Each month, I share my favourite local stories that showcase the incredible work being done by members of our B.C. tech and innovation community. The objective of these posts is to shine a brighter light on the innovation that’s taking place across this province.
Here are the stories from July that caught my eye.
Province launching new centre for agritech innovation
A winning month for Genome BC
What Happened: The genomics non-profit took home Partner of the Year at the 2022 Life Science BC Awards and hired Suzanne Gill as its new President and CEO.
Why We Should Care: The Suzanne/Genome news broke in June and she starts the new role in August, so we’re splitting the difference and talking about this in July.
Suzanne returns to Genome BC, where she spent more than a decade working in multiple roles at the organization. She now gets to usher in a new era for Genome BC at a time when genomics innovation is transforming our daily lives.
BC researchers and companies are leading a genomics revolution that’s changing the way we grow food, treat patients, protect ecosystems, and safeguard forests. As the new CEO, Suzanne gets the unique opportunity to be at the forefront of the province’s thriving life science sector, while building on Genome BC’s impressive 20+ year track record.
Genome BC’s LSBC Award win is further validation of the organization’s impact in helping BC become the fastest growing life science industry in the country, currently employing more than 18,000 people and boasting over 2,000 companies.
Congratulations to Suzanne and the Genome BC team on an exciting last few weeks! We're so pleased to have Suzanne as a member of the Innovate BC Board of Directors.
More on this:
- From 2018: Digital Supercluster Project Overview -- The Secure Health and Genomics Platform
- From 2020: Introducing Genome BC (VIDEO)
FreshWorks Studios joins forces with EY Canada
What Happened: Nearly eight years to the day after they were first incorporated, the Victoria-headquartered digital studio was acquired by EY Canada and will merge with EY Design Studio.
Why We Should Care: FreshWorks has seemingly done it all over the past eight years.
They’ve grown to over 100 employees, won major awards, landed blue chip clients, opened (and outgrown) offices across the globe, and were recognized by Maclean’s as one of the country’s top growth companies. After all that, an acquisition seemed like the last space remaining on the bingo card.
This new partnership with EY Design Studio will allow FreshWorks to achieve its vision of “creating Canada’s premier digital agency”. From the company’s LinkedIn announcement:
From our roots as a small immigrant-founded start-up to this monumental update, our team could not be more excited to work alongside our now larger team to expand our reach and service offerings to become a truly end-to-end technology partner.
Congrats to Sam, Rohit, and the entire FreshWorks team!
More on this:
- From 2019: FreshWorks wins the Company of the Year – Growth Success award at the TIAs.
- From 2019: FreshWorks wins Employer of the Year at the VIATEC Awards.
BCBusiness Reveals its 30 under 30
What Happened: The annual list highlights BC’s youngest trendsetters who are pushing boundaries, building companies, and leaving their mark on BC’s business community.
Why We Should Care: Over the years, BCBusiness’ 30 under 30 list has become an entry point for early-stage tech entrepreneurs to establish themselves amongst the province’s top business leaders. Looking back, some of today’s biggest tech companies and executives have been recognized on this annual list.
The Class of 2017 featured executives from MediMap, FitMyFoot, HeadCheck Health, eTreatMD, ProtoHack, and Hydra Energy. The 2019 list showcased the tech sector’s depth and diversity by including executives from Zennea Technologies (health), Cuboh (SAAS), AVA Technologies (agriculture), RightMesh (IoT), and Women in Tech World (non-profit).
However, the most noteworthy alumni class comes from 2018, where the 30 Under 30 List included talent from Aspect Biosystems, VanHack, FreshWorks, Pocketed, Rootd, Sanctuary AI, ChopValue, Jetti Resources, Riipen, and FreshPrep (just to name a few!).
It’s one of my favourite lists of the year and I look forward to tracking the progress of this year’s class. Shout out to Editor-in-Chief, Nathan Caddell, and the entire BCBusiness Editorial Team on another impressive list!
More on this:
- From 2017: Hydra Energy wins an Innovate BC Ignite Award (VIDEO)
- From 2022: BCBusiness’ Top 100 Companies List
Have a great August.
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