😳 $40M in fuel
😳 $40M in fuel
...for auto e-tailer Canada Drives. This is your Sunday Briefing.
Morning friends. I spent this long weekend in Coquitlam, and the Canada Day fireworks display at Lafarge Lake was fantastic. It was sooo good that I’ve already put it in my calendar for next year. Now, as to what’s on my agenda for this month, here are a few key activities:
This Tuesday @ 8am: Vancouver Tech Morning Coffee
Then @ 12:30pm on Twitter: NFT NYC YVR Recap
July 19: Almost sold-out: #vtjtalks: Scaling World-class Products & Teams and Summer Social with Float, SEGEV LLP, CBRE and University Canada West
July 20: Founder Photo Studio | Get your team some new high-quality headshots!
Now onto today’s briefing. It’s 843 words, a 3 & 1/2-minute read.
-William, @notionport
Vehicle e-tailer Canada Drives secures $40M to accelerate expansion
The new partnership with Goeasy will simplify the purchase financing process. » Get the full story.
Here are the New Ventures BC top 25 ventures
Acel Power, Beam Commerce, BuzzIt, and seven other startups join the 15 already selected for round three. » Start reading.
Genome BC taps Suzanne Gill as president and CEO
The life sciences executive will start in the role on August 8, 2022. » Start reading.
Scott Beatty’s ocean eyes
How the CEO of Victoria-based MarineLabs is using data to tackle marine mobility and climate change. » Read in the Victoria Tech Journal.
Vancouver’s TerraZero teams up with singer Jason Derulo to “slidin” to the metaverse
The activation is another success in a series of Web3 experiences the company has created in partnership with Atlantic Records. » Start reading.
An entrepreneurship program for women-led tech companies is back
W Venture raises up female tech entrepreneurs in British Columbia, supported by Accelerate Okanagan, University of Victoria, and VIATEC. » Start reading.
Close the books faster at month end
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🤝 Funding and deals
VoltSafe signed an agreement with Barnacle Systems to pilot its technology as an EV charger for electric military vessels. » Continue.
SFU researchers have received CAD $6.22 million from the Mellon Foundation to support an effort to counter the impacts of discriminatory online misinformation and algorithms. » Continue.
Angel investments made in Canada during 2021 increased 53 percent year-over-year, as more than $262 million was invested. » BetaKit.
Kaito Cunningham, an SFU alumnus, raised $23 million to fund crypto start-up Utopia Labs. » Continue.
🗞️ In other news
Variational AI, which develops an AI-based drug discovery platform, has added experts Dr. John F. Boylan and Dr. Mads Daugaard to its Scientific Advisory Board. » Continue.
Google for Startups Accelerator: Black Founders and Women Founders cohorts in Canada applications are now open. » Continue.
A new fuel cell manufacturing plant opened in Burnaby from an investment by Daimler and Volvo. » Business in Vancouver.
Acton Capital named Dr. Hannes Blum as its new partner to head investments in Canada and the US, based out of Vancouver. » Private Capital Journal.
Construction tech unicorn Nexii will build fire-proof homes in Lytton. » Business in Vancouver.
Vancouver-based Pender Ventures hired Isaac Souweine from Real Venture to help the firm expand into Eastern Canada. » BetaKit.
How Sarah Goodman went from tech executive to founding a snack company. » BCBusiness.
Akshon Media has been named an Official Content Production Partner for the 2022 season of Overwatch League and Call of Duty League. » Daily Hive.
Walter Pela, KPMG’s regional managing partner for the Greater Vancouver area, announced his organization’s metaverse collaboration hub. » Continue.
Renting office space in downtown Vancouver is more expensive than in any other city in Canada, according to Colliers. » Business in Vancouver.
B.C. telehealth visits absolutely ballooned at height of pandemic. » Business in Vancouver.
Meet four women working to engineer a more inclusive world. » UBC.
Genome B.C.'s boss talks about how his agency's work helps people here and elsewhere. » Vancouver Sun.
💡 Ideas and insights
Chris Neumann, general partner at Panache Ventures, writing on his personal blog: Canadian founders need to get out of Canada
Raghwa Gopal, president and CEO of Innovate BC, writing on LinkedIn: June 2022: Local Tech Stories That Caught My Eye
Denver Sparks-Guest, an associate at Switchboard PR, writing on his firm’s blog: Collision 2022: A Week of Innovation, Inspiration and Connection
Jill Earthy, CEO of InBC, writing on her agency’s blog: The “grow at all costs” mindset that has dominated headlines over the last few years is no longer applicable in the current environment of accelerating costs and reduced access to capital.
Shafin Diamond Tejani, resurfaced a timeless article from 2020 on LinkedIn: 3 Hacks To Find Your "North Star" During The Crisis