Good morning! I invite you to join me for a conversation with Jill Earthy, CEO of InBC, the province’s new $500 million strategic investment fund. It’s part of #VTJLive, a new series of talks with local tech leaders on Twitter Spaces, and it’s happening Wednesday, February 16 at 3pm PST. » Set a reminder here. Now, let’s get into today’s newsletter. This week I’ve got 947 words for you, a 3 + 1/4-minute read. Enjoy!

Why BBTV’s stock spiral doesn’t tell the whole story

Founder Shahrzad Rafati walks us through why she’s confident despite a steady decline on the TSX. » Start reading.

A Vancouver venture capitalist makes his best guess at what 2022 holds for startups

Jay Rhind of Rhino Ventures puts his prediction cap on. » Start reading.

Vancouver-based Blume among first 5 startups backed by LOI Venture

The cohort of startups is solving problems across a number of industries including wellness, health care, digital assets, creator tools and employee engagement. » Start reading.

Gastown-based Ovou gives the business card game a long-needed update

The company has benefited from the sweat and tears of its Iranian founder. » Start reading.

‘The boundaries now really don’t exist’: How Deloitte’s $150M venture fund will impact startups in B.C.

Managing partner Talia Abramowitz talks about the fund’s investment focus, funding criteria and how remote work impacts deal-flow. » Start reading.

🤝 Funding and deals

• $70 million was invested into emission reduction projects from the CleanBC Industry Fund. » Get the full story.

• Paidia raised $5.57M in seed capital to grow its inclusive gaming platform. Named after the Greek goddess of play and amusement, the startup is aiming to disrupt the gaming industry. » Get the full story.

• Ekona Power, a hydrogen tech startup, raised $79 million from Baker Hughes, Mitsui, Severstal, ConocoPhillips, TransAlta, Continental Resources, NGIF Cleantech Ventures and BDC Capital. » Energy Voice.

• Gandeeva Therapeutics, a biotech company, announced it has raised $40 million (USD) in Series A funding. » Continue.

• Spring and Volition have partnered with the Kootenay Association for Science & Technology to bring Investment Readiness training and support to technology-enabled entrepreneurs in the Kootenays region. » Continue.

Helping innovators and changemakers tell their stories

Switchboard Public Relations works with some of the most progressive and innovative teams in the tech sector.

Tech leaders know their products and services are brilliant, but sometimes need help explaining why they matter and how they will create positive change. Switchboard communicates game-changing ideas to target audiences in a way that’s accessible and exciting.

Is your team on a mission to disrupt the status quo? See how the country’s top tech PR firm can help you.

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🗞️ In other news…

• Shauna Harper has been appointed new CEO of the not-for-profit organization WeBC, formerly known as Women’s Enterprise Centre. » Continue.

• Vancouver Startup Week announced a one-year pause, hoping for bigger and better (read: in-person) things in 2023. » Continue.

• East Side Games launched "The Office: Somehow We Manage” a free-to-play app with optional in-game purchases. » CTV News.

• Foresight's newest innovation challenge, The Kanaka Bar Resilient Housing Solutions Challenge, is seeking resilient and commercially available building technology products to help rebuild Kanaka Bar and Lytton, BC. » Continue.

• Pozio Cradle, a device built in Vancouver and showcased at CES, is supposed to stop devices from listening to your conversations. A Fast Company writer says it works as advertised. » Continue.

• Greater Vancouver Board of Trade and BCIT aim to raise the province’s ESG game with new micro-credential. » BCBusiness.

• BDC says in a report that Canadian tech sector revenue will grow by 5.3 percent in 2022, and by 22.4 percent in the 2021-2024 period. » BetaKit.

• TerraZero Technologies Inc. believes it has completed one of the first-ever 'Metaverse Mortgages' with one of its clients in Ethereum-based Metaverse platform Decentraland. TerraZero provided financing (lending) to enable a client to purchase virtual real estate. » Continue.

• Fraction, a fintech and real estate startup that gives people access to a home equity line of credit, is expanding from Canada and into Washington state. » Geekwire.

• Looking Glass Labs sold all 10,000 of its GenZeroes NFTs in just 37 minutes in October for net proceeds of CAD 6.2 million. » Continue.

• For your startup toolkit: 5 business resources for Black entrepreneurs in B.C.

💡 Ideas and insights

• Tessa Seager, Council of Canadian Innovators’ B.C. director of government affairs, writing on her organization’s blog: Budget 2022 is B.C.’s chance to step into the 21st-century economy

• @richerd, founder of Manifold, writing on Twitter: Rules to live by to stay safe and secure your NFTS

• Kim Bowie, a senior public relations consultant at Switchboard PR, writing at Tech Talent Canada: Attracting & Keeping Talent: Why Remote Work, Works

• Maria Pacella, managing partner at Pender Ventures, writing in Techcouver: How To Build A Billion-dollar Business Based On Good Old-fashioned Fundamentals

• Joel Hansen, head of marketing and partnerships at LOI Venture, writing in The Personal Brand Brief: 7 Helpful Lessons From My Mentors

• Catherine Ducharme, co-founder of Fluency Leadership, writing on her firm’s blog: The Great Resignation: Seven Ideas To Attract and Retain Your Best People

• Bill Tam, COO of the Digital Technology Supercluster, writing in Policy Options: Canadian tech needs a deeper, more connected ecosystem for support

• Karim Ben-Jaafar, president of Beanworks, interviewed in Authority Magazine: 5 Steps We Must Take To Truly Create An Inclusive, Representative, and Equitable Society

👋🏾 Before you go…

If you’re on Twitter, please help me settle an internal debate on a very important topic. » Read what it is and share your opinion here.