If the Technology Impact Awards (TIAs) were an album, then the Spirit of BC Tech – Ambition award would be its title track. Since Ambition is the theme of the 2022 TIAs, there is a level of gravitas at play in this category; it’s a high bar to be the company that most showcased ambition in the last 365 days across B.C.’s tech ecosystem. But, who will it be? A quintet of worthy companies round out the finalists. Here’s why any of the five could win, with a little help from the iconic history of title tracks. 

Dapper Labs

Dapper followed up a monster 2021 – one that included the Excellence in Technology Innovation award — with an equally robust start to 2022. The OGs of the NFT space continue to fire on all cylinders. It all has a “Straight Outta Compton” feel to it, N.W.A.’s brash announcement of a city’s arrival on the world stage — fitting for a company in which the co-founding brothers bonded over gangsta rap.

Clio 

In 2021, Clio became a unicorn. It would be fair to think there wouldn’t necessarily be time for an encore. Yet, the 2021 unicorn became a centaur in 2022 (i.e. USD $100 million in annual recurring revenue). The company did all this while also leading the way for hybrid work models, which led the New York Times to knock on it’s semi-remote doors. Bob Dylan certainly wasn’t writing about tech companies for the title track of his 1964 album. But, “The Times They Are A-Changin’” for how we work. 

LandSure

LandSure is a subsidiary of the Land Title and Survey Authority of BC (LTSA), a corporation that manages B.C.'s land title and survey systems. LandSure was created to digitize the process for the LTSA. Just how big a job is it? 7 million digital transactions occurred in the last year, in fact, which is not a small number. I’m a millennial, and the kneejerk reaction from “My Generation” (to borrow one of The Who’s most iconic title tracks) when we acquire some land is to pen “we did a thing” on Instagram. At least, with LandSure, the eyeroll induced by that social media caption is not shared by a drowning-in-paperwork LTSA employee.

Trulioo

As he reflected on what made 2022 stand out for Trulioo, CEO Steve Munford ran through a laundry list of highlights. Tucked near the end of that list was a global expansion. Trulioo made a pair of international moves in 2022. In February, the company acquired Denmark’s HelloFlow before expanding to Singapore just this week. Perhaps Trulioo wish to “Sail Away” to these new places a la Randy Newman? I’ll show myself out…

VanHack

“In February, when the Ukraine crisis was escalating, it was clear action needed to be taken,” the company wrote in Vancouver Tech Journal earlier this month. So, VanHack did just that. They took action by launching the Ukraine Initiative, and building out a hub for employers to directly connect and hire Ukrainian tech talent. VanHack’s humanitarian approach calls to mind Marvin Gaye’s 1971 banger with a social conscience, What’s Going On. 

The 2022 Spirit of BC Tech – Ambition Award is presented in partnership with AbCellera.

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