🏙️ Toronto tech is coming for Vancouver
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🏙️ Toronto tech is coming for Vancouver
Things are getting a bit fishy. Plus, check out which local outfit got acquired by a German multinational.
I know, I know — the Vancouver tech landscape is tired of hearing about Toronto. But hear me out — Toronto’s reach extends westwards beyond its stronghold on Collision, or its wealth of venture capital, or density of startups. If I learned anything during the week back in my hometown (surprise) it’s that the city’s tech could end up on our dinner plates over here, too.
A plant-based salmon dinner sounded like something out of a West Coast foodtech startup, but it wasn’t. It was an invitation extended by New School Foods, a Toronto-based venture working tirelessly to deliver a whole-cut fillet of salmon, made out of plants. It’s the next evolution of alternative meats, company scientists and founders told me — the development of a product that transforms from raw to cooked, just as a meat substitute would; the mimicry of salmon’s distinct fishy taste thanks to algae oils, a food source for the species in the wild; and a nutritional profile of proteins and omega-3s, akin to salmon itself.
While Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat happily coexist beside beef burgers on local menus, throughout the course of the dinner I wondered if plant-based salmon could run parallel to the chinook, chum, and sockeye of B.C. But it was much closer in taste to Atlantic salmon than anything else — and given the West Coast’s fish farming woes, it was strategic to aim for the culturally fraught species than the culturally favoured ones, intentional or not.
This all took place as hazy skies hung over our dinner, with wildfire smoke that seemed like it had followed me from Vancouver to Toronto. It feels like every day there’s a new climate solution for a consumer to consider, and only time will tell whether Vancouver diners consider a plant-based salmon as one of them.
Now onto today’s briefing. It’s 760 words: a two-and-a-half-minute read.
-Allison, @allisongacad
P.S. I’d love to hear what you think. Meet me and others in our Vancouver Tech community at our upcoming Vancouver Tech Morning Coffee this Tuesday, 8:00 a.m. ‘til 10:00 a.m. at the Coffee Bar (10 Water Street, Gastown).
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Launch of BC’s net-zero strategy sees role for Vancouver cleantech
The federal policy document outlines priorities for the province to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, extract natural resources, and build new jobs.
PacifiCan puts nearly $13M into local businesses
Seven Lower Mainland-based firms in zero waste and cleantech received federal funding.
Vancouver’s quantum computing industry is on the rise
Digital, B.C.’s supercluster, is offering $30 million in total investments thanks to a new partnership with NGen, which will likely help accelerate Lower Mainland companies.
Bosch plans acquisition of Vancouver-founded Paladin
The German juggernaut is looking to grow its North American presence and sought out the Vancouver vendor.
Rivian's new showroom is where in Vancouver?
Read our top member briefing from last week. Members only.
Shaping a Globally Prominent R&D Hub
A recent report from Invest Vancouver, “Life Sciences in Metro Vancouver: Shaping a Globally Prominent R&D Hub,” highlights the many ways our region’s life sciences industry is attracting global attention and identifies key recommendations to encourage its growth.
The report, researched and written by the Metro Vancouver region’s economic development leadership service, features findings from comprehensive interviews with firms and an analysis of over 20 years of economic data. This approach taken by Invest Vancouver provides an extensive and current understanding of the region as a life sciences hub and what actions can support additional growth including accessing web lab space, attracting talent, and controlling costs.
Read the full report and learn more about the industry at investvancouver.ca
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🤝 Funding and deals
Vancouver Film Studios was acquired by Los Angeles-based Hackman Capital Partners.
The $870 million acquisition of Absolute Software was approved by its security-holders.
D-Wave, a commercial quantum computing outfit, announced it has regained compliance with the New York Stock Exchange as its stock price rose over the $1 minimum share price.
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This week: Newsly
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Vancouver Tech Journal members receive a 30-day free trial of Newsly Premium.
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🗞️ In other news
The Supreme Court of British Columbia dismissed a constitutional challenge to the B.C. Securities Commission’s power to seek consequences for not cooperating with an investigation.
Vancouver’s Canada Line has received the digital twin treatment.
HTEC, a clean hydrogen solutions company, opened its fifth Canadian retail hydrogen station in Kelowna.
iQmetrix, which builds intelligent retail management software for telecom, announced Interconnected Commerce, a new software category for the industry that is modular and flexible.
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💡 Ideas and insights
Chris Neumann, general partner of Panache Ventures, writing on his personal blog: It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it
Nathan Grandjambe, senior manager of Indigenous economic prosperity at Vancouver Economic Commission, interviewed for his organization’s blog: What is Indigenous Economic Prosperity?
VTJ contributor Erin Gee was joined on her podcast, Alt Text, by Golden Ventures’ Jamie Rosenblatt for an optimistic chat about Canada’s tech ecosystem.
Ron Segev, founding partner of Segev LLP, was interviewed in Canadian Lawyer about why he chose to look at the Indian market.
Shayna Rector Bleeker, co-founder of 7Gen, and Ekta Meena Bibra, a senior policy advisor for Clean Energy Canada, wrote in The Vancouver Sun: As Canada’s electric car leader, B.C. can now pave the way for electric trucks
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