The truth behind bootstrapping a 'unicorn'

👋 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.

How do you figure out the next right move in your startup journey? The kind that moves you from being heads down in building your product to ringing the opening bell at NASDAQ?

Paul Teshima, a Canadian ‘unicorn’ founder listed as one of Canada’s top executives, shares his own journey and lessons for other founders. Read on for the full story.

That aside, it was a packed room at TTT Studios for our first AI demo night. Thank you to the founders who came out to demo and for the community for showing up to support — and, of course, Chris Hobbs for the beautiful space and hospitality.

Now onto today’s briefing. It’s 1,208 words: a four-minute read.

-Lisa

🗞️ FROM VTJ

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🤝 FUNDING & DEALS

• Blossom, the social investing app, raised over $500K within 24 hours through equity crowdfunding platform FrontFundr — marking the biggest launch day on the platform to date.

• Netskrt Systems, the content delivery network platform, raised $10 million in series A funding to expand customer support, engineering, and operations.

• Maia Farms, a mycelium production platform and last month’s grand prize winner of the Deep Space Food Challenge, raised $2.3 million in pre-seed funding to scale operations.

• Moment Energy, the EV battery repurposing company, was awarded a $6 million tax credit from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service to establish the first large-scale UL 1974-certified manufacturing facility in North America.

• Metaspectral, a remote sensing software company, secured a six-month $150K contract from Environment Climate Change Canada to recycle plastic film using AI.

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🗞️ IN OTHER NEWS

• Sanctuary AI announced a collaboration with Microsoft to accelerate the development of AI models for general purpose humanoid robots, including Sanctuary’s Phoenix.

• Tradable Bits, the customer data platform, launched a new online marketplace that connects women’s sports properties and their fans to brand sponsors.

• Autograph Analytics, the tech and data solutions company for the auto industry, was nominated as one of eight finalists for the ‘Startup Company of the Year’ at the BC Tech Innovation Awards.

• David To, managing partner and capital at Lnkd Capital, a private financial fund to acquire, operate, and expand businesses in Canada and the U.S., announced the closing of its first fund.

• Seven local AI apps were showcased at VTJ’s first AI demo night: OpenRep, LittleLit AI - Creative Kids Studio, CodeMaker AI, UrbanLogiq, Spheria.ai, Latent-Sense Technologies, and IDX Studio.

💡 IDEAS & INSIGHTS

• Jérôme Nycz, executive VP at BDC Capital, shared a Venture Capital Journal piece highlighting the firm’s “decade-long, collective efforts to foster growth in Canadian VC.”

• Mandy Potter, founder and investor of Misfit Angels, which focuses on investing in LGBTQ+, BIPOC, and women founders, listed strategies for underrepresented entrepreneurs — drawing on her own experience from raising millions in funding.

• Gabriela Arno, content manager at the Cofounder’s Hub, offered insights and advice on why it’s important and ways to get to know your co-founder better outside the office.

• Common, a DIY event management app offering networking tools and event data that will be launching soon, put together a list of top venues in Vancouver for your next event.

• Are you struggling with a lack of meeting space in your office? It’s time to check out soundproof booths and meeting rooms from Inbox Booths. A dedicated room to connect with your team or somewhere you won’t be interrupted.*

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