Hey, it’s William. I hope you’re using this extra day to relax. I know I will be… mostly. I’ll 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, it’s not short on things to do. Here are two key events I’ll 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 today’s briefing. It’s 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. » Start reading.

F3 Ventures wants to welcome more women into the Web3 revolution

Following its first-ever “F3STIVAL” in Vancouver, the firm is now looking to invest in women-led Web3 startups. » 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. » Get the full story.

Sarcomere Dynamics’ robotic hands are within touching distance

The Vancouver-based startup has built a prototype to replace “dull, dirty, and dangerous” work. » Start reading.

"We have to make a promise to our people that matches the promise they made to join us." — How (and why) to get a job at Clio

VP people Natalie Archibald on hybrid work, flexible paid time off, and organizational longevity. » Start reading.

Connect directly with industry trailblazers

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Contact our team to learn how to get your business in front of local innovators.

🤝 Funding and deals

• The First Nations Clean Energy Business Fund (FNCEBF) has invested $260,000 into four First Nations communities in B.C.’s northern and interior regions for clean-energy sector projects. » Continue.

  The same provincial fund has invested $250,000 into three other First Nations communities. » Continue.

• Mobility & Innovation Production signed a deal with Loop Energy for additional fuel cell systems for its hydrogen-electric city bus platform. » Composites World.

• Imagine AR Inc. signed a two-year partnership agreement with the NFL Baltimore Ravens to provide its augmented reality mobile platform for fan activation and engagement. » Continue.

• Pocketpills is partnering with Rise People to bring its online pharmacy services across the country. » Continue.

• Christie's auction house has launched an investment fund to support emerging companies and made its first investment will be in Vancouver’s LayerZero Labs. » Cointelegraph.

• The province’s 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 Tl’Oh Forest Products mill in Fort St. James. » Continue.

• Vancouver’s 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 train’s Wi-Fi capacity. » Rail Advent.

• Organic food brand Blume has closed CAD $2 million in an oversubscribed seed round. » BetaKit.

• Vancouver’s 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 train’s Wi-Fi capacity. » Rail Advent.

Partner message from VanHack: Turn uncertainty into opportunity: Hiring remote global tech talent during the economic slowdown

🗞️ In other news

• Raghwa Gopal, CEO of Innovate BC shared the local tech stories that caught his eye in July. » LinkedIn.

• Cytiva opened a manufacturing site in Burnaby to that provides gloveless, robotic filling capability for final drug product into vials, syringes, and cartridges. » GEN.

• Michael Kahn joined health and wellness services marketplace Roar as CFO. » Continue. Go deeper: Maya Adly wondered why there wasn’t an OpenTable equivalent for personal services like barbers or nail salons. So she built it.

• Three B.C. companies made Foresight’s 15 Inspiring Innovators from Across Canada list. » Continue.

• Carl Mark joined Colligo as its new chief revenue officer. » 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. » Business in Vancouver.

• Eva Taylor, director of social impact at Hootsuite, was named a 2022 Young Impact Leader. » Future of Good.

• Shopify announced layoffs affecting about 10 percent of its global staff, which amounts to approximately 1,000 employees. » Read Tobi Lutke’s 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. » Talks at Google.

🕴️Tech 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

💡 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 “ask” 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.

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