New Ventures BC

🥂 We had a fantastic time at the RBCx Vancouver Tech Mixer at D/6 Bar & Lounge last week! As a community partner for the evening, it was great to connect with founders and ecosystem leaders who came together to collaborate and share ideas on how to best support BC’s tech sector. RBCx is a sponsor of our Annual Competition, and they do so much to fuel the growth of tech companies across the country, giving entrepreneurs the specialized financial tools and platform they need to scale. A big thank-you to the RBCx team for hosting a great evening and bringing the community together. Learn more about their founder-first approach: https://www.rbcx.com/

🔊 AccelerateIP Is Now Accepting Applications for Stream 2-2 & Stream 3! Startups can now apply for critical funding support to help protect and strengthen their intellectual property—an essential step in scaling and building long-term competitive advantage. 💰 What’s on the table? ✅ Stream 2-2: Up to $25,000 with for IP Strategy ✅ Stream 3: Up to $60,000 for IP Implementation Don’t miss your chance to secure funding! This is the only intake for this fiscal year. 📅 Applications close Monday, June 15 📌 Learn more & apply: https://lnkd.in/gb5QXESR ---- 🔊 AccelerateIP accepte maintenant les demandes pour les volets 2-2 et 3 ! Les startups peuvent dès maintenant demander un soutien financier essentiel pour protéger et renforcer leur propriété intellectuelle (PI) — une étape cruciale pour assurer leur croissance et bâtir un avantage concurrentiel à long terme. 💰 Quelles sont les subventions offertes ? ✅ Volet 2-2 : jusqu’à 25 000 $ pour la stratégie de PI ✅ Volet 3 : jusqu’à 60 000 $ pour la mise en œuvre de la PI Ne manquez pas votre chance d’obtenir du financement! Il s’agit du seul appel de candidatures pour cet exercice financier. 📅 Les candidatures se terminent le lundi 15 juin 📌 Pour en savoir plus et pour postuler: https://lnkd.in/gb5QXESR

💰 Just Released: BC’s Top Fundraising Tech Ventures! We’ve just published our Q2 Pitch-book alongside the latest edition of BC’s Capital Raising Index. The Pitch-book showcases a curated selection of high-potential BC tech companies to watch for investment—just in time for Web Summit Vancouver. Featured ventures were nominated by leading ecosystem partners and represent some of the province’s most promising opportunities across Pre-Seed, Seed, and Series A+ stages. BC’s Capital Raising Index is our monthly-updated directory connecting qualified BC tech companies actively raising capital with investors looking for their next opportunity. 📌 Raising capital and not on the Index yet? Join the next Index by May 22! View the pitch-book: https://lnkd.in/grUix9jq

🌎 PNW Climate Week is back, and they want you to help shape it. Have an idea for a climate panel, workshop, tour, art event, community gathering, or climate conversation? This is your chance to bring it to life. PNW Climate Week is back in Vancouver July 13–19, 2026, and they're shaping it with the people and organizations making things happen. They invite nonprofits, businesses, schools, community groups, and local leaders to get involved through events, partnerships, sponsorship, venues, speakers, and more. For event organizers, to take advantage of the launch campaign and attract early registrations, please submit your event by May 29. Get involved & learn more: https://lnkd.in/gxXiexwq  

🚨 New accelerator program just dropped! In collaboration with The Discovery Foundation, we’re excited to open applications for Stream 1 of our newest accelerator. The Discovery Foundation AI Business Accelerator is designed to help early-stage startups increase efficiency, maximize output, and unlock growth through targeted AI implementation. Led by Rochelle Grayson, this program will help founders build a strong foundation in AI tools and create a custom AI implementation plan tailored to their business needs. Meet your program advisors: 📌 Yeritza Bohorquez, Co-founder & Vice-President at Glu Social 📌 Luis Guerrero, Co-founder & Vice-President at Glu Social 📌 Stephen Parslow, Co-founder of BetterCart 📌 LX Cast, Co-founder of Spacious 👉 Apply for Stream 1 by May 22: https://lnkd.in/gputRB6g

💡 Last week, we welcomed founders, operators, community members, and IP leaders to the third annual IP Summit, as part of Vancouver Startup Week! Presented in collaboration with Innovate BC and the Ministry of Jobs and Economic Growth, we had a full day packed with actionable discussions on building, protecting, and leveraging intellectual property for growth. From our morning scale-up forum to an afternoon of startup-focused sessions, we were delighted to bring together leaders from across North America to share insights, strategies, and first-hand experience on how to utilize IP assets to best support commercialization and innovation in BC. A sincere thank you to all of our speakers for sharing your expertise and helping make this year’s Summit such a valuable experience: Sheila Schindel, Peter Cowan, Natalie Dakers, Ali Ardakani, Mike McLean, Todd Bailey, Lally Rementilla, CPA, CMA, Jason Robertson, Graeme Herring, Brian Lally, Rachel Haller, Joel Semeniuk, Byron Thom, Erin Pisko, Kerry Hillier, BSc, JD, ICD.D, Conor Sheehan, Jessica Yip, Karn Manhas, Houston Brown, PhD, and Derek de Laat—and to our wonderful emcee Chang Han! Special thanks to Microsoft for graciously hosting us, and to Fasken for sponsoring the networking hour. And to all our attendees, thanks for joining us! 📸 Photo credit: Kai Jacobson

Looking forward to the Innovate BC $10K Pitch Competition next week at Web Summit Vancouver! Best of luck to New Ventures BC Competition alumni Binta Financial, and Startup Readiness Engine alumni Butterfly Legal as they take the stage at the BC Pavilion. 👏 Tune in May 12–14 to watch some of B.C.’s top startups pitch live for the $10K prize! 📌 See the schedule here: https://lnkd.in/gAeKBhnG

May Community Announcements! 🌍 It's almost the start of summer, which means there's many opportunities across the ecosystem you don’t want to miss! Check out key events and programming coming up this month: 📢 May 11 - 14 — Web Summit Vancouver is next week! Use our link to get 20% off your ticket: https://lnkd.in/gEbPDXhn 🗣️ May 11 — Join Indigenous Tech Circle's Web Summit Evening Gathering for a night of community and connection: https://luma.com/mobnvu4d 🔬 Apply by May 11 — Researchers and innovators can validate their business potential through the Lab2Market Validate Foundations program: https://lnkd.in/gbJvtNms 💰 May 12 — Attend Rise & Raise for a high-impact showcase of Canada’s most dynamic women-owned and women-led tech ventures, with SFU VentureLabs: https://lnkd.in/dEMh_bav 📈 May 13 — Have your startup paired with local and global investors at SFU VentureLabs matching event: https://lnkd.in/gtQUcRyy 🚀 May 14 — Level up your scaling strategy at the HeyGen Avatar Masterclass with SFU VentureLabs: https://lnkd.in/gwkkp9fe 👥 May 26 — Looking for your perfect business partner? Attend Meet Your Next Cofounder with Vancouver Entrepreneurs Forum: https://lnkd.in/gT7Mnrn3 🏔️ June 4 — Connect with investors & founders at the Okanagan Angel Summit Forum with Accelerate Okanagan: https://lnkd.in/g_OkanaganSummit Have a community announcement of your own? Leave a comment below👇

Thinking about applying for the upcoming AccelerateIP intake? 👀 Join our Info Session on May 7th to learn how your business could access up to $60,000 in legal support for IP implementation! Our programs team will walk you through the application process, share tips for a strong submission, and answer your questions. 📌 Thursday, May 7 | 12:00–12:30 PM PT | Online via Zoom 🔗 https://lnkd.in/gxVqF6H8

📣 Announcing our Round 2.5 & Round 3 Ventures! Over the past several weeks, 266 startups participated in Round 2 of our 2026 New Ventures BC Competition, presented by Innovate BC. Following careful review by 134 expert judges, the results are officially in. 15 ventures will advance directly into Round 3, while an additional 30 ventures will pitch live on May 27th for a chance to secure a spot in the Top 25. This is an exciting phase of the competition, and we're thrilled to see such a strong group of startups driving momentum in BC’s tech ecosystem this year. Congratulations to all advancing startup teams! 👉 Meet Round 2.5 & Round 3 Ventures: https://lnkd.in/g9C4822z