Spring is in full swing

👋 Good morning, and welcome to (or welcome back to) VTJ’s Sunday Briefing: your weekly digest of the city’s innovation news, deals, insights, and more.

If you haven’t heard already, next week’s weekly coffee meetup is cancelled, but we’ll be back at WeWork for the next one on the 16th! That aside, you can find me and the rest of the VTJ team at the many must-attend events happening this month. Plus, you can expect some exclusive stories from a few globally recognized leaders with ties to Vancouver.

Now onto today’s briefing. It’s 940 words: a three-min. read.

-Lisa

🗞️ FROM VTJ

See more stories at VanTechJournal.com 

Did someone send this to you? Subscribe for free and stay connected to Vancouver’s innovation community.

SPONSORED BY THE HIGH TECHNOLOGY FACILITIES GROUP

Vancouver's Tech Office Experts

Connect with The High Technology Facilities Group at CBRE – leaders in sourcing office space for BC’s startup and unicorn companies. The HTFG excels at helping clients find unique workspaces that drive productivity, reflect values, attract top talent, and fuel workplace culture.

Check out how The HTFG can help, or reach out to Alain, Blair, Kevin or Andre from The HTFG.

🤝 FUNDING & DEALS

• Spring Impact Capital, the Vancouver-based VC fund, is looking to invest in early-stage companies with a focus on human and planetary health.

• SheBoot, an investment-ready program for women founders, is now accepting applications for its next cohort where participants will have the chance to receive mentorship and pitch their competition for $300k in prizes.

• New Ventures BC, a non-profit to support local tech startups, is still accepting applications to participate in its next pitch competition for a chance to receive $250,000 in cash and prizes until April 11.

• The federal government plans on investing more than $600 million in the upcoming budget for a series of new homebuilding innovation efforts to scale the development of modular and prefabricated homes in Canada.

SPONSORED BY TOAST

Find Toast-worthy talent

Our partner companies are working with Toast to reduce the gender wage gap by building a more diverse and equitable workplace. Our clients interview an average of 20 Toast candidates per month and 49% hired a FTE or contractor from our talent pool.

🗞️ IN OTHER NEWS

• FORM, a fitness tech company, launched Smart Swim 2, its newest AR swim goggles that deliver real-time metrics, guided workouts, and real-time swim coaching.

• Amit Goldy, a local software engineer, launched Connectcz, a meetup app designed for introverts — which has already gained traction in signups and engagement after being shared on Reddit.

• AgentHub, the Vancouver-based no-code platform to automate repetitive and complex workflows with AI, is one of the nine Canadian startups that will be pitching at Y Combinator’s 2024 demo day.

💡 IDEAS & INSIGHTS

• Frontier Collective, the coalition of local tech leaders, creators, and community entrepreneurs, shared five ways it showcased Vancouver’s success stories and attracts investments.

• Peter Smyrniotis, who helps startups achieve growth and secure VC funding, shared how he prepares early-stage companies to win in competitive markets.

• Christine Tatham, chief people officer at Redbrick, the software company for digital entrepreneurs, shared reflections from her inspiring journey in not settling for one path when it came to her life and career.

👀 CAN’T MISS

April 16-17 | INNOVATEwest: ​Join the VTJ team and thousands of tech and business leaders to discover how to drive meaningful and transformative business results. Attendees can expect to hear from high-profile speakers and benefit from networking, matchmaking, business development, and more.
➡️ Register

April 17 | Secret Patio Tech Party: ​Join some of Vancouver’s and a few global notable founders, VCs and other investors, and techies for a casual gathering on a stunning patio in the heart of Vancouver. Expect to enjoy a relaxing evening while making new connections.
➡️ Register

April 24 | ‘Show Her the Money’: Vancouver Screening & Networking: ​Celebrate the power and progress of women in entrepreneurship and investment. SoGal Ventures will be screening an acclaimed documentary on the trailblazing journeys of women founders, angel investors, and VCs. Plus, I’ll be moderating a panel between the executive producer Catherine Gray and director Ky Dickens and Pocket Sun at SoGal and Vicky Pasche at Dapper Boi.
➡️ Register

April 25 | Tech Industry Social by VTJ x CBRE's HTFG (venue changed to Bentall Centre – FUNK Coffee Bar): Join the VTJ team and partner CBRE as ​we bring together a collection of Vancouver’s tech founders and leaders for networking, deal-making, and just plain old catching up.
➡️ Register

May 8 | TechExit.io: Learn the ins and outs of how your tech company can prepare to be ‘M&A ready’ through connecting with seasoned experts and hearing the biggest acquisition success stories. Register by the early bird deadline, April 11, and you can use our 25% discount code: VTJ25.
➡️ Register

VTJ Members get early access and discounts to all our events. Don’t miss out.

👋 YOUR COMMUNITY

🗣 Online

Join 1,000+ people in our VTJ Slack and connect with others in the community.

Reply back if you need an invite!

🤝 At the office

Job hunting? See 50+ roles open right now on VancouverTechJobs.com 

Hiring? Post your job today.

🗓️ In real life

See our local community calendar at VancouverTechEvents.com.

That’s it!

Thanks for stopping in today. If you found something useful, please forward this newsletter to someone in the community who should subscribe.

And before you go, let us know: