Innovation UBC

We're thrilled to celebrate Tydra Labs' latest milestone with Front Row Ventures!🌱 ℹ️ Tydra Labs is a UBC spin-off transforming organic waste into high-performance biomaterials with wide-ranging industrial applications. Say goodbye to synthetic and toxic inputs, and say hello to functional, safe fibrillated chitin. ♻️ Unlocking value from waste — that's the kind of innovation we love to see coming out of UBC. So proud to watch this team grow. Exciting things ahead!

Whether you are hiring your first employee or scaling up a growing team, understanding the fundamentals of Canadian employment law is essential to building your business on solid legal footing. This session will equip you with the foundational knowledge you need to stay compliant and avoid costly missteps. 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀: 📅 Friday, May 29 🕛 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM 📍 UBC Robson Square, Room 1400 Join lawyers Logan Aitken (Associate, Employment & Labour) and Martin Smith (Associate, Emerging & High Growth Companies) from Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, and Izzie O'Hara, founder of BLANKSLATE Partners and hannahHR Technologies, for an engaging lunch and learn session designed to give a practical overview of the key legal considerations that arise as your workforce expands. In this session, we’ll cover the building blocks every employer needs to know, including the distinction between employees and independent contractors, minimum employment standards across Canadian jurisdictions, and how to structure employment agreements that protect your business from the outset. We’ll also touch on the essentials of workplace policies, human rights obligations, and what “reasonable notice” really means when it's time to part ways with an employee. Sign up for our event, 𝗟𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵 & 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻: 𝗖𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗟𝗮𝘄 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹𝘀: https://luma.com/04bck0v7

Are you a researcher or student with a venture idea worth building? 👇 Applications are now open for Venture Founder Fall 2026: Innovation UBC's 16-Week Entrepreneurship Program designed to help UBC founders define, validate, and build real traction around their venture. 🌟 This is your chance to work with expert mentors who have built or supported ventures themselves — plus gain access to a broader network of 250+ supportive mentors and advisors. 🗓 Applications close 𝗠𝗮𝘆 𝟯𝟭 🔗 https://lnkd.in/gjpVi3xf Not sure if it's the right fit? Join the info session on May 27 to learn more. #VentureFounderC52

So proud to have watched this one unfold live! 🏆 Congratulations to the team at CURA on winning the #WebSummitVancouver 2026 PITCH Competition — and a special shoutout to co-founder Sabrina Scott for an incredible performance on Centre Stage! 🌱 CURA is a UBC spin-off working to decarbonize cement production — tackling one of the world's toughest abatement challenges. With technology designed to retrofit directly into existing cement and lime plants, the impacts of CURA's work are set to stretch far beyond construction, into steelmaking, agriculture, carbon removal, and more. There were many of us from the Innovation UBC community in the audience and getting to cheer the team on in person made it that much sweeter! We can't wait to see where CURA goes next. #PITCH

We're thrilled to congratulate SenseNet Inc., an alumni of our 𝘝𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 program, for its recognition as a leading AI company in Canada and receipt of federal support through the AI Compute Access Fund! 🎉 ℹ️ SenseNet is a regional wildfire risk resilience intelligence company dedicated to strengthening operational certainty and decision advantage for municipalities, emergency responders, and critical infrastructure operators across wildfire-prone regions. We're excited to see where this investment takes them. 🌱

Congratulations to CURA, one of our spin-offs, on securing non-dilutive funding through NorthX Climate Tech! 🎉 CURA is producing zero-carbon lime at commodity-competitive prices through an electrochemical process that captures pure CO₂ for permanent storage. The technology is designed to retrofit directly into existing cement and lime plants, requiring no new supply chains or changes to existing processes — a Canadian-made solution to one of industry's toughest decarbonization challenges. Excited to see where this investment takes them! 🌱

Congratulations to CanDry Technologies Inc. and insporos on receiving funding through Innovate BC's Go-to-Market Microgrant Program! 🎉 With CanDry Technologies Inc. being an alumni of our HATCH Venture Builder program and insporos being a current member, we're thrilled to see each company receive up to $50,000 to support the commercialization of their work.

Big win for Calgary at Web Summit Vancouver. CURA has been named the winner of the Web Summit Vancouver 2026 PITCH competition, taking top honours in one of the global conference’s marquee startup showcases. The Calgary climatetech company is developing electrochemical technology to reduce CO₂ emissions from cement production, with its CURALYTE-powered electrolyzer designed to split limestone into lime and pure CO₂ for storage or use. CURA’s win puts an Alberta-born hardtech solution in front of a global audience of investors, founders, and industry leaders — and adds another proof point for Calgary’s growing strength in climate technology and industrial innovation. Erin R. Bobicki, PhD, P.Eng | Phil De Luna | Sabrina Scott | Curtis Berlinguette https://lnkd.in/eFPx8WUr

Meet Dr. Nasim Sarrami, Dr. Cara Gaffney, and Dr. Maryam Sharifiaghdam — Co-Founders of OncoNext Therapy and Venture Founder alumnae. OncoNext is building a platform to meaningfully improve the efficacy of cancer treatments that have historically been limited by toxicity. By re-engineering how drugs are formulated and delivered, their approach aims to enhance their impact at the tumour while reducing systemic side effects — giving patients access to powerful therapies that were previously too harmful to use. On what Venture Founder unlocked for the team: 💬 "𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮 𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢 𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸, 𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦-𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭-𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵." ↗️ Applications for Venture Founder Fall 2026 close May 31. Apply: https://lnkd.in/gjpVi3xf Venture Founder is Innovation UBC's 16-week entrepreneurship program designed for UBC researchers commercializing a discovery and students ready to build a startup. Not sure if Venture Founder is for you? Join an info session today or on May 27. #VentureFounderC52 Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia BC Cancer