talented visualization studios around the world, with prominent studios in the major cities of New York, London, and Melbourne,” Leon says, “we’re proud to lead the 3D visualization space in Western Canada.”

“Once the prototypes were approved for use, we started producing face shields around the clock,” Leon says. “We also put out a call out to the local 3D printing community, and now we’re a group of over 500 members, all printing mass quantities of these face shields.”

LNG Studios info@lngstudios.com +1-778-724-1372

LNG alone has printed thousands of face shields, demonstrating both the company’s care for others and its ability to adapt quickly to their needs.

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HOLLYWOOD’S MOST OUTSTANDING TECHNOLOGY

Commonly referred to as “Hollywood North”, Vancouver is an internationally renowned hub for media and entertainment. Our scenic city has been the favoured backdrop for countless blockbuster titles such as The BFG, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and the Deadpool series, and is even a featured race location in Mario Kart Tour 2020. This increasingly prolific city has also become home to the world-class teams that turn these productions into cinematic masterpieces. Visual effects houses such as Scanline VFX, Sony Pictures Imageworks, and DNEG have all opened their studio doors in the heart of Vancouver and continue to draw in leading artists from around the world, employing over 12,000 creative minds across the province. As this multi-billion dollar industry continues to grow between the Pacific and The Rockies, innovative companies like Vancouver’s own Ziva Dynamics are helping these creative giants accelerate and improve their work with powerful graphics technology.

the best and brightest minds from the character space, from artists to scientists, from researchers to seasoned business leaders, to solve the major complexities of character creation. Ziva technology was recognized as “Hollywood’s most outstanding technology” at the 2019 Infinity Awards by the executive panel from Dolby Laboratories, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros., Paramount, 20th Century Fox, Microsoft, and more.

Ziva Dynamics was founded in 2015 by Academy Award winner James Jacobs and USC Associate Professor of Computer Science Jernej Barbic. Ziva technology is advancing digital characters for film, AAA games, and high-end interactive experiences. The company brings together 101

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Ziva Dynamics entered the media & entertainment technology space with rapid success. The company’s flagship software, Ziva VFX, is used to digitally replicate the physics and materiality of soft tissue, such as muscles, fat, and skin, enabling artists to create the most lifelike CGI characters. With fully dynamic anatomy, these virtual animals and humans jiggle, stretch, and flex just as they would in real life, removing weeks of artistic labour from the character workflow. This technology has become the new standard for high quality creature work, blurring the lines between art and reality for over 100 studios on titles such as Game of Thrones, Captain Marvel, and Venom. The application of lifelike characters reaches far beyond just films and television, however, and Ziva Dynamics is on the forefront of bringing breakthrough graphics to the most competitive and rapid growth industries, including gaming, VR/AR, and Fortune 500 retail. The video game industry alone is set to reach over $300 billion by 2025 and console games, the fastest-growing game category, made over $47.9 billion in 2019. Ziva Dynamics is joining a long legacy of Canadain innovations that are carving new paths and pushing boundaries in computer graphics and animation.

racing for better, faster results. With our new partners and funding, we’ll be able to double our R&D spend, accelerate productization and play a defining role in the most advanced graphics experiences.”

Ziva is proud to be delivering on major titles for next-gen console games in 2020,” said James Jacobs and Jernej Barbic, co-founders of Ziva Dynamics. “Our biomechanics, soft tissue and machine learning technologies are finally intersecting with the optimization of game consoles, enabling us to introduce the highest quality characters to a space that is constantly

Ziva Dynamics 10-319 W. Pender St. Vancouver, BC, Canada V6B 1T3 102

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IMMERSIVE MEDIA IS THE FUTURE OF STORYTELLING — TRANSPORTING, ENGAGING, AND INSPIRING AUDIENCES Chris understands that immersive technology will change the world helping us reconnect with our true selves by diminishing our fears, helping us overcome our phobias all while demonstrating what our true essence of humanity can be in a time where COVID has set forth a true need for unity, collaboration, and hope.

How It All Started Since the age of nine, Chris envisioned shaping the future of media and innovation. His first endeavour happened when his family gifted him a VHS camcorder. He set forth, spending every chance he got, creating music videos, documentaries and anything else he could film to bring the world he saw to anyone who would watch. During this same year, two young men in Edmonton lost their lives by falling into open manholes during flash floods. After learning about this tragedy, Chris consulted his father (a real life Mac Guyver who owned a welding and fabrication shop) to help design a prototype for a safe manhole cover that would not topple under pressure during flash floods. His keen eye for the betterment of others created a system that to this day is still used by the City Of Edmonton, helping save countless lives. While seemingly different from his flourey into media, this focusing on a better world, set the foundation for influencing Chris’ development of his many ventures to come.

“Walking a virtual mile in someone else’s shoes opens up the possibility of empathy and understanding for other humans, animals, and planet earth.”

Conquering Fears They say that, in order to conquer your fears, you sometimes need to jump head first into them. In 1997, Chris decided to do exactly that. After winning a trip to the world’s largest bungee jump, he faced one of his greatest fears head-on. Prior to the trip, Chris read a life altering book by Tony Robbins. Through it, he discovered that he held the key to conquering his own fears by stepping into uncomfortable territory and using it as a vehicle to grow. On the day of the big leap, he threw himself off the ledge, freefalling 102m (340 feet) to the river below. In the coming years, he used the same exercise to overcome his lifelong fear of public speaking.

— Chris Bedyk

WHAT PFI DOES Perspective Films is an immersive media studio based in Vancouver, Canada focusing on cinematic 2D, XR (VR/AR/360˚) and Location Based Experiences. Since 2000, Chris Bedyk, a pioneer of immersive storytelling, has sought to change the way in which we create and consume media. Chris garnered acclaim as a sought after cinematographer, working on thousands of leading Hollywood, broadcast and digital media productions for Netflix, Disney, Warner Brothers, Mercedes Benz, Hallmark and Vancouver Canucks.

These personal accomplishments led Chris to the foundation of Perspective Films - a company that could use immersive, engaging, and impactful media and experiences to help audiences conquer their greatest fears. His solution, VR/360˚ filmmaking.

The Inventor at Heart

“Our mission is to place viewers in the middle of a story or experience, elevating their senses and stimulating them to the point that their body reacts physiologically and psychologically, alluding them to believe they were there physically - it’s really fascinating” said Chris. “ We are at the point that stories can become so realistic the brain interrupts these experiences as reality - storing them as a memory - that is empathy at another level.”

In 2012, Chris developed a moving timelapse robot that encompassed the true essence of an amusement park at night. He stitched together 7,000 still photos that created the mesmerizing experience “Multi-Lapse” (vimeo.com/52669738). In 2014, this caught the eye of Oculus and Chris was invited to the first ever Oculus Connect Conference where he partook in his first Virtual Reality experience. He was instantly teleported to a 103

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enables Perspective Films to tackle complex, revolutionary and leading edge projects that propelled their clients forward on their entrance to exploratory and experiential formats of storytelling. Combined with their vast, multi decade long experience with traditional cinematic formats in motion picture and digital media, Perspective Films is a propelling force, combining traditional and new age formats of media creation and distribution.

land where dinosaurs, aliens, and futuristic robocops surrounded him as if he was there physically. Left speechless, this moment changed his life forever. He now understood the power of engaging and impactful immersive storytelling. In 2013, the world was introduced to the Oculus DK1, the first consumer ready VR headset. This evolutionary entrance left aspiring VR futurists scrambling to find professional grade 360˚ cameras to meet the growing demand for desperately needed content. With limited options, Chris decided to develop his own VR camera array, grouping seven Gopro cameras together to capture live action, cinematic 360˚ ready content for the new Oculus headset. In 2016, Chris partnered with the Vancouver Canucks to allow fans the ability to experience first hand what it is like to be a Canuck, creating one of the world’s first VR/360˚ sporting experiences. Beyond the Canucks, Chris also collaborated with the BC Lions in 2018 (in partnership with Quest Upon and Radical I/O) to create the industry’s first VR/AR/360˚ sports smartphone app - bringing VR directly to fans.

A journey that allows viewers to be truly immersed in a story, making them feel as if they are a part of the narrative, is a revolutionary intersection of media. It has the ability to take narrative storytelling to unprecedented heights. Chris’s approach evokes emotion through newage formats that extend boundaries most have yet to conceive. Perspective Films is testament that anything imaginable can be brought to fruition. The question is, are you ready to embark on a journey to the future?

Collaboration is Key for the Future for Perspective Films Perspective Films future is bright, with a direct focus on using their immersive filmmaking technologies to help tackle social impact projects. Through a newfound partnership with emergeStudios (a pioneering Vancouver based social impact media company) they have teamed up to create VR films that help grant the wishes of vulnerable children using immersive media formats, starting with an emergeStudios project in partnership with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Through this partnership, Chris and Dave Walsh (emergeStudios, Founder) are also developing interactive, location based experiences under their new brand, Wunders, with an objective of bringing the world’s cultural and natural wonders to consumers, wherever they are in the years to come.

Chris’s ambitions for immersive filmmaking stretched far beyond the rink. In 2016, his desire to bring the world’s natural and man-made wonders to anyone, wherever they are, caught the eye of international investors in Asia. He was contracted to bring his true vision to fruition. With that, VR Wonders Of The World was born (vrwondersoftheworld.com). This award winning production featured the Northern Lights and Grand Canyon. To capture the content, Chris developed an ultra high resolution time lapse camera array, using five 50 megapixel SLR cameras. To increase the viewers immersion with movement, he also built a custom portable track and motion control system.

Chris is set to collaborate with Innovation Canada to develop solutions that help companies navigate through COVID 19. Contact Perspective In 2018, Chris was also contracted to handle principal photography and today to bring your dreams to reality! post production on a VR/360˚promotion for the Facebook Watch series Sacred Lies and the popular show Riverdale. Both of these projects utilized Chris’s custom high resolution low light cameras and production systems. During this same year, Chris built a wearable wireless live streaming 360˚ Perspective Films perspective_vr camera for Huawei and Telus that was featured at the 2018 International chris.bedyk@ perspective-vr 5G Conference in Vancouver. perspectivefilms.ca Perspective Films 778-846-3539 What Makes Perspective Unique? PerspectiveVR Chris’s leadership, industry partnerships and pioneering expertise perspectivevr

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CHAPTER 8

FINTECH & REGTECH

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” — ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

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Trulioo: Driving digital transformation across the globe for a safer world

Trust begins with Trulioo (Truly-You) Innovation has always been at the core of our business. Trulioo tackles the complex and ever-growing challenges of trust, safety, fraud, and financial inclusion. The advance of the internet has created a world where people transact with each other from different places in the world, often without ever meeting face to face. As this shift online continues to accelerate exponentially, trust has become more important than ever. Trulioo plays a crucial role in the online verification space, providing a layer of protection to ensure secure digital transactions while establishing trust and assurance. Our solution offers secure access to hundreds of trusted data sources, enabling businesses to instantly verify customers and businesses across the globe to increase trust and safety online. Global banks, Fortune 500 companies, tech giants, and online marketplaces and communities of all sizes count on Trulioo to help meet compliance, fraud prevention, and trust and safety requirements. In today’s digital world, businesses need reassurance to safely transact in the online economy. In light of this, identity verification plays a crucial role in this ever-evolving digital landscape. In order to foster trust online, individuals and businesses need to prove that they are who they say they are. More than a decade of expertise in this sector has enabled us to create a ubiquitous, universal solution to combat financial crime and nefarious online activities.

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BC at heart, global in our mission Headquartered in Vancouver, BC, Trulioo currently employs more than 170 employees and continues to scale operations across North America and Europe. Founded by Canadian serial entrepreneurs, Stephen Ufford and Tanis Jorge, Trulioo has been named CNBC Disruptor 50, World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer, CB Insights Fintech 250 Startups, Globe & Mail’s Top 100 Growing Companies in Canada, and Emerging Company of the Year by the BC Tech Association. At the heart of the company’s mission are trust, privacy, and advancing financial inclusion. And, to help achieve this, our goal is to provide verifiable identities to the world’s 7.8 billion people, certainly not a small undertaking. Access to a digital identity helps ensure that nobody is left behind and everyone has the opportunity to participate fully in the modern digital economy. Our commitment to inclusion across race, gender, age, religion, identity, and experience connects us with the customers and communities we serve, attracting top talent and passionate changemakers across the globe. Our mission matters — for billions of people everywhere. At Trulioo, we truly believe that “everyone is someone,” and we invite you to participate in revolutionizing how technology, trust, and identity intersect online to help create a safer world.

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VoPay allows innovators to innovate faster. VoPay CEO and Founder, Hamed Arbabi’s first venture was a telecommunications company that connected people across the globe at a time when Skype was just introduced and Zoom still had to make an appearance. While the connections that his company enabled were instant, the payments between vendors, operators, and customers were almost archaic.

their customers or service providers. People were in immediate need of capital—even small loans of a few hundred dollars. With VoPay, our clients could issue the loans and deliver the funds in real-time, which is a game-changer for the borrower and the lender.” The problem of payments was certainly highlighted during the pandemic, but it’s also part of a much larger issue: financial inclusion, or the lack thereof. While financial services are available worldwide, the ease of access to those services is, in a global sense, pretty imbalanced.

“The biggest challenge we had back then was managing payments. The circulation of money was always slow, even while everything else was moving in real-time,” Hamed says. When that venture was acquired, Hamed and his team were suddenly free to focus on solving the payment pain point by figuring out a structure for accelerating the payment process.

VoPay was their solution.

“Financial inclusion requires a strong foundation and one pillar of that is payments with immediate, simplified movements from party to party,” Hamed explains. “That’s part of our mission and something that’s very important to us.”

The fintech innovator connects online businesses, e-commerce platforms, marketplaces and more to a variety of payment rails. Through VoPay’s single API layer, companies can manage the full cycle of money movement from payment and approvals to reconciliation and accounting in a fully integrated, automated and transparent way. “What we do allows our clients to focus on their expertise and their products and leave the payments to one partner to manage it,” Hamed says. “They can focus on growth rather than trying to solve the problem of payments.”

At the heart of VoPay’s mission, of course, is innovation, and the belief that innovation never stops. “Half the time, people confuse invention with innovation, but innovation is basically improving the efficiency of how things work,” Hamed says. “The biggest thing that makes us proud as a team is how we’re helping our clients, getting them off the ground quickly, and building products that are client-based and market-driven. We’re not sitting in a room behind closed doors and saying, Oh, we’re gonna build this and it’s gonna be so cool.”

For example, VoPay has many clients in the lending space. Before taking on VoPay’s services, these companies would approve loans almost instantly, but the funds were slow to follow. Before the COVID-19 pandemic this was an annoyance, however during the pandemic, it became crucial to find solutions. Digitization accelerated across the globe, forcing the existing urgency for timely payments to become a priority. Hamed explains, “We noticed that many of our clients in the lending space and in the gig economy felt the need for instant delivery of funds for

Instead, VoPay now has its eye on an unfulfilled need: a B2B enabler digital bank that both meets regulatory requirements and offers the technology needed for companies’ instant payments. “We can become a launchpad for any tech company that requires a banking partner, and that allows the innovators to innovate faster. We can provide the virtual services that other banking platforms lack, and we can offer everything as a one-stop-shop” Hamed says. “That’s our next big thing.”

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FundRazr - reimagining fundraising for social good with our next generation crowdfunding platform

world in really impactful ways. It means so much to our team when we receive “thank you” emails from our clients, sharing their stories about how the platform helped them save a hundred dogs from a death row, keep school children fed with hot lunches, preserve lands and wildlife, and more.

FundRazr is on a mission to help nonprofits, companies and consumers raise funds for the causes they care about. So far, our platform has raised over $200 million for more than 200,000 campaigns in 40 countries around the world - and this number is growing every day. Our story starts in 2009 in Gastown, the heart of Vancouver. As pioneers in social fundraising, the FundRazr team worked hard to create an impact-driven, easy-to-use platform that empowers and connects people to change the world in a positive way. We know how hard raising money can be. We’re passionate about providing an effective funding solution to help people tackle big problems like poverty, human rights, racism, animal rights, health, ecology, access to education and more. We believe in community, and in the power of sharing your story with the world. Ultimately, we want to build a great company, have fun, and help people change the

Innovation is baked into our corporate DNA, and we channel those innovations for our customers, too. The philanthropic world is going through a major transformation; donor behaviour, preferences and expectations have changed drastically. Interactions have moved online and sometimes fully digital as Millennial and Gen Z generations gradually replace the Baby Boomers and become the largest demographic groups in the population. This changing landscape requires us to relentlessly 111

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enhance our product and help our users keep up with social and giving trends.

environment in Vancouver is very supportive, and we always feel like our hard work is acknowledged. We were lucky enough to receive the inaugural “Business Innovation Technology” award, organized by the City of Vancouver, and named“Most Promising Startup” by the BC Technology Industry Association in 2013. The quality of talent here is a big reason why Vancouver is a home to so many amazing technology companies. Another wonderful thing about Vancouver is the cultural diversity of our vibrant communities. This helps us support our international operations and live in alignment with the values we stand for.

On an organizational level, about half our team is involved in product development and innovation. Over the last few years, we have worked very hard to develop a vision of what the next generation of social fundraising should look like. We refine this vision daily via conversations with our customers, market research and free-form innovation discussions with our team members. After talking it out, we put small pieces of our vision into practice every four weeks (what we call a product development “sprint”) to see how our customers respond.

Moving forward, our goal is to help important causes raise a billion dollars for the world-changing projects they care about through our platform.We can see a clear path of how to get there. For us, this is our North Star.

We make our vision reality by continuously educating our customers and inventing new tactics and methodologies for digital fundraising. As we collect new insights and findings, we share them with our community to make sure all the deserving causes that use our platform have the necessary knowledge in hand to succeed. For example, our CEO Daryl Hatton recently gave a TEDx talk on quite a radical topic - “Philanthropy as Entertainment: Binge watching for Good”! We believe we are in a great city to accomplish our mission. The startup

ConnectionPoint Systems Inc marketing@fundrazr.com FundRazr FundRazrVideo

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CHAPTER 9

ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY

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“Choose people who lift you up.” — MICHELLE OBAMA

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INNOVATION IS OUR BUSINESS Protecting our world through aerial firefighting

‘What do we need to do to make this happen?’ and that has served us well,” says chairman and CEO Barry Marsden about Conair’s success. Over the years, 15 different aircraft types representing 180 individual aircraft have been developed specifically for aerial fire control operations as part of Conair’s continually evolving fleet.

Abbotsford-based Conair Aerial Firefighting has been busy, to say the least, fighting forest fires not only in BC but all over the world. Luckily, they’ve got 51 years of experience to draw upon, and a slogan – “protecting our world” — to guide them. From modest beginnings in 1969, Conair is now a leader in providing comprehensive aerial firefighting aircraft and services with a team of more 400 experienced professionals. With hundreds of proprietary supplemental type certificates (STC) for modifications of a variety of aircraft, Conair is the world’s most experienced aerial firefighting company.

In a multi-million dollar deal with Bombardier in January 2018, Conair signed an agreement to purchase six Q400s that are being modified with Conair’s unique Retardant Delivery System for use by the government of France with whom Conair has enjoyed a 39-year relationship. The interiors will be modified to accommodate passengers, cargo, combi and medivac requirements making the Q400MR the most versatile air tanker in the world, President and COO Matt Bradley explains, “For example, we can change from an airtanker to a passenger/freighter in two hours or to a full medivac configuration in three hours.”

Conair’s roots go back to Skyway Air Services, which operated through the postwar 40s, 50s and 60s as an aerial insect/crop spraying, pilot training business.

Aerial firefighting is about continuous improvement

New tools for Wildfire control agencies

Today, Conair boasts a fleet of 72 aerial firefighting aircraft with operations across Canada, the United States, France and Australia. “We just love what we do and have stayed curious about figuring out the best way to do our jobs to support the aerial firefighting industry. It’s never a matter of ‘That can’t be done’ when we are presented with a challenge; our teams always approach things from the perspective of

The RJ-85 is a solid aircraft that is designed, along with the Q400, to take over all the work of the Convair 580s and the L-188. Conair lead engineer Larry Pahl, who steered the development of the company’s patented RJ85 constant flow retardant delivery system, “The RJ is our immediate future,” says Larry, who is considered the world’s leading expert on tank design. 115

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Real world simulation is the key to safe aerial fire control operations

It’s the same at head office, where management’s office doors are always open to ideas and input, from anyone with a well-researched proposition. Steve Vincent, a 12-year-AME observes “there are not many workplaces where most of us are separated by one degree from the founders.” He finds that unique and meaningful.

Wildfires are becoming increasingly more complex, aggressive and difficult to contain as climate change effects forest fuels. Conair is investing in state of the art Level D simulation and distributed simulation technology that will enable multiple aircraft to fly in the same virtual airspace and simulate the emerging complexities of that environment, improving safety, improving efficiency, and contributing to a higher wildfire containment success rate.

“Firefighting is a collaborative effort, in order to do our part we need to be up-to-date on the challenges facing the Wildfire control agencies and tailor our products and service to meet those challenges. It is all about continuous improvement. We plan on remaining on the forefront of aerial firefighting technology anticipating the changing environment and developing new products that meet the emerging challenges faced by our wildfire agencies”, says Jeff Berry Director of Business Development.

Conair’s real value proposition: its people. Decades of family-first summer barbecues and Christmas parties combined with a culture that empowers independent problem-solving means a noticeable energy on the people side of the balance sheet.

CONAIR’S GLOBAL FOOTPRINT

Pilot Anthony Ussher talks of the unique relationship between pilots and Aircraft Maintenance Engineers (AMEs), for example. “Typically an AMEpilot relationship is detached,” he says. “But here, the relationship is far more dynamic. We make most decisions together. We are both invested in the outcome, and honestly – they know the plane best.”

Barry Marsden, who was named to both the Order of Canada and the order of British Columbia in 2014 for his contribution to aviation in Canada, adds, “With our work around the world, we don’t have a “fire season” like we did in the early days. At any given time, there are fires somewhere in the world and there is such satisfaction in the immediacy of knowing how what you’re doing is making a difference. I sure hope we are.”

Protecting Our World

Conair Group Inc. +1-604-557-2777

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Putting process innovation on the fast track to commercialization

Today, nearly 200 employees call the Lower Mainland of Vancouver home and some twenty world-scale plants have been built or are under construction. Well over half of the global MNB supply now derives from the NORAM process, with plants of ever-increasing capacity in the USA, the UK, Portugal, Belgium, Germany, South Korea, China, and Saudi Arabia markets. NORAM’s giant process vessels—as they trundle around the subcontinent by road, rail, and barge—have become a well-known output of Axton Inc., a custom fabrication shop on Annacis Island. Just down the road, the extensive laboratory and pilot plant facilities of BC Research Inc. in Richmond, BC, act as the midwife for technologies that will ultimately scale up to become the next generation of process technologies. NORAM Engineering and Constructors Ltd has developed leading technology positions in other industries as well: sulphuric acid, pulp and paper, wastewater, and electrochemical among them. Signature engineering achievements include Most companies can point to a ‘make or break’ event in their histories, and this was NORAM’s: building the first mononitrobenzene (MNB) plant to employ a breakthrough adiabatic nitration process. In fact, the process’ advent changed the face of polyurethane manufacture everywhere, not just for NORAM. It was 1993, and suddenly, Vancouver was the “Saudi Arabia” of MNB.

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Delivering two giant 2,750MTPD acid plants to the Ambatovy Nickel Project in Madagascar

Remediating the Squamish Peninsula from a site of heavy-metal contamination to become a lifestyle and commercial development

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showcase for the Province of BC, housing companies like Carbon Engineering on the frontlines of fighting climate change

Developing the proprietary NORSCAND™ electrolyser, whose myriad applications range from lithium production for tomorrow’s batteries to the recovery of waste chemicals

Engineering for the world’s first LignoForce™ and CelluForce™ plants, setting the Canadian forest products industry on track to recover added value from innovative products such as lignin and cellulose nanocrystals.

In recent years, NORAM has extended its European operations with the establishment of NORAM International AB, in Gothenburg, Sweden. Newcomers to the Group also include CleanFlow AB, a Swedish startup with innovative filtration technology for green and white liquor purification in pulp mills, and ECOfluid Systems Inc., a BC company well-known for its packaged wastewater treatment plants. Over 200 such plants have been delivered in BC, the Caribbean, and North America. The structure of the closely integrated group of companies allows technology to flow seamlessly from concept to engineering to fabrication. It represents not only a unique business model in Vancouver but also an example of and for global innovation in the process and resource industries.

NORAM ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTORS LTD. 200 Granville Street, Suite 1800, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6C 1S4 +1-604-681-2030 NORAM Engineering & Constructors Ltd.

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Elevating safety and productivity by bringing human-eye-like visual clarity to autonomous, remote-controlled, and industrial processes

clogging early on, and prevent a stroke. Moreover, the technology will allow necessary sensors on autonomous equipment and vehicles to remain unaffected by the field’s conditions. Lastly, the company has enabled true remote monitoring, which does not require in-person maintenance. The story of ExcelSense goes back to 2005 when Nima Nabavi, the founder, worked in a startup company; his job was to help develop image analysis and artificial intelligence algorithms for cameras installed on large mining shovels. He later developed collision warning and other measurement systems using cameras, laser and radar sensors. During the next nine years, he traveled to many mines in Canada, the US, Chile, and Australia. It soon became quite apparent that keeping a clear camera vision in real-life conditions is a challenge. Normally, maintaining a camera may be as trivial as wiping the lens; however, in these industrial applications, they were installed in highly-inaccessible areas, where any maintenance would require manlifts, cranes, or that doing so would require shutting down the operation with a cost that could exceed $50,000 per hour. Image processing had advanced significantly, but it was still relying on clear data from the cameras, which had proven to be a challenge in reality.

ExcelSense Technologies has developed a patented technology that allows cameras, laser sensors, and other optical sensors to actively maintain clarity even when covered with mud, dust, grease and oil without requiring water, detergents, and compressed air. The technology takes its inspiration from the human eye. We never have to explicitly clean our eyes even if we are in a dusty environment; similarly, we can think of the company’s products as 1000 more rugged versions of the human eye. The company has designed and manufactured families of self-cleaning cameras that allow companies in mining, bulk material handling, forestry, and construction to gain visibility into their most critical processes. This visibility enables these companies to detect abnormalities early and prevent downtime, catastrophic equipment damage, and safety incidents. An interesting analogy would be the ability to see inside our veins, detect 119

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Next, ToughEye was deployed at the back of a fleet of large mining haul trucks in very muddy conditions, but it provided crystal clear visibility to the drivers regardless. The mine was able to reduce reversing incidents as a result dramatically. Since then, ToughEye family of cameras has grown to over 24 different variations and is being successfully used in 15 distinct categories of applications in the mining and material handling sectors. The applications include vision for autonomous and remote-controlled equipment to processing plants and shiploaders. The company has been granted patents in numerous countries across the world. Innovation is the soul of ExcelSense, and it drives its existing and future products. Moreover, the company’s solutions can enable innovative solutions for other companies. ExcelSense is providing visibility in places where no such visibility existed. This capability provides essential data for other companies to implement their AI and image analysis solutions. Upon taking a more in-depth look, Nima realized that cameras, and the visibility that comes with them, are being dismissed in numerous critical points of the process, such as inside material chutes, because of the associate maintenance. This lack of visibility allowed small abnormalities to escalate into catastrophic failures, safety incidents, and even fatalities.

ExcelSense, being based out of Vancouver and BC, has taken advantage of the concentration of the mining companies that call this city home; this proximity has facilitated extensive product testing in real mine conditions and the exposure that the company needs. Additionally, the availability of local talent and the government support for innovation in the form of InnovateBC grants, Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) tax credit, and Industrial Research Assistant Program (IRAP) grants have had an instrumental impact in the success and growth of the company.

Nima left his job in early 2014 and founded ExcelSense Tech. with the sole purpose of developing cameras and sensors which would remain unaffected by the environment. This technology could not only bring visibility to heavy industries, it would play an essential role in allowing autonomous equipment to reach an unprecedented level of reliability. The inspiration for this technology came from nature and the human eye. The dust in the air is often much harder than the human eye, yet we don’t end up scratching our eyes when we blink. Similarly, the idea was to reject and remove contaminants without damaging the optics. While a single-person company during the development of the first couple of prototypes, ExcelSense soon formed a team of talented engineers developing this technology.

As we enter 2021, we are excited about introducing two new families of products and our further expansion into the autonomous, remotecontrolled industries and remote monitoring to elevate worker safety and operational efficiency in mining, material handling, agriculture, construction, and transportation industries.

ExcelSense Technologies info@excelsensetechnologies.com +1-778-288-6462 excelsense-technologies-corpexcelsense ExcelSense Technologies Corp.

The first camera developed by the company, named ToughEye, brought visibility to inside an active material chute in a sawmill for the first time; it allowed the plant to see the buildup of material in real-time and prevent costly clogs. This capability allowed the plant to reduce downtime by 60% on that production line and eliminated workers’ need to work in hazardous confined spaces.

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CHAPTER 10

PRODUCTION INNOVATION & RETAIL

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“Nothing is impossible, the word itself says “I’m possible!” — AUDREY HEPBURN

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WELCOME TO HERSCHEL. ENJOY YOUR STAY.

EVERY BUSINESS STARTS WITH A PROBLEM. OURS WAS SIMPLE: BACKPACKS WERE BORING.

Founded in 2009 by brothers Jamie and Lyndon Cormack, Herschel Supply Co. is named after the small Canadian town where three generations of their family grew up. Headquartered in Vancouver, BC, Canada, Herschel Supply Co. is a design-driven global travel lifestyle brand producing timeless products with utility design for the modern traveller.

Most businesses begin with a problem to solve. Ours was simple: backpacks were boring. In 2009, we set out to redesign it. Simple, stylish, and uncomplicated. A bag that had everything you needed and nothing you didn’t—one you could take anywhere. It was a journey that meant putting ourselves out there, taking a risk, trying something new, and understanding that failure was just as probable as success. But all of it—the sleepless nights, the anxious moments, and the small triumphs along the way—made us stronger. For us, that’s what a journey is all about.

Originally renowned for their contemporary renditions of classic backpack silhouettes, Herschel Supply’s range has since expanded to include luggage, travel accessories, wallets, and apparel, with partnerships with top tier companies and brands including Coca-Cola, Disney, Stüssy, New Balance, Starbucks, Nordstrom, KAWS, Hello Kitty, Casio, Oakley, and more.

For us, a trip isn’t a souvenir or a photo. It doesn’t necessarily take a passport, an airport, or an itinerary. It’s Paris or the local park, a new country or a new coffee shop. Travel is the sense of discovery, the electric thrill of feeling alive, seeing, touching, and experiencing something new for the first time. Wherever you’re going, Herschel goods are designed to make getting there simpler, stylish, and more enjoyable.

Today, Herschel Supply products are sold in 94 countries with more than 10,000 stockists worldwide and the support of over 200 employees across offices in Vancouver, New York, Los Angeles, Shanghai, Hong Kong, London, and Belgium.

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and the products and actions we take will always reflect them. For us, creating the trail is what counts. So no matter what you’re doing or where you’re headed, embrace the journey. We just want to come along for the ride.

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Nala raising the standards on clean skin care They knew they wanted to end the suffering that comes from losing loved ones too soon and channelled their grief towards keeping Alan’s spirit alive. Nala is Alan spelt backwards, a powerful dedication to his energy and love.

Using Free-From to Raise the standards of “Clean Beauty” Nala is a skin care company best known for their free-fromTM deodorants. They’re on a mission to create safe, efficacious, and beautiful skin care products that are free-from any known carcinogens and harsh chemicals. All Nala products are made with safe and organic ingredients derived by green technologies such as supercritical fluid extraction by carbon dioxide.

There’s a growing awareness in consumers backed by scientific evidence that the chemicals found in many of our daily products can be harmful to our health. This awareness in turn is driving demand towards cleaner alternatives. The challenge becomes that in a market growing faster than regulations can keep up, terms such as “clean” or “natural” can lead to exaggerated and ambiguous applications in how products are being marketed to us.

Nala is the first and only company offering deodorants that consumers can customize based on scent and strength. By acknowledging that our needs are not the same one person to the next, and that our individual needs continue to evolve, they are able to help individuals find a natural deodorant fit for their lifestyle so that they can feel confident and comfortable.

Free-From was born out of a necessity for transparency and elevated standards in clean and natural beauty. Nala bans over 800 ingredients which may be potentially carcinogenic, adhering to California Proposition 65 and holding themselves accountable to standards higher than mandated by regulatory bodies.

Strengths range from gentle baking-soda free formulas to Extra Strength and are paired with complex and sophisticated scents. Their products have been recognized for their superior quality multiple times but also for packaging, design, and messaging taking home awards by establishments such as NewBeauty Magazine, Made in Vancouver Awards, and the Indie Beauty Expo.

Nala products will always be free from carcinogens, parabens, phthalates, propylene glycol, and of course, cruelty. Every ingredient in Nala’s products are deliberately chosen for their properties and benefits and are designed to allow the body to self regulate its natural sweating cycle while preventing health issues.

Nala is born out of great love and great loss by mother daughter duo, Radmila Juristovski-Bosnic and Ada Juristovski Jemc when they experienced the loss of Alan, husband, father, and mentor, to lung cancer.

Beyond the literal, free-from serves as a reminder that there is also freedom in what we choose to live without. Through their messaging and social presence they challenge the confinements of static beauty standards, asking us how we can cultivate lives free-from shame, free125

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from limitations, and free-from the pressure to conform to someone else’s idea of beauty and health.

The future is personal. With Nala’s origins being rooted in healthcare, they believe that skincare, like medicine, needs to be personalized to the individual to have a significant and lasting impact. In a world of increasing personalization, we’ve been neglecting one of the most personal parts of the body - our armpits. And yet the armpit is at the heart of many personal phenomena our unique scent, the decision to shave or not shave, and how much we sweat.

The Pursuit of Performance, Innovation, and Life-Long Learning

By leveraging Mila’s background in biotechnology and Ada’s background in tech, the duo knew they wanted to educate and work directly with consumers to help them find products that work for their lifestyle. As a digitally-born brand, their direct line of communication with customers combined with their passion for helping people convert to safer alternatives creates an experience of unparalleled service.

Nala celebrates untraditonal, non-conforming, free-spirited people and ideas. They challenge the status quo both in terms of what we can come to expect of truly natural products and also in how we show up for ourselves and others.

They are planning on expanding their product pipeline to include safer alternatives to other skincare staples as well as a couple of exciting new additions.

Nala Care nalacare sayhello@nalacare.com nalacare +1-604-564-6252

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IN CANADA’S CANNABIS SPACE, DIFFERENTIATION IS EVERYTHING. SAY HELLO TO CHOOM. “Very few organizations have a silver bullet; that is the one thing so much better than everyone else’s that nobody can compete with it. Because of how the recreational cannabis industry is structured here, a silver bullet isn’t even possible,” says Corey Gillon, Choom’s CEO. “The differentiation strategy I have employed is one of being 10% better than the competition, across all areas of retail, including our client experience, our people, product mix, operations, and store locations.”

When Canada legalized cannabis in 2018, it created a unique retail opportunity in more ways than might be obvious. For one thing, the entire (legal) recreational cannabis industry was born on the same day. For another, each retailer (depending on their location) had access to one distributor: the provincial government. That meant the question of how to succeed in the market was not one of buy-for-less, sell-for-less, but of differentiation. With its network of thoughtfully located and designed retail locations that boast client-focused products and teams of educators, Choom has set itself apart.

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says. “Usually it takes a company a little longer to get there, but we began this way by hiring top tier retail talent to fill specialist roles, centrally, and leveraging them to create elevated experiences in-store.” Hiring awesome talent from educators to executives has set Choom up for its current success, and it’s something Corey continues to look forward to. “Someone asked me recently, What gets you amped up? For me, it’s the ability to attract, retain, and ultimately reward talent. The growth of the business can only happen with the right talent being brought in.” And Choom is indeed growing. 2021 will see the opening of its new Yaletown, Vancouver, location and one in Liberty Village, Toronto, as well. While delivery of cannabis isn’t yet legal for retailers, Choom is poised for the task, already offering click and collect services on a variety of product categories, from flowers to concentrates, topicals, and edibles. The company will continue to enhance its digital presence thanks to its recent acquisition of a proprietary digital platform. “We’re setting ourselves up to have a really strong presence online, as we are now creating a digitally led experience,” Corey says. “We’ve been an industry leader in brick and mortar, and now we’re bringing it together more seamlessly with our investment in digital.”

Photos by Luke Potter

for legalization, Choom also caters to experience seekers who want to try something new, medical-cannabis users who can now bypass the bureaucracy of the medical system, and—surprisingly, or not—parents. “We have a proprietary focus in terms of how we service and sell to the customer,” Corey explains. “So when you come into a Choom location, I’d know your name, I’d know a bit about you, a bit of history about your preferred products, and I’m going to actually recommend some things to you as a result.” In this way, Choom has created an alternative to mandala-laden bong shops and austere dispensaries, which many of its clients find intimidating. Instead, Choom’s welcoming atmosphere provides an ‘attainable luxury’ experience best described as chill.

From its digital platform and in-store experience to its new product categories and its focus on client education, Choom enables recreational cannabis to be all it should be: chilled and stigma-free.

It’s an ethos inspired by the Choom Gang, a group of friends in Hawaii in 1979, which famously included Barack Obama. For the gang, cannabis was about having a good time with good friends, about fun and relaxation, and it’s for these concepts that Choom is named. The larger effect of Choom putting its consumers at ease with recreational cannabis use is that Choom is destigmatizing cannabis, one personalized recommendation at a time.

“What excites me at a macro level is the migration of the customer, the ability to serve that consumer, Photo by Chung Chow and have some fun with it at the end of the day,” Corey says. “We’ve begun to change the market landscape, ensuring our customer base has access to the legal cannabis they want that they can enjoy when they want. In other words, we’re cultivating good times.”

“From our perspective, there’s been a collective goal to take a sector that was legal/illegal/illicit, and bring it into the white market,” Corey says. “Destigmatizing cannabis is enabled through strong education in-store.” Choom’s internal structure enables that client education. Talented specialists in Choom’s support office free up Educators to focus solely on the in-store client experience. It’s a very different approach to that of a typical startup, where a small number of employees wear a large number of hats.

Choom Cannabis Co info@choom.ca @choombrand

Choom’s retail experience is similarly flipped. Rather than begin with a decentralized as an online store and slowly work its way toward physical retail model, Choom started off “very centralized and specialized,” Corey

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Turning Off Conversational Autopilot and Connecting People Through Play Fluster Creations is a purpose-driven business that strives to reduce loneliness, bridge division, and support wellbeing through play. Their core product is FLUSTER, a social card game that uses a deck of unusual questions to inspire thought-provoking conversations, bring out memorable stories, and create opportunities for personal reflection and deeper connection. The questions in FLUSTER have been carefully crafted as a way to access the topics that we all think about, but don’t always find a place for in everyday conversations. The simple gameplay incentivizes players to not hold back on the juicy details. In a game of FLUSTER, you might get asked questions like: “What was your last small act of rebellion?” “What’s something that still makes you nervous, no matter how many times you do it?” “Who in your life sees you the way you wish everybody saw you?”

The Inspiration Fluster Creations is operated as a side hustle by Devon de Balasi Brown and Walker Banerd, who have been friends since they were five years old. They created Fluster after a memorable experience Devon had way back in 2012. He was sitting naked in a natural hot spring with two old friends and a few strangers. One of the strangers was a man who loved to travel the world, and he asked the group a handful of unusual questions that he had asked people all throughout his travels. In the course of the night, these questions revealed things Devon never would have learned about his close friends and himself. Not only that, the whole group bonded, and spent the next couple of days together. Weeks later, Devon was still thinking about that night, and he told Walker about the experience. Together, they started thinking about the ways they could spark these moments for themselves and their community any night of the week (without needing a magical naked man, starry night sky, and natural hot spring). The passion project of FLUSTER was born. 129

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The Iteration Devon and Walker pictured the target audience for FLUSTER as young adults who wanted social excitement that they weren’t getting from going to bars or small talk at parties. What surprised them was that FLUSTER has resonated with people of all ages in situations they never even imagined. For example, a dad who used FLUSTER to connect with his teenage kids, an ESL teacher who used the cards in her classroom, and a woman who used the questions to elicit stories from her aging father.

The challenge was then to create a set of questions. They started off with a stack of post-it notes, which soon became a rudimentary deck (to call it a prototype would be too generous) that they would leave out at parties to see if people took to it. People seemed to really love it, so they kept working on the questions and refining the game. Over the next few years, one deck became 10, and then 100. Friends and family kept wanting copies, so they knew the need existed for this type of fun way to connect on a deeper level.

The Future of FLUSTER Fluster Creations has big plans for the future, including expanding its social mission. Once it’s safe to gather in large groups, they will be focusing on facilitating events that use FLUSTER to create connections within communities. They have also created multiple digital question packs that will be sold to raise money for mental health charities. A new expansion pack is coming soon, with maybe even an app version of the game somewhere down the line.

By 2017, the next step was to run a Kickstarter campaign to finance the first production run at scale. It was a big success, thanks to tremendous support from Devon and Walker’s Vancouver community. Since then, FLUSTER has been available around the world.

The Innovation The process Devon and Walker use to craft FLUSTER questions involves digging around in unspoken thoughts, feelings that get pushed to the side, and the parts of life that rarely otherwise come up in conversation. From there, they try to find the right wording that balances direction—so it quickly evokes something from most players—and space—so players are inspired to give raw, thoughtful responses rather than yes-or-no answers.

Recent times have challenged people to find new ways to come together. As a connection-starved world begins to return to normal, Fluster Creations wants to help facilitate that rekindling of social life and bring people back together like they never missed a beat.

Fluster Creations believes that many of the divisions between people disappear when they can have honest, vulnerable conversations with each other. When people play FLUSTER, they quickly remember how much they have in common, and their differences become the source of empathy, or even humour, when expressed in personal stories.

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CHAPTER 11

E-COMMERCE & DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY

“Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success.” — NAPOLEON HILL 131

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Spocket is a marketplace platform that enables online store owners to source products from thousands of international suppliers without holding inventory. Spocket was born from the dream of empowering entrepreneurs with the right tools to pursue their entrepreneurial ambitions. Every day, Spocket empowers people all over the world, from a stay at home mom in Canada to a teacher in Saudi Arabia to take their self-employed dreams to the next level.

Spocket provides a critical puzzle piece in the online entrepreneurial journey, and we’re set to revolutionize the dropshipping industry by helping burgeoning entrepreneurs compete in the market by using their unique story, style, and niche. Spocket’s road to becoming what it is today was a challenging and tribulating one. After being denied higher education due to his family’s minority religious status in Iran, our CEO Saba, moved to Canada to pursue dreams of higher education. While in school, Saba was inspired to start a series of startups that ultimately laid the foundation for Spocket.

Spocket is a platform that uses the dropshipping model to connect someone who wants to start an online store, with US and EU products to sell, fast shipping, and no inventory or upfront costs. With new suppliers and products daily, Spocket not only helps local US and EU suppliers stay in business and make a profit, but we also empower online entrepreneurs with amazing products to sell internationally.

By 2017, Spocket was born. Through incredible efforts and teamwork, by early 2018, Spocket was accepted into Techstars Seattle, one of the most globally recognized startup accelerators.

In the digital age, it has become easier than ever to pursue dreams of entrepreneurship. We hope to inspire the entrepreneurial spirit in the vivid artist, pet lover, or jewelry connoisseur and show them that they, too, can ditch the 9 to 5 and be their own boss.

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Innovation We are not simply building technology or a platform, we are building a disruptive eCommerce ecosystem that will play a major role as the market continues to grow. A platform that allows small and medium-sized e-retailers to compete with large players like Amazon.

At the heart of Spocket’s mission, is innovation. It runs in the veins of our organization, and we preach it to our users and everyone that has entrepreneurial dreams and challenges the status quo. We inspire anyone from the pet-lover to the new mother, to take something they know and love, and turn it into a brand that keeps people coming back for more. The market expertise you need is all in the passion you have, and we’ve got the perfect products for it!

Location Founded in beautiful British Columbia, Spocket operates in Vancouver, a paradise of lush, rocky mountains and the Pacific coast. But don’t let the beauty fool you, it is also a hub for innovation, change, and growth. Being close to tech hubs like Seattle and San Francisco, Vancouver shares the same contagious buzz, and makes you wonder: “What can I do to make the world a better place?” Since inception, Spocket has become a well-funded startup with a growing team of over 30 passionate, entrepreneurial-minded people. With developed partnerships alongside Shopify, Automattic, and Google, our growth skyrockets from every angle - each year.

Accomplishments and future Since Spocket’s acceptance into the Techstars Seattle incubator, Spocket was recognized as one of Canada’s most promising startups and was invited to participate in C100 - 48Hrs In The Valley a hub for top Canadian startups to incubate with industry leaders in San Francisco. Additionally, our very own CEO, Saba, was named one of the Forbes top 30 under 30 honorees, an incredible feat that further goes to show, innovation and passion can bring you through the hardest of times. But we believe that this is just the beginning of Spocket. The global eCommerce market is expected to double in the next three years and when that happens, Spocket will be there, assisting eCommerce entrepreneurs, and endlessly cheering them on.

Spocket enina@spocket.co spocket

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Webnames.ca is Canada’s original domain name registrar that enables corporations and small businesses to secure their identities online. John Demco, a co-founder of Webnames. ca is widely regarded as the Godfather of the Canadian Internet for his pioneering role in setting up the .CA domain in 1987. Cybele Negris, CEO and co-founder is a serial entrepreneur, business leader and speaker who serves on the boards of leading Canadian firms. A culture of innovation and excellence fostered by the leadership team has seen Webnames be trusted to manage corporate domain and brand portfolios for marquee firms such as McDonalds, Loblaws, Globe and Mail and Aritzia.

20 Years of Excellence in Domain Names and Online Security

Pioneering Vision

Webnames.ca has earned the implicit trust of thousands of Canadian businesses over the years with a culture of “always be improving”. As several long-term customers will happily attest, Webnames.ca may be in a Business to Business (B2B) industry, but the relationship and trust between the account managers and stakeholders is key to the company’s success in delivering on customer needs.

In 1987, John Demco, then a Computing Facilities Manager at the University of British Columbia laid the foundations for Canada’s very own domain extension, .CA and helped educational institutions, governments and companies register their names on the world wide web. A meticulous scientist and innovator, John partnered with a team of astute minds including CEO, Cybele Negris, to then establish Webnames.ca as the first domain registrar for the .CA domain name and has been instrumental in its growth over two decades.

A third core value that the Webnames leadership team has identified is to “Make a positive difference” to act as a responsible organization that contributes to social equity and charitable initiatives. As a womenowned, women-led business, Webnames.ca is accredited by WBE Canada and the Canadian Aboriginal and Minority Supplier Council. As a climate-conscious business, it is also certified by ClimateSmart. Cybele Negris is a contributor to Women in Technology advocacy groups and uses her public profile and role on boards to build the case for gender equality.

As the internet has grown from a quixotic experiment into an omnipresent element of modern life, John’s vision and Cybele’s commitment to excellence have made Webnames.ca Canada’s choice to register, host and protect its brands.

2000-2020: A quest for excellence, powered by values

Marquee brands that trust Webnames.ca for domains: Saputo, Loblaws, The Globe and Mail, Tangerine, PostMedia, Canada Goose, McDonalds Canada, Mazda and many more!

It may be cliched to suggest that success is a journey and not a destination, but it is this relentless pursuit of perfection that has led Webnames.ca to its standing in the industry. “Amaze every customer with exceptional service” is a core value of Webnames.ca and this has seen the company build on its first mover advantage as the first domain registrar for .CA domains. To accomplish this, Webnames has continually improved its product offerings to include 800+ domain extensions, Web Hosting, SSL certificates, WordPress Hosting, DNS Hosting, Website Builders, Brand Protection, Trademark Clearinghouse, Domain Name Monitoring as well as the Corporate Domain Portfolio management service. In addition to a rapidly evolving product suite, a fully bilingual support team is the backbone to Webnames’ success.

Why Webnames Webnames has had a spotless AAA ranking on the Better Business Bureau for 20 years now. For the next twenty, a continued focus on innovation, and great service grounded in values provides a change to an exciting roadmap. The rapid shift to digital, spurred by the pandemic has created risks for small and large businesses and Webnames’ newest products offer a glide path for businesses looking to make the transition. 135

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As Cybersecurity threats increase, brand protection online assumes central importance, particularly in the knowledge economy. Intellectual property protection using trademark defense, protection against domain squatting, HTTPS and SSL lifecycle management are some of the big problems that IT and infrastructure teams around the world are grappling with. Webnames.ca can offer a fully managed service that helps companies acquire, manage, and protect their digital brands and properties with state-of-theart technology. A team of experienced domain experts backed by a platform built for security and automation helps businesses protect their turf online. Webnames Corporate is geared to help large organizations with multiple teams manage their own products with minimal effort – access control through parentchild accounts, unified billing through designated finance roles, net30 billing and more. Whether it is monitoring for brand keywords across millions of domains registered globally to detect trademark infringements, or multi-factor authentication on user accounts for security, Webnames services cover a wide gamut of offerings to meet evolving needs over the next two decades.

Webnames.ca Inc. marketing@webnames.ca 1-866-221-7878 Webnames

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NUMINIX WEB DEVELOPMENT - BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS OVER PROFITS

President and Founder

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Numinix is a Vancouver-based web development company that specializes in high-converting eCommerce websites. The company has branched out from its early days as a ZenCart expert to service many web platforms, including Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, and Magento. Jeff Lew, the president of Numinix, attributes the company’s growth to its commitment to growing with its clients. Built on a simple ethos, Numinix focuses beyond the dollars and cents of any deal. Instead, the team looks at the pathway to success for the company that is approaching them for help. The web development agency’s team ascertains what the clients’ biggest struggles are, as well as their strengths, and then looks to provide value across their entire operation. Numinix doesn’t just look to partner on the web development side either—they look to make strategic partnerships and connections that benefit all sides. This approach has led to strategic partnerships with household names such as GTMetrix and EasyPost. This means that when a business seeks their help with a web development problem, they will not only get the initial issue solved but also have access to a holistic suite of solutions for their business. Whether that’s optimizing their website conversions or discovering why their shipping and logistics solution is not as effective as it could be. Along with Numinix’s sister company, Trek Digital Marketing Vancouver , the web development agency has become a multimodal solutions provider for its clients. Providing web security solutions, APIs, enterprise solutions, speed optimizations, digital marketing services, as well as its popular suite of plugins for ZenCart and other opensource eCommerce platforms. The fast-growing web development team are experts in a variety of programming languages, including PHP, Laravel, HTML, CSS. Python, Javascript, and React.

Fast Facts 20+ team members 8+ programming languages 6+ eCommerce platforms served

Integrations Built For Google Facebook Bing Stamps.com Endicia Olark MailBeez FedEx

Trusted Partners Liquid Web GTMetrix EasyPost Stamps.com Malchimp

eCommerce Platforms Serviced Lexmodo WooCommerce BigCommerce ZenCart Shopify Magento Open Cart Lightspeed

+1-855-686-4649 Ext 0 support@numinix.com 805-510 West Hastings Street Vancouver, BC, Canada V6B 1L8 numinix Numinix Web Development Ltd

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GOFOR EXPRESS DELIVERY ON-DEMAND. Like many great startup ideas, GoFor started as a napkin sketch. Having spent 10 years in the construction industry after a career in technology, co-founder Brad Rollo recognized a common problem faced by people like him while out for drinks one night. “I was out with a couple of construction buddies, and we were all complaining about the same issue — having expensive tradespeople leaving the jobsite and being ‘gophers’ picking up building materials — which caused costly disruptions in our productivity” says Rollo. “One of them was like, you have a tech background, why don’t you solve it?’ And that’s how GoFor (Gopher) started.”

FROM ‘GOPHER’ TO LAST-MILE DELIVERY AND LOGISTICS-TECH DISRUPTOR GoFor launched in 2016 with a service that offered on-demand site delivery of construction materials. Through this innovation, they saw a huge opportunity for truck-free companies to be able to leverage their delivery fleet and for companies with truck assets to supplement their fleet to give them the ability to expand into new markets and offer same-day delivery. Disrupting the industry, one mile at a time, GoFor has experienced exponential demand and growth in the home improvement and retail industries. Today they specialize in trucks of all sizes that can deliver small to big and bulky items within two hours of purchase. With consumers buying online more and more, the delivery moment is quickly becoming the only touchpoint a consumer has with a brand. A great customer experience that is predictable with delivery in hours instead of days, is the new standard, so access to last-mile delivery has never been more critical to a business’s survival. “84% of customers have said they won’t buy from a company after just one bad delivery experience. We have made it our sole business focus to solve efficiency in the delivery stretch from retailer or warehouse to the end user, also known as the lastmile. Merchants are continually moving the needle on customer experience — but the last-mile delivery experience has most often been ignored.”

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The company has made hundreds of thousands of deliveries and continues to experience exponential revenue growth. Delivering across The company has made hundreds of thousands of deliveries all of North America, the company’s hundreds of customers include some andofcontinues experience revenue growth. the biggesttonames in retailexponential such as The Home Depot, Canadian Tire, Delivering across all of Williams, North America, hundreds Dulux/PPG, Sherwin Fastenal,the andcompany’s Ceratex as well as the biggest of customers includeservices some of theas biggest in retail such as names in delivery such FedEx names and Purolator.

The Home Depot, Canadian Tire, Dulux/PPG, Sherwin Williams, As GoFor its partners’ ecosystems they are helping Fastenal, andbecomes Ceratexembedded as well asinthe biggest names in delivery them scale and drive efficiencies so they can exceed their customer’s services such as FedEx and Purolator.

expectations on the frontend. This has allowed GoFor to scale to the next stage of its evolution — an Enterprise SaaS suite that includes dispatch, As GoFor becomes embedded in its partners’ ecosystems they fleet management, and logistics reporting.

are helping them scale and drive efficiencies so they can exceed their customer’s expectations on the Thisfunding has allowed GoFor’s dedication to innovation has frontend. helped it secure from some of the best VC’s in the world focused on construction tech including GoFor to scale to the next stage of its evolution — an Enterprise VC,includes MetaProp, GroundBreak Panache SaaSBuilder’s suite that dispatch, fleet Ventures, management, andVentures, Plug & Play, CEMEX Ventures, Force1 Investments, I2BF Global Ventures, logistics reporting. and Mucker Capital. The company also has an impressive leadership team composed of three co-founders with extensive experience building GoFor’s dedication to innovation has helped it secure funding successful businesses across logistics, supply chain, construction, and from some of the best VC’s in the world focused onthe construction technology verticals. This expertise combined with company’s techiterative including Builder’s VC, MetaProp, GroundBreak Ventures, approach to innovation has allowed it to expand quickly.

Panache Ventures, Plug & Play, CEMEX Ventures, Force1 “We solve aI2BF set ofGlobal basic problems forand merchants, we build Investments, Ventures, Muckerthen Capital. The on our relationships and provide additional solutions to more complex company also has an impressive leadership team composed challenges by asking, ‘what opportunities are here? How can we help?’” says Rollo. of three co-founders with extensive experience building “The expertise level on our team expedites this process — and we’re able to successful businesses across logistics, supply chain, construction, get innovations to market quickly.” and technology verticals. This expertise combined with the company’s iterative approach to innovation has allowed to As on-demand same-day delivery becomes the new normal,itGoFor is expand quickly. disrupting the delivery industry and developing a new delivery standard that is revolutionizing the customer experience for the retail and “Weecommerce solve a setindustries. of basic problems for merchants, then we build

on our relationships and provide additional solutions to more complex challenges by asking, ‘what opportunities are here? How can we help?’” says Rollo. “The expertise level on our team expedites this process — and we’re able to get innovations to market quickly.”

GoFor Industries

As on-demand same-day delivery becomes the new normal, GoFor is disrupting the delivery industry and developing a new delivery standard that is revolutionizing the customer experience for the retail and ecommerce industries.

GoForDelivers.com

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YOUR CREATIONS LIVE ON FOREVER POWERED BY BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY AND AI

CREATING A TRUSTED AND ROBUST TECHNOLOGY PLATFORM THAT WILL MAINTAIN, MONETIZE AND TRACK INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS OF THE GLOBAL ART COMMUNITY. Intelligence to do what was impossible just a few years ago - protect, prevent and track intellectual property rights of the key players in the art industry.

Imagine a world in which every artist has his or her artwork protected by a technology that cannot be broken. A world in which money laundering no longer exists within the realm of an unregulated industry. A world in which art collectors can buy anything their heart desires with only the confidence that modern technology affords. All of these can exist and are possible because of one technology: Blockchain technology. Art Proven will harness the immutable power of the Blockchain and Artificial

Artists that join our platform will be able to locate and trace how and where their art ends up on the Internet. There will be available a complete history as to which sites and to what extent the artist’s work

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has propagated, over time, on the Internet. All instances of misappropriation will be recorded and logged for use by our members. This is especially useful when tracking down and approaching those individuals and companies who did not seek permission for the use of our members’ artistic creations. With our proprietary software we will be able to trace and locate all instances of our members’ artistic creations that have been used, copied or stolen. This includes digital reproductions as well as pieces of art that have been illegally reproduced by copying the original image of our members’ artwork for repurposing and blatant art fraud related activities.

Our Milestones: 1. Accepted in a government funded Accelerator in Nova Scotia – CEED 2. Incorporated company federally in 2018 3. Got interest from NSCAD University 4. Build the Advisory board for Art Proven 5. Launched our MVP in Feb 2020 6. Started making revenue as a company in May 2020 7. Working with 40 artists across Canada 8. Working towards our next phase of business

Akshay Gupta is an art lover and blockchain enthusiast with experience in business management, startups, consulting, business development, and social enterprise. Akshay also holds a Master of Technology Entrepreneurship and Innovation (a graduate business degree specializing in tech-startups) from Saint Mary’s University in Canada. He is also a recipient of the “Durland Innovation Award” for a blockchain application. Akshay is also very active in the art scene. He is an amateur photographer. Furthermore, his work has also won an award in a painting competition. Akshay’s interest in art has taken him to art galleries and museums all over the world.

9. Talking with Culture Crawl and Art Vancouver, Vancouver Art Community for collaboration opportunities 10. Tied up with a law Tech-Startup for copyright infringements cases.

Art Proven ( A Project by Proven Block Inc.) akshay.gupta@artproven.io art-proven 3Artrepreneur TV artproven

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CHAPTER 12

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

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“The best vision is insight.” — MALCOLM FORBES

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FTSY (‘footsy’) makes it easy to buy shoes that fit.

Photo credit, Martin Dee

each of her clients to look and feel great, using her fit expertise, keen eyes and warmth. She started at Eaton’s when she was only 19 years old and, after having two kids along the way and retiring twice, she closed up the Eaton’s at Park Royal in West Vancouver after fitting generations of people. FTSY to me, has a modern role in carrying on her legacy. With FTSY, I aim to carry on her legacy, with a modern, technologydriven twist.

Early on, while I was still doing market research for what would become FTSY (‘footsy’), a woman in a focus group said to me, “I love going shopping after work with a few friends, having a few drinks, and going home with a pair of shoes. It’s like playing footsy. It’s fun, but I wish there was a way to take out the risk for when they don’t fit.” That conversation opened up a path to turn shoe shopping into a confident and validating experience. FTSY matches people to the size and style most likely to satisfy their preferences and unique fit. Our mobile app helps people get a 3D foot scan profile much in the same way a professional shoe maker assesses the ball-of-foot, toes, arches, and even pronation to ensure a perfect fit. The customer’s unique foot scan is then compared to a database of footwear brands and models and then filters the best available shoes for each person’s profile. Our Shopify App was launched to make it easy for brands to access the service with very little coding on their part. It is a win-win for customer and industry: the customer gets the best fit and shopping experience, and the brands reduce the significant cost and waste associated with returning poor fitting shoes.

FTSY is still quite early to the party, behaviorally speaking, as people become more comfortable with the idea of scanning themselves with their phones and using an intelligent digital assistant to recommend products in this way. Several of our early mentors envisaged that FTSY’s technology could change everything for retail, much in the same way that Alexa or Siri fundamentally altered the course of consumer behaviour. For this reason, FTSY earned global recognition from Louis Vuitton Moët Hennesy’s 2018 Innovation Awards and Farfetch’s Dream Assembly program, two of the very best in luxury retail innovation. From the global to the local, FTSY owes much inspiration to the confluence of world-class talent, tech, and e-commerce that is the city of Vancouver. Our CFO came out of Blackbird Interactive and understood the role of a credible story, good governance, and tightly managed finances. Our Head of Product went through the highs and lows of the

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Photo credit, Barbara Martins

ShoeMe/Shoes.com rocketship. Our tech team was jaw-dropping to many who saw us pitch, credibly describing the proprietary technology in a way that made it easy for investors to cut a cheque after they saw who and what was ‘under the hood’. Looking ahead at retail, innovations like FTSY solve for the future of commerce. The emotional gains of shopping with confidence and getting fit validation drive outstanding customer experiences. Change is always hard at the beginning, but it’s easier to shop once your preferences are seen and heard. Giving a delightful digital experience with FTSY means we can reduce returns and other forms of waste in the retail supply chain, and even enable new designs based on people’s real shapes. Brands who offer made-to-order or just-intime manufacturing will see their businesses unlock growth with FTSY tech, as they will be able to personalize service to customers remotely. This is exactly where retail artificial intelligence must play, where it can deliver fun, easy shopping all day, every day. We are thrilled to get the fit right for your happiness.

Digital Animal Interactive Inc. ryan@ftsy.ai +1-604-339-8227 playftsy play.ftsy

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COPILOT AI IS ON A 10-YEAR MISSION TO FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGE THE WAY PEOPLE CONNECT WITH BUSINESSES.

However, while working on their software as Cassia Research, Henry and Jesse realized they were trying to solve the wrong problem for financial advisors. The real challenge faced by advisors was that they were struggling to meet sales goals due to a lack of leads in their pipeline. CoPilot AI is a MarTech SaaS company that focuses on prospecting and lead generation. The CoPilot AI platform automatically targets qualified people on social media, initiates one-to-one conversations and then surfaces timely sales opportunities without requiring any cold calling, events, or expensive advertising. Powered by AI, the CoPilot AI smart inbox alerts professionals when an interested lead wants to talk, and then its AI-driven follow-up messages ensure that no lead gets missed. It streamlines the manual, difficult task of sales outreach and sales pipeline management to grow a business at scale.

Once realized, the company pivoted for the first time and created a quiz and free risk assessment tool that went on the financial advisor’s website and would drum up interest for the advisor. While this was up and running, the Cassia Research team continued to look for alternative ways for their customers to generate leads, such as email campaigns. They then experimented with social media networks, testing their idea with an advisor that resulted in five leads booked for that advisor in two weeks. After two more weeks, an additional ten leads were generated. That’s when the initial idea of the CoPilot AI Prospecting Dashboard was created.

The CoPilot AI platform was created to replicate manual, human prospecting efforts with the same level of personalization and results as someone doing the work on their own. Before CoPilot AI, sending engaging messages was very time consuming, and it wasn’t humanly possible to connect with and reach out to as many qualified professionals manually. CoPilot AI was the first of it’s kind as there wasn’t a product on the market that would act in the same way, get the same results and cut down the time someone had to spend doing it.

While exciting, pivoting from one business to another was extremely challenging for the company. At that time, the company was renting space at an entrepreneurial incubator called Launch Academy in Gastown (an area in Vancouver). Little did Jesse and Henry know that Launch Academy would end up being a literal launch pad for CoPilot AI because it introduced them to the owners of Victory Square Technologies --- an eventual investor in CoPilot AI. In the beginning, Victory Square Technologies acted as somewhat of a mentor, regularly meeting with the CoPilot AI team to discuss the local tech community and offer advice. The relationship resulted in Victory Square Technologies making an initial one million dollar seed investment in the company. With this funding, the team had a renewed sense of purpose and worked tirelessly to develop the CoPilot AI Prospecting Dashboard and bring it to market.

Originally launched as Cassia Research Inc. in 2016, CoPilot AI started as a business that built a SaaS portfolio modeling and reporting tool for financial advisors. CoPilot AI Co-Founder and CEO, Henry Bee, had worked as a Series 65-licensed portfolio manager and saw a gap in the market. He partnered with Jesse Chen, who would later become CoFounder of CoPilot AI, to create a software that would close this gap. 147

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Fast forward to the beginning of 2018; CoPilot AI began aggressively acquiring financial advisor customers. With the help of a remote sales team, CoPilot AI 10x’d its revenue from $4,000 monthly recurring revenue (MRR) to $40,000. This was a huge boost to the team to finally have validation that the CoPilot AI Prospecting Dashboard was compelling and addressed a need in the industry. However, despite the initial success, new challenges arose. And as with many startup stories, there were still many obstacles to overcome. The product was still quite unstable at this point, and the speed of growth accentuated that instability which caused the company to falter in the area of addressing customer problems, questions, and concerns simultaneously. It was then that the tough decision was made to focus entirely on making the product better, instead of focusing on sales and committing to similar levels of growth. The team focused heavily on product, engineering, and better processes within the customer success team to release a new and improved CoPilot AI Prospecting Dashboard.

Not only has using the CoPilot AI Prospecting Dashboard helped grow the company, it’s also given the team a unique perspective; they see firsthand what their customers see, feel what their customers feel, and generate leads like their customers generate leads. It has allowed the team to scale into other industries and opportunities, as well as provided validation to explore and diversify their customer base. This has been instrumental in building a strategic roadmap because the team builds for its customers, but also for themselves.

By the summer of 2018, CoPilot AI was confident they could ramp up customer growth again… the only problem was there was very little budget to allocate towards marketing professionals or tactics. That’s when the team had a light-bulb moment and had the idea to use their own product, CoPilot AI Prospecting Dashboard, to generate leads. This ended up being a game-changer as leads were consistently and steadily coming through for their own business, which in turn led the team to discover that this product could serve way more than just financial advisors.

Today, CoPilot AI is in an extremely exciting position as a high-growth tech startup. They now have 31 employees and growing, and just moved into a brand new, beautifully renovated office space. And despite recent economic challenges faced as a result of the pandemic, business has continued to grow for CoPilot AI through their digital and social prospecting tools. The company was also just named in Canada’s 500 fastest-growing companies in Maclean’s and Canadian Business, so the team looks forward to celebrating that and what’s to come next!

The team has relied heavily on the CoPilot AI Prospecting Dashboard to generate new business and close sales (and still do today!). This has been huge in keeping the cost-per-lead and customer acquisition cost down while rapidly growing the business at scale. CoPilot AI tripled it’s annual recurring revenue (ARR) in 2019. And continuing that growth, CoPilot AI has almost tripled it’s ARR again in the first nine months of 2020.

CoPilot AI sales@copilotai.com 1-347-343-8671 copilotadvisor

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YACTRAQ - ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & THE SPIRIT OF INNOVATION

At the heart of our business is a passion for creating software that adds value to a plethora of businesses. Our founder, Jeh Daruvala’s fascination with artificial intelligence, and how AI can be utilized to evolve businesses to greater levels of success while helping them provide ever better products to their customers is the ethos on which this company has grown since its inception in 2010.

So what do we do? Yactraq is a leading audio mining and speech analytics provider that delivers omni-channel business intelligence solutions through advanced AI and machine-learning methodologies. Our suite of solutions include 360 degree emotion detection for better agent monitoring and customer value discovery, Real-time agent support through timely intervention and assistance as well as predictive machine learning and omni channel agent evaluation.

INNOVATE OR INCINERATE

All these sophisticated business intelligence software solutions act as a vital tool for analysis of call data.

Omnitraq, our BI app, deploys an advanced technology platform featuring leading edge technologies such as MongoDB and Elastic Search which enable high flexibility levels, operating scalability and ease of integration over traditional SQL-based platforms. With Omnitraq you can leave ‘onesize-fits-all’ solutions behind, and instead choose the solutions you want that uniquely match the needs of your business.

As a young boy, Yactraq’s founder Jeh Daruvala was fascinated by Isaac Asimov’s vision of the future of robotics. In 1988, During his electronics engineering internship, Jeh worked on speech synthesis technology and was bitten by the AI bug. After a career in networking and enterprise software, Jeh returned to AI in 2010 with Yactraq. 149

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Add to this our Coretraq speech-based AI platform that generates accurate and comprehensive phone call & omnichannel metadata via speech recognition, natural language understanding and Voice tone analysis. Coretraq uses an Airflow orchestration engine which makes it easy to extend it with partner products and technologies. A containerized and auto-scaled architecture delivers high performance. Patents in conversational computing give us an edge in developing next generation virtual agents and customer engagement solutions. We consider ourselves as innovators and have been recognized by Gartner as a Cool Vendor and thought leader in Core AI. Yactraq’s robust suite of solutions helps clients increase revenue through sales productivity and effectiveness plus enhance brand value through improved customer experience via advanced customer feedback and agent evaluation features.

OUR PARTNERSHIPS At Yactraq, we are all fundamentally geeks (comes with the territory), but we are also business pragmatists who understand the needs of businesses large and small, and we specialize in providing custom solutions to help our clients meet their business goals. Over the years we have tied up with many large & strategic players in the business such as: FIVE9INC - The leader in on-demand call centre software as a service (CCAS) platform, addressing the needs of customercentric businesses by using speech analytics to deliver a comprehensive cloud-based call centre audio mining solution. AMAZON CONNECT - Yactraq has partnered with Amazon Connect to bring a suite of Yactraq solutions to Amazon’s Contact Centres as a Service (CCAS) platform. Our initial integrations with CCAS include Omnitraq Real-time Speech Analytics (featuring our Conversational Heat Mapping capabilities), Omnitraq Business Intelligence for a range of Voice-of-the-Customer and Quality Management capabilities, and Autoscaling of our award winning, speech-based semantic platform Coretraq. RINGCENTRAL – Yactraq’s certified integration with the pioneer in cloud telephony gives us access to Ringcentral’s large ecosystem of technology and marketing partners. Ringcentral customers and partners can now benefit from our global value leading products and services.

WHY VANCOUVER? The west coast of North America is home to the largest & fastest growing hightechnology businesses . Yactraq is based in Vancouver, BC - the most strategically located high tech center in Canada. Vancouver is a two hour drive from Seattle the datacenter capital of the world; and a two hour flight from Silicon Valley, which needs no introduction. Yactraq’s future in speech technology is driven by our vision of talking computers everywhere. Starting with call center based virtual agents, Yactraq voice bots can be used in robotics, AR/VR, IoT and various other domains.

Yactraq Suite 369 800-15355 24th Avenue Surrey,BC,V4A 2H9 Canada yactraq Yactraq Online Inc.

TWILIO - Our partnership with Twilio offers Yactraq clients a single telecoms infrastructure vendor who can provide virtually all their telecom needs, while still being able to leverage Yactraq’s industry leading and unprecedented value in speech analytics.

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CHAPTER 13

BUILDING, ARCHITECTURE & INTERIOR DESIGN

“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” — SOCRATES

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RESIDENTIAL-BASED ARCHITECTURAL WORK—WITH A TWIST.

Lightfoot Residence

Architectural Collective Inc. is a brand-new venture with a team that has been working together for the last four years under a previous umbrella. Our Vancouver-based team also has contributors around the world from Brunei and Greece. As the name suggests, our team is a diverse group of individuals with representatives from a mix of cultures and languages working together to provide innovation through the design of our living environment. The focus of our architectural work is primarily residential based with a twist. Over the years, we have been involved in inventive repurposing of heritage buildings and buildings with historic value or what is known in Vancouver to have “character merit” to accommodate increased density for much-needed housing in the city. Graveley Street Duplex Conversion & Infill

In the downtown West End community, the Gabriola Mansion, the Florida building, and the Lightfoot Residence are all heritage buildings that are in the process of or have been converted to higher density rental housing. The Gabriola Mansion was originally built in 1901 by Benjamin Tingley Rogers as a personal estate, later converted to a rooming house in the 1920s, and then renovated into a restaurant in the late 1970s. The current renovation includes 16 rental residential units in the middle of downtown Vancouver.

Gabriola Mansion

The Florida was originally a two storey and basement rental apartment building built in 1926. Currently under construction, the building houses a new two storey contemporary glass box addition on top of the existing building where new meets old, adding 12 more units to the original apartment.

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West 13th - Retention/Addition & New Infill

W. King Edward

Quebec Street - Retention/Addition & New Infill

The Florida

Princess Avenue Retention/Addition & New Infill

The Florida

supported by city policies in traditionally single-family low-density neighbourhoods, is the current focus of our design contribution. We believe innovation through reuse, repurposing, and revitalizing existing buildings in established neighbourhoods where communities can thrive and redefine themselves will continue to make our city liveable and desirable in an inclusive approach.

Quebec Street - Retention/Addition & New Infill

The Lightfoot residence is a classic Edwardian era residence that was built in 1903 at the turn of the century in the tree-lined streets of the West End. It had fallen into disrepair under the previous owner prior to its rehabilitation into a 6-unit rental building.

All images represent projects designed by Carman Kwan, Principal Architect@predecessor firm Hearth Architectural Inc

More modest existing older homes in the familiar Craftsman design vernacular throughout Vancouver have received similar attention converting single-family use to compact multi-family homes. Many are accompanied by an “infill” building, a new secondary building usually located at the rear of the property. This move towards “gentle density”,

Architectural Collective Inc. carman@architecturalcollective.com +1-604-266-4679

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CREATING PURE JOY

PURE’s Principal Designer and CEO Ami McKay firmly believes in the power of environments that heal, and approaches all of her design projects with just that purpose in mind. The name “PURE” is derived from Ami’s insistence on designing spaces free from impurities. Spaces that give—not take—and create pure joy for her clients. PURE proudly incorporates organic, healthy, and sustainable materials into designs wherever possible, ensuring spaces work in harmony with the environment, not against it.

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Canada after being privately sponsored by a group of friends in Lions Bay, including Ami. Upon learning that Salma had worked as a trained tailor back in Syria, the pair hatched an idea to create a line of handmade designer pillows. Years later, the proceeds from this line continue to benefit refugees like Salma and her family.

Clients’ personal style and vision are what drive Ami and the PURE Interior Design and Build Team to create beautiful, healthy spaces in residences, offices, restaurants, hotels, and retail spaces. Whether it’s a kitchen design or bathroom remodel, a quick renovation, or new construction, her reputation as one of Canada’s Top Five Interior Designers keeps Ami striving to make every new project unique to each client’s life or space. When asked what drives her vision, Ami will unfailingly respond, ‘How can we help heal?’ This mentality permeates every aspect her life, and whether she is designing dream homes or giving back to the community, Ami always exudes a warmth and positivity that provides an unmistakable feeling of “home” for everyone she meets.

Ami dreams of making Earth a better place through design. This is a dream she plans to share with the world. Whether through scaling up operations, developing new product lines like chic, sustainable furniture and accessories, or through hosting her own TV series, Ami strives to make PURE a company with truly international impact: impact which extends joy and healing not only to the clients she serves, but to the planet around them as well.

Away from the office, Ami works tirelessly to give back to the Vancouver community. In addition to her work mentoring and empowering women around the world through organizations such as the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs, Ami has made philanthropy a core value at PURE Design. She frequently donates design services to socially conscious organizations, and has worked in partnership with prominent sustainability-focused businesses, women’s shelters, and other groups dedicated to making the world a better place. She has also designed multiple residences for Home for the Holidays, whose proceeds go directly to Kids Help Phone. In addition, all of Ami’s designers are actively encouraged to take on volunteering opportunities of their own. Early in her journey a kind soul lent Ami a helping hand, and she is fueled by an unwavering desire to pass on this generosity.

PURE Design Inc. hello@purebyamimckay.com +1 604-757-6631 puredesigninc puredesigninc1 purebyamimckay

Setting her business mind to her heart’s intent, in 2016 Ami launched the PURE♡SYRIAN Pillow Collection in collaboration with artisan Salma Muhammad. A Syrian refugee, Salma and her young family fled to

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BUILDING A UNIQUELY KEVINGTON RENTAL EXPERIENCE PEOPLE INSPIRING BUILDINGS, BUILDINGS INSPIRING PEOPLE

HERE ARE SOME OF THE THINGS THAT DISTINGUISH US We design and manage our properties intentionally with respect, integrity, and creativity. A Kevington property is designed for the way our tenants work, relax, and connect with others. Mutual respect and cooperation are at the core of our interactions. We believe it is our responsibility to implement sustainable practices. Our dedicated team continuously cares for our properties and all our tenants. It’s our honour to host, we will know your name and your pet’s, too.

We are passionate about constructing buildings and designing properties where our tenants thrive in a vibrant, healthy, purposebuilt rental community.

PUTTING THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE FIRST Family-owned and family-run, with over 50 years of experience in building, designing, and managing properties, you can trust Kevington to be there for you. Our holistic approach shapes the entire rental experience. We believe where you live and work impacts the quality of your life, the memories you make, and who you share them with. 157

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WE’RE IN IT TO CREATE A BETTER HUMAN EXPERIENCE Innovation is in our DNA at Kevington. We radically shift the tenantlandlord dynamic and place our focus on fostering community. We listen to our tenants, really hear them and their ideas. Our full-time, local team animates our spaces and brings our communities to life. From maintenance, landscaping, and hospitality we provide a full service experience that builds trust between our tenants. From solving a tenant’s needs to developing a new initiative, our team works with our tenants to create amazing connections. At each level, our team shares their passion and expresses their creativity to create engaging environments. It’s our absolute honour to host epic tenant parties and events that break barriers and connect people. We love designing places that you want to spend time in, from community gardens to beehives on the roof. Our innovative amenity spaces let you express yourself. Mixing together our team, our tenants and their pets, the result is an unmatched community in our commercial or residential properties. The use of pesticides and other harmful chemicals is limited. Recycling, compost, and waste diversion programs have been constructed at our properties. Investing in electric power tools allows us to move away from gas. Energy and water consumption is reduced by using energy saving appliances and LED fixtures. Heat recovery units have been installed to recover vented hot air. We support car sharing, bicycle commuting, and electric car charging stations. Active member of the Rental Apartment Efficiency Program sponsored by Fortis BC.

We prioritize social sustainability by empowering people to engage, build, and sustain long-lasting relationships. We look to ensure that our organizational decisions result in a positive impact on our staff, our communities, and the world around us. Kevington Building continues to grow and shape how purpose-built rental properties are constructed and managed. We endeavour to make our properties sustainable for the future.

WE ARE COMMITTED TO SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES, HERE’S HOW:

RENT WITH US TODAY! We provide environmentally friendly green spaces that use droughtresistant plants and grow organic fruits and vegetables for our tenants to enjoy. Our properties are equipped with programmable sprinklers to avoid overwatering our green spaces. We have certified Beekeepers on our team that care for our bee hives located at many of our properties to help grow the local bee population.

Kevington Building Corp Ltd. 604-736-4613 info@kevingtonbuilding.com #1-2807 W 16 Ave. Vancouver, BC. V6K 3C5 KevingtonBuilding

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CHAPTER 14

EVENTS, MEDIA & NETWORKING

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“The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller. The storyteller sets the vision, values and agenda of an entire generation that is to come.” — STEVE JOBS

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Everyone’s story is iconic. Let us capture yours. Human Biography is a Vancouver-based content agency that produces original video content for the most incredible humans, brands, and organizations across the globe for public and private consumption. Video content production has never been more important to how information is shared in a true and authentic way. You should never compromise quality when it comes to your brand, your business, and most importantly your life. The Human Biography team have been chosen by the world’s most accomplished in their respective fields and industries to create video messaging for their targeted audiences. Their team has documented people like the Dalai Lama, Meryl Streep, Arianna Huffington, Chip Wilson, Susan Sarandon,

Val Kilmer, Helen Mirren, Jack and Suzy Welch, Peter Diamandis, Maye Musk, Jacqueline Novogratz, and Katy Perry as well as many leaders and CEOs from all over the world. Human Biography has created content with such organizations as TED, Microsoft, UN Women, Beedie, RBC, RBC, BCIT, Goldcorp, The David Lynch Foundation and many more. Their production team is lead by power couple Nisha and Sharad Kharé. As creative directors, they work with their subjects to ensure the content is consistent from the storyboard process to production to final editing. In addition to video content, they are asked to take their storytelling and engaging interview style to live stages for the most iconic events. As professional speakers and moderators of dialogue, Sharad and Nisha both engage audiences to ensure their subject’s work, life and messaging is highlighted in live audience settings. This moderation has been a strong part of their work; It shows everyone their ability to communicate and allow someone’s story and messaging to come alive in conference settings. They have also spoken at the United Nations, on stages at IIT Kanpur (India), Harvard University, UPenn and TEDx to educate audiences. Their hallmark work is in human legacy. Their video team documents families and leaders to capture their thoughts, history and candid stories. This content is often kept privately by their clients to be shared with future generations. In addition, Human Biography creates commercial

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Sharad with Meryl Streep

Sharad documenting the Dalai Lama, photo by Brian Noppè

content for everyday businesses and organizations. This may include video content for advertising, social media, or for educational purposes.

Both Sharad and Nisha strongly believe that life is short, but your stories are not. Human Biography is hired because of their expertise, talents, and most importantly are trusted by the world’s best. Their content is made to engage, educate and entertain. They strongly believe that there is a story in every person’s life.

Human Biography not only looks at business, entertainment, and stories with celebrities but it tackles subjects that affect the heart and soul of our global issues. Their portfolio ranges from looking at the addiction crisis, psychedelic plant medicines, Indigenous storytelling, feminist history, to arts, dance, performance, science, technology, mining, cancer therapies, and education at all levels in communities that need it the most. These video pieces act as timeless records of achievement, ideas, and thought leadership for their clients. Their portfolio of content is rare and truly unmatched in the caliber of people they work with. They are sought after by the most prominent people and organizations across the globe. The production team at Human Biography goes to where the stories are. They have captured stories in their home country Canada, Europe, Asia and the UK, not to mention all across North America and beyond.

Sharad in Dialogue with Chip Wilson at TEDx Vancouver, photo by Jonathan Evans / JonnyPicture.com Scan the code with your phone camera to view the Human Biography demo reel.

Human Biography sharad@humanbiography.com +1-236-888-8888 @humanbiography @sharadslunchbox @nishakhare

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LONG LIVE THE SPECTACULAR.

A creative event agency driven to design experiences that strikes the emotion of awe in others, holding firm to the belief that when and how we experience this powerful force needs a dramatic evolution. The spectacular is dead. Long live the spectacular.

“Nearly immediately after meeting, we both recognized our shared desire to reimagine our city’s future through events and festival-like gatherings. It was obvious that we were going to channel this vision by way of our uncontrollable love for bringing people together”, says Jordan.

Established at a time when Vancouver’s urban arts and event scene had prompted a global magazine to coin the region “No Fun City”, vibrant, young creatives, Tyson Villeneuve and Jordan Kallman set out to change the cultural fabric.

“We asked ourselves, what events and cultural celebrations from around the world does Vancouver deserve to experience? And we set out to build from scratch our versions of these experiences.” states Tyson.

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Tyson Villeneuve and Jordan Kallman, Founders In the succeeding decade, The Social Concierge would go on to launch and expand a range of cultural festivals unique to their style, including an annual fashion-focused derby, the country’s single largest one-night dinner party, a grand harvest festival designed in the spirit of the legendary Oktoberfest, an architectural design showcase raising funds for charity, a cocktail-hopping trolley tour series, an operatic, duelling sword fighting tournament, annual carbon negative celebrations for Earth Day, a floral exhibition that reimagined the art of dance, a stadium-sized idea conference and a summit meant to explore cutting-edge tactics that lead to life a longer life. “Tyson taught me early on that there is so much beauty within the struggle. And that was a helpful lesson, as we struggled to bring these experiences to life”, remembers Jordan. “Local liquor law limits, permitting processes and a general civic management culture of ‘no before considering’ challenged our many event concepts. But we were able to convince administrators that our province and city needed to experiment with new things,” recalls Tyson. It worked. By generating unrivaled anticipation through visually-stunning brands, delivering moments of happiness by way of vast and expansive event concepts, and providing for lifelong memories by challenging guests out of their comfort zones, the agency was recognized for its achievement to Vancouver culture. In 2016, Jordan and Tyson were named to Vancouver Magazine’s Power 50 list, and were named by the prestigious Vancouver Downtown Business Improvement Association as Emerging Leaders. “We design our experiences with emotional ‘first principles’ in mind. Our guests’ experience, both within the event but also long after, is deeply important to us”, states Jordan. Experiencing awe not only expands our perception of time, inspires creativity and connects us more deeply to others, it is also an emotion that can lead to potent transformations.

contributes to the collective flywheel; a loop that creates a more beautiful life, well-lived, deeply remembered.” The Social Concierge inquire@thesocialconcierge.com +1-604-323-4494 thesocialconcierge TSC_Agency

“While we are currently in the middle of a complete tectonic shift of how we gather due to the global coronavirus pandemic, we know and understand that no matter where we direct our vision, creative energy and formula for mind-changing experience design, we are going to find a path forward that

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Daily Hive Drums Up Buzz Wherever It Goes A born and raised Vancouverite, I earned my degree in Business Administration at Simon Fraser University, followed by a CPA. I worked full-time as a Controller for a coffee chain in British Columbia, but always had a greater interest in taking a bigger stake in my hometown. That’s when I saw a growing need to connect locals, share untold stories, and celebrate the community. In 2008, Vancity Buzz was born.

What started out as a passion project has grown into one of the largest digital media publications in Canada, expanding from coast to coast. In the past five years, we’ve diversified by adding a full-service agency that offers website development, videography, and graphic design called Hive Labs. We also founded ID Agency, an influencer management firm that pairs micro influencers with brand partners. In 2018, Daily Hive was recognized as one of the fastest-growing companies in Canada. I consider Daily Hive both an innovator and an innovator enabler. Innovation plays an integral component of our business. The reason we’re an innovator is because we are constantly looking at new ways to diversify and grow the business. For example, we introduced ‘Dished’, which reports on food trends, restaurants, and leaders in the city, as well as ‘Grow’, which reports on cannabis related news. We’ve also placed a larger emphasis on video, and are continually finding new platforms to

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reach and give our readers what they want. Listening plays a big part in what we do. We’re also an innovator enabler because our company is literally built to amplify those who are pushing the boundaries, whether in business or in our communities. We want to give those a voice to reach a larger audience and have their message heard. I feel that this is what sets our company apart from other media companies, because we have the agility and flexibility to adapt to the needs of our readers at a moment’s notice. We also aren’t afraid to try new things and introduce new formats. Whether it’s IG stories, new types of videos, or offering free services to companies struggling due to the effects of Covid, we’re always open to pushing the boundaries and getting out of our comfort zone. Moving forward, I’m really excited for our expansion into new cities, particularly in the U.S. It’s been on the horizon for years, so now that it’s coming into fruition, it’s incredibly gratifying to see it take shape.

Daily Hive karm@dailyhive.com instakarm karm-sumal-b2a28078

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PressReader - On a mission to improve the way people discover and enjoy stories that matter

Celebrating our 20th anniversary in 2019, PressReader is a rapidly growing tech company that runs an all-you-can-consume reading platform, offering access to more than 7,500 newspapers and magazines from around the world - full versions of every issue, not just a selection of articles. Our publishing partners include The Guardian, The Washington Post, The Globe & Mail, the Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, Bloomberg Businessweek, Rolling Stone, Variety, GQ, Vogue, Yoga Journal — you name it. No matter what people are passionate about, there’s content for them on PressReader. Our technology processes thousands of newspapers every day making articles instantly translatable, searchable, and easy to read on mobile devices. We also have the most advanced digital reading experience in the world for customers at home or on the go. Users can choose publications and topics of interest creating a more personalized and relevant experience with content recommendations both in product and through email and push.

distribution and monetization platform, offering more than 7,500 titles from over 120 countries,” says Alex Kroogman, CEO of PressReader Group of Companies.

The relationships we’ve built with premium publishers, coupled with our reading+ experience, has enabled us to create the world’s largest digital newsstand for newspapers and magazines. With a monthly subscription, readers get unlimited access to the world’s highest quality publications – it’s a tremendous value. On the other hand, we also work with leading brands in multiple industries, including libraries and academia, hospitality, aviation, marine and healthcare who sponsor access to the world’s best journalism for their customers

We believe in a free press, and in providing unfettered access to a wide range of opinions. We make content accessible from so many countries, and in so many languages, to make society better informed and all perspectives available to our users. But beyond that, we believe in our publishing partners.

Quality content deserves fair compensation We believe that quality journalism needs compensation. That’s why the partnerships we build are at the heart of everything we do.

Our verticals: Upwards to strategic acquisitions and new markets Consumer-facing brands sponsor access to PressReader for their customers. We know that with our products, our partners can provide relevant, sustainable, and personalized solutions, building meaningful relationships with their clientele.

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Branded Editions Powered by PressReader, Branded Editions enables publishers to build a customizable and uniquely beneficial platform able to support revenue opportunities. Our partners include The Washington Post, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, El Universal, El País, The New York Times, The Globe and Mail, and Rayli in China.

Elearning PressReader has expanded into the eLearning market with the creation of TextbookHub in 2018 and the acquisition of Evident Point Software (EP) the following year. Our technical capabilities now deliver content types with significantly different technology requirements, such as textbooks, workbooks and other curricula-driven materials.

Our strength comes from diversity Vancouver’s impressive setting is the perfect backdrop for one of the world’s most ethnically diverse cities, one that features a deep pool of talented and forward-thinking professionals. And this brings us to what sets PressReader apart: our people. What we do depends on the people we hire and the culture we cultivate. Our values guide us in everything we do. Embodying such diversity, our global roots run wide around the world with offices in Dublin, Manila and Arizona. Our teams speak many of the world’s languages, which helps ensure an engaging experience for our global customers. We welcome all cultural celebrations and provide time, space, and resources for everyone to share their culture.

Library

2020: Challenging times, inspiring stories

Libraries include public, academic, government, and corporate libraries in 68 countries. Patrons connect with WiFi access or accessing PressReader with their library card credentials. This service has been invaluable in keeping communities connected during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Like the rest of the world, we’re navigating these difficult times the best way we know-how, inspired by the stories of people coming together and making a difference. So we developed a new digital edition called COVID-19, a news feed of all the latest stories from around the world — free for anyone to access.

Hospitality PressReader has become standard for hotels worldwide, delivering top publications to guests in 106 countries who increasingly expect digital solutions. PressReader offers hotels a safe and sustainable way to provide publications, becoming an essential part of hotels’ reopening plans postpandemic

When hotels opened their doors to healthcare workers and supported communities by creating containment zones, we helped them stay connected. We helped quarantined passengers and crew keep in touch with news from the shore when cruise ships were stranded at sea. And these initiatives are supported by the entire company. Kroogman understands that “during these uncertain times, access to trusted quality content is more important than ever.”

Aviation Helping create memorable passenger experiences, PressReader is available to commercial and business aviation carriers and airport lounges globally. Tens of millions of passengers get immediate access to PressReader when they click a link in their check-in email, check-in using the airline’s app, or connect to the WiFi in the lounge or onboard.

Marine We’ve offered worldwide Print-On-Demand service aboard cruises and superyachts for 20 years. Our offline technology allows all marine partners to offer premium content sustainably and affordably to passengers and crew, despite vessels’ often limited bandwidth.

PressReader Inc. @pressreader

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Empowering a creative and passionate community through innovation. Welcome to Monstercat!

Photo by Lindsey Blane

to include successful apparel, event, and gaming departments, the core of their mission has remained the same since inception: to connect artists with fans in a way that nurtures the spirit of sharing and family. And along the way, this spirit has empowered Monstercat fans to become artists themselves in far-ranging fields including music, design, and the performing arts. Back in 2011, Monstercat co-founders Mike Darlington and Ari Paunonen knew they had something special on their hands. Armed with the music of a small roster of talented but yet-unknown artists, they bypassed traditional routes to get music to the masses by tapping into the power of the internet. The response was big enough that it convinced Mike and Ari to adapt established backgrounds in science and engineering respectively, to a thrilling new venture. With a small group of friends, they made the trek from Waterloo to Vancouver, putting it all on the line to establish Monstercat HQ. An industrious group of upstart pioneers has since grown into a company with over 50 employees and offices that span the globe. Innovation is one of the pillars of Monstercat’s mission statement; the company was founded due to a need to be innovative in a highly competitive space. Once Mike and Ari made their presence felt through fresh and unconventional means, Monstercat would eventually find itself forcing change in an outdated system. From day one, Monstercat has made it a priority to pay artists fairly and frequently with 50/50 agreements managed by their own proprietary technology. Young talent

Monstercat is one of electronic music’s most influential innovators. By embracing modern platforms, social channels, and cutting-edge media, this Canadian company is known for reshaping the landscape of the music industry worldwide. While Monstercat’s operations have expanded 169

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Calling Vancouver home has many advantages for Monstercat. Being close enough to major music industry hubs, but not entirely within them has helped Monstercat to find a unique position as a forward-thinking leader, while maintaining the rebellious “outsider” aura that has always fueled a passion for betterment and change. Since 2017, the company has hosted its annual “Monstercat Compound”, a full-day, free event that has become a Vancouver favourite. Touted as a block party in their own backyard, fans enjoy food, games, shopping, and live performances on two stages. Making the event even more regionally distinct is a longstanding partnership with other businesses in the area to highlight the strength of community in a unique part of Vancouver. Monstercat appreciates every accolade it has garnered over the years, emphasizing the drive and hard work from the entire team that goes into winning IDMA’s Record Label of the Year or The BC Export Award for Digital Media & Entertainment. Another notable achievement was receiving Multiplatinum single accreditation for their worldwide hit “Alone” with best-selling artist Marshmello. Early collaborations with blockbuster video games Rocket League and Beat Saber paved the way for recent partnerships with Roblox and Fortnite, each a monumental milestone connecting Monstercat to vast global player bases. It’s only natural that Monstercat finds itself expanding as a company, with new branches in the United States, Singapore, and more to come.

that would have previously gone unrecognized or undervalued are now able to make a living from their music, earn revenue from apparel and events, and find appreciation from amazingly devoted fanbases. As for new technology and channels for audiences to experience, Monstercat was an early adopter in many areas, if not an outright pioneer. A partnership with Minecraft gave life to one of the earliest virtual concerts in history, a format that has since exploded in popularity among a new generation. Taking the concept even further, Monstercat established a full-fledged 360 degree Virtual World with the help of cutting-edge experts, Sansar. All the while, the Monstercat Radio Show “Call of the Wild” was one of the first all-music EDM programs to bring the podcast format to life, allowing fans to listen, stream, or watch on multiple platforms.

Monstercat info@monstercat.com monstercat

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MAKE BETTER CONNECTIONS

We took a basic problem and dug deep into its roots to find an innovative solution. It turns out we are more than just a name and a phone number on a piece of paper. Thanks to the Internet and the power of Social Media there’s so much to learn about a person by just browsing through their LinkedIn or Instagram account. We wanted to merge the offline and the online world. OVOU Smart Business Card is empowering professionals to make connections everyday by sharing a fuller and more impressive picture of who they are with just a tap!

At OVOU we believe in building better relationships. We know that people are so much more than what fits on a piece of paper, so we created a way to showcase the entirety of who they are. One of the most basic human instincts is to connect—and the more we know about each other, the easier it is to find those commonalities that strengthens our relationships. Rather than reduce our identities to a handful of words, OVOU celebrates the richness of who we are in every aspect of our lives while reducing waste associated with traditional business cards.

As a third-generation entrepreneur, I know the value of connections. As a first-generation immigrant, I also know the reality of starting over and needing to build a network from scratch. My quest to differentiate myself during professional interactions, led me to create OVOU. My goal for the company is to inspire people to network, make connections, and build meaningful relationships that fuel their success. —Founder – Reza Varzidehkar 171

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3 LESSONS I LEARNED THROUGH LAUNCHING A BUSINESS DURING PANDEMIC 1.

Build your Social Capital.

In November 2019, I had a crazy idea of attending 100 networking events in 100 days. By the time I got to the 100th event (OVOU Launching event) I had some real momentum in the Vancouver business community. I didn’t know what Social Capital was until I experienced it first-hand. The connections I made during my networking marathon helped OVOU in ways I could never imagine. Building a community around yourself and your business is more powerful than one might think. Every person you come in contact with, could become a raging fan for your products or services.

show called “What keeps you up at night? entrepreneurship edition.” Put yourself out there and build your reputation. It takes years of hard work for you to build your reputation in the business community and only seconds to lose it, but the benefits are enormous.

Your reputation is everything.

People want to know WHO they are doing business with and if they trust the person. Even a business as big as Amazon or Facebook has a face attached to it. In this day and age, you cannot hide behind your company logo anymore. Your reputation directly affects your business. During the pandemic we saw how CEO’s and world leaders used very basic technology to connect with others. Their smartphone! Your phone is more capable than ever before and it’s naïve not to use it to better connect and build your reputation. That’s why I started a podcast called “#100Podcast” and Co-host at Startup Vancouver’s

Don’t lose hope, push through, and never give up!

10 days after launching OVOU, we went into lockdown. I could not fathom the sudden change that was taking place. Businesses shut down, people got laid off, and consumer spending plummeted. I remember myself refreshing the browser to see if there are any sales coming through the website. None! In fact, I did not sell a single card for about two months. 10 days earlier, I had brought in 250 people into a room for OVOU’s launching event. What did I do wrong?! I started questioning everything. The idea, the business model, the timing. I was on calls with our technical team leader for hours each day trying to figure out opportunities and ways to pivot ourselves out of this. Two months later we circled back to the same idea we originally had. OVOU is simple and innovative. For the next 6 months, I drove to every business that was still open in town and tried every sales channel you could imagine. I was on zoom calls pitching my product more than I can remember. It is what saved OVOU. Never give up on your hopes and dreams, even if there’s a pandemic out there.

Ovou +1 604-866-6777 ovoucard ovou

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CHAPTER 15

MARKETING, ADVERTISING & COMMUNICATIONS

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“Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray.” — RUMI

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Exvera Communications Inc. led by a self-proclaimed “Professional Noisemaker” is bringing stories about innovation and entrepreneurs to a global audience

Exvera Communications Inc. is a public relations firm with international reach based in Vancouver, B.C., specialized in communications for emerging industries and disruptive innovation. Exvera means “from truth,” highlighting the company’s commitment to finding the strongest and most authentic stories to tell that impact the audience on a deep level. Exvera Communications was founded by Brittany Whitmore, who calls herself a “Professional Noisemaker,” and who was named as one of BC Business Magazine’s 30 under 30 as well as as one of Langara College’s Outstanding Alumni in 2017. Exvera Communications focuses on building and executing PR strategies to secure its clients high-quality, earned media coverage that communicates the client’s core values and resonates with the target audience. Earned media is the real, organic media coverage related to a company or brand that is not directly generated by the company but rather by third party publications. Exvera has earned its clients stories in publications worldwide, on TV, radio, digital and print. This includes publications ranging from TechCrunch to the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, to Business in Vancouver, WIRED, Betakit and everything in between.

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While Vancouver has earned its reputation as an innovation hub via the many successful technology companies, those companies do not operate in a vacuum, it truly “takes a village” to realize the potential of a great technology company. This includes all of the organizations and other businesses that help to support their success, and Exvera Communications has been a part of that story in Vancouver. Vancouver is a relatively small city, so one striking thing that you are likely to hear time and time again is that many of the great local tech companies, don’t even service the local market, but are instead focused on serving the U.S. or a broader market. This can be where the crucial element of a strong PR strategy comes in. Not only does it help companies to broadcast their message far and wide, but it also comes off as much more authentic and trustworthy than paid advertising or outbound sales. This kind of exposure can be even more crucial for emerging companies who are doing something completely new to the world, because a potential client or partner is less likely to be seeking them out on their own and may need that extra push to understand the value clearly. Media has become increasingly borderless, as it is increasingly consumed digitally. Exvera has worked with clients and partners worldwide, and has been brought on to the ground to markets such as the U.S., Germany, Switzerland, Singapore and South Korea. But there is something extra special about bringing Vancouver’s technology and innovation onto the global stage, and Exvera Communications is thrilled to be a part of that story.

Exvera Communications Inc. brittany@exvera.com +1-778-238-6096 britwhitmore BritWhitmore

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Broadcast 24/7 to friends and followers genuinely inspire them to listen, to act, and to buy.” – Darshan Kaler, CEO & Co-Founder

A new world order

In 2010, the world turned its collective focus to Canada, when Vancouver played host to more than 92 countries for the Olympic Winter Games. The seventeen-day event saw athletes, artists, musical acts, volunteers and regular Canadians welcome millions of visitors to Vancouver to celebrate sport, diversity and to promote togetherness. The spirit of the games was in our city and we wanted the world to share an experience like never before. However, what we didn’t quite realize when it all started, was just how profound this spectacle would be in changing how large events would be seen, heard and experienced from that point on.

My employer back then – tasked with broadcasting the Canadian Olympic story to the world – was unceremoniously usurped by an army of citizen journalists, photographers and publishers working faster and more omnipresent than we’d ever seen before. The stories our newly-discovered competition were breaking competed head-to-head with traditional media outlets at a pace that couldn’t be matched. Social media had gone mainstream. Overnight, viewers weren’t relying on “The Big 3” media broadcasters to represent their experiences any longer; they were being fed a steady stream of peer-to-peer shared experiences in real time. It was at that moment that digital fans became a reality.

It wasn’t anything taking place inside the ice rink or in the grandstands up at Cypress Mountain for the ski cross that was shifting the earth; it was in how fans around the world were engaging and experiencing the games, the venues and the city itself.

Fan data realized The 2010s represent a renaissance in music, sports and entertainment. Each industry was taken over by a new kind of consumer – one that 177

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demanded it create and curate their own experiences. Music fans bypassed record stores by streaming live. Movie lovers left theatres and bought on-demand. Sports fans tweeted their own commentaries from their couches. For me, this was when I knew it was time to stop fighting the flood and ride the wave fans had formed.

recommendations. Fans have awesome experiences with the brands they love, while our partners enjoy sold out events, happy sponsors and higher profits.

Fans now demand a direct relationship with the personalities and brands they adore. Fans seek their own moments and write their own headlines. Fans broadcast 24/7 to friends and followers - genuinely inspiring them to listen, to act, and to buy.

Tradable Bits is currently a global leader in transforming entertainment into a fan-based industry, rather than a broadcast industry. With our partners in North America, Europe and Australia, we’re on the front lines of digital marketing, advocating and proving the value of fan data. We connect conversations across social media, streaming services, ticketing and on-site, alongside platforms such as Spotify, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter and other fan industry giants.

In 2010, I recruited my co-founder Dmitry Khrisanov and created the start of what’s now known as Tradable Bits. The idea was simple: fans can trade bits of information for more personalized products and experiences. Not unlike a friendly barista that remembers your daily latte, we believed fans would be happier and sales would improve if our partners could really know who their customers were, and what they liked.

Livestreaming Reimagined With lockdown and social distancing, the term live today has a very different meaning. With events being limited to no fans, or a fraction of regular attendance, the entire fan experience has been turned on its head. To bridge the gap between fans and the game or artists that they love during this challenging time, we released an interactive broadcast product called FanXP. FanXP is a technology specifically built for event organizers to create unique, two-way digital interactions with fans during livestream broadcasts. With people unable to and possibly apprehensive about attending games and concerts in person, there is an incredible opportunity for our partners to be innovative and leave a lasting impact on how live events are presented, consumed and experienced by their fans.

Here’s the rub: digital personalization is much more complicated than remembering someone’s coffee order. Many companies store PII (contact information, affinity, purchases, etc.) in legacy CRMs that don’t easily integrate. Using fan data to discern a customer’s current interests and lead status was an extremely complex technical challenge. But we solved it. Our first (free, beta) product quickly rose to the Top 10 most popular apps on Facebook. It wasn’t long after we had more than 17 million monthly active users. It became quite clear our fans were clamouring to build relationships with artists, athletes and brands that would directly interact with them - from Disney to K-pop to NFL athletes and teams.

Ten years on from my experience at the Olympic Winter Games, I truly believe my team unites fans by co-creating moments they’ll remember for the rest of their lives. But this time, the world isn’t coming to Vancouver, we’re bringing Vancouver to the world.

By scaling segmentation, we were eventually able to show our partners just how powerful collecting fan data is for connecting customers with their products and brands. This involved bridging the fan data gaps between ticketing, live activations, social networks, streaming services and legacy CRMs to create a Single Fan View – a difficult, but not impossible, technical feat. Our aim was to keep the fan in control of their own experiences and data. By securely collecting and storing only information that improved fan experiences, and allowing customers the ability to easily erase any data they’ve shared with one of our partners, we could provide a truly personalized, trusted journey.

Darshan Kaler Co-Founder & CEO Tradable Bits Media Inc. 228 W 7th Ave, Vancouver, BC V5Y 1M1 (604) 620 7911 Tradable tradablebits tradable-bits

A leader in fan marketing Through our machine-learning powered Fan CRM, any fan can choose to link their interests with our partners, receiving relevant, real-time

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OUTSOURCE YOUR DIGITAL CMO

OUR NEGATIVE

WHITE

What is innovation anyway?

That is what lies at the core of who we are here at RTOWN. We bring bigbusiness, digital marketing creativity, strategy & execution to help small and medium sized companies across a variety of industries acquire their ideal-fit customers.

To us, if you boil this thing called innovation right down, being an “innovator” is really just a fancy way of saying, “they make things better.”

And that’s our aim. To make things better for the small and medium sized businesses we guide through the ever-changing landscape of digital marketing.

We simplify the lives of entrepreneurs, by becoming their digital CMO for hire with the team to execute the plan. As an extension of their team, we bring full-scale digital marketing services out of the Fortune 500 enterprise and into the main street businesses who are hungry to grow.

The pace of change across any business’s digital landscape is quick, so to rise to the top and stay there means innovating quickly and decisively. Agility and high performing design online keep a business ahead of trends and platform changes.

We help them grow by simplifying the complexities they face in understanding their business’s digital ecosystem, building unique, datadriven strategies designed to produce measurable results, then execute them.

And like some of the greatest innovations we enjoy everyday, the corkscrew, the can- opener, or the key, true innovation isn’t always flashy. But look close enough and you’ll see the intersection of ingenuity, creativity and functionality all coming together to produce a currency that humanity craves to trade on.

We’ve made making better decisions easier. Every business owner knows that numbers are important. But with today’s landscape of multiple platforms, touch points and campaign channels, making sense of the numbers is getting harder and harder. That’s why every client receives tailored reporting that is both deep and meaningful. Our approachable, understandable, and actionable reporting drives bottom line growth and makes decisions easier for busy entrepreneurs and their marketing teams.

Ease. We think you’d agree, the greatest innovations we enjoy do this one thing really well...

We’ve made getting results easier. By bringing full service, big business digital marketing tools and methodologies to the table, we’ve learned how

They help us get what we want easier.

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to deliver holistic, industry agnostic growth strategies, and then drive results through execution. We come alongside entrepreneurs and their teams to take a seat at the table, and then instead of just talking strategy, we we get RTOWN outwork it. We understand that the true value of any idea can only be measured by the results it gets. Simply put, luke@rtown.ca results. (888)980-1223 We’ve made getting ROI easier. Like every business owner, we only want to do what works and hold our actions RTOWNIsYourTown accountable rtown_ to the same measure we use to evaluate every other part of a business.

rtown.ca

ROI. We use “bottom line” language like leads, conversions and predictable revenue to measure success, and we do that with our unique technology stack of enterprise tools. Bent on performance, we use no nonsense data and easy to understand reports to ensure every dollar spent online becomes an investment that yields a consistent, scaleable return for the business. We bring growth focused, data driven, “big business” digital marketing tools to the little guy to make their business grow, making the lives of small and medium sized business owners better by getting them the growth they want, easier.

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INSPIRING POSSIBILITY AROUND THE WORLD. When Arnold Leung founded Appnovation in 2007, it wasn’t a fullservice digital consultancy. It was a digital technology company with a focus on helping organizations become savvier around open source technologies.

So Appnovation built dedicated teams for user experience and digital strategy—teams that understand good technology but also the end user’s perspective. Today, Appnovation helps organizations to innovate along a digital path in order to better engage with their users globally. The full-service digital consultancy is the brains behind standout digital experiences for brands like Visit California, TCL, several global pharmaceutical companies and B.C.’s Ministry of Health.

At the time, many enterprises were just transitioning from proprietary software like Microsoft and Oracle to the open source technologies where Appnovation’s expertise lay—and from which it could continue to expand. By 2012, Appnovation offered technologies from mobile to data analytics.

For its design of Visit California’s Road Trip Republic digital hub, Appnovation earned six Communicator Awards in the website and mobile categories, including four Awards of Excellence for Websites (General: Travel/Tourism) and Features (Structure and Navigation, User Experience, and Visual Appeal – Function), and two Awards of Excellence for Mobile Apps (General: Travel/Tourism and Best User Interface).

That was also the year of an important insight for the Appnovation team. “We realized that our goal as a company was really to help our customers enhance their user experience using different digital toolsets,” the CEO says. “We realized that technology adoption can only be successful if we care about the end user and we care a lot about what their experience is like.”

An Award of Excellence is the Communicator Awards’ highest honor, and receiving it ranks Appnovation alongside Amazon, ESPN films, Publicis Sapient, and other giants of commerce. 181

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Award-winning Visit California website designed and built by Appnovation.

Arnold Leung, Founder and CEO of Appnovation.

Appnovation’s senior leaders: John Mozayani, VP of Technology; Allison Humphries, VP of Strategy; and Scott Wassmer, GM of the Americas.

Appnovation works with several government and global pharma companies to create digital solutions that help HCP, decision makers and patients.

Growth Fund (CBGF), Export Development Canada (ED), and UK-based BGF. The investment allows Appnovation to continue its global expansion and growth strategy, including scaling teams in strategic global markets as well as potential acquisitions.

Equally impressive is that Appnovation launched the latest version of Visit California’s award-winning website in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The new website has enabled Visit California to adapt quickly to changing regulations and also empowered tourists to travel safely as they navigate their dream road trips through the Sunshine State. Appnovation’s support of organizations during the pandemic includes those closer to home, too; its work for the Ministry of Health in British Columbia and the Provincial Health office (PHO) has helped reduce the risk of COVID-19 cross-contamination among healthcare facilities. By focusing on the development of business processes, digital systems, and real-time collaboration in collecting and analyzing personnel data, Appnovation’s digital solution supports a Single Site Staffing initiative among the province’s long-term and assisted living homes. The platform allows health employers to make decisions about provincial healthcare resourcing in order to lessen the transmission of COVID-19 between facilities.

TCL website redesign by Appnovation’s Design, CX and Technology teams. The funding also paves the way for what Appnovation does best: creating connections. “We’re connecting user experience with technology, connecting technology with strategy, so that our customers, and their customers, will benefit,” says Arnold. “It’s not about one thing that’s more important than the other, it’s about all these things connecting together that makes it successful.”

“Throughout our history, we’ve been pretty involved in the healthcare sector, and it’s always been our passion to be able to change people’s lives using digital innovation,” Arnold says. “That’s the kind of exciting thing that we as a company love to do.” And Appnovation is getting the recognition and support that it deserves. In September 2020, the company received $11.6 million in follow-on equity funding from a partnership between the Canadian Business

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The story has to come first

A podcast production agency designed to function as a creative agency, JAR Audio works exclusively with brands to help them grow their revenue and impact by making meaningful connections with listeners. Roger Nairn, Jen Moss, and Aaron Johnson founded the agency with an ambitious task in mind: to one day replace traditional advertising with high-value, high-performing podcasts.

Unlike the push mediums of TV or radio broadcasts, listeners seek out the content they want to listen to, and that content tends to be quite niche— perfect for brands seeking to connect with their audiences. Add to the mix that podcasts are also a subscribable medium, and you have one of the best marketing mediums out there. Podcasts have the potential to provide excellent value for both listeners and for brands.

The choice was one born of thoughtfulness and data. A well produced podcast by JAR garners a 95-100% listen-through rate. By comparison, commercially produced YouTube videos have watch-through rates of about 50%.

JAR might not have been the first agency to realize so, but it was clear that the branded podcasts in existence were basically 30-minute advertisements. “The level of quality was just not very high,” Roger says. “The three of us felt that we could apply all of our expertise individually and as a whole to create an offering that would be of value to our customers.”

“When you listen to a podcast, you stick your earbuds in and it’s like someone is whispering into your ear,” says Roger Nairn, co-founder and CEO. “It’s an intimate medium, and a well-told story will have you listening longer, enjoying it more, and subscribing.”

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But podcasts-as-marketing-tools form only part of JAR’s innovation. The rest lies in the way the agency is built. Because JAR was designed to be remote, they were able to weather the pandemic better than most because there was no real lapse in production. “We never had a full staff just sitting in an office and waiting for work to come in the door,” Roger explains. “We build all of our teams based on the project we’ve been given, and we can pull talent from throughout the city, the province, or even the world to find the best person for the job.” The way they record episodes also speaks to the agency’s innovation. JAR used to rely on sound studios to record its episodes, but in response to coronavirus safety measures, the agency created a remote audio kit that could be couriered to the podcasts’ hosts and guests throughout the world. “When they receive this kit, it’s super easy to plug into their internet, and it connects to our server, creating essentially an ISDN line that lets us remotely record crystal clear audio,” Roger says. “It’s allowed everyone to stay safe, to remain in their home, and it also means our reach now is as far as couriers are willing to go, without compromising the quality of the recording.”

CBC and brought to the table all sorts of story-telling experience, mostly in audio. Aaron Johnson, Chief Technical Officer, had a background in broadcasting in traditional and new media.

Though JAR isn’t bound by geographical location, the agency is looking to expand and continue the legacy of great creative agencies in its home base of Vancouver, Roger says.

Their powers combined to form the heart of JAR’s unique and valuable offering: interesting, engaging stories that apply best practices from branding and communications standpoints.

Vancouver is a very creative city, and we’re proud to be part of that evolution. We’ve got a lot to be proud of here.”

“At the end of the day, our podcasts are a piece of marketing, and they need to do their job and perform for the client. Luckily, the best way to do that is to tell a good story and the rest should happen almost automatically,” Roger says.

JAR Audio roger@jaraudio.com (604) 3625319 jar-audio jar_audio wearejar

That’s been the case for pretty much all of JAR’s projects, which have ranged from internal podcasts for the staff at Lululemon to a “travel hack” podcast for Expedia. JAR’s first big client, Saje Natural Wellness, was the agency’s first client period. JAR produced Saje’s Well Now, a podcast that topped the charts in its debut week.

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CHAPTER 16

FOOD, BEVERAGE AND HOSPITALITY

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“I cannot remember the books I’ve read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.” — RALPH WALDO EMERSON

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Connecting people to just food – championing a community food system by linking buyers to suppliers and offering healthy, unpackaged products and services.

Brianne Miller – Co-founder & CEO, Alison Carr – Co-founder & COO

The Nada Team at the Vancouver Climate March

Nada is Canada’s first package-free grocery store, located in Vancouver, British Columbia. They’re on a mission to support a more just food system and to inspire people to change the way they shop for groceries. Their team envisions a world where people link their food choices to the health of themselves and the planet.

Nada works with over one hundred suppliers, from small, one-person companies to the largest distributors of organic and natural foods in the Pacific Northwest. You’ll find carefully selected zero waste essentials and a wide variety of food products - from local, organic produce to shampoo bars to package-free cricket protein bars. 187

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As a certified B-Corporation and 1% for the Planet company, Nada puts both people and planet first, while donating 1% of all revenues to grassroots environmental organizations that are tackling food security, food education, and conservation initiatives. Nada has partnered with hundreds of community organizations to run events in their space - including panel discussions, film screenings, and community meet-ups on everything from climate action and food waste to seed saving and repair workshops.

Zero Waste Cafe Shortly after opening, Nada launched an in-store zero waste cafe to further their commitment to waste reduction. From carrot top pesto to a full Daily Harvest menu, they’re in-house chef is dedicated to transforming surplus produce into delicious smoothies, soups, salads, and condiments! Chantal Poirier, Head Chef of Nada’s Zero Waste Cafe

From Marine Biologist to Social Entrepreneur As a marine biologist, Brianne Miller (Co-founder & CEO) always had a deep love of the oceans. The magic of diving with dolphins and scouring reefs for nudibranchs is something that she wanted to preserve for everyone. After seeing one too many remote field sites littered in plastic debris, she began to wonder why there wasn’t a better way to shop - from pasta and produce to laundry detergent and toothbrushes, there had to be a better way! With a leap of faith, a few jars, and some dear friends, the Nada story began. Alison Carr (Co-founder & COO) grew up outside, spending weekends on soccer fields, in her backyard garden, going camping, and spending endless hours beachcombing. Combine this with her family’s love of food and people and you get a gal who, naturally, is drawn to independent grocery stores - vibrant spaces that combine all of these things under one roof. Little did she know that she’d eventually find a partner in crime who had plans to open a grocery store. And better yet, waste-free!

Nada’s Zero Waste Cafe

Fighting for a Just Food System

Together, with a not-so-secret plan to stock the shelves with their favourite foods, Alison and Brianne teamed up to design a package-free food supply chain rid of excess and waste. The result? A new way to grocery shop and a commitment to both healthy people and a healthy planet.

When all food-related emissions are considered, from farming to deforestation to food waste, what we eat is responsible for over onethird of global greenhouse gas emissions. Nada is working hard to bring transparency to our food system, while bringing climate conversations to the forefront of all business decisions. The store has piloted programs to reduce supply chain packaging through a supplier container return program and through a bring-your-own-container model for customers. This has allowed them to divert more than 350,000 containers from the landfill per year. Nada’s food systems work has been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Forbes and was recently recognized as 1% for the Planet’s Business Member Changemaker of the Year.

The Future of Just Food Nada has committed to becoming certified Climate Neutral by the end of 2020, and along with hundreds of B-Corporations around the world, Carbon Neutral by 2030. With the help of a dedicated research team, they’re exploring how their waste reduction initiatives have contributed to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Through this research they also hope to identify packaging practices and areas of their supply chain that can be improved to reduce overall carbon footprint. Nada hello@nadagrocery.com +1-778-806-3783 @nadagrocery

Before Nada opened their doors in 2018, they were a pop-up shop. You’ll still find their pop-ups at Vancouver street fairs in the summer.

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Jamjar Canteen is Lebanese Simplified – delivering authentic food and cultural hospitality in vibrant settings aimed at the health and time conscious foodie.

Jamjar is a from scratch approach food & beverage purveyor focused predominantly on providing healthy Lebanese food in fast casual settings. Adopting a neighbourhood approach, it also extends to select retailers and partners a hand-picked list of finished products in the form of salads, dips & condiments.

opened four locations all sharing the same mantra but speaking a different dialect through our unique service concepts and settings. We promoted ourselves by offering jars of hummus in parks, on beaches, on the streets and replicated a simple Lebanese gesture of showing affection through offering food.

When Jamjar broke ground, breaking bread over shared meals/tapas was not the norm it is today. Our aim was to bring people together and offer food as a means to connect using Lebanese culture as a backdrop. Communal tables broke the ice as strangers having a meal on the same table eventually more often than not, became friends. Our founder recalls having to sell all his possessions with only rent money to spare, to fund our first location. A hole-in-the-wall in the multi-faceted neighbourhood of Commercial Drive soon became the talk of the town. Since 2014 we’ve

The food business is hardly an innovative one. Our take is creative in the way we presented the food and translated the Lebanese restaurant authentic experience. We did away with dated settings and offered diners the opportunity to make it personal. We were the first in the city and the province to offer traditional Lebanese food in a fast-casual setting. Our university location in 2017 was a breath of fresh air for students accustomed to frozen pizza slices and highly processed meals who enjoyed home style nutritious food at a similar price. 189

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On the onset of the recent pandemic we pivoted our business and delivered safe food at homes to consumers that were wary of leaving their homes and risking unnecessary exposure. We also dived into the retail market and partnered up with a local grocer to offer select menu items in elegantly designed containers. In essence what we’ve done in BC can be replicated all across the country and would accomplish similar results. We are excited about the future and what it holds. As we currently introduce processes to scale our business, we are looking to add more locations and increase our product offering and utilize the surge in digitally driven business demand that’s taking us into the future.

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Robert (L) and Joseph (R) pictured next to the Haste, operated by Skipper Larry Hillis.

Freshline is the best platform for farmers, retailers, and wholesalers to build, launch, and scale their online business. By making commerce and operations better for all suppliers, we believe we can help them realize their biggest ambitions. Freshline (formerly known as Coastline Market) was born out of a 10+ year friendship between founders Joseph Lee and Robert Kirstiuk.

The idea was conceived while the duo were still young university students, when the founders harkened back on Robert’s upbringing of being so close to fishermen when repeatedly visiting Point Verte, New Brunswick - his family’s hometown. In this remote village, the fishers often spoke of being squeezed by middlemen; struggling to make a fair income for their catch. Determined to change this status quo, the duo imagined a platform that could democratize 191

convoluted food supply chains around the world. From there on, Freshline evolved into what it is today: a seamless e-commerce and fulfillment platform built specifically for the farmers, fishers, and businesses that supply the world’s food. Today, suppliers across North America trust Freshline to increase their online sales, automate their warehouse operations, and connect directly with their customers.

A supplier’s shop, pictured in front of Freshline’s fulfillment dashboard.

Mica, owner-operator of Effingham Oysters at his farm in Barkley Sound, B.C.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of consumers have benefited from chef-quality ingredients from local suppliers with minimal middlemen. Freshline is backed by venture capital from Alpha Quest, Techstars, Next Canada, and a group of angels including Uber’s SVP, Head of UberEats, and the VP of Ticketmaster. The company has been featured by Forbes, Google, Gimlet, Globe and Mail, and the Financial Post, among others.

sales@freshline.io freshlineapp freshline.io

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CHAPTER 17

ACCELERATORS, INCUBATORS & MENTORS

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“The energy of the mind is the essence of life.” — ARISTOTLE

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New Ventures BC: 20 years of impact

New Ventures BC (NVBC) is a non-profit organization that recognizes, encourages, and supports entrepreneurship in BC’s technology sector. For over 20 years it has made an incredible impact on emerging ventures, namely through the annual New Ventures BC Competition, known as a rite of passage for the best new startups across the province.

ventures hail from cities across BC, creating world-changing innovations in cleantech, life sciences, biotech, IoT, robotics, AR/VR, fintech, and more. Since its inception, winners of the annual New Ventures BC Competition have become “ones to watch”. With four rounds of competition that include a business plan submission, venture pitches, mentorship, educational seminars, and networking opportunities, the rigorous process is more than just a contest, it’s a training ground for the innovators of tomorrow.

With past winners such as LightIntegra, AbCellera, MediaCore, DarkVision, MineSense, Ecoation, Aspect Biosystems, and Jane, New Ventures BC has recognized and contributed to the journey of some of BC’s fastest-growing and most successful startups. And the journey doesn’t end there.

The organization has continued to grow over the years, diversifying its programming to support startups in new ways, during critical stages of their development. For the past five years, NVBC has offered a Distance Venture Acceleration Program for early stage startups, providing weekly,

Initiated over 20 years ago by Wal van Lierop, New Ventures BC has now supported thousands of tech companies in its lifetime. These diverse 195

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one-to-one mentorship and online market validation training with an experienced Executive in Residence. By pairing ventures with someone who has “been there, done that”, companies have the sound guidance they need to move their startup forward with confidence.

Wal van Lierop, NVBC Founder and Board Member New Ventures BC has now supported over 3000 startups in its lifetime, which have created 8600 jobs and raised over 850 million dollars of financing, right here, in BC.

In addition, NVBC now administers the Innovator Skills Initiative grant program, on behalf of Innovate BC, which has provided over two million dollars to tech companies to hire post-secondary students. Each grant helps startups commercialize a product, build an MVP, or get their first sale in the door. In turn, each student gains entrepreneurial training and new technical skills, plus valuable work experience before graduation. Through the exposure of entrepreneurial thinking, many have also been hired on permanently in the tech sector or have been inspired to start their own tech companies.

They can’t wait to see what the next 20 years may bring. New Ventures BC angie@newventuresbc.com +1-604-602-5202

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entrepreneurship@UBC: launching the extraordinary research and innovation from the University of British Columbia (UBC) into transformative companies that will change the world.

and social landscape of BC while building anchor companies that have a global impact.

entrepreneurship@UBC propels UBC innovations out into the world through entrepreneurship and venture creation, providing UBC students, researchers, faculty members, alumni and staff with the resources, networks, facilities and funding they need to succeed.

UBC is a world class university and bedrock of innovation at the heart of Vancouver’s booming tech sector. entrepreneurship@UBC was launched in 2013 to help mobilize this innovation into commercially viable entities and to translate the university’s leading-edge research into tangible impact. UBC is consistently recognized for its global impact and was recently ranked the #1 university for both Climate Action and Life Under Water and #7 globally for overall impact in the 2020 Times Higher Education University Impact Rankings based on the UN sustainable development goals. A key component of UBC’s innovation ecosystem, entrepreneurship@UBC provides research-led and high-potential ventures with the industry expertise, practical business training and deep mentorship to develop discoveries into viable ventures.

As one of the world’s top 40 research universities with 80,000 students, faculty, and staff and over $650 million in annual research funding, UBC has long been a catalyst for innovation. entrepreneurship@UBC supports UBC ventures and entrepreneurs to generate social and economic impacts in BC and around the world. As part of the Innovation UBC network, it encompasses entrepreneurship programs across both its Vancouver and Okanagan campuses, and has created an expansive footprint of entrepreneurial leaders province wide. To date, ventures that have been supported by entrepreneurship@UBC in Vancouver and the Okanagan have raised more than $221 million in funding, generated more than $30 million in revenue and created over 500 jobs, stimulating the economic 197

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“As part of Innovation UBC, entrepreneurship@UBC builds pathways between the university, research and brilliant entrepreneurs coming out of UBC, launching their innovations into transformative and investable companies generating real economic impact for B.C. while leading the scientific and technological evolution of our world.”

entrepreneurship@UBC is guided by its mandate of supporting undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, faculty, staff and alumni to develop as innovators, and helping them to build transformational ventures that positively shape the economy and society. Cultivating real world intrapreneurial and entrepreneurial leadership, entrepreneurship@UBC advances innovation from the ground up, ranging from student entrepreneurial development to end-to-end venture creation through its incubator and HATCH Accelerator programs.

— Kari LaMotte, Managing Director, entrepreneurship@UBC

Building Ventures by Mobilizing Knowledge The entrepreneurship@UBC venture building journey spans from ideation to launch and funding. The program inspires, educates and builds entrepreneurial innovators, giving founders a platform to validate their venture through incubator streams that transform research knowledge in areas such as health science innovations, climate solutions and marketplace disruptions into tangible companies that can drive global change. Venture teams are guided through company building by industry thought leaders, which is further elevated by the active participation of over 300 mentors and subject matter experts from Vancouver’s innovation community.

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ventures ready to scale. Bringing together a spectrum of university expertise, high tech spaces and industry knowledge, the program creates unparalleled experiences for UBC entrepreneurs. Ventures have access to 10,500+ square feet of office and makerspace, that houses state-of-the-art infrastructure and equipment to take their cutting-edge innovations to the next level. Founders are further supported by established Entrepreneurs in Residence (EiRs) who bring a wealth of industry expertise, broad professional networks and real-world business acumen to their venture building journey.

The program accelerates ventures who are innovating in their industries, like ChopValue, a sustainable company manufacturing beautiful home decor and furniture from recycled chopsticks through their unique microfactory franchise model, set to expand worldwide. Similarly, alumni Aspect Biosystems is pioneering in the microfluidic 3D bioprinting of human tissues, having leveraged entrepreneurship@UBC’s venture building expertise to translate their research into an enduring biotechnology company, that is now an integral part of the province’s thriving life sciences industry.

Critical to early stage company building, entrepreneurship@UBC’s Concept Fund and the UBC Seed Fund help to get promising startups off the ground and close the gap in funding between basic research and investable ventures. These funds breathe life into these ventures, giving them the financial runway while in R&D to transform and flourish outside of the university into solutions that generate social, economic, environmental, cultural and health impacts.

In collaboration with UBC’s Institute for Computing, Information and Cognitive Systems (ICICS), the HATCH Accelerator program is for

Venture graduates of entrepreneurship@UBC evolve into leaders altering the foundation of our world, creating solutions that challenge the status quo. HATCH Accelerator alumni CarboNet is changing the way we treat water, working with entrepreneurship@UBC to build a company around their novel NanoNet technology that sustainably and economically removes contaminants from water. Likewise, alumni Acuva is empowering customers globally to produce safe drinking water through their advanced UV-LED disinfection systems with microbial disinfection rates up to 99.9%, eliminating the need for plastic water bottles. Through venture building programs and multidisciplinary collaborations, entrepreneurship@UBC unlocks innovation to create the next wave of companies and leaders that grow to make a meaningful impact worldwide. 199

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Our Network Effect As part of the Innovation UBC network within the Vice-President, Research and Innovation (VPRI) portfolio, entrepreneurship@UBC continues UBC’s proud track record of translating research discoveries into impacts. The Innovation UBC network helps researchers and their partners to generate these impacts by guiding them through the most effective channels including venture building; patenting and licensing; or forming new partnerships with industry, government, non-profit or community networks. Through these channels entrepreneurship@UBC alongside UBC’s University Industry Liaison Office, Innovation Partnerships and Knowledge Exchange teams support the creation of new technologies, services, treatments and policies. entrepreneurship@UBC has facilitated cross-disciplinary partnerships across the university’s Vancouver and Okanagan campuses with the Sauder School of Business, the School of Biomedical Engineering, the Faculty of Applied Science, the Faculty of Science, the Irving K Barber Learning Centre, Ecoscope, ICICS, and more. These partnerships help to connect early stage companies with the diverse range of expertise and resources critical to their success. At the provincial level, it has built robust partnerships with InnovateBC, Genome BC, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, Triumf, and the BC Tech Association, amongst others, centralizing entrepreneurship@UBC as a key driver and contributor to Vancouver’s innovation community. B.C.is a thriving innovation ecosystem home to thousands of entrepreneurs and startups ready to change the world: entrepreneurship@UBC is at the forefront of this innovation, leveraging UBC’s top talent, research and resources to create phenomenal experiences and outcomes for UBC entrepreneurs. 200

entrepreneurship@UBC info@entrepreneurship.ubc.ca ubcentrepreneur UBCentrepreneur entrepreneurship@UBC

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BCIT is empowering people, shaping BC, and inspiring global progress When it was founded over 50 years ago, the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) consisted of a single campus in Burnaby, BC. Today, it has grown to five campuses, 50,000 students from around the world, and 190,000 alumni globally. As BCIT has expanded, so too has the breadth of its vision and depth of its mission to provide a world-class applied education that connects students with industry, to strengthen and improve the lives of those who work and learn at BCIT.

BCIT introduced an Indigenous Vision to address the legacies of colonization, remove barriers, and create paths to support success for Indigenous learners. Pictured is Kory Wilson, Executive Director, Indigenous Initiatives and Partnerships, BCIT. The Institute has recently introduced a set of ambitious new commitments through its Strategic Plan, focused on being a people-focused organization that delivers future-proof applied education, amplifying impact through globally relevant connections. Future-proof applied education. With an ever-evolving catalogue of programs that includes certificate, diploma, bachelor’s, and master’s degrees, BCIT has trained generations of thinkers and doers in BC and abroad. Leveraging a long history of experience in delivery applied education, team-based cohort learning models, and Part-time Studies, the Institute is a proven leader in flexible, interdisciplinary, and workintegrated learning. Industry expertise from across the public and private sectors help shape labs, lectures, projects, and practicums, whether they’re delivered in the classroom or online; it’s a point of great pride, though no surprise, that BCIT degree graduates have an employment rate of 98%. People-focused organization. The Institute is also committed to moving towards a progressive and inclusive future—one where Indigeneity is ingrained in the Institute’s curricula, philosophies, and practices. All of BCIT’s campuses are located on the traditional lands of the Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), səl̓ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), and xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations. With Truth as the foundation, Indigenization as the action, and Reconciliation as the goal, BCIT introduced its Indigenous Vision to address the legacies of colonization, ensure systemic change, remove barriers, and create pathways to success for Indigenous learners.

Since 1964, BCIT has been leveraging work-integrated learning opportunities to train the experts, innovators, and professionals who shape BC and inspire global progress. 201

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The BCIT Health Sciences Centre will feature innovative healthcare simulation labs equipped with the latest virtual and augmented reality technology like the HoloLens used by this Nursing student.

BCIT students hone their skills in this “living lab” of working solar panels on the rooftop of the Burnaby Campus Gateway building.

Sustainability can be summarized as enabling people to live socially just lives within ecological limits; an ecocity is a human settlement modelled on the self-sustaining, resilient structure and function of natural ecosystems. BCIT is bringing these concepts to life through its Sustainability Vision, launched on the 50th anniversary of Earth Day to embed environmental stewardship and restoration into the Institute’s policies, practices, and culture. BCIT has a long history of spurring innovation through technology, health, sustainability, entrepreneurship, and skilled trades. This will continue in the years ahead as the Institute—with its world-class students and world-changing alumni—will serve as a leader, mentor, role model, and collaborator in addressing the challenges shaping the 21st century. BCIT by the numbers: Over 50,000 students enrolled annually

Ecological Restoration students gain hands-on experience in Guichon Creek on the Burnaby Campus.

Five campuses with over 300 programs Approximately 31,530 part-time students Approximately 1,800 Indigenous students

At the same time, the transformation of the BCIT Burnaby Campus has begun with the groundbreaking of the Health Sciences Centre that will set a new standard for sustainability and wellbeing. This state-of-theart facility—featuring innovative labs, high-tech simulators, and flexible spaces for collaboration—is being designed to produce net-zero carbon emissions. BCIT is reimagining the Burnaby Campus as a community of learning spaces that will foster collaboration, research, and innovation. Further development will include four more new leading-edge spaces: Trades & Technology Campus; a Centre for Ecological Restoration & Climate Adaptation; a Centre for Education, Entrepreneurship, Innovation & Research; and a Student Hub.

Over 6,500 international students from 120 countries Approximately 2,630 employees Over 190,000 alumni Source: BCIT Institutional Reports 2019/20, 2019 BC Student Outcomes Report

Globally relevant connections. BCIT is leading the charge when it comes to environmental stewardship, conservation, and social responsibility. The Institute launched the Ecocity Centre of Excellence—a living lab that will help the world explore and realize new possibilities for sustainable communities.

British Columbia Institute of Technology

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Cultivating Youth Innovation

of learning and exploration through the Innovators Academy resource platform and Crash Courses. The acceleration programs are for young entrepreneurs looking to build their ideas through the Foundations incubator or grow their startups through the Labs or Boost accelerator, receiving the network, support, coaching, and access to skills to create real economic impact. LOI is focused on democratizing entrepreneurship for youth - to ensure all young people have access to this powerful mindset and the ability to contribute to our economy. The programming is innovative in approach, digitally delivered and co-developed with youth and educators.

League of Innovators (LOI) mission is to empower youth and youthled businesses, to champion the dynamic contribution and forwardthinking of young entrepreneurs and build futureproof skills through an entrepreneurial mindset and a social purpose. Since 2017, LOI has focused on creating inclusive programming for all youth regardless of geography, gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic position. LOI ensures that all the programs are accessible, barrier-free, and focus on passion vs academic standing with no youth left behind. League of Innovators was founded in Vancouver by Ryan Holmes, Chairman and Co-founder of Hootsuite, with the goal to shorten the path to success for Canadians aged 15 to 25 and amplify their impact as innovators. Since the launch in 2017, LOI has built and launched five programs - Innovators Academy, Crash Courses, Foundations, Labs, and Boost, with the first two focused on discovery and the remaining on acceleration. The discovery programs support youth from the early days

LOI strongly believes that supporting young people to reach their potential and build the future they want to live in is more essential than ever before. Young people should not be left on the sidelines but rather given the tools, skills, and support to contribute meaningfully to the Canadian economy and create a positive impact throughout society. LOI works with 203

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a diverse group of young people from across Canada who are creating solutions at lightning speed to problems that are growing and evolving. For young people business is not just about profitability, but also providing value to a future that they are part of and deeply invested in. Young people are capable of developing new ideas, tangible solutions to personal, economic and social issues — if given the agency to do so. League of Innovators +1-778-628-6264 manisha@theleagueofinnovators.com League of Innovators LeagueofInnovators LOIUnplugged LOI - League of Innovators

Going forward, League of Innovators is excited to continue building, growing and nurturing a community of conscious youth entrepreneurs while committing to creating spaces where youth of all races, ethnicities, abilities, and genders see entrepreneurship as a viable career option and feel welcome, supported, and heard. Youth are at the forefront of change and it’s our job to advocate for them and fuel their drive to create a better world.

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FLIK is on a mission to accelerate the female founders of today and elevate the female founders of tomorrow, globally. Hi! I’m Michelle Kwok, a lifelong Vancouverite and the Co-Founder & CEO of FLIK, a platform connecting female founders/leaders and ambitious female students via meaningful apprenticeships. Founders get helping hands on their businesses from ambitious talent and apprentices gain invaluable career-relevant experience, skills training, and mentorship under established female leaders. FLIK wasn’t always on my planned path though. I personally come from a very traditional Asian immigrant family. My family moved to Canada from Hong Kong so that my brother and I could have a better future, more freedom, financial stability, and higher standards of living. Naturally, I grew up thinking there were 4 options for a successful career: doctor, lawyer, engineer, and accountant. So from a young age, I narrowed myself into the medical path, like I had blinders on. I spent my summers performing research in neuroimaging at UBC or paediatric gastroenterology at BC Children’s Hospital. I learned several languages to help with patient relations, ran for student leadership, and did everything designed to put me on a straight track to medical school. Then I went to Western University for my medical science degree. There, for the first time, I realized that there are WAY more than 4 options for a career. My extracurricular interests expanded from videography to branding to entrepreneurship. Between rigorous study sessions, I helped launch a digital marketing agency, worked for Bumble, developed sport business partnerships with MLSE, created events challenging GenZ 205

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strategists to take on the world’s biggest issues with Headspace, and began to build a personal brand that opened up many non-medical opportunities. I had a feeling my impact could expand beyond medicine.

break the glass ceiling without mentors they deeply resonate with. FLIK is ground zero for young female innovators to be exposed to entrepreneurship, be mentored to their fullest potential, and get the resources and network they need to excel as future change-makers. For the first time, FLIK is creating a space to connect entrepreneurial women across the world, accelerating the female founders of today while preparing the female founders of tomorrow for success.

I took the plunge to finish my degree early, applied and was accepted into Next 36, one of the top entrepreneurship programs for young founders in Canada, and eventually launched FLIK. Walking into the world of entrepreneurship, it was evident that female founders and mentors were not the easiest to come by. My Next 36 roommate, (and now Co-Founder) Ravina, and I decided to create FLIK as a media company initially so that we could coffee chat female founders.

We’ve only just taken the first step and there’s so much more to go. We have a vision to be THE comprehensive resource for entrepreneurial women globally, especially those in rural and underrepresented communities. Women have the power to jumpstart communities and it’s time the world recognizes it. Beyond globally expanding the apprenticeship portal, FLIK is determined to launch a global femalefounder-focused accelerator, then build out a venture arm to inject capital into change-making technologies.

The original plan was to get to know prominent female visionaries by interviewing them and sharing their inspiring stories on our platform – we incorporated FLIK and created a website within 48 hours, and soon had the opportunity to interview distinguished women like Samantha Barry, Editor-in-Chief of Glamour Magazine, and were even invited to cover a talk by Michelle Obama!

Ravina and I were never meant to be here. We followed our path, discovered a gap that we knew we could bridge, that we were passionate about, and pursued it with an unexplainable, blazing self-confidence. We are extremely lucky and grateful that we have been able to show that young, diverse founders are able to create an impact.

Their stories posted on FLIK received responses from young women across the world, all asking one common question: how could they connect with amazing female leaders themselves. FLIK morphed -- we relaunched as a global portal allowing ambitious young women to apprentice under top female leaders. Applications poured in from beyond North America; women from Rwanda, Lebanon, Bangladesh, Estonia, Germany, and the Netherlands, among others, have come to FLIK to boost their careers and companies. The community has now grown to over 5000 game changers from over 47 countries around the world, and we are seeing the tangible impact we are creating by connecting diverse, talented women with mentorship opportunities that we had struggled to find not even a year earlier.

It is more important than ever that young Canadians are encouraged to pursue non-traditional paths. It is up to our generation to break down barriers, provide diverse perspectives, and advance all communities forward, especially through innovative entrepreneurship.

It’s crazy to think that we are the world’s first female-focused apprenticeship portal. Countless times, we have had our community members ask us: “How has this NEVER been created before? This is actually life-changing.” Just goes to show, innovation is possible at any time, anywhere, by anyone.

FLIK Michelle Kwok michelle@weareflik.com weareflik mkwoks michellebkwok

Even in 2020 there are countless industries where we see gender disparities and there are rarely opportunities for young women to

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Build your Future

After finishing my last season of soccer and in my last semester of university, I founded GrantMe at age 22, based on my own experience of winning scholarships and avoiding student debt. I started doing presentations across British Columbia sharing my own experiences of graduating debt free and realized that there were thousands of students that didn’t have the resources required to understand their financial options.

GrantMe is a platform that provides students with the tools and skills to create a fulfilling future. Thousands of students use GrantMe to win scholarships, get into their top choice school and access high paying student jobs. As captain of the UBC women’s soccer team, I led the Thunderbirds to the 2015 national championship while laying the foundation for GrantMe. I’d earned a scholarship to play soccer, but started applying to additional awards to cover my housing, books and food. 207

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In many ways, it is our use of technology that has differentiated us in the industry. Most traditional education consulting companies require students to come to an office. We have built an online community that has allowed us to reach students in remote and rural communities so that they can access the same opportunities. Our scholarship matching app has aggregated scholarship data in a way that allows us to work with students in every province. Education is outdated in many ways and our goal at GrantMe is to have students access the education and career of their dreams without putting themselves into debt. We are fundamentally changing the way in which students think about their education.

Students using GrantMe’s platform can create a profile based on their grade point average, volunteer experience, study interest and other unique criteria. and will instantly get matched to hundreds of scholarships. The average student that uses our web application will match to over $500,000 in scholarships. GrantMe offers a free version of this web application in order to make the platform accessible to all students. It also offers a paid premium version that has higher quality matching available and allows students to get their scholarship and university essays edited and scored against previous winning essays. The student debt crisis is a $26 billion dollar problem in Canada that we are committed to tackling. We discovered that most students do not win scholarships because they simply do not apply. And they do not apply because they do not believe they can win. So we’ve gone after this problem headlong, and we’ve built a technology enabled platform to serve students in building their dream career without debt. We are the only company in Canada that has combined technology and service equally to give students the support that they need in financing their education. 208

Our growth trajectory is unique given that we have bootstrapped the business thus far. We have a total network of over 50,000 students across Canada who have been able to access our community. Our team has grown to a team of 40 and we have grown our revenue by 300% year over year since 2017. We have grown into a profitable business and are addressing an important need. It’s a perfect combination of business and social impact and I’m really lucky to have hit that in my first business venture. I am also a firm believer that youth can start profitable businesses without taking on debt. This is exactly the same as my belief that students can go to school without debt. Looking back, even though this was my first business and I started it while still a student, I watched both my parents operate small businesses which I believe unconsciously built my own entrepreneurial spirit.

GrantMe madison@grantme.ca Madison Guy

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CHAPTER 18

BANKING, FUNDERS & INVESTORS

“No idea is so outlandish that it should not be considered.” — WINSTON CHURCHILL

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WUTIF’S SWEET SPOT IS MAKING INVESTMENTS IN STARTUP SEED ROUNDS IN ALL INDUSTRY SECTORS

for investors that decide not to cash in and rollover their investment is that they can again benefit from the 30% refundable tax credit.

WUTIF CAPITAL (VCC) INC is an angel fund that invests in early seed stage startups in all technology sectors. WUTIF is an acronym for Western Universities Technology Innovation Fund. Don’t let the name fool you – WUTIF will consider investing in any promising company with innovative intellectual property.

WUTIF’s share value has grown from $10 to over $22. There have been some notable winners in the portfolio: Zymeworks Inc., a company committed to the development of best in class antibody and protein therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases went public on the NYSE in March of 2017 and in 2020 traded as high as US$52.75 – 22 times WUTIF’s cost. Daiya Foods, a vegan dairy products company, paid our $2.8 million on a $100K investment. Neurio Inc., a home energy monitoring company, paid out $3.6 million on a $160K investment. Agreement Express, a document processing company, paid out $1.4M on a $210K investment.

The Company was formed in 2003 and since then has invested more than $10 million in over 100 companies. WUTIF is authorized by the British Columbia government to issue a refundable tax credit of 30% to its investors. Although it is a private company, it also qualifies as a TFSA and RRSP eligible investment. WUTIF’s investors are angel investors, many of which co-invest in WUTIF’s investees. For investors, what makes WUTIF unique is that it is an evergreen fund. This means that when new investors buy shares, they are buying into an existing portfolio of companies thereby providing them with immediate diversification across many technologies. As investees mature and provide liquidity to WUTIF through a M&A or IPO transaction, WUTIF’s investors are offered share redemption opportunities. Another very unique feature

For entrepreneurs, WUTIF will often lead a seed round by preparing a term sheet and finding additional co-investors. WUTIF may also help with finding directors and advisors for its investee companies. WUTIF often invests in subsequent rounds and makes introductions to institutional investors. 211

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WUTIF is closely affiliated with three angel organizations: VANTEC, Vancouver’s premiere angel investor network, the Angel Forum Society which hosts angel conferences, and the Keiretsu Forum, a global network of angel investors that typically invest in post-seed investment rounds. WUTIF is managed by Mike Volker, the fund’s largest shareholder, who has been an active angel investor since the mid-1980s after taking his computer terminals company, Volker-Craig Ltd, public on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The Company’s board of directors approve all investment decisions. The directors are John Robertshaw, Kirk Hamilton, Bruce Schmidt and Gordon Skene who are also shareholders in the fund.

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eFund helps investors achieve consistently higher returns and more exits by investing in promising BC startups that solve global problems. eFund’s innovative team approach We find and invest in companies across the province that have developed unique solutions that solve valuable problems with a large global market opportunity. With your investment in eFund you quickly build a diversified portfolio of angel investments and you have the option to join our team as an active investor. By investing via teams, we are able to do better due diligence, by leveraging the domain expertise of our investors and by providing post-investment advice and connections to the companies we invested in.

VANTEC Angel Network Vantec Angel Network provides a strong deal flow of vetted early-stage seed investment opportunities to angel investors and angel investments funds such as eFund. It also provides angel investors and startups with a vibrant community to network, collaborate, learn and share knowledge for our fast-growing entrepreneurial and technology ecosystem. Blessed with incredible natural beauty, majestic mountains, oceanfront views and a temperate climate, Vancouver is fairly close to paradise. If you’re an entrepreneur or investor, it’s even better. There’s a full slate of funding resources, an integrated startup ecosystem and a government that helps startups succeed. Vancouver, Canada is fast-becoming a startup mecca rivalling Silicon Valley. “We’re fully-networked with the global angel investment community,” says Thealzel Lee, Founder and President of the angel investment fund eFund, and Co-Founder of VANTEC which was founded in 1999 by well213

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ent angel investm esident of the Pr d an ork r w de et Foun TEC Angel N Thealzel Lee, er of the VAN nd ou -F Co d fund eFund, an

respected advisor, entrepreneur and investor Mike Volker. “We’re a gateway to the Asia Pacific market and a global beacon for entrepreneurs and investors to come together for consistent, highgrade returns and business success.”

About eFund Founded in 2011, eFund is British Columbia’s angel investment fund focused on achieving consistently-higher returns. Stocked with over 140 seasoned multi-faceted business experts - including marketing, finance, business development, operations - who are focused on growing entrepreneurial enterprises, the fund sources technology companies from accelerators and networks throughout the province. It invests in companies across the province with proven technology and business opportunities, with potential to scale rapidly and impact the global economy. eFund was founded by Thealzel Lee - senior partner and commercialization strategy consultant at Rocket Builders - following on the heels of founding prior angel investment funds focused on the life and health sciences. 214

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“Of course, there are other angel groups in the ecosystem,” says Lee. For any investor who wants a preview of a startup company, VANTEC is the first stop. If they are further along in the company building process, VANTEC will refer them to their partners. The angel network holds 11 events a year and 5 themed events for sectors such as life sciences, ICT, medtech, agri-food / tech and more. “This year’s Open Network was a great success as it featured many of the local accelerators,” Lee says.

“We are solidly Seed/Late Seed investors,” says Lee.

Vancouver Ecosystem Benefits

“We can help companies develop robust business models so they are ready for institutional capital - the next step in their financial journey and scaling efforts.”

Like a good ecosystem partner, VANTEC also promotes companies to other networks. There is a group of angel groups in the Pacific Northwest that meets every month to promote companies. Since 2011, VANTEC has also coordinated local operations in Vancouver for the global Keiretsu Forum, and if an investor becomes a member of Keiretsu Forum Northwest, s/he receives a bundled membership to VANTEC.

Industry-agnostic eFund is an innovator due to its team investment model. Since 2011 eFund has screened 1,020 investment opportunities; facilitated 102 follow up meetings with entrepreneurs and 53 due diligence reports. eFund invested in 32 different companies over 4 funds with 6 exits. The collaborative approach also enables better due diligence and the ability to leverage investors’ industry expertise, and the provision of valuable post- investment advice to portfolio companies.

There is a great deal of flexibility for eFund investors. Individual angels can invest in eFund, invest money from their own pocket or both. This comes in handy, since many companies pitch at other angel networks. A case in point: BarrelWise.com, a tech company that focuses on the art and science of winemaking, presented at one of the demo days, and caught the attention of interested investors. As it continued pitching at different events, the company reached eFund, and secured an investment. It’s now a rising star.

The approach is working. eFund has already seen returns as high as 32.70% IRR. In 2019, the fund invested $1.4M in 16 companies to build a diversified portfolio of angel investments with high returns. There’s more: eFund is an eligible investment for government savings programs (Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) & Tax Free Savings Accounts (TFSA)) eFund investments also qualify for BC’s generous 30% tax credit.

It’s clear that Lee and her team have created a juggernaut in the region. “It’s a whole team effort,” she says. “The sum is greater than the parts.” Frank Leffelaar is a huge fan of eFund and VANTEC. The Vancouver investor and startup advisor, hails originally from the Netherlands. He says eFund enables investors to de-risk their investment and participate as little or as much as they want, with all of the safety and protection.

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VANTEC Angel Network Inc. Legal Name: VANTEC Angel Network Inc. info@vantec.ca 604-839-5388 VANTEC_Networks vantecangelnetwork VANTEC Angel Network

“We have 140 other investors to lean on, and get advice. They can benefit from the shared experience, tools and resources. There are opportunities for new and expert investors to learn what they don’t know, and learn the ropes of startup investing.” “There is real value to the VANTEC Angel Network and the angel funds working together. It’s a winning formula,” says Leffelaar. “It is super helpful for investors to have knowledge and access to a foundational investment”.

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They can then form their own group to add an extra $100K or more, he says. It’s very helpful to have many funds in the room”. Moreover, BC investors actively worked with US investors to bring in more deals and foreign investors, noting one deal where 62 investors signed up.

eFund Angel Investment Fund (eFund): Note: eFund is a separate entity from VANTEC; it is also the same for WUTIF (a separate entity from VANTEC too). Legal name: VANTEC Entrepreneurs (VCC) inc. dba eFund E_Fund in/e-fund-82240039

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“Canada is a great value to foreign investors. Our currency is lower and company valuation is lower”, says Leffelaar. “Canadian companies do business globally. We can give them valuable help and connections they need to succeed in a globally-competitive market.”

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Investing in People Creating the Future communities. 7 Gate mindfully draws its members from a diverse mix of ethnicities, genders, and educational backgrounds, all of whom were immigrants or refugees themselves. With stories of struggle, facing many barriers, we realized that immigrants and people of colour are not only underrepresented in technology but also within the world of venture capital.

7 Gate Ventures is a family office venture capital firm, based in Vancouver, Canada, and Silicon Valley. We invest in early-stage startups, particularly those in the Seed stage. We look for innovative companies along the technology vertical, with a focus on Enterprise Software, Marketplace, HealthTech and Medical Devices. Our mission is to be the first partner to identify and fund technical founders to help them scale and grow to a billion-user company.

Shahab Samimi, a Senior Associate at 7 Gate, recalls a time landing as an infant in Canada as a refugee, fleeing a 7 year Iran-Iraq war. Stories of how his family had nothing but a pair of luggages used as pillows, and jackets as blankets, with no more than 3 servings of food per day at the

Built on the promise of Diversity and Inclusion, and an effort to provide the necessary fuel for growth among immigrant and minority

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emerging technologies. Programs are free of charge for eligible students and developers. Before every cohort, CTOs or tech department managers will gather to comment on the needs of their business and what the talent pool lacks. Some of whom even take part in designing and teaching the courses. The Academy’s talent development program is built on three pillars: 1) To help developers add another skill to their toolkit. 2) Give companies access to a great talent pool and empower the local ecosystem. 3) Potential investment in an idea that comes out of the program, now or in the future for local Venture funds.

YMCA that they would ration, gathering cutlery and plates for future use. This has shaped Shahab’s resilience and vigour, and why 7 Gate has a natural empathy for the grit and drive within immigrant entrepreneurs.

As Shahab Samimi said: it all starts with recognizing the privilege we have, and how we dismiss others and their ideas. Including diversity early on, especially in the founding team, is critical to seeing the world with a broader more inclusive point of view.

We realized there is a gap for an institutional seed stage funding within the Canadian ecosystem. We aim to remove the stigma against immigrant minority communities and help diverse, educated, but underrepresented and underestimated entrepreneurs. We invest in a rising new generation of immigrant founders, placing more diversity and minorities in portfolio companies and boards. We envision an inclusive world where entrepreneurs have the support, capital and guidance they need to thrive. Part of our corporate social responsibility is aligned with 7 Gate Academy. A Vancouver-based training academy targeting students, graduates, developers, and business owners looking to upgrade their skills in

7 Gate Ventures Shahab Samimi shahab@7gate.vc +1-604-518-8308 7gate-ventures 7gatevc

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CHAPTER 19

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“ The optimist is right. The pessimist is right. Point of view is the determining factor in the life of each. ” — RALPH WALDO TRINE

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Intelligent Office Vancouver: We champion the needs of the modern business owner.

We are determined to deliver happiness and freedom to our customers by providing flexible workplace solutions. Whether you’re looking for an executive office suite, meeting room, phone answering service, or virtual office solution, we can help you.

Snow-capped mountain peaks, sparkling turquoise waters, a vibrant and diverse business community, world-class restaurants, and galleries… is there anything Vancouver doesn’t have? At Intelligent Office of Vancouver (West Broadway), we could not be more excited to call this bustling city home. Our West Broadway offices are just minutes from downtown, and walking distance to restaurants, shops, galleries, and Granville Island. They feature spectacular views of downtown Vancouver, False Creek, and the North Shore mountains. If you’ve been looking for the ideal location to run your business, get work done, network with other professionals, and more, you’re going to love joining our talented community of innovators.

Intelligent Office of Vancouver provides a new, smarter, and more costeffective way of working and doing business. Thousands of our clients have grown their business and reaped benefits, including higher sales, better customer service, reduced overhead costs, and improved work/ life balance. We are more than a virtual office; we become an extension of your business and help you with the routine so you can focus on the important. All of our a la carte services are customized to your business needs, so you pay only for what you need. 221

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Our facility offers:

A prestigious business address 24-hour access to offices, meeting rooms, and a private locked mailbox Fully furnished office suites with windows Hourly/day offices with windows Small and large conference rooms available with whiteboard/TV Professional virtual receptionist service Robust call center capabilities Appointment scheduling, customer intake forms, estimates, answer FAQs, etc. Mail/package handling, notification, forwarding, scanning, and consultation Free Wi-Fi Internet Voicemail (VM) box, transaction box, VM notifications, and VM-to-email BW/color copy, scan, print, and fax capabilities Kitchen/break room with free coffee

In addition to connecting calls, Intelligent Office’s receptionists can also be core parts of a business’s sales and customer service strategies. They can describe and answer questions about the services offered by the business, populate customer intake forms, schedule appointments, take orders and payments, and perform many other personalized call answering functions. By performing such routine tasks, they allow business owners and professionals to focus on their work and gain flexibility. Clients who have deployed Intelligent Office’s virtual receptionist services have experienced higher sales and greater customer satisfaction, and at a fraction of the cost of a full-time staff. Call us today at 778-371-3400 or contact us online to schedule a tour so that we can explore together how we can help your business grow!

600 - 1285 West Broadway Vancouver, B.C. V6H 3X8 vancouver.info@intelligentoffice.com +1-778-371-3400

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Building community and collaboration in Vancouver

What we offer

Suite Genius evolved out of a desire to create a fresh and creative place to work closer to home and avoid the often stressful commute to the downtown core. We are your neighbourhood coworking space for entrepreneurs and freelancers looking for increased productivity, collaboration and a sense of community. Our locations are in the heart of their respective neighbourhoods, Kitsilano and Mt. Pleasant in Vancouver, and are close to major transit routes. Both offer convenient alternatives to a commute downtown if one of our hoods also happens to be yours too!

We provide all the amenities for a productive and comfortable workday including meeting rooms, kitchen (coffee!!), lounges, printers, and highspeed internet so that you can focus on getting work done, and more of it. We strive to foster a community where our members have opportunities to collaborate, network and support each other. A community where we learn and grow from each other, celebrate our individual and collective successes and have some fun along the way. Our weekly happy hours have been a tradition since we opened and are the greatest community builders!

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Membership Our memberships are flexible, ranging from part-time hot-desking memberships to private office spaces for up to 8 people. This attracts a wide range of people, all working in different industries on unique projects. With so many talented members, you can often find what or who you’re looking for over a casual chat while making a coffee in the kitchen! Members also have the ability to work from either location which leads to even more collaboration amongst the community.

Event Space In addition to our coworking space, Suite Genius also offers a private event space for corporate events, meetings, team workshops or retreats. The space is centrally located just off Cambie Street in Mt. Pleasant, self-contained, offering modern design with a full kitchen, lounge area and patio. Clients can make this space their own with flexible tables and seating and all the equipment needed for professional presentations, training and workshops.

SUITE GENIUS coworking & shared workspaces in Vancouver 202 - 1965 West 4th AVE / Kitsilano 300 - 225 West 8th AVE / Mt Pleasant

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CHAPTER 20

HUMAN RESOURCES

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“Take risks. Failure is a stepping stone to success.” — ARIANNA HUFFINGTON

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Optimizing team performance and innovation through data driven insights and human focused strategies.

The best business outcomes are achieved through high performance learning environments. Organizations look to teams to accomplish key goals but often only measure, track and improve the “above the water” KPIs. The performance gains that can be achieved through developing psychological safety as a critical focus is the iceberg of opportunity sitting right below the surface. It’s people that achieve those outcomes – psychological safety is the next frontier to realize that potential. We formed Aristotle Performance by starting with the quote “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”. Providing everyone with the opportunity to love their team and win together is our focus; by encouraging team and leadership growth focused on increased psychological safety as a key outcome, we know we can get there. It’s a win on both sides of the equation--when you provide an environment for your team that encourages high performance and care for the whole person, employees produce more and can have better lives.

team outcomes, and business outcomes. The need for progress is clear and we are bringing new life to an old concept. Rooted in our human biology, psychological safety is part of our fight-or-flight response; connected to our deep understanding that it is safer to be part of a group. This tends to make people short-sighted and myopic, treading on eggshells or hesitant to simply speak up in an effort to not appear foolish or disagree with the group. This short-sightedness can cause massive setbacks for business. Even worse, those costs and setbacks often go un-measured. The road to Aristotle Performance was not easy, but it was necessary. I worked in several physically and psychologically challenging and often harmful environments that were considered normal to those industries, but would be seen as abusive elsewhere. Those environments were tough and the people were tough but it developed a resilience in me that is uncommon and prepared me well for entrepreneurship. As a result I needed to commit significant effort to recover and to adopt a new more abundant mindset. That journey led me to my life’s work creating environments that empower and enable people while ensuring that those outcomes allow businesses to thrive. For me the challenge and the joy comes in complexity and the simplicity of tying those two goals together.

Our clients have come from several sectors including Government Institutions and the Financial Services Sector and we are expanding within other sectors including Tech, Pharmaceutical, Cryptocurrency and Consulting Agencies where innovation is necessary for survival. The people we work with see the connection between individual wellbeing, 227

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In our modern knowledge-based economy and corporate environment it is just as difficult for people to feel valued and to create an environment of high performance. As I became a certified coach and SuccessFinder practitioner and started focusing on leadership development, my real world experiences became invaluable. My experience as a leader, seeing the value of team, and watching talent go to waste in negative or unproductive environments made the desire to focus on psychological safety both practical and personal. Now we are growing our capacity to reach more people through education, awareness, and capacity building. The need is growing rapidly as the world’s workforce is becoming increasingly self aware and the race for greater innovation in knowledge based work continues to heat up. High performance depends upon the sharing of information and ideas, therefore we know that no psychological safety means no high performance. In order to adapt, businesses need to create an environment that allows teams to interact and share. Operating in synergy with our team development, we know that not everyone is a natural leader, but that leaders should also have the opportunity to grow alongside their teams. My goal is to change the narrative around what it means to work on teams and what it means to be a leader. I believe in a world where people can leave work more empowered than when they showed up is possible and I want to be at the leading edge of that shift.

The environments I worked in and my experiences cover a broad range. This was important as it taught me that regardless of the work, how you treat people is the most important element and that environment determines outcome every time. Cadets at a young age demonstrated amazing leadership and mentorship but also displayed toxic leadership and an often violent environment, to life as an arborist and tree faller, multiple business owner, and eventually the fast-paced live production industry I learned and saw firsthand the value of a team with a common mission. Leading well over 300 teams built my own confidence as a leader but also increased my empathy for leaders. Far from the corporate arenas I work in today, these often toxic environments allowed me to witness how people can slowly, over long periods of time lose their sense of self worth.

Aristotle Performance Neil Pretty: neil@aristotleperformance.com

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Building IT teams with ease posting and praying for the right candidate to come through after a few weeks – this proactive approach to recruitment would offer a pool of candidates curated specifically to her needs, available 24/7, making her recruitment headache disappear.

TalentMarketplace exists to help our clients – IT project leaders, like CTOs, PMO Directors, IT Managers – hire better resources faster than any other platform on the market. For project leaders, staffing is a pain. It takes away from their day-to-day work, and often requires jumping through a lot of processes – building a job description, posting it, waiting for replies, then shortlisting. TalentMarketplace gets them to a shortlist in minutes, rather than weeks or months.

The idea worked – fast forward 5 years, and TalentMarketplace clients are saving 1.5 months on their hiring time, enabling them to capture the value of their projects quicker. Our clients find better talent through us because of our IT project-specific screening processes, hiring 1 in every 2.6 people they interview through TalentMarketplace, twice as effective as the industry average.

Our co-founder, Qaid Jivan, saw this problem firsthand while working as a Sr. Project Analyst in one of Canada’s largest IT Healthcare projects. His role was closely related to monitoring recruitment efforts, and despite having their own in-house recruitment team and access to some of the best external recruitment agencies in the city, the project had dozens of key vacancies several months into the project. Milestones were missed, and the project was perpetually behind schedule.

In some cases, our clients have saved over $400,000 per year using TalentMarketplace to staff dozens of key positions thanks to our volumebased, monthly fee approach. It’s much cheaper and more flexible than building an in-house recruitment team and way cheaper than a recruitment agency (which will charge 20-30% of a candidate’s salary all at once!)…all while hitting speed and quality targets in ways traditional recruitment can’t.

This is a common problem that project leaders know all too well. During his time there, Qaid pitched an idea to his boss: what if she always had candidates available through a pre-interviewed talent pool, curated specifically for this project’s upcoming recruitment needs. Unlike the reactive nature of traditional recruitment – waiting for budget, then

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interviewed Business Analysts, all searchable using the same fields the future website would have. It worked - someone from the talent pool was hired, and the three knew they were on to something. They took this feedback and went a step further. The second iteration was a platform of about 50 candidates, all Business Analysts and Project Coordinators for a small Vancouver-based consultancy which was about to secure a new project. The test was a success, and the three were receiving enough interest from new clients to quit their jobs and start TalentMarketplace full time in 2016.

When Qaid brought the idea to his two future co-founders, the three were aligned on testing the concept extensively before they jumped on it full-time. Steve had completed all three of his CFA exams, held a project management certification, and had a bright future ahead of him in Investment Banking (and comedy writing). Scott Hirsch was a top Salesforce Consultant, former developer, and graded iaido practitioner. They met through Simon Fraser University’s case competition programs, and already knew they could win working together. The bigger question was – did the idea have potential?

This customer-focused, iterative approach took TalentMarketplace to breakeven within 6 months, and enabled us to hit “Ramen Profitability” (the ability to pay rent and eat cheap food) within 10 months. Revenue has more than doubled every year (even during COVID-19), but our approach has not changed at all: making things easier for our clients, one two-week sprint at a time (that’s an Agile joke, if you know, you know).

To figure out if the idea was worth pursuing, Qaid did over 100 coffee interviews with project leaders and prospective candidates to understand their pain and gather feedback. This was in addition to working in the IT project space, and serving on the Board of Directors for the local Project Management Institute chapter. The goal here was to deeply understand the customer, and how to best service them.

TalentMarketplace - DevHub 401 West Georgia St, 6th Floor Vancouver, BC V6B 5A1 info@talentmarketplace.ca +1-778-899-3133 TalentMarketplace

After this, the goal was to test the market. The initial MVP of TalentMarketplace was an excel spreadsheet with a dozen pre-

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two elements creates a foundation for awardwinning corporate cultures both in the office and in the new world of remote work.

Bucketlist Rewards is on a mission to help build the best workplace cultures in the world through the power of rewards and recognition.

Bucketlist was founded by Jason Lindstrom in 2012, as someone who loved inspirational ideas and goal setting, he created the world’s largest goal setting community at bucketlist. org. Soon thereafter, he had companies reach out to him to establish goalsetting programs at their businesses to help stimulate their culture. Jason saw the opportunity and began the journey into corporate rewards and recognition. 2017 was the first official year of business for Bucketlist Rewards, and it has been growing ever since. Bucketlist Rewards is now working with company’s from a variety of industries such as Orlando Magic (NBA), RBC Bank, Chick-fil-A, Walmart, UT Federal Credit Union and many others. We primarily focus on North America, but have customers all over the world. In 2018 our client 1-800-GOT-JUNK was recognized for having the best recognition program in Canada.

Employee recognition is more than just a thank you for doing a good job. It’s something our brains are hardwired to need. When employees recognize one another for great work and embodying core company values, it results in higher productivity and lower voluntary turnover. Public recognition also breaks down departmental silos as it encourages collaboration even if your office is fully remote.

Bucketlist is a next generation rewards and recognition platform. We all know companies want to reward and recognize their staff and there are a ton of companies who are attempting this. But we’re doing this in a totally different way. Our experiences are radically more engaging because they have an impact on employees’ lives. When you really take care of your employees they perform better and stay longer.

Here are some recognition and engagement statistics that might blow your mind:

Bucketlist is an employee rewards and recognition platform that enables companies to better motivate and engage their employees. We make it easy and fun for employees and managers to recognize and reward one another for milestones, achievements, and a job well done.

Employees who receive strong recognition are 33% more likely to be proactively innovating. Companies with recognition programs that are effective at improving employee engagement have 31% lower voluntary turnover. Organizations with highly engaged employees achieve 2x the annual net income of organizations whose employees lag behind on engagement.

Points earned through recognition can be used in the marketplace, where every employee can find rewards or experiences that are meaningful to them, instead of receiving a boring company coffee mug. Utilizing these 231

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recognition, manager spot bonuses, performance rewards, innovation and sales rewards, recognizing employee anniversary and even birthdays. Integrated and Easy to use: the platform is designed to integrate seamlessly with all your favorite tools resulting in higher employee participation. There are dozens of integrations including: - MS Teams, MS Outlook, Office 365 - Gmail, Slack, gSuite - And many other tools and HRIS systems

At Bucketlist, we believe we are the best product in the market to help you utilize employee recognition as a tool for your culture. We proudly offer: An enterprise recognition platform: easily turn features on or off to make the platform the perfect fit for your company. We provide peer

Better rewards: with over 4,000 items in 20 different countries, these are rewards your team actually want; ranging from $5 gift cards, to amazing local and international experiences. Plus, you have the ability to add customized rewards specific to your company, such as bonus day off work, undercover parking spot for a month, swag and more. Ongoing Support: you don’t just receive the platform, you also receive ongoing guidance, support and best practices to ensure your organization implements an effective program your staff loves. We’re on a mission to be known globally as the next generation leader in rewards and recognition, and a brand that inspires others to scratch items off of their Bucketlist.

Bucketlist Rewards Unit 311 – 1930 Pandora Street, Vancouver BC V5L 0C7 +1-833-304-0397

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At VITAY we help recruiters and HR leaders save time, find better candidates and increase employee retention rates. This is done by initiating ad-hoc check-ins to quickly gather new hire and recruiter feedback.

Created in Vancouver, VITAY is a cloud based reference checking software that helps recruiters and HR leaders save time, find better candidates and increase annual revenues. By using VITAY recruiters are able to gain more meaningful insight into their candidates in a much shorter time frame, while leveraging the process to garner a new source of sales leads. With our online solution recruiters can automate their reference checking and feedback processes into just a few clicks and request references in under 60 seconds. This can then be completed in the references’ own time, even outside of business hours, in any country, with an average turnaround time of under 24 hours. By utilizing VITAY, recruiters are saving thousands of hours each year, reducing overall long-term staffing costs and acquiring a new source for candidate and client leads. Ultimately, allowing companies to focus on more important recruitment and sales initiatives, while finding better quality candidates. When finding the perfect candidate, pre-screening is crucial. Thus, VITAY has designed an easy to use, customizable pre-screening tool that filters through candidates and assesses their cognitive ability, emotional intelligence, skills, personality, honesty and integrity, allowing employers to save additional time and ensure quality hires.

Founder and CEO, Poya Farighi has 15 years of experience in sales, product development and recruitment. Poya started his entrepreneurial career in investment management at some of the world’s largest investment funds including: Blackrock, LGIM and State Street Global Advisors. He successfully transitioned into the recruitment sector as a managing partner, helping to expand an international head hunting firm in London, England. In 2016, Poya entered the technology sector by founding a development and consulting firm which focused on innovations in the B2B and B2C sectors. His extensive knowledge and experience within recruitment, technology, product and business development lead him into the development of VITAY in 2018. While experiencing first hand the time consumption and frustration that comes with gathering references, Poya created VITAY to help recruiters be more efficient with their time when searching for the best candidates, while providing candidates with a platform that allows them to have all of their references, work history, and credentials verified and available to be shared instantly with recruiters and employers.

VITAY also offers a Talent Feedback tool which allows recruiters and employers to collect important insights regarding the recruiting process, quality of hire, candidate fit, on boarding issues and candid exit insight.

As a Vancouver based company, VITAY has had access to some of the best development talent and resources, without having the large costs associated with being located in industry leading places such as Silicon 233

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Valley. This allowed the company to run lean in the early days which has ultimately led to the success we’ve seen thus far. Additionally, VITAY has recently been approved as a government vendor. Working with leading health authorities in British Columbia and various municipalities across Canada, VITAY has been successful in assisting their recruiting departments while implementing efficiencies in their hiring processes.

After having nearly 200% growth in revenues this year, which has been a difficult one for all, we are excited to see where next year will take VITAY, as we work on improving and developing our product offerings while expanding our client base across North America and Europe. VITAY hello@vitay.io vitay_io

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PARTICIPATORS INDEX I N N O V A T E

V A N C O U V E R

7Gate Ventures.................................................................................................................................217, 218

Kookai Chaimahawong............................................................................................................................ 30

Acuva.........................................................................................................................................................63, 64

LBC....................................................................................................................................................... 34, 91, 92

Alejandra Brown......................................................................................................................................... 28

League of Innovators.................................................................................................................... 203, 204

Andrew Rae................................................................................................................................................... 33

LNG Studios..........................................................................................................................................99, 100

Appnovation....................................................................................................................................... 181, 182

Mike Volker WUTIF................................................................................................................ 22, 211, 212

Architectural Collective.......................................................................................................152, 153, 154

Mitacs........................................................................................................................................................ 41, 42

Aristotle Performance.................................................................................................................. 227, 228

Monstercat..........................................................................................................................................169, 170

Art Proven...........................................................................................................................................141, 142

Nada Grocery.....................................................................................................................................187, 188

Aspect Biosystems................................................................................................................................71, 72

Nala.........................................................................................................................................................125, 126

A Thinking Ape.................................................................................................................................... 87, 88

New ventures BC............................................................................................................................. 195, 196

BCIT.......................................................................................................................................................201, 202

Njeri Watkins............................................................................................................................................... 24

Boydel Wastewater..............................................................................................................................61, 62

Noram Engineering......................................................................................................................... 117, 118

Bucketlist.............................................................................................................................................231, 232

Novobind................................................................................................................................................. 75, 76

Callie Van Graan......................................................................................................................................... 36

Numinix...............................................................................................................................................137, 138

Choom...................................................................................................................................................127, 128

Ovou....................................................................................................................................................... 171, 172

Clint Undseth................................................................................................................................................ 27

Pawsperity..............................................................................................................................................83, 84

ConAir....................................................................................................................................................115, 116

Perspective Films............................................................................................................................ 103, 104

CoPilot AI............................................................................................................................................ 147, 148

Piranha Games...................................................................................................................................... 89, 90

Core Life Energy................................................................................................................................... 67, 68

Plastic Bank.......................................................................................................................................19, 57, 58

eFund.................................................................................................................................. 213, 214, 215, 216

Portable Electric.................................................................................................................................... 65, 66

Entax...................................................................................................................................................29, 43, 44

PressReader..................................................................................................................................25, 167, 168

entrepreneurship UBC...............................................................................................197, 198, 199, 200

Pure Design......................................................................................................................................... 155, 156

Evolve Biologix.......................................................................................................................................81, 82

Raghwa Gopal Innovate BC.................................................................................15, 16, 47, 48, 49, 50

Excelsense ..........................................................................................................................................119, 120

Recycle Smart........................................................................................................................................ 59, 60

Exvera Communications........................................................................................................ 21, 175, 176

Riaz Meghji.................................................................................................................................................... 23

FLIK.......................................................................................................................................................205, 206

Rtown....................................................................................................................................................179, 180

Fluster Games....................................................................................................................................129, 130

Sherwa...................................................................................................................................................... 93, 94

Foresight...........................................................................................................................................................17

Spocket..................................................................................................................................................133, 134

Freshline............................................................................................................................................... 191, 192

Startup Vancouver................................................................................................................. 31, 32, 51, 52

FTSY...................................................................................................................................................... 145, 146

Stemcell....................................................................................................................................................73, 74

Fundrazr................................................................................................................................................111, 112

Suite Genius.......................................................................................................................................223, 224

Futurpreneur......................................................................................................................................... 53, 54

Talent Market Place....................................................................................................................... 229, 230

GoFor Delivers.................................................................................................................................. 139, 140

The Social Concierge.......................................................................................................................163, 164

GrantMe..............................................................................................................................................207, 208

Tools to Help Innovators in Canada.............................................................................................39, 40

Herschel...............................................................................................................................................123, 124

Tradable Bits.......................................................................................................................................177, 178

Human Biography........................................................................................................................... 161, 162

Trulioo.................................................................................................................................................. 107, 108

Immunomind......................................................................................................................................... 77, 78

Vitay...................................................................................................................................................... 233, 234

Indigenomics Institute.............................................................................................................................. 20

Vopay....................................................................................................................................................109, 110

Integrated Nonotherapeutics.........................................................................................................79, 80

VR/AR Association............................................................................................................................. 97, 98

Intelligent Office...............................................................................................................................221, 222

webnames.................................................................................................................................... 35, 135, 136

JamJar...................................................................................................................................................189, 190

What makes Vancouver awesome...........................................................................7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Jar Audio..............................................................................................................................................183, 184

Whiteboard Law......................................................................................................................................... 26

Karm Sumal (Daily Hive )...................................................................................................... 18, 165, 166

Yactraq..................................................................................................................................................149, 150

Kevington Building......................................................................................................................... 157, 158

Ziva Dynamics...................................................................................................................................101, 102

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InnovationsoftheWorld.com

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“Change yourself and you have done your part in changing the world.” — PARAMAHANSA YOGANANDA