Good morning! Here’s a quick reminder of key events this week. On Tuesday, join me at The Next Generation of Company Building and Financing hosted by VEF. Then on Wednesday, join me on Twitter to discuss all things Vancouver tech and meet Jill Earthy, CEO of InBC, the province’s new $500 million strategic investment fund. Put it in your calendar. Got a question to ask? Send it to william@vantechjournal.com. Okay, now let’s get into today’s newsletter. This week I’ve got 1,000 words for you, a 3 + 1/2-minute read. Enjoy!

The Vancouver women making a dent in the city’s Web3 space

Women are playing a huge part in Vancouver’s Web3 scene. The trailblazers include Rapture Labs' Jae Heller, Westcoast NFT's Brook Charles, Covalent's Leilani Ledingham and Indira Smith, metaverse architect Katreena Tecson, NFT artist Carmilla Sumantry, EQ Exchange's Janice Taylor, and many more. Erin Gee has the story. » Start reading.

The CEO of $1.7B-valued Productboard on the company’s Vancouver office origin story and tech’s talent crunch

Hubert Palan talks growth, sales and the great office debate. » Start reading.

MintList steers the auto industry kicking and screaming into the future

The Vancouver-based company recently raised $2.76 million CAD. » Get the full story.

Chic Geek is trying to make the tech industry more inclusive

The Calgary non-profit is working with companies across the country, including here in Vancouver. » Start reading.

Uber Canada partners with Plug’n Drive to help drivers switch to EVs 

To achieve its goal of becoming a zero-emission platform by 2040, Uber Canada is committed to helping drivers switch to EVs. This February, the mobility platform announced a partnership with Plug’n Drive, a nonprofit dedicated to accelerating EV adoption. 

To learn more about how Plug’n Drive will help drivers on the Uber platform go electric, read about the partnership here.

* Partner Message

🤝 Funding and deals

• Trulioo acquires Denmark’s HelloFlow to build a winner-takes-all identity platform. The B.C. unicorn has 320 employees, $100M-plus in annual revenue and a new Danish footprint. » Get the full story.

• 4 B.C. firms among recipients of $52.3M in federal cleantech funding. The investments are meant to accelerate the development of sustainability-focused innovations. » Start reading.

• WonderFi Technologies Inc., a local crypto and decentralized finance startup, has closed its bought deal public offering of units totalling $45 million. » Continue.

• RBC Future Launch and Riipen will support the delivery of 10,000 more work-integrated learning experiences at 30 post-secondary institutions across Canada this year. » Continue.

• Canexia Health Inc. is merging with Imagia Cybernetics Inc. in a merger that includes a CAD $20 million investment to accelerate access to genomics-based testing for cancer treatment. » Business in Vancouver.

• D-Wave Systems Inc, the B.C. quantum computing company, announced a plan to go public on the NYSE via a SPAC deal with DPCM Capital that values the combined company at nearly USD $1.6 billion. » Reuters.

🗞️ In other news…

• Hootsuite has increased its mental health benefits to provide full coverage on treatments, culturally-appropriate trauma counselling and a subscription to a meditation app. » Globe and Mail.

• The B.C. Labour Market Outlook projects there will be 142,900 job openings in health care and 140,700 job openings in technology from 2021-31. » Business in Vancouver.

• Geospatial data company Sparkgeo launched a product called Prescient—a location intelligence solution that will allow firms to access new levels of satellite and mobile data. » Continue.

• James Jacob, co-founder and CEO of Ziva Dynamics, which was recently acquired by Unity Technologies, spoke to XR Today about his firm’s real-time 3D development tools in the field of AR/VR/MR and the Metaverse. » Continue.

• Vancouver entrepreneur Jeff Booth is among those assisting with cryptocurrency fundraising for the Freedom Convoy (which was kicked off of GoFundMe). » Globe and Mail.

• SVB’s first State of Black Venture report finds active Black VC networks are helping expand access to capital. » Continue.

• UBC announced that Dr. Gail Murphy has been reappointed as vice-president, research and innovation. » Continue.

• North Vancouver’s New Relationship Trust will offer funding and programs for First Nation communities and Indigenous learners. » BCBusiness.

• Canadian VC-backed tech deals increased 41 percent in 2021, according to SVB’s State of the Markets Report. » BetaKit.

• The OKGN Angel Summit will see six Western Canadian entrepreneurs pitch for a $150,000 investment on March 16. » Register.

• Sponsored: The story of McMillan’s 18-year support of Acetech

• mimik executive and UBC alumnus Siavash Alamouti was awarded the 2022 Marconi Prize, “the Nobel of telecommunications research and innovation.” » Continue.

• Accelerate Okanagan announced the keynote speakers for the fourth OKGN Angel Summit. » Continue.

• DNEG, a Vancouver VFX studio, has been nominated for an Academy Award for Visual Effects work for the movie Dune. » Business in Vancouver.

💡 Ideas and insights

• Boris Wertz, founding partner of Version One Ventures, writing on Twitter: Anyone critical of NFT's should just watch how they have taken over the conversation in high schools

• Ian Vanagas, business development manager, at Tantalus Group, writing on his blog: How to Create Social Capital Like Travis Kalanick

• Raghwa Gopal, president and CEO of Innovate BC, joined The New Journey podcast to discuss his journey, initial challenges as a newcomer, advice for launching and growing startups and his role as tech champion in BC. » Listen now.

• Ryan Wong, CEO of Visier, writing in Entrepreneur: Our Meeting Obsession Is Hurting Our Work And Our Wellbeing

• Dave Dinesen, CEO of CubicFarms, writing in Forbes: 3 Reasons To Rethink Where Your Food Comes From In 2022

• Kirk LaPointe, editor-in-chief of BIV, writing in his publication: Time for economic plan to replace Bonnie Henry in B.C. spotlight

👋🏾 Before you go…

1. Forward this newsletter to your colleagues, clients or anyone else you think would find it valuable.

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3. Send me story ideas and tips at william@vantechjounral.com