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 March that caught my eye.
Thinkific helps creators make The Leap with the launch of their new media brand
What Happened: The Vancouver-based edtech platform launched The Leap to help creators monetize their audience and ditch the 9-to-5.
Why We Should Care: Thinkfic creating a media brand shouldn't come as a huge surprise for those that have followed the company’s recent news. In October, they hired former Hoostutie, Bench, and Later executive Cameron Uganec as its first Head of Media. In subsequent interviews with Aleks Sagan (The Logic) and William Johnson (Vancouver Tech Journal), Uganec spoke about the changing landscape of media and the importance of owning a media brand.
The Leap -- which currently offers content on TikTok and Instagram, with a news site and newsletter soon to follow -- is the first go-to source of information for creators to learn about how to be a creator. As this new industry rapidly evolves, The Leap hopes to make it more accessible and equitable for anyone to take part.
The market size for the creator economy is currently projected at over $100B and is growing by the day. Thinkific’s forward-thinking strategy and creator-friendly services will ensure that they’re well-positioned to be a global leader in this space.
More on this:
ISED and JERI dish out 9-figure investments
What Happened: Significant tech investments from the Federal and Provincial governments aim to support job creation, economic recovery, and R&D.
Why We Should Care: The big investments included $4B federal dollars going towards a national digital adoption program; SIF funding aimed at boosting the country’s semiconductor industry, and the province continuing to build a stronger BC by bolstering its surging life science industry.
BC is home to the country’s fastest growing life science sector with over 2,000 companies and 18,000 jobs. The $195M in grant funding aims to further establish the province’s global reputation and ‘anchor B.C. as a worldwide leader and developer of new talent, research capacity and life-changing innovation’.
As public money pours into the sector, private capital isn’t too far behind. Clarius Mobile Health recently raised $20M to scale the production of their wireless ultrasound systems and Life Sciences BC -- the non-profit industry association that represents the BC life science community -- announced the short-list of companies that will present at the first annual Invest in the West pitch event. The pitching companies are developing innovative solutions across therapeutics, diagnostics, and digital health and offer a glimpse into the next wave of homegrown, life science standouts.
More on this:
BC Tech Community Shows Out for International Women's Day
What Happened: Media outlets, companies, accelerators, executives, and industry associations shined the spotlight on BC’s female entrepreneurs.
Why We Should Care: Creating an inclusive and diverse tech sector is the only way we can truly build a tech sector for everyone. While we still have ways to go to achieve this goal, months like this one give me hope that we’re not too far off.
Here’s an incomplete sampling of some of the tech-focused content published for IWD 2022. If there are articles I missed, don’t hesitate to put them in the comments.
Have a great April.
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