š Why Softbank, Snap and Mitsubishi are coming to town
Hey, itās William. I hope youāre using this extra day to relax. I know I will beā¦ mostly. Iāll be catching up on emails (probably from some of you) before watching a bunch of Netflix or TikTok videos later. Anyway, although the week ahead is short, itās not short on things to do. Here are two key events Iāll be at:
Tomorrow, Aug 2: Vancouver Tech Morning Coffee
Thursday, Aug 4: Tech Industry Social hosted by CBRE
Later this month: Traction Conference
Now, onto todayās briefing. Itās 953 words, a 3 & 1/2-minute read.
Frontier Summit to bring high-profile investors from Softbank and more to Vancouver
Applications are now open for companies in Web3, VR/AR, metaverse, AI and other cutting-edge industries to join the curated event. Ā» Start reading.
F3 Ventures wants to welcome more women into the Web3 revolution
Following its first-ever āF3STIVALā in Vancouver, the firm is now looking to invest in women-led Web3 startups. Ā» Start reading.
Fable raises $8.4M to grow its eco-conscious tableware brand
The company has plans to expand its product line and retail footprint. Ā» Get the full story.
Sarcomere Dynamicsā robotic hands are within touching distance
The Vancouver-based startup has built a prototype to replace ādull, dirty, and dangerousā work. Ā» Start reading.
"We have to make a promise to our people that matches the promise they made to join us." ā How (and why) to get a job at Clio
VP people Natalie Archibald on hybrid work, flexible paid time off, and organizational longevity. Ā» Start reading.
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š¤ Funding and deals
The First Nations Clean Energy Business Fund (FNCEBF) has invested $260,000 into four First Nations communities in B.C.ās northern and interior regions for clean-energy sector projects. Ā» Continue.
The same provincial fund has invested $250,000 into three other First Nations communities. Ā» Continue.
Mobility & Innovation Production signed a deal with Loop Energy for additional fuel cell systems for its hydrogen-electric city bus platform. Ā» Composites World.
Imagine AR Inc.Ā signed a two-year partnership agreement with the NFL Baltimore Ravens to provide its augmented reality mobile platform for fan activation and engagement. Ā» Continue.
Pocketpills is partnering with Rise People to bring its online pharmacy services across the country. Ā» Continue.
Christie's auction house has launched an investment fund to support emerging companies and made its first investment will be in Vancouverās LayerZero Labs. Ā» Cointelegraph.
The provinceās Indigenous Forest Bioeconomy Program has invested $2000,000 into Deadwood Innovations to assess, engineer, procure and build a pilot-scale manufacturing plant at the site of the former TlāOh Forest Products mill in Fort St. James. Ā» Continue.
Vancouverās Netskrt Systems is helping London North Eastern Railway (LNER) to execute a partnership trial with Edgecasting that will allow passengers in the UK to stream from ITV Hub without impacting a trainās Wi-Fi capacity. Ā» Rail Advent.
Organic food brand Blume has closed CAD $2 million in an oversubscribed seed round. Ā» BetaKit.
Vancouverās Netskrt Systems is helping London North Eastern Railway (LNER) to execute a partnership trial with Edgecasting that will allow passengers in the UK to stream from ITV Hub without impacting a trainās Wi-Fi capacity. Ā» Rail Advent.
Partner message from VanHack: Turn uncertainty into opportunity: Hiring remote global tech talent during the economic slowdown
šļø In other news
Raghwa Gopal, CEO of Innovate BC shared the local tech stories that caught his eye in July. Ā» LinkedIn.
Cytiva opened a manufacturing site in Burnaby to that provides gloveless, robotic filling capability for final drug product into vials, syringes, and cartridges. Ā» GEN.
Michael Kahn joined health and wellness services marketplace Roar as CFO. Ā» Continue. Go deeper: Maya Adly wondered why there wasnāt an OpenTable equivalent for personal services like barbers or nail salons. So she built it.
Three B.C. companies made Foresightās 15 Inspiring Innovators from Across Canada list. Ā» Continue.
Carl Mark joined Colligo as its new chief revenue officer. Ā» Continue.
Sudip Shekhar, an associate professor in electrical and computer engineering at UBC, received $3 million for the development of a credit-card-sized biomedical sensor. Ā» Business in Vancouver.
Eva Taylor, director of social impact at Hootsuite, was named a 2022 Young Impact Leader. Ā» Future of Good.
Shopify announced layoffs affecting about 10 percent of its global staff, which amounts to approximately 1,000 employees. Ā» Read Tobi Lutkeās memo to staff.
Launch Academy CEO Ray Walia was featured in Iconic Concierge Summer 2022 in a piece titled Prepare To Launch.
Roham Gharegozlou, CEO of Dapper Labs, dishes on the past, present, and future of crypto. Ā» Talks at Google.
š“ļøTech jobs of the week
Account Executive at Microsoft
Full Stack Software Developer (Hybrid) at Terramera
Project Control Manager at Svante
Senior Product Analyst at Dooly
Post or find a job at jobs.vantechjournal.com
š” Ideas and insights
Erin Gee, writing in d3crypto: Taxing cryptoassets. We already do but are we taxing the right things?
Roger Patterson, co-founder and president of Later.com, writing in Forbes: The Creator Economy Is Finally Maturing, And That Could Mean Better Pay
Chris Neumann, general partner at Panache, writing on his blog about how to nail the āaskā slide in a fundraising pitch deck
Chris Heard, CEO of Olive Technologies, writing in Forbes: Why you should turn up automation in a downturn
Karn Manhas, CEO of Terramera, writing in Entrepreneur: We've Neglected Our Soil for Too Long. Here's Why It Can Be the Solution We've Been Waiting for.