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👋 Good morning, and welcome to (or welcome back to) VTJ’s Sunday Briefing: your weekly digest of the city’s innovation news, deals, insights, and more.

Before we get going, we want to know…

Now onto today’s briefing. It’s 1,044 words: a four-minute read.

-Lisa

🗞️ FROM VTJ

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🤝 FUNDING & DEALS

• Codezero, a microservices development platform, raised $3.5 million in seed funding led by VC firm, Ballistic Ventures, to grow its sales and marketing teams and expand its partner network.

• Mark Trevitt, managing director of Vancouver-based VC firm, Defined, announced plans to invest in early-stage AI and data companies through a USD $15 million fund — which has already secured over a third of its target.

• The Canadian Food Innovation Network is awarding $464,518 to six foodtech projects through its Innovation Booster Program — which includes BC-based Jaks Automation’s robotic paneer handling and packaging system.

• The Canadian government announced $14M in funding to help seven Vancouver-based businesses and organizations grow locally and compete globally:

  • Augurex Life Sciences

  • CarboNet Nanotechnologies

  • Clarius Mobile Health

  • FintelConnect Technologies

  • BC Tech Association

  • Craver Solutions

  • QuantoTech Solutions

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🗞️ IN OTHER NEWS

• Cymax Group announced Markus Frind as their new CEO.

• Floorspace, the digital-first real estate brokerage firm, shared a new milestone marking the company’s growth: moving into an office on 745 Thurlow St.

• Jacqueline Jennings, founder of the Fireweed Institute, the first national Indigenous entrepreneurship accelerator program, announced becoming a fellow in the Boston Impact Initiative Emerging Fund Manager 2024 Cohort.

• Applications are open for the 2024 BC Tech Impact Awards.

• Vancouver Entrepreneurs Forum is now accepting applications from business and technical co-founders and advisors looking to scale their venture for an upcoming ‘speed-dating’ event.

• Futurpreneur is recruiting diverse entrepreneurs — between 18 to 39 — to represent Canada at the G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance Summit in Goiânia, Brazil.

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💡 IDEAS & INSIGHTS

• Josh Gray, CEO of Artemis, a data infrastructure company for startups and mid-size businesses, shared the company’s reflections on recent milestones and noteworthy experiences.

• Chris Neumann, general partner at Panache Ventures, wrote about why tech ecosystems need to stop trying to replicate Silicon Valley and the value of sending local entrepreneurs across the border.

• Alice Ko from Reframed Coaching for high-growth startup teams, shared the biggest mistakes she made as a new manager and what she would now do differently.

• Geena Jackson, executive producer of Bears’ Lair TV, the reality series that follows 18 Indigenous entrepreneurs as they pitch their business plans to win $180K, announced the release of its first podcast episode.

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