We would like to extend our congratulations to Iris Automation for making it into Y Combinator! Y Combinator has a unique model for providing funding to early stage startups. They fund a large number of startups and move them to Silicon Valley for three months, where the companies are worked with intensely to improve their business and perfect their pitch. Read on to learn more about this Hub tenant company and their recent successes!

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Iris Automation Inc. is a Vancouver born, high-tech computer vision company, recently backed by Y Combinator, that is building artificial intelligence to allow industrial drones to become situationally aware of their surroundings.

"Currently drones are flying blind, and that makes us all nervous about the technology. We're here to solve the problem and give them sight," said Iris Automation Co-Founder, Alexander Harmsen.

Harnessing the experience of the team and working out of our startup space at BCTIA has allowed the team to learn and grow fast. "By leveraging the resources, network, and space from BCTIA we've become much more than a garage startup," Harmsen added. 

Since moving into the space the team has tripled in size, and now includes members with PhDs in Computer Vision and collectively boasts more than 3 years of experience in the drone industry alongside organizations such as NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab, Boeing, and Airbus. Iris Automation is looking to tackle the biggest challenge facing industrial drones: autonomous flight beyond the line of sight. With developed computer vision technology, this challenge can be overcome.

"This is the biggest problem facing the industrial drone market today, we're solving that with cutting edge computer vision technology," said Co-Founder James Howard.

Iris Automation has already developed a prototype of the computer vision technology, proven the technology practically works, and is currently flying on-board drones with selected partners. By 2017, Iris Automation will have a market ready product.

Click here to learn more about Iris Automation.

For the past month leading up to the 2016 Technology Impact Awards, we have shone a spotlight on all of our finalist companies through blog posts separated into the Technology, Company, and Personal Recognition categories. We were also excited to feature the inspirational work of a couple of our Community Engagement Award Finalists, Left and Traction on Demand!

It's been exciting featuring our finalist companies, but it's almost time to find out which of them will be taking home the crown at Tuesday night's awards gala. On June 7th, over 1,000 members of BC's tech community will gather for the sold out awards show to celebrate the successes of our industry and the companies, people and innovation that continue to put British Columbia on the map.

Learn all you need to know about the 2016 TIAs in this year's program guide:

Click here to download a copy of the event program.

To see past winners, visit the TIAs Winner's Circle. To see our full list of finalists, or to download a copy of the official release, click here.

Not coming to the TIAs on Tuesday? Don’t worry, you can follow along on Twitter at #2016TIAs to see live content from the TIAs all night long!

See you on Tuesday and don't forget to tweet with the hashtag #2016TIAs!

Content provided by Fasken Martineau

We would like to extend our congratulations to Keith Spencer, this year’s recipient of the BC Tech Association’s (formerly BCTIA) Bill Thompson Lifetime Achievement Award! The Award is presented to individuals who have made a significant long-term contribution to BC’s technology industry by serving as leaders, models and mentors for others throughout their career.

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Keith Spencer is a partner and Chair of the Vancouver office’s Securities and Technology Practice Group. His clients range from start-up and emerging technology companies to large multi-national technology and telecom companies, and parties in outsourcing transactions. Keith has lectured in the area of technology and intellectual property law at the University of British Columbia Faculty of Law and at various Continuing Legal Education and Information Technology industry conferences.

He has also authored articles in the areas of computer and information technology, outsourcing, e-commerce and intellectual property law. Keith is a member of various boards and advisory boards for a significant number of early stage and emerging technology companies and technology industry associations.

“We are incredibly proud of Keith for receiving this lifetime achievement award. It’s a testament to his service delivery, commitment and genuine care for the clients he serves. His contributions have helped shape the British Columbia tech industry as a global player,” said William Westeringh, Q.C., Managing Partner of Fasken Martineau’s Vancouver office.

Fasken Martineau’s Information Technology Group provides full-service, multi-industry expertise in the technology sector, as well as a range of other industries such as transportation, financial services, healthcare, insurance, public sector/government, energy, entertainment, Internet, e-commerce, online gambling, communications and consumer technologies.

Click here to learn more about Fasken Martineau’s Information Technology Group.

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The Bill Thompson Award was created in honour of Bill Thompson, who, in the 1960s and '70s, owned the largest electronic parts distribution company in western Canada, L.A. Varah Ltd.  In the early '70s, he founded Eldevco, a personal holding company that invested in startup and early-stage tech companies in BC.  Bill made a point of knowing everybody in the fledgling high tech industry in the province, including the bankers, financiers, lawyers, and accountants who provided support services.

If he believed in the people and the technology in a small company, Bill invested his own money, and convinced venture capital firms and others to do the same.  Bill was known for helping everyone he met in whatever way he could.  He introduced engineers to managers, and managers to bankers, and marketers to potential customers.  He had a vast network of contacts - he always had an eye out for potential synergies and partnerships, and gently herded his associates towards them. He made himself readily available with advice, assistance, introductions, and occasional 'tough love' if he thought it was needed.

After Bill's death in 1985, the Bill Thompson Award was established by the BC Electronic Manufacturers Assn. (EMA) to recognize individuals who, like Bill, went out of their way to help young companies and young entrepreneurs to succeed. In 1993, EMA merged with Software BC to become the BCTIA, bringing the Bill Thompson Award with it. The Bill Thompson Award then became the first award presented at the Technology Impact Awards when it premiered in 1994.

The BC Tech Scholarship recognizes students at the secondary and post-secondary level who represent the future of our province and the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs. Launched in 2005, the BC Technology Scholarship Fund has supported more than seventy young men and women looking to build long and lasting careers in the BC tech industry.

This year's scholarship recipients were announced on Tuesday, June 7th, during the 2016 Technology Impact Awards. The awards were presented by Phil Bates, Executive Vice President, Business Transformation and Operations at TELUS, founding sponsor of the BC Technology Scholarship Fund.

This year there were two awards valued at $5,000 presented to students currently enrolled in post-secondary programs; and six $1,000 awards presented to students finishing high school and enrolled in BC-based post-secondary institutions for fall 2016.

The high school recipients are:

Abdelwahab-Bebo Elhosary

Bebo has a passion for coding, computer programming, and entrepreneurship. He has co-founded two companies, as well as become an executive member of his school club “Coditek”, which aims to enlighten kids about the importance and possibilities available through programming. In addition to being a strong academic student with a passion for technology, Bebo is actively involved in his community as a volunteer with St. John Ambulance and the Islamic Culture Centre in Port Coquitlam. Bebo plans to continue his education at the University of British Columbia in the Computer Science program.

Vivien Hui

From a young age, Vivien has had a strong love for science and technology, having competed in numerous science fairs in addition to being a Science Fair Mentor and Administrator. She will be studying at the University of British Columbia in the fall, with plans to specialize in Mechanical Engineering. Vivien is interested in space exploration, and plans to use her skills toward furthering space travel and developing new equipment for use both in space and here on Earth.

Ken Lin

Ken Lin is an exceptional academic student, achieving a consistent average of 96% throughout high school, and will continue his education by attending the University of British Columbia in the fall. Ken will be joining the Faculty of Applied Sciences with an interest in Electrical and Computer Engineering. Ken is a lead instructor with Byte Camp, where he teaches elementary school students about computer programming, 3D modeling, and video editing. Ken’s ultimate goal is to play a pivotal role in a game-changing company that is revolutionizing technology.

Steven Richter

Steven is deeply passionate about science and robotics, as evidenced by the fact that he was named Team Captain of Moscrop Robotics 1700A, Build Team Captain in the UBC Physics Olympics build competition, and VEX Robotics Tournament Champion. Steven’s interest in robotics and mechanics has led him to pursue a dual degree in Mechatronics Systems Engineering and Business Administration through the Simon Fraser University Faculty of Applied Science and Beedie School of Business. Steven’s ultimate goal is to use his skills in mechanics and robotics to contribute to the exploration of space.

Sterling Smith

Sterling’s interest for technology and artificial intelligence focuses on how far the limits can be pushed, and the impact it has on society. In addition to his strong determination academically, pushing himself from being a C student to having an A average, Sterling has been actively involved in his community, volunteering with school clubs such as the French Club and Target Alpha Club, as well as volunteering at the Festival du Bois. Sterling will be attending Simon Fraser University in the fall, studying in the Faculty of Applied Sciences with a concentration in Computer Engineering.

Ryan Wright

Ryan is a strong student who has consistently achieved impressive academic scores and awards. He will be attending the University of British Columbia – Okanagan in the fall, where he will study Engineering. Ryan wants to use his education to develop innovative solutions for individuals who struggle with mobility and other disabilities, making them cost-effective and more easily available to those in need to help improve their quality of life.

The post-secondary recipients are:

Maryam Mobini

Maryam is pursuing a Master of Arts degree at Simon Fraser University’s School of Interactive Arts & Technology. In a collaborative research project, she has developed an immersive auditory experience to help reduce pain and anxiety in chronic pain patients. Maryam’s goal is to fine-tune her processes and create a commercially viable product that will be available for patients by the end of 2016. This product will help its users to overcome the negative thoughts that hold chronic pain sufferers back in their everyday lives.

Eva Yu

Eva is a student at the British Columbia Institute of Technology, working towards completing the Computer Systems Technology program. She is actively involved in the BCIT Computing community as a member of “Coding for All”, which focuses on creating a network for women in computing. She is also a member of the planning committee for the annual Canadian Undergraduate Computer Science Conference. Eva hopes to use her education to develop ways in which technology can be used to aid in mitigating global disparity.

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Congratulations to all of the recipients! We wish them continued success in their academic careers and look forward to seeing the ways in which they will build and shape BC's tech industry in the future.

Applications for the BC Technology Scholarship Fund will open in February 2017.

On June 7^th, over 1,000 people were gathered at the Vancouver Convention Centre to celebrate the successes of our industry at the 2016 Technology Impact Awards. From the Finalist Announcements to the last call at the After Party powered by CounterPath, it felt like the #2016TIAs flew by.

This amazing event is not possible without the help and support of many people within our industry. First, BC Tech would like to thank our special guest, the Honourable Amrik Virk, Minister of Technology, Innovation and Citizen's Services, for joining us and presenting the Most Promising Startup Award on behalf of Award Sponsor, BCIC.

We also wish to give a huge thank you to our Platinum Sponsors, CIBC and TELUS, our Gold Sponsors, KPMG and Sierra Wireless, as well as our many other sponsors and partners, for making the TIAs possible, along with the Tomorrow’s Titans sponsors, for hosting tech entrepreneurs as part of the Tomorrow’s Titans Programs. This “pay it forward” attitude is part of what makes BC one of the best places to start and grow a tech company.

If you missed the TIAs, or simply wish to experience them again, please check out the Winner's Circle, view photos in the slideshow below, or visit our Flickr album to catch a glimpse of everyone’s glamorous garb from the red carpet, the awards dinner, and the after party.

We were glad to celebrate so many deserving companies honoured with both nominations and awards for a job well done this past year. We would like to take this opportunity to highlight the companies that came out as big winners at the 2016 TIAs and we’re excited to see what the future holds for all of them:

To see a full listing of past winners from 1994 to now, visit the Winner’s Circle, and to download a copy of the 2016 Technology Impact Awards news release, click here.

It was a pleasure to celebrate the best and brightest in BC’s tech industry, especially with all of those who will one day grow as leaders in the community.  This includes the well-deserving recipients of the BC Technology Scholarship, who are paving the way to the future of tech in BC.

Thank you again to our many supporters and friends for helping to make the 2016 Technology Impact Awards a truly memorable event.

For more information on the 2016 Technology Impact Awards, visit www.thetias.com.

At the 2016 Technology Impact Awards on June 7, 2016, software development company Freightera Logistics Inc. took home the award of Excellence in Product Innovation. Freightera's innovative new technology will allow them to significantly decrease emissions from freight transport in order to create a Green Future for Freight.

Check out their article "A Green Future for Freight", published in the 2016 G7 Summit issue of Climate Change: The New Economy and distributed to the G7, leading UN agencies, NGOs, senior policymakers, chief scientists and CEOs of the Fortune 500.

Click here to read the full “A Green Future for Freight” article.

We are thrilled to have partnered with the Vancouver Economic Commission (VEC) and BC Tech Jobs in an initiative to highlight Vancouver as the place to grow a successful career in technology to some of Canada’s top tech talent: U of Waterloo’s students and alumni. We didn’t do this on our own – we had help from seven of Vancouver’s best companies!

On May 30, we visited Waterloo to host two unique branding and recruitment events. During a Vancouver info session at U of Waterloo, Sean Elbe from VEC spoke about the benefits of growing a career in Vancouver. This was followed by lightning pitches and an employer panel that was moderated by our representatives to showcase Vancouver companies and discuss employment opportunities. Companies present included SAP, Microsoft, MDA, ACL, D-Wave, BuildDirect, and Fortinet. All companies had a chance to meet and chat with candidates one-on-one during the event.

In the evening we all headed to YVRTech Meetup, co-hosted by VEC and SAP Vancouver. Each of the seven Vancouver companies in attendance had a booth to display their technology and chat with attendees, while the BC Tech Association and BC Tech Jobs helped candidates leverage BCTechJobs.ca to look for job opportunities in Vancouver. Attendees mingled and chatted with each prospective company over great food and drinks.

Over 170 students and professionals were able to explore opportunities in Vancouver’s tech sector through these events. Companies were very satisfied with the turnout and hopeful that connections made will turn into great hires. We are looking forward to continuing such initiatives and bringing the local tech community together many more times to come to promote our beautiful (and full of tech jobs) city to tech talent everywhere.

A big thank you to the Vancouver Economic Commission for spearheading this initiative and putting Vancouver in the spotlight with the local media. Here are a few articles from CBC News, Waterloo Chronicle, 570 News, and Betakit.

If you’d like to participate in future out-of-province branding and recruitment initiatives, please email talent@bctia.org and indicate your interest.

Content Provided by Canadian Film Centre.

Are you a Virtual Reality (VR) content creator or company that creates software and/or hardware that enables VR content based in British Columbia, Ontario, Québec, Manitoba, Alberta, or California? Help us uncover the key players in this emerging industry and the primary workflows used to bring VR to users by completingthis survey.

This short survey will only take about 15 minutes to complete. It is part of a larger research project focused on the VR ecosystem in Canada, titled Pulse on VR: A Workflow and Ecosystem Study, co-authored by the Canadian Film Centre’s Media Lab (CFC Media Lab) and OMERS Ventures in partnership with Creative BC, Super Ventures, CMF and a host of other funders. Your answers will provide invaluable data that will enable us to better understand the complex VR workflow in Canada and which technologies and companies are taking part in designing the different parts of this ecosystem. Most importantly, we want to share the resulting analysis back with the industry to help it grow and to shed light on the enormous market potential and groundbreaking impacts that VR affords the creative and technology industries in Canada and beyond. If you are a VR content creator or technology enabler – we need your participation to get us there.

CLICK HERE to learn more about Pulse on VR.

For questions about the survey, please contact: Kristian at kroberts@nordicity.com

With the 2016 Technology Impact Awards now over, and yesterday being the official start of summer, the BC Tech Association is celebrating the end of its event season -- and what a season it was!

First, let us start by thanking all of our sponsors, partners, and community members for making this year such an incredible success. We know that it takes a community working together to grow tech companies, and we have the best community out there!

Here are some highlights from our 2015-16 Events Season: 

• We celebrated the 1st Anniversary of our Innovation Hub, where we had over 4,700 people come to visit us and attend events, host meetings, connect, learn, and grow.
• We partnered on more than 1,380 community events within BC’s Tech -- with more being added to our Events Calendar every day!
• The first HyperGrowth cohort graduated (with distinction) and we launched the second cohort in May 2016.
• For the 10th year in a row we participated in the Microsemi Science Fair Fun Run, the largest timed 5k fun run in BC.
• In partnership with Futurpreneur, SAP, WCTBC, the Minerva Foundation, SCWIST, and WEB Alliance, we hosted WED Vancouver, the 2nd celebration of Women's Entrepreneurship Day as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week.
• The BC Tech Association hosted 124 events including 33 Grub in The Hubs. 
• Our talent events brought 269 companies together with over 1,000 job seekers, helping companies hire for key roles to keep the industry growing.
• We hosted our first FinTech event with PayPal in October, leading to the launch of our new FinTech program
• More than 500 people attended our tri-annual TechBrew events, making each a sold-out success!
• And for the second year in a row, the Technology Impact Awards were sold out as over 1,000 of our closest friends came together to celebrate the best of BC's tech industry.

If you missed an event, or just want to relive it, be sure to visit our Flickr Page!

Just because BC Tech is taking a break from hosting events this summer, doesn't mean there aren't events to check out. Take a look at our Events Calendar to see what’s happening over the next few months. If you have an event you'd like to share, look for the green "+Post Your Event" button and share it with us!

Have an amazing summer, and stay tuned for more great events kicking off in September!

Content Provided by CounterPath.

CounterPath, a leading provider of cost-effective, unified communications softphones and server platform solutions for today’s mobile and modern workforce, is looking for Champions of Change to become beta testers for an exciting new offering.

In September 2010, Centre4Growth was born. We were inspired by the start up support model program by Communitech in Waterloo and thought that British Columbia deserved the same type of programming. The idea for the program was to bring together the power of BC’s tech networks, alumni, resources, and knowledge to build the next generation of anchor tech companies.

What started with a small, dedicated team of CEOs-in-Residence (now called Executives-in-Residence) meeting with startups in coffee shops, eventually led to Bootcamps, Demo Days, Connection Days, and hundreds of companies receiving free services from a wide network of experts, partners, customers, advisors and investors, accessing business opportunities, and establishing customer relationships. Our founding EIRs were Bill Tam, Peter Payne, Neil McDonnell, Rob Bennet, and Sandra Wear.

Over the years, we were fortunate to work with more influencers from BC’s tech community, such as: Rory Holland, Jonathan Bixby, Gina Arsens, Eamonn Percy, Michael Henson, Gary Boddington, Jennifer Thompson, and Ben Pickering. The Centre4Growth grew and expanded over the years, including our watershed moment in November of 2014 when the Federal Government announced the Canadian Accelerator and Incubator Program (CAIP). The result of that announcement was the launch of the BC Tech Innovation Hub, which opened to the public in early 2015.

The Hub became a platform offering amazing growth, infrastructure, and resources, elevating Centre4Growth to a new level. Now, tech companies would be able to start, grow, and succeed within the walls of The Hub, accessing services at an accelerated rate, leading to bigger outcomes, faster.

Over the past five and a half years, C4G has supported over 800 companies – helping them increase their revenue by nearly $190 million, attract over $200 million in new investment, and create close to 950 new jobs across the province. We have worked with companies that span a wide variety of tech sectors, and have participated in the growth and maturity of BC’s tech industry overall.

What’s Next?

The support system for startups has grown dramatically since 2010, with incredible programs and services being offered by numerous groups around Vancouver and across the province. With this shift in the landscape, we have decided to focus on doing what we do best, working with tech companies ready for ‘second-stage’ growth (commercialized, in-market, early traction) to drive revenues upwards of $1 million.

Following the success of our HyperGrowth program, we have decided to dedicate our Growth Programs Team (formerly the C4G Team) to focusing exclusively on second-stage and above companies. We will continue to grow the next generation of anchor tech companies, expanding the availability of programming and support beyond early-stage and into growth-stage, where many companies find it hard to break through.

Our flagship platforms include:

What About First-Stage Companies?

We understand the importance of early-stage companies having access to incredible programming, and are thankful for our many incredible partners who are dedicated to helping companies determine their product-market fit, learned business model canvas methodology, and go-to-market strategy.

If you have an early-stage idea, we strongly suggest contacting our partners at Spring University, Launch Academy, UBC and SFU.  For Mobile/IOT companies there is Wavefront and for cleantech companies there is Foresight. Across the province there is an amazing array of support including AOK in Kelowna, New Ventures BC virtually, Innovation Island in Nanaimo, Tectoria in Victoria, and Kamloops Innovation.

Many of these organizations offer BCIC’s Market Validation Program. This list is in no way conclusive, as BC now boasts one of the best start-up ecosystems in the whole world. If you are unsure which program is right for you, please feel free to email us. We can tell you more about them and can make an introduction for you.

Are You Ready for Growth?

We look forward to continuing our journey in supporting the growth of BC’s tech industry, and are always on the lookout for growth and scale-stage tech companies.

If your tech company is ready for growth, and is looking for experienced coaches and advanced connectivity, email a pitch deck to programs@wearebctech.com.