BC Tech 2025

5 DATA

10 INNOVATION

14 POWER

26 CAPITAL

29 TALENT

SPECIAL PUBLICATION 2025 EDITION

BC TECH

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Top IP Mistakes Tech Companies Make and How to Avoid Them

I

ntellectual property (“IP”) can be a tech company’s most valuable asset, yet it can be easily overlooked in the rush to commercialize an innovation. Early IP missteps can easily escalate into costly disputes, lost rights, and roadblocks when scaling internationally.

The good news is that many IP issues are avoidable with a bit of initial planning and assistance from an IP professional.

This article highlights three IP mistakes that we frequently see and offers practical steps to address them before they become expensive distractions.

1. Not Conducting Trademark Clearance Searches Before Using a Trademark Companies often select a trademark, secure a domain n ame, and begin marketing without checking for prior use of confusingly similar trademarks by third parties. Doing so risks an inability to register the trademark, infringement threats, wasted marketing spend, and an undesirable rebrand.

A trademark clearance search can help find potentially troublesome registered and unregistered trademarks, including business names and online use such as in domain names, on social media, and on webpages. A thorough review of the search results by an IP professional can inform the decision on whether or not to adopt a particular trademark, thereby reducing the risk of costly conflicts. Conducting these searches in key markets early on can smooth the path for later international growth.

2. Not Ensuring the Company Owns All IP In the early stages of a startup, key assets are often created by founders before a company is incorporated. The first employees and independent contractors might also make contributions to new IP before formal agreements are in place.

Without appropriate contractual terms, ownership of the IP can remain (fully or

James Nottingham, Intellectual Property Lawyer

partially) with founders, independent contractors, and in some cases employees, leaving gaps in a company’s ownership of its technology. These gaps can complicate IP filings and enforcement, and can even jeopardize the company’s ability to use its key IP. Clear IP agreements betwee n the company and all individuals that are engaged by the company can avoid these problems. A contract audit with an IP lawyer can help clarify whether ownership has been properly transferred to the company.

3. Prematurely Disclosing Technology Confidentiality plays a key role in the context of IP. A common problem that we see is premature disclosure of a new technology. Premature disclosure can significantly limit or eliminate the options available for protection.

A Canadian patent cannot validly protect a technology that has been disclosed by the inventors more than one year before the date the patent application is filed in Canada. A similar rule applies in the USA. Many jurisdictions, though, have an absolute prohibition on validly protecting subject matter that has been publicly disclosed before a patent application has been filed. In other words, prematurely

disclosing a technology can significantly limit the ability to seek patent protection for such technology.

Confidentiality also plays a key role in the context of trade secret protection.

Trade secret protection is not available if a technology has been publicly disclosed, and it lasts only as long as the technology remains confidential.

Consulting with an IP lawyer before disclosing your technology helps preserve your options for protecting your innovation.

Another common issue related to confidentiality is the misuse of n ondisclosure agreements (“NDAs”). NDAs are frequently used by companies to keep a technology confidential, but problems can arise when teams over-disclose under an NDA, or rely on a standard-form NDA in the wrong context. NDAs should be used strategically, and companies should understand the limits of their standardform NDAs. When appropriate, companies should have an IP lawyer tailor NDAs to the specific situation. Even under an NDA, disclosure should be limited to only what is necessary, and on a need-to-know basis.

NDAs are just one layer of protection, and work best when paired with employee training on identifying and safeguarding confidential information.

Conclusion Many IP problems start as small oversights, and correcting them early is often far easier than untangling them later. For practical guidance on building a stronger IP foundation, please reach out to me or a member of our team to discuss a strategy tailored to your business.

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SPECIAL PUBLICATION

2025 EDITION

5 DATA

10 INNOVATION

14 POWER

26 CAPITAL

29 TALENT

BC TECH

PUBLISHER: Lara Graham EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Tyler Orton VICE-PRESIDENT, SALES: Alvin Chow DIRECTOR OF PARTNERSHIPS: Marianne LaRochelle CONTRIBUTORS: John Kurucz, Stefan Labbé, Jami Makan, Daisy Xiong DESIGN: Tracy Trydal ADVERTISING SALES: Sam Gray, Vivian Hung, Tanya Kalra, Pariya Tari, Michelle Van Der Westhuizen PROJECT MANAGER: Angela Foster

5 FEATURES 5

STAKING A CLAIM ON DATA

B.C. luring investors with secure infrastructure

10 SMART MINES, B.C. BRAINS

Innovators turn old extraction into high‑tech exploration

14 CHASING THE HEART OF A SUN

Inside General Fusion’s bold bid to turn plasma and pistons into power

26 FROM RESET TO RESURGENCE

B.C. tech sector veterans see confidence and capital returning to form

29 BUILDING TALENT FROM WITHIN

14

B.C. tech bets on local skills over imports

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SPECIAL CONTENT 4

A MESSAGE FROM JILL TIPPING

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2025 TECHNOLOGY IMPACT AWARDS

23 BC INNOVATORS HALL OF FAME

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Proudl y published and prin ted in Canada

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BC: WHERE BOLD VISION BECOMES REALITY strength of BC’s tech economy and the realities it must navigate: rising costs, global uncertainty, and a race for skilled people that shows no signs of slowing.

By Jill Tipping, CEO, BC Tech Association

Change has become a constant for BC’s technology sector — and so has progress.

Amidst global disruption, leadership transitions, and shifting markets, BC’s tech economy continues to outperform. Today, it employs 271,000 British Columbians, with 80,000 more jobs expected to be created over the next five years. It’s growing three times faster than the rest of the economy, and those gains are spreading far beyond Vancouver into every region of the province.

That momentum is remarkable. Sustaining it will depend on the choices we make about investment and talent and how we deliver competitiveness in a global market.

At BC Tech, we see this story unfold daily through our 1,000-plus member companies — startups testing their first products, scaleups expanding into global markets, and anchors reinvesting in local talent and innovation. Our member community reflects both the

A MOMENT OF CHANGE The past year has been one of transition — politically, economically, and globally. Federally the focus is clear – navigating trade tensions with the United States while strengthening Canada’s economy with a focus on strategic assets, including data and AI sovereignty, and an emphasis on procurement and inter-provincial trade. Provincially, the government has refocused its mandate on growing the economy, seizing investment opportunities, and strengthening public services. At the City of Vancouver, the Mayor’s Task Force on Vancouver Business Growth is focused on actionable steps to support growing industries.

Meanwhile, global trade disruptions and tariff uncertainty have reminded BC companies of the importance of diversification. Many are expanding into European and Asia-Pacific markets, leveraging Canada’s strong international reputation while pressing for better access to capital and markets closer to home. These shifts have underscored a simple truth: BC’s innovation economy is resilient, but it can’t be taken for granted.

plan for the next wave of opportunity.

THE PEOPLE POWERING GROWTH The success of BC’s tech sector depends on people. Talent is a pressing challenge for nearly every industry in our network.

The demand for skilled workers in engineering, design, and leadership continues to outpace supply — and that gap risks slowing the sector’s momentum.

To fill the 80,000 roles expected over the next five years, BC will need to think bigger about how it grows and retains talent. That includes expanding the number of tech-relevant post-secondary graduates by 10,000, double investment in short-course and re-skilling programs, and create incentives for Canadian talent abroad to return home.

Entrepreneurs need targeted supports to scale their companies sustainably.

And we can’t grow talent without ensuring people can afford to stay here — which means continuing to invest in housing, childcare, education, and transit. The health of our communities and the health of our innovation economy are inseparable.

A SHARED PATH FORWARD Technology is no longer confined to one sector — it’s woven into every part of BC’s economy. From clean energy and advanced manufacturing to digital health and sustainable resource management, technology is reshaping BUILDING ON WHAT WORKS how we work, live, and build. BC Tech’s Over the past decade, BC has shown members are leading that transformathat innovation and resilience go hand tion — not alone, but alongside partners in hand. But staying ahead will require aligning our strengths with smart, pre- in government, academia, and industry.

Our role at BC Tech is to ensure that dictable policy. That means creating an the voices of these innovators are heard environment where investment and — that policymakers understand what it talent can thrive together. takes to scale a company, attract investSome of that alignment is already in ment, and create good jobs in BC. We motion — through expanded venture can’t make decisions for government, capital incentives, permanent digital but we can help shape the conversations media tax credits, and programs that that lead to smarter ones. support technology adoption across The strength of BC’s tech sector lies industries. But there’s still room to go further: encouraging capital to stay lo- not just in innovation, but in collaboration — between startups and anchors, cal, improving access to growth-stage between government and industry, befunding, and using procurement to tween vision and action. If we invest open doors for BC innovators to deliver in people, build the right conditions solutions here at home. to scale, and ensure that technology Better data about our innovation adoption reaches across the economy, economy would also help policymakers BC won’t just keep pace - we’ll lead.  measure progress, identify gaps, and

Staking a claim on data

Jordan Scott (right), account director of data centre firm Cologix Inc., and Chris Heinrich, chief revenue officer. The Denver-based company has 45-plus data centres in North America. • CHUNG CHOW

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B.C. luring investors with secure infrastructure

BY JAMI MAKAN

S

ome Canadians may not like the cold weather up north, but data centre providers certainly do. That’s because data centres produce massive heat that needs to be cooled down.

“Whenever you go to places that have colder weather, it becomes more efficient to basically cool down the electronics,” says Mohammad Shahrad, assistant professor with the University of British Columbia’s department of electrical and computer engineering.

This “power usage effectiveness” helps make B.C. an attractive destination for the fast-growing data centre industry, alongside greater data sovereignty and sustainable hydroelectric power, he says.

“Based on electricity maps data, in B.C. we are around six times greener in terms of carbon intensity compared to Alberta.”

But B.C. politicians may need to do a better job attracting data centres, because data centres have strategic importance and can bring billions in investment to the province, Shahrad says. Large data centres can cost as much as $10 billion, he says.

“It appears that more often than not, they think of data centres as huge investments that don’t create jobs,” Shahrad says.

Given the trajectory of U.S.-Canada relations and today’s ubiquity of digital services and AI, “it’s important to invest in this area and have more capability in B.C. in case things get shut down,” he says.

“We don’t want to be having our regular day-to-day activities be fully halted.”

There are particular concerns around data stored in the U.S. or in Canadian facilities owned by American companies. That’s because U.S. authorities may legally be able access data beyond their jurisdiction, contrasting with robust privacy legislation in B.C. and Canada, Shahrad says.

There are also community concerns around water consumption and zoning, he says, citing an example of one Alberta project being halted for these reasons.

However, some data centres now use “closed circuit water cooling” to minimize their impact on utilities, Shahrad says.

“These are aspects where clear regulation and setting clear expectations can help,” he says.

With some traditional hubs such as the Virginia area running into power constraints, B.C. can seize the moment, Shahrad says.

“A lot of big actors are going to new locations ... and I think this might be a moment to basically take advantage of, specifically in the context of sovereignty concerns, and basically make sure that B.C. is positioned well for data centre builders and data centre operators,” he says.

Evolution of data centres Data centres, which quietly connect the digital world, are emerging as a darling of commercial real estate in B.C. and beyond.

Although the data centre industry has complex needs and high barriers to entry, experts say it’s only just blooming, and that the industry will grow exponentially with the development and adoption of artificial intelligence, cloud computing and other technologies.

Data centres, initially developed by financial institutions and others to house critical data, offer five key services to a wide range of customers: Space, power, cooling, security and interconnection.

Companies used to operate “switch rooms” or “telco rooms” in-house before outsourcing that work.

“It’s really exciting that data centres have now come into the mainstream a bit more,” says Jordan Scott, account director with Denver-based Cologix, which operates five data centres in and around Vancouver.

“For a while there, it felt like we were kind of just operating behind a curtain or behind the shadows.”

Scott, who is based in Vancouver, says data centres can be thought of as airports. They are the hubs where all the activity happens—where data is processed, transmitted and stored.

“In the airports, it’s a multi-tenant environment.

Many, many customers come into our facilities and they co-locate their IT infrastructure within our walls,” he says.

Data centres are buildings for powering and cooling racks of servers and connecting them with fibre-optic and network cabling. Customers generally bring their own equipment, such as servers, switches, cabling, cabinets and power distribution units (PDUs).

Today’s data centres are expected to provide adequate physical space to host client equipment, sufficient electrical power, liquid cooling to create an ideal environment for running equipment, physical security and interconnection with the outside world.

Cologix’s 45-plus data centres in North America operate on a lease model. In addition to certain onetime costs, customers pay monthly lease rates for the square footage they occupy and their power usage, and can choose a two-, five- or 10-year term.

Although real estate is scarce and expensive in Greater Vancouver, urban hubs are needed for proximity to clients, electrical power and connectivity.

“None of our customers are going to want to drive six hours to the middle of nowhere if they have to reboot a server,” Scott says.

Data centres must co-ordinate with utilities and telecommunications companies to access power and fibre networks, and the barriers to entry are significant due to the amount of time and capital involved.

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The server room of the “VAN3” data centre at 2828 Natal Street in Vancouver operated by Denver-based Cologix. • COLOGIX INC.

“You can’t just set up shop overnight,” Scott says.

AI boosts demand for data centres “Data centres are ultimately real estate businesses,” says Marc Mondesir, Canadian managing director with California-based Equinix, Inc., which bills itself as the world’s largest data-centre company with 470,000-plus physical interconnections available to clients.

“We are really in the business of providing space and power for our customers, so that they can house the computer equipment that’s required to power the internet.”

Mondesir says his industry is positioned for massive growth as AI, cloud and other technologies—which ultimately runs on computers that in turn run within data centres—evolve.

“What’s at the core of all this infrastructure is the

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Mohammad Shahrad, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at UBC, says B.C.’s cooler climate, renewable hydro power and focus on data sovereignty makes the province an attractive destination for large-scale data centres. • CHUNG CHOW

network. The network is at the core of the internet.

The network is at the core of AI. The network is at the core of large language models,” he says.

An AI prompt currently requires 10-15 times more computing power compared to a keyword search, Mondesir says. This places extra demands on the grid, one reason for BC Hydro’s moratorium on Bitcoin mining announced in December 2022.

Crypto volatility aside, Mondesir says there is considerable room for long-term growth in the sector.

“Data centres account for less than one per cent of electricity consumption in this country,” he says.

“The U.S. hovers in that three- to four-per-cent mark— these numbers change constantly—and then you’ve got China that’s reported to consume even more electricity than that, so [Canada is] sort of skimming the surface.”

By concentrating providers and equipment under one roof, data centres can unlock synergies for complex computing tasks that require low latency and high security. “The closer that these network nodes are

to one another, the better they perform and the more securely they perform,” he says.

As demand for energy grows, so do concerns about the environment. Mondesir says Equinix data centres use 100-per-cent renewable energy and that the company aims to be carbon-neutral by 2030. He also says heat from hardware can be repurposed.

“The Olympic pool in Paris was heated by Equinix data centres,” he says.

Operators face challenges W holesale colocation data centres are seen as desirable because infrastructure funds are able to deploy large chunks of capital into real estate assets that produce stable income, says Scott Harper, Toronto-based vice-president with CBRE Limited.

But operating a data centre is no walk in the park, as it brings legal risk, and the technical complexities of data centres make the market difficult to penetrate.

“If there is a problem in a data centre and your client needs an operating platform 24-7 and you cause there

9

to be some type of interruption in that service, the penalties that you’re going to pay for each minute that you’re down are substantial,” he says. “It’s like the difference between owning a retirement home as a real estate play and then owning and operating a hospital that operates 24-7. It’s just much more technical, and you’re having to buy equipment that’s very expensive and back up the data centre twice.”

The hardest thing for an operator right now is aligning a facility to the power supply on a client’s timeline, says Dave Cervantes, CBRE’s Montrealbased executive vice-president.

There is exponential demand for built data-centre space and large quantities of power, he says. The challenge for an operator is getting that space to market with a scarcity of utility power on the grid and significant capital costs to develop the data centre around that power.

Despite these logistical challenges, demand is only beginning to grow, Cervantes says.

“We are continuing to develop at a very, very accelerated pace,” he says.

According to Scott, there are now more eyes and ears focused on the data centre industry in B.C. and elsewhere.

“There’s a ton of investment f lowing into this space right now,” he says. “I think it’s really just the beginning of data centres and everything that’s going to be possible.” 

THERE’S A TON OF INVESTMENT FLOWING INTO THIS SPACE RIGHT NOW. I THINK IT’S REALLY JUST THE BEGINNING OF DATA CENTRES AND EVERYTHING THAT’S GOING TO BE POSSIBLE.  Jordan Scott Account director, Cologix

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10

Smart mines, B.C. brains

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Innovators Innovators turn turn oldold extraction extraction into into high-tech high-tech exploration exploration “Global “Global demand demand for critical for critical minerals minerals is surging, is surging, drivendriven by thebyneed the for need energy for energy resilience, resilience, rapid rapid expansion expansion of AI infrastructure of AI infrastructure and geopolitical and geopolitical achineachine learning learning models models that assist that assist in roadin road imperatives imperatives aroundaround security security of supply,” of supply,” AgnewAgnew says. says. maintenance; maintenance; artificial artificial intelligence intelligence used used Companies Companies acrossacross B.C. are B.C. adapting are adapting to those to shifts. those shifts. to comb to voluminous comb voluminous data sets; dataorsets; evenorthe even the Hudbay’s Hudbay’s Copper Copper Mountain Mountain mine near minePrinceton near Princeton abilityability to taketoX-rays take X-rays or CATorscans CAT of scans the of Earth. the Earth. has the has first theNorth first North American American overhead overhead electric electric The days Theofdays simply of simply digging digging a hole and a hole hoping and hoping for thefor the trolleytrolley assist assist system system powered powered by electricity by electricity from from best are best over, are where over, where resource resource extraction extraction practices practices BC Hydro, BC Hydro, whichwhich replaced replaced dieseldiesel haul-trucks. haul-trucks.

It’s It’s datingdating back hundreds back hundreds of years of are years being are replaced being replaced by by twice as twice fastas asfast the as diesel the diesel truckstrucks and reduces and reduces diesel diesel 21st century 21st century intuition, intuition, electrification electrification and automation. and automation. consumption consumption by approximately by approximately a tonne a tonne of CO2 of CO2 All of All it isofbeing it is being employed employed in mining in mining operations operations emissions—approximately emissions—approximately 400 litres 400 of litres diesel of diesel per per acrossacross the province the province and alland of itall isof being it is powered being powered by

by Copper hour. hour. Copper Mountain Mountain also recently also recently commissioned commissioned B.C. brains B.C. brains in tech, inAI, tech, analytics AI, analytics and more. and more. the world’s the world’s largestlargest electric electric hydraulic hydraulic excavator, excavator, which which Take Richmond’s Take Richmond’s Ideon Ideon Technologies Technologies as a prime as a prime standsstands almostalmost 10 metres 10 metres tall. tall. example. example.

Just 15Just years 15 out years from outits from inception, its inception, it’s a it’s a At Teck’s At Teck’s Highland Highland ValleyValley Copper Copper operation, operation, made-in-B.C. made-in-B.C. success success story like story few like others: few others: born and born and automation automation and machine and machine learning learning models models are using are using incubated incubated through through UBC’sUBC’s TRIUMF TRIUMF research research centre,centre, real-time real-time information information from flotation from flotation processes processes in in now based now based in Richmond in Richmond and working and working on projects on projects coppercopper recovery. recovery. acrossacross NorthNorth America America and Australia. and Australia.

Elk Valley Elk Valley Resources’ Resources’ Fording Fording River River operation, operation, Ideon’s Ideon’s REVEAL REVEAL platform platform combines combines the power the power of of ow ned owby ned paby rent pacompa rent compa ny Glencore ny Glencore Ca n adCa a,n ad a, cosmic-ray cosmic-ray muons—subatomic muons—subatomic particles particles created created uses machine uses machine learning learning models models to track to real-time track real-time by supernova by supernova explosions explosions in space—with in space—with advanced advanced truck truck speed speed and location and location to quickly to quickly identify identify road road geophysical geophysical sensing sensing technologies, technologies, multi-physics multi-physics data data maintenance maintenance required required and to and optimize to optimize haul truck haul truck integration integration and AI-powered and AI-powered services. services. performance. performance.

It generates It generates high-resolution, high-resolution, high-velocity, high-velocity, 3D 3D “B.C.“B.C. is an internationally is an internationally recogn recogn ized hub izedofhub of models models of the of Earth’s the Earth’s subsurface, subsurface, enabling enabling mining mining innovative innovative clean tech cleanand tech mining and mining companies companies using using companies companies to identify, to identify, map, characterize, map, characterize, monitor monitor technology technology to reduce to reduce emissions emissions and to and improve to improve overalloverall and extract and extract ore bodies ore bodies faster,faster, more efficiently more efficiently and and operational operational performance,” performance,” says Tim says McEwan, Tim McEwan, seniorsenior with greater with greater confidence. confidence. vice-president vice-president of theof Mining the Mining Association Association of B.C. of B.C. Picture Picture the process the process as employing as employing two-dimensional two-dimensional “Several “Several B.C. mines B.C. mines are also are early alsoadopters early adopters of AI and of AI and X-raysX-rays or three-dimensional or three-dimensional CAT scans CAT of scans the Earth of the Earth big data, bigusing data,machine using machine learning, learning, autonomous autonomous vehiclevehicle to create to create geological geological maps for maps mining for mining and exploration and exploration technology technology and predictive and predictive analytics analytics at mine at sites.” mine sites.” companies. companies.

The results The results are faster are faster targeting, targeting, shorter shorter W hatW these hat these su m pa surm ts pa prov r tsi prov ncia lily ncia mea l lyn mea on n on development development timelines, timelines, reduced reduced operational operational risk and risk and a nat iona a natl iona a nd li nter a nd nat i nter iona natl iona sca lel sca ca nlenot ca n benot be a smaller a smaller environmental environmental footprint. footprint. understated. understated.

“The main “The competitor main competitor we have weishave drilling, is drilling, whichwhich is is Canada Canada currently currently produces produces about 60 about minerals, 60 minerals, with with 150-year-old 150-year-old technology technology and is and basically is basically biopsying biopsying the value theof value the nation’s of the nation’s mineral mineral production production exceeding exceeding the Earth,” the Earth,” explains explains IdeonIdeon CEO and CEOco-founder and co-founder $70 billion $70 billion in 2023. in 2023.

Gary Agnew.

Gary Agnew.

“We’ve “We’ve got precious got precious minerals minerals that that The country The country is home is home to almost to almost half ofhalf the of world’s the world’s we’re endowed we’re endowed with and with our and jobour is to job extract is to extract them in them in publicly publicly listedlisted mining mining and mineral and mineral exploration exploration the most thelow-impact most low-impact way that waywe that can. weThat’s can. That’s really really compa compa n ies, n wies, ith awpresence ith a presence i n more i n more tha n 100 tha n 100 wherewhere our technology our technology can help canmining help mining companies.” companies.” countries. countries.

The combined The combined market market capitalization capitalization is is The momentum The momentum behindbehind the company the company is suchisthat such that listed at listed $520atbillion. $520 billion. some some of theof world’s the world’s largest largest mining mining companies— companies— On theOn world the world stage,stage, Canada Canada is the is international the international HP, Glencore, HP, Glencore, Freeport, Freeport, MoranMoran and Rio and Tinto—are Rio Tinto—are leaderleader in potash in potash production production and ranks and among ranks among the topthe top working working with Ideon with Ideon on projects on projects spanning spanning the globe. the globe. five global five global producers producers of diamonds, of diamonds, gemstones, gemstones, gold, gold, Ideon signed Ideon signed a five-year a five-year enterprise enterprise agreement agreement with with indium, indium, niobium, niobium, platinum platinum group group metals, metals, titanium titanium Rio Tinto Rio this Tinto past this October, past October, a deal that a deal represents that represents the the concentrate concentrate and uranium. and uranium.

Canada Canada is alsois the also world’s the world’s first global-scale first global-scale adoption adoption of the of REVEAL the REVEAL platform platform fourth-largest fourth-largest producer producer of primary of primary aluminum. aluminum. by a Tier by a1 mining Tier 1 mining company. company.

BY JOHNBY KURUCZ JOHN KURUCZ

MM

Gary Agnew, Gary CEO Agnew, andCEO co-founder and co-founder of Richmond-based of Richmond-based Ideon Technologies, Ideon Technologies, discussed discussed how A.I.how and A.I. advanced and advanced sensing tools sensing aretools are • ROB KRUYT • ROB KRUYT modernizing modernizing mining and mining reducing and reducing environmental environmental impact. impact.

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Gary Agnew is CEO of Ideon Technologies. His Richmond-based firm’s REVEAL platform uses cosmic-ray sensing and AI to map the Earth’s subsurface more efficiently. • ROB KRUYT

With minerals such as lithium and graphite, demand could increase by as much as 4,000 per cent according to federal projections.

Canada holds some of the largest known reserves and resources of rare earth metals globally, estimated at more than 15.2 million tonnes of rare earth oxide in 2023. Russia, China and the U.S. are considered inside of the top-10 producers globally, and while Canada isn’t, consider the comparables: Russia’s war with Ukraine; allegations of Chinese spying on Canadian government networks and U.S. President Donald Trump’s penchant for tariffs and retaliatory economic measures.

A g a i n s t t h a t b a c k d ro p o f v a l u e , n e e d a n d reputational concern is where Steve de Jong sees Canada’s sweet spot.

“I don’t think we lean into this enough as a country.

Everybody likes to deal with Canada because we’re Canadians—and we just happen to have a very heavy mineral endowment,” says the B.C. tech executive.

“There’s a certain level of embedded trust that when it comes from a Canadian operation, it’s going to be mined in the most sustainable way possible.”

GLOBAL DEMAND FOR CRITICAL MINERALS IS SURGING, DRIVEN BY THE NEED FOR ENERGY RESILIENCE, RAPID EXPANSION OF AI INFRASTRUCTURE AND GEOPOLITICAL IMPERATIVES AROUND SECURITY OF SUPPLY.  Gary Agnew, CEO, Ideon Technologies

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Steve de Jong, CEO of Vancouver-based VRIFY, highlighted the role of AI-assisted platforms in accelerating mineral discovery and improving stakeholder confidence. • SUBMITTED

advanced manufacturing.

De Jong is the CEO of VRIFY, a Vancouver-based No movement has since happened on that proposal. firm that assists mining operations with its two main platforms known as DORA and Viz. The former is the “It’s an opportunity for the Canadian tech ecosystem to get access to something that doesn’t exist elsewhere world’s only AI-assisted mineral discovery platform and it really incentivizes Canadian investors to invest and leverages the largest proprietary exploration dataset and mineral-system-specific AI models to back in Canada,” de Jong says. help teams discover, prioritize and validate targets.

When asked for an assessment of the new Carney Viz transforms technical data into clear, interactive government or the performance of the provincial NDP, de Jong defers his opinion and instead underscores presentations that build confidence with stakeholders the need for parties of all stripes to nurture a climate and investors.

De Jong says moving the industry forward can be of assurance.

Mining and mineral exploration are heavily reliant done via a singular change that would massively benefit startups and junior firms in particular, on external capital, which in turn, is reliant on risk through the expansion of flow-through funding profile.

Certainty and stability will always trump world benefits.

Flow-through shares are the product of a tax policy l iveabi l ity ra n k i ngs, f lu ffy PR ca mpa ig ns, or that provides seed capital to mining companies, government glad-handing.

“No investor actually relies on any of that stuff – they thereby funding their efforts to explore for valuable resources. Those who purchase the shares receive a just make a call on whether or not you are actually a 100 per cent tax deduction. good jurisdiction for their capital or not,” de Jong says.

The Liberal election platform floated the idea of “The reality is we’re always competing with every other jurisdiction on the planet for that capital and expanding the program to the startup ecosystem: we need to take that into consideration.”.  companies in AI, quantum computing, biotech and

Chasing the

Heart of a Sun Inside General Fusion's bold bid to turn plasma and pistons into power

Workers at General Fusion assemble LM26, the company’s latest fusion test reactor. • SUBMITTED

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BY STEFAN LABB

U

nder the din of an industrial alarm, dozens of engineers stare at their screens, braced for the unexpected.

“Ready to fire!” shouts the lead operator. “Firing!”

A powerful discharge of electricity sends a muffled clap across the control room. On the other side of a protective wall of shipping containers, a donutshaped ring of super-heated plasma flickers to life.

A few minutes later, data from inside a new fusion test reactor pours into several computer terminals.

“Every time we do this, we learn a little bit more,” says Mike Donaldson, senior vice-president of technology development at General Fusion.

In early 2025, General Fusion claimed it hit a major milestone when it turned on its new LM26 test reactor in a warehouse near Vancouver International Airport.

The half-scale reactor forms the precursor of a machine that one day could power 150,000 homes.

Despite some problems securing investment, the B.C. company says it has grown to become a contender in the race to make the world’s first fusion power plant.

Bottling the power of a star Largely fuelled by seawater, fusion promises a nearly unlimited clean source of electricity without climate-warming gases, nuclear waste or the threat of a runaway reaction.

Unlike nuclear fission, which releases energy by splitting atoms, fusion is achieved by smashing atomic particles together in the same way energy is made in a star. Inside our sun, an immense gravitational field crushes super-heated hydrogen atoms together, producing helium and massive amounts of heat and energy in the process.

Without the gravity of a star, however, scientists on Earth have spent decades struggling to recreate those same conditions.

Some—like the massive mu lti-national I T ER tokamak fusion reactor set to be completed in France in 2033—have turned to powerful magnets to both crush and insulate plasma as it heats up to 200 million degrees Celsius.

Others have relied on high-energy lasers to quickly zap hydrogen plasma to extreme temperatures. In December 2022, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California fired the world’s most energetic laser at a centimetre-long gold cylinder, instantly vaporizing it.

Inside, a diamond fuel-capsule filled with deuterium and tritium imploded, forcing the hydrogen isotopes into each other with such force they combined to create helium.

For the first time, scientists reached “ignition”—and for a brief moment, the fusion reaction produced twice the energy needed to fire the laser.

At the time, then-U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm described the breakthrough—also known as “scientific break-even”—as “one of the most impressive scientific feats of the 21st century.

In February 2025, the team successfully repeated the experiment a sixth time.

Richard Town, who leads the U.S. fusion program, sa id thei r successfu l ign itions a re isolated to

experiments, and shouldn’t be confused with a scalable fusion reactor that could one day be deployed in a power plant.

“It wasn’t designed to be a commercial power plant,” said Town. “It was designed to understand the physics of what’s going on in a fusion reaction.”

Early fusion prototypes designed with power plant in mind From the beginning, Michel Laberge had other plans.

Originally from Quebec, the physicist completed a Ph D at t he Un iversity of Br it i sh Colu mbi a investigating laser-powered fusion. But he soon became disenchanted with its potential.

To reach and maintain fusion temperatures, most scientists had either turned to quickly heating up plasma with lasers or insulating reactors with a blanket of super-magnets. Neither method, according to Laberge, could easily be scaled up into a commercial power plant.

About 25 years ago, he rented out a garage at an old service station on Bowen Island and set to work building a mechanical alternative.

Early test reactors looked like oversized stainless steel bowling balls wrapped in explosives. Laberge lined an inner fuel chamber with polycarbonate to absorb the shock wave. When the scientist detonated the devices in a field, the metal casing quickly imploded, crushing the fuel inside.

The first tests were discouraging.

Much of the plasma escaped. But a fter some adjustments (Laberge swapped out explosives for a sphere of high-powered pistons), the magnetic field started to get bigger and the plasma denser.

Later experiments released even more energy, evidence that collapsing a wall of metal around plasma could trigger a fusion reaction.

The Canadian government began investing in the company, and since 2019, has poured $69 million into General Fusion. The federal dollars have helped attract almost $500 million in private capital. By early 2025, that was enough to expand its workforce to 120 employees and advance a series of prototypes, including the world’s most powerful fusion plasma injector.

New test reactor aims to prove company’s tech works General Fusion’s latest two-metre-wide test reactor was completed in February 2025 in a Richmond warehouse.

From a distance, LM26 might easily be confused with the business end of a rocket or satellite getting prepped for launch. Thick black electric cables snake out across the floor.

Stacks of converted shipping containers surround the machine, each containing batteries and capacitors designed to deliver up to a gigawatt of power—nearly enough to send Marty McFly and a time-travelling DeLorean into the future.

Back in the control room, the red outline of a donutshaped ring of plasma fills one engineer’s screen.

“If we can get that donut to hold in its heat well enough, we can compress it using pistons rather CONTINUED ON PAGE 24

BC Tech is honoured to have played a part in the journey of many BC success stories and we are proud to highlight BC’s incredible tezch community at our annual Technology Impact Awards. None of this would be possible without the support of our generous partners. Our special thanks to ...

18 2025 Technology Impact Awards

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Company of the Year

Company of the Year

STARTUP Company of the Year

GROWTH Company of the Year

Presented in partnership with Electronic Arts

STARTUP

Presented in partnership with Osler

Presented in partnership with Electronic Arts

Presented in partnership with Osler

GROWTH

Winner

Winner

Winner Up to 50% of the seeds planted in our greenhouses willofnever go onplanted to become Up to 50% the seeds in ourmature, greenyielding will plants, due issues like lowmature, germihouses never gotoon to become nation orplants, vigour,due planttoabnormalities, seedyielding issues like loworgermiborne disease.

Insporos technology analyzes nation or vigour, plant abnormalities, or seedeach individual seed using our proprietary borne disease. Insporos technology analyzes hardware to gather unique processeach individual seed usingdata ourand proprietary

Winner Hypercharge Networks is a leading provider of smart electric vehicle is (EV) charging soluHypercharge Networks a leading providtions for residential and commercial buildings, er of smart electric vehicle (EV) charging solufleet for operations, rapidlybuildings, growing tions residentialand andother commercial sectors.

Driven byand its other mission to accelerate fleet operations, rapidly growing EV adoption andbyenable the shift towards a sectors.

Driven its mission to accelerate carbon neutral economy, is comEV adoption and enable Hypercharge the shift towards a mitted to offering seamless, simple solutions carbon neutral economy, Hypercharge is comincluding hardware, innovamitted to industry-leading offering seamless, simple solutions tive and integrated software, and comprehenincluding industry-leading hardware, innovasive and services, backed by a robust network of tive integrated software, and comprehenpublic and private charging stations. sive services, backed by a robust network of

ing this data with AIunique to finddata defective or dishardware to gather and processeased beforeor planting thisseeds data and withsort AI tothem find out defective dising. This conserves these valuable resources eased seeds and sort them out before plantand This improves efficiency our greenhouses ing. conserves theseinvaluable resources by allowing growers to focus time and and improves efficiency in ourtheir greenhouses energy on growing healthy plants. by allowing growersquality, to focus their time and

public and private charging stations.

energy on growing quality, healthy plants.

Roomvu offers AI-powered solutions designed for real estate, mortgage, finance, and Roomvu offers AI-powered solutions deinsurance professionals.

The platform signed for real estate, mortgage, finance,autoand matically creates localized, branded content, insurance professionals.

The platform autoincluding creates daily social mediabranded videos, content, and aumatically localized, to-posts them Social Media including daily across social media videos,channels, and auemail newsletters, blogs and Media websites.

It inteto-posts them across Social channels, gratesnewsletters, email marketing to email blogsand andAI-driven websites.calls It intenurtureemail leads and schedule appointments, grates marketing and AI-driven calls to enabling leads professionals to attract clients and nurture and schedule appointments, close deals faster. Roomvu's technology enabling professionals to attract clientsrevoand lutionizes Solutions,technology allowing clients close dealsMarTech faster. Roomvu's revoto build a strong local presence with minimal lutionizes MarTech Solutions, allowing clients effort, provides support, ento buildand a strong localcontinuous presence with minimal suring and clients are never overwhelmed by digeffort, provides continuous support, enital marketing. suring clients are never overwhelmed by digital marketing.

Company of the Year

SCALE of the Year Company SCALE

Presented in partnership with Clio Presented in partnership with Clio

Wildfires are increasing in frequency, size, and severity—fueled by climate change, land-use Wildfires are increasing in frequency, size, and patterns, and strained firefighting severity—fueled by climate change,resources. land-use Today’s systems are reactive, hupatterns,response and strained firefighting resources.

man-dependent, limitedare by visibility, Today’s responseand systems reactive, pilot husafety, and slow response times.

This results man-dependent, and limited by visibility, pilot in massive lives, homes, infrasafety, and losses: slow response times.critical This results structure, air quality, biodiversity, and billions in massive losses: lives, homes, critical infraof dollars air in quality, economic damage and eachbillions year. structure, biodiversity, What sets Fireswarm apart is that we are of dollars in economic damage each year. not selling drones—we’re delivering a drone What sets Fireswarm apart is that we are agnostic intelligence not sellingmission-ready drones—we’rewildfire delivering a drone platform that saves time, money, and lives. agnostic mission-ready wildfire intelligence

Arya is a modern, AI-powered EMR platform built for physicians.

Aryaby is aphysicians, modern, AI-powered EMRDesigned platform to streamline clinical workflows elimibuilt by physicians, for physicians.and Designed nate after-hours charting, Arya helps healthto streamline clinical workflows and elimicare providers across Canada renate after-hours charting, Aryasave helpstime, healthduce burnout, and focus on what matters care providers across Canada save time, remost—patient Arya isonredefining what duce burnout, care. and focus what matters an EMR should be. most—patient care. Arya is redefining what an EMR should be.

through intelligent technology thatparenthood empowers, Glüxkind is revolutionizing early supports, and evolves with modern families. through intelligent technology that empowers, Our flagship product, the Rosa Smart Strollsupports, and evolves with modern families. er, is an AI-powered parenting companion Our flagship product, the Rosa Smart Strollthat way beyondparenting the traditional.

With er, isgoes an AI-powered companion features like adaptive push and brake assist, that goes way beyond the traditional. With auto-rocking, built-in white and stories, features like adaptive pushnoise and brake assist, real-time GPS tracking, and app-enabled perauto-rocking, built-in white noise and stories, sonalization, Glüxkind supports new parents real-time GPS tracking, and app-enabled perthroughout daily journeys. sonalization,their Glüxkind supports new parents

eMonster Solutions Ltd. is a Vancouverbased IT consulting driving digital eMonster Solutions firm Ltd. is a Vancouvertransformation since firm 2017.

We deliver based IT consulting driving digital custom web andsince software transformation 2017.development, We deliver ERP/CRMweb systems, and digital marketing custom and software development, solutions. systems, As a certified Shopify Partner ERP/CRM and digital marketing with alliances Google,Shopify Meta, and AWS, solutions.

As with a certified Partner we’vealliances earned with national andMeta, global with Google, andrecogAWS, nition—ranked #34 on and Forbes Canada’s we’ve earned national global recogBest Startup Employers named one nition—ranked #34 on 2024, Forbes Canada’s of Clutch’s Top 100 Fastest-Growing Best Startup Employers 2024, namedComone panies Worldwide 2025, and awarded of Clutch’s Top 100 in Fastest-Growing Comby Techbehemoths a winner in SEO, panies Worldwide inas2025, and awarded Custom Software Development, UX/ by Techbehemoths as a winner and in SEO, UI Design.

Trusted Development, by 700+ clients across Custom Software and UX/ Canada, excel by in 700+ providing scalable, UI Design.weTrusted clients across high-impact Canada, we solutions. excel in providing scalable,

throughout their daily journeys.

high-impact solutions.

platform that saves time, money, and lives.

Glüxkind is revolutionizing early parenthood

Winner Winner Hiive is the leading managed liquidity provider for private companies and their shareholdHiive is the leading managed liquidity provid-

ers.forHiive offers the first and centralized platform er private companies their shareholddesigned meetthe thefirst unique needs ofplatform issuers, ers.

Hiiveto offers centralized institutions, sophisticated investors, emdesigned to meet the unique needs ofand issuers, ployee shareholders for facilitating primary institutions, sophisticated investors, and emand secondary tradingfor in facilitating private companies. ployee shareholders primary Withsecondary more thantrading $2Bn traded annually, Hiive and in private companies. empowers leading to With more than $2Bnprivate traded companies annually, Hiive manage liquidity, raise discretionary capital, empowers leading private companies to and gain liquidity, market insight. manage raise discretionary capital, and gain market insight.

Boast is revolutionizing how innovative companies isaccess R&D taxhow credits through a Boast revolutionizing innovative comunique platform that integrates AI technology panies access R&D tax credits through a with technical and tax expertise.

2011, unique platform that integrates AI Since technology we'vetechnical helped over 1,000 companies with and tax expertise.

Sinceunlock 2011, more than $600 innovationunlock fundwe've helped overmillion 1,000incompanies ing while dramatically reducing the timefundand more than $600 million in innovation complexity traditionallyreducing associated claiming while dramatically thewith time and ing R&D taxtraditionally credits. Our platformwith seamlesscomplexity associated claimly integrates with existing businessseamlesssystems ing R&D tax credits.

Our platform to integrates identify, document, and business maximizesystems eligible ly with existing credits, while our QuickFund program proto identify, document, and maximize eligible vides advance access to expected refunds. credits, while our QuickFund program provides advance access to expected refunds.

2025 Technology Impact Awards

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As a trusted partner in the innovation ecosystem, Boast empowers businesses to reinvest in their growth and technological advancement.

Company of the Year

STARTUP Presented in partnership with Electronic Arts

Hydreight Technologies is a BC-based healthtech company building one of the largest mobile medical networks in the U.S. In just five Winner years, Hydreight has scaled from $400K to nearly $24M in annual revenue and now supUp to 50% of the seeds planted in our greenports providers across all 50 states. Its prohouses will never go on to become mature, prietary platform powers direct-to-consumer yielding plants, due to issues like low germitelehealth, enabling licensed professionals nation or vigour, plant abnormalities, or seedto deliver IV therapy, weight loss, wellness, borne disease. Insporos technology analyzes and diagnostic services on demand. Backed each individual seed using our proprietary by over 2,500 nurses, 100+ doctors, and hardware to gather unique data and processa 503B pharmacy network, Hydreight was ing this data with AI to find defective or disranked #9 on Deloitte Canada’s Fast 50 and eased seeds and sort them out before plant#56 in North America—cementing its place ing. This conserves these valuable resources as a leader in digital health innovation. and improves efficiency in our greenhouses by allowing growers to focus their time and energy on growing quality, healthy plants.

Traction Rec is a leading provider of technology solutions for nonprofit community centers and parks and recreation organizations.

Utilizing Traction Rec Wildfiresthe areSalesforce increasing platform, in frequency, size, and is a purpose-built solution that empowers severity—fueled by climate change, land-use community organizations to efficiently manpatterns, and strained firefighting resources. age memberships, programs, social services, Today’s response systems are reactive, hufinancial operations more. a focus man-dependent, andand limited

by With visibility, pilot on innovation and community impact, Tracsafety, and slow response times. This results tion Rec continues be ahomes, key player in driving in massive losses: to lives, critical infrathe digital transformation.

Traction has structure, air quality, biodiversity, andRec billions been recognized as a Salesforce ISV Partner of dollars in economic damage each year. of the sets Year, Fireswarm Canada’s Topapart Growing Companies What is that we are by Globe and named as one of Deloitte’s Technot selling drones—we’re delivering a drone nology Fast 50 growing companies in Canada. agnostic mission-ready wildfire intelligence platform that saves time, money, and lives.

Company of the Year

ANCHOR Presented in partnership with Blakes

Glüxkind is revolutionizing early parenthood through intelligent technology that empowers, supports, and evolves with modern families.

Our flagship product, the Rosa Smart StrollWinner er, is an AI-powered parenting companion Apply Digital is a global transformation that goes way beyond the traditional.

With partner in Vancouver 2016,assist, with featuresfounded like adaptive push andinbrake headquarters proudlywhite based in the Our auto-rocking, built-in noise andcity. stories, 750+ experts across North America, Latin real-time GPS tracking, and app-enabled perAmerica, Europe and supports India helpnew modernize sonalization, Glüxkind parents throughout their daily journeys.

organizations through strategy, design, engineering, data, and marketing services. We’ve partnered with leading companies like Kraft Company of the Year Heinz, NFL, NBA, Lululemon, Moderna, and GROWTH Dropbox to drive lasting business impact. As Presented in partnership with with Osler a people-first a high-growth company culture, we bring a grounded, forward-thinking approach to complex challenges - making us a trusted partner for change agents and a Winner proud anchor of BC’s thriving tech ecosystem.

we’ve earned national and global recognition—ranked #34 on Forbes Canada’s Best Startup Employers 2024, named one of Clutch’s Top 100 Fastest-Growing ComTrulioo is the world’sinidentity trustpanies Worldwide 2025, platform, and awarded ed leading companies their in verificaby by Techbehemoths as a for winner SEO, tion and Software fraud prevention needs. and Offering Custom Development, UX/ business and personbyverification across the UI Design.

Trusted 700+ clients across globe, Trulioo covers in195providing countries scalable, and can Canada, we excel

verify more than 14,000 ID documents and 700 million business entities while checking against more than 6,000 watchlists. Combining its stateRoomvu offers AI-powered solutions deof-the-art technology with expert verification signed for real estate, mortgage, finance, and knowledge across diverse markets, Trulioo eninsurance professionals.

Theassurance platform levels, autoables the highest verification matically creates localized, branded content, optimizing onboarding costs and fostering including daily social videos,economy. and autrust and security in themedia global digital to-posts them across Social Media channels, email newsletters, blogs and websites. It integrates email marketing and AI-driven calls to nurture leads and schedule appointments, Company of the Year enabling professionals to attract clients and AMBITION close deals faster. Roomvu's technology revoPresented in partnership with EDC lutionizes MarTech Solutions, allowing clients to build a strong local presence with minimal effort, and provides continuous support, enWinner suring clients are never overwhelmed by digital marketing.

Svante is a purpose-driven, leading carbon capture and removal solutions provider. The Vancouver, Canada-based company manuCompany of the Year factures nanoengineered filters and modular SCALE rotary contactor machines that capture and remove CO2 from industrial emissions and the Presented in partnership with Clio air in an environmentally responsible manner.

Svante is on the 2025 Global Cleantech 100 and was inducted into the Global CleanTech 100 Hall of Fame. The company has also been Winner named as an XPRIZE Foundation XB100 – Hiive isTop the 100 leading managed liquidity providWorld’s Private Deep Tech Companies er for private companies and their shareholdand was ranked second among private compaers. in Hiive the first centralized nies the offers Corporate Knights’ Futureplatform 50 Fastdesigned to meet the unique needs of issuers, est Growing Sustainable (Private) Companies. institutions, sophisticated investors, and employee shareholders for facilitating primary and secondary trading in private companies.

With more than $2Bn traded annually, Hiive empowers leading private companies to manage liquidity, raise discretionary capital, and gain market insight.

Building Bloc is launching the most advanced manufacturing microfactory system on the market for on-demand production of medical devices and healthcare consumables.

We’ve our firstinnovative prototypecomand Boast operationalized is revolutionizing how are moving into R&D commercial builds,through backed by panies access tax credits a extensive marketthat sounding, partner engageunique platform integrates AI technology ments, and a deep It’s an intelligent miwith technical and team. tax expertise.

Since 2011, crofactory, a self-contained semi-automated we've helped over 1,000 companies unlock platform, rapidly creates a wide range of more thanthat $600 million in innovation fundpolymer metal products.

Wethe can time integrate ing whileand dramatically reducing and with supplytraditionally chains and sustain supply complexity associated withchains, claimfor operations, reing remote R&D taxhealthcare credits. Our platformdisaster seamlesssponse, post-conflict recovery, and large-scale ly integrates with existing business systems national supply chain sovereignty.

We support to identify, document, and maximize eligible healthcare delivery, wherever care is needed. credits, while our QuickFund program pro-

high-impact solutions.

vides advance access to expected refunds.

Hypercharge Networks is a leading provider of smart electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions for residential and commercial buildings, Founded in 2008 in Vancouver, Hootsuite fleet operations, and other rapidly growing exists to unlock the value of your social mesectors. Driven by its mission to accelerate dia relationships. With over 200,000 paying EV adoption and enable the shift towards a customers globally, including more than 800 carbon neutral economy, Hypercharge is comof the Fortune 1000, Hootsuite empowers mitted to offering seamless, simple solutions organizations to manage, measure, and including industry-leading hardware, innovaoptimize their social media presence. The tive and integrated software, and comprehenplatform offers comprehensive solutions for sive services, backed by a robust network of social media marketing, customer care, sopublic and private charging stations. cial commerce, and social intelligence, integrating with major networks like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X and YouTube. Hootsuite's commitment to innovation and inclusivity has solidifiedAI-powered its positionEMR as aplatform trusted Arya is a modern, partner for businesses worldwide. built by physicians, for physicians. Designed to streamline clinical workflows and eliminate after-hours charting, Arya helps healthcare providers across Canada save time, reduce burnout, and focus on what matters Svante is a purpose-driven, leading carbon most—patient care. Arya is redefining what capture and removal solutions provider. The an EMR should be.

Vancouver, Canada-based company manufactures nanoengineered filters and modular rotary contactor machines that capture and remove CO2 from industrial emissions and the air in an environmentally responsible manner.

Svante is on the 2025 Global Cleantech 100 and was inducted into the CleanTech eMonster Solutions Ltd.Global is a Vancouver100 Hall of Fame.

The company has alsodigital been based IT consulting firm driving named as an XPRIZE Foundation XB100 transformation since 2017. We deliver– World’s 100and Private Deep Tech Companies customTop web software development, and was ranked second among private compaERP/CRM systems, and digital marketing nies in the Corporate Knights’ Future 50 Fastsolutions. As a certified Shopify Partner est Growing Sustainable (Private) Companies. with alliances with Google, Meta, and AWS,

20 2025 Technology Impact Awards

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2025 Technology Impact Awards

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Company of the(PBCS) Year has established itself PBC Solutions

STARTUP as a leader in health benefits services since its

incorporation in August The Arts company Presented in partnership with2022.

Electronic

provides health benefits management with a focus on large payor systems, including claims adjudication and payment, service transformation, Winnercontact centre, analytics, and information security. We are committed to becoming a Up to 50% the seeds planted our greenPeople Firstoforganization and aninEmployer of houses on to become mature, Choice. will Our never effortsgoresulted in PBC Solutions yielding plants,asdue likeEmployers— low germibeing chosen oneto of issues BC’s Top nation or vigour, or seedin less than threeplant yearsabnormalities, from its inception. borne disease. Insporos technology analyzes each individual seed using our proprietary hardware to gather unique data and processing this data with AI to find defective or diseased seeds and sort them out before planting.

This conserves valuable resources SenseNet delivers these ultra-early wildfire detecand improves efficiency in our greenhouses tion, prediction, and management tools that by allowing growers to critical focus their time and protect communities, infrastructure, energy on growing quality, healthy plants. assets and nature for private enterprises and public authorities. Our platform is the most comprehensive in the world—with more than 25 patents—and integrates diverse data sources including ground sensors, cameras, satellite imagery, historical weather data, and Wildfires are increasing in integration frequency, size, and infrastructure maps. This provides severity—fueled by climate change, land-use unparalleled, real-time insights that use AI to patterns, strained firefighting resources. empowerand proactive wildfire monitoring, manToday’s response systems are reactive, huagement, and decision-making. Moreover, man-dependent, and limited by visibility, pilot our scalable solution serves a broad range safety, andsegments: slow response times.

This results of market Federal, Provincial, and in massive losses: lives, homes, critical infraMunicipal governments; Urban Fire Departstructure, air quality, andRailways; billions ments; Utilities; Powerbiodiversity, Transmission; of dollars in economic damage each year.

Forestry; Mining; Oil & Gas; and, Developers.

What sets Fireswarm apart is that we are not selling drones—we’re delivering a drone agnostic mission-ready wildfire intelligence platform that saves time, money, and lives.

Gamechanger

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE Presented in partnership with KPMG

Glüxkind is revolutionizing early parenthood through Winnerintelligent technology that empowers, supports, and evolves with modern families.

Global Relay is a leading provider endOur flagship product, the Rosa SmartofStrollto-end forcompanion the global er, is ancompliance AI-poweredsolutions parenting financial and other highly regulated that goessector way beyond the traditional.

With industries.

Founded inpush 1999,and Global Relay defeatures like adaptive brake assist, livers servicesbuilt-in to overwhite 20,000 customers in 90 auto-rocking, noise and stories, countries,GPS including 22and of the top 25 banks. real-time tracking, app-enabled perFrom the Global Relay App for compliant comsonalization, Glüxkind supports new parents throughout their daily journeys.

munications, through to intelligent archiving, superior data connectors, and AI-enabled surveillance, Global Relay’s integrated compliCompany of the Year ance solutions enable regulated organizations GROWTH to meet collaboration, privacy, and security Presented in partnership with Osler requirements.

As a proven pioneer in the field of welding Winner automation, Novarc Technologies is a fullHypercharge Networks a leading providstack AI robotics companyisspecializing in the er of smart electric vehicle (EV) charging weldsoludesign and manufacturing of automated tions for residential and commercial buildings, ing solutions for challenging welding applicafleet and Welding other rapidly tions.operations, Novarc’s Spool Robot growing (SWR) is sectors.

Driven by its mission to accelerate recognized by customers globally for its imEV adoption and enable the shift a pact in the fabrication industry.

Justtowards launched carbon neutral economy, Hypercharge is comthis year, NovAI Autonomy is a groundbreakmitted to offering seamless, simple solutions ing AI-powered adaptive welding system that including industry-leading hardware, enables robots to see, think, and adaptinnovalike an tive andwelder, integrated software, and intervention. comprehenexpert without operator sive services, backed by a robust network of By using machine vision and real-time adjustpublic and private charging stations. ments, NovAI eliminates the need for prescanning and robotic reprogramming, opening up new markets for welding automation.

Arya is a modern, AI-powered EMR platform built by physicians, for physicians. Designed Roomvu offers AI-powered solutions deto streamline clinical workflows and elimisigned for real estate, mortgage, finance, and nate after-hours charting, Arya helps healthinsurance professionals. The platform autocare providers across Canada save time, rematically creates localized, branded content, duce burnout, and focus on what matters including daily social media videos, and aumost—patient care. Arya is redefining what to-posts them across Social Media channels, an EMR should be. email newsletters, blogs and websites. It integrates email marketing and AI-driven calls to nurture leads and schedule appointments, enabling professionals to attract clients and close deals faster. Roomvu's technology revolutionizes MarTech Solutions, allowing clients to build a strong local presence minimal eMonster Solutions Ltd. is awith Vancouvereffort, and provides continuous support, enbased IT consulting firm driving digital suring clients are never overwhelmed by digtransformation since 2017. We deliver ital marketing. custom web and software development, ERP/CRM systems, and digital marketing solutions. As a certified Shopify Partner with alliances with Google, Meta, and AWS, Founded and headquartered British Columwe’ve earned national andinglobal recogbia, ThoughtExchange provides world’s nition—ranked #34 on Forbes the Canada’s most Startup advanced AI-powered engagement Best Employers 2024, named platone form—trusted by over 1,000 organizations of Clutch’s Top 100 Fastest-Growing Comacross North America, primarily K–12 panies Worldwide in 2025, andwithin awarded education and civic sectors.

ThoughtExchange

by Techbehemoths as a winner in SEO, uniquely Software integrates patented collective Custom Development, andintelliUX/ gence methodologies ("Exchanges"), UI Design. Trusted by 700+ clientsadaptive across qualitativewe surveys, Canada, excelsophisticated in providingquantitative scalable, high-impact solutions.

analysis, and secure, rigorously tested AI analytics. Supported by prominent investors including Yaletown Partners, the BC Tech Fund, Roomvu offers AI-powered solutions deleading BC-based angel investors, and strasigned for real estate, finance, and tegic partners acrossmortgage, Canada and the U.S., insurance professionals.

The platform autoThoughtExchange responsibly leverages AI matically creates branded content, to amplify humanlocalized, intelligence, swiftly delivincluding daily social media videos, reducing and auering community-driven solutions, to-posts themand across Social leaders Media channels, polarization, enabling to deciemail blogs and websites. It intesively newsletters, address critical challenges. grates email marketing and AI-driven calls to nurture leads and schedule appointments, enabling professionals to attract clients and close deals an faster.

Roomvu's technology revoMeton.ai, AI-powered decision intellilutionizes MarTech created Solutions,byallowing clients gence platform Unlockland to build a strong local presence with minimal transforms property development by reeffort, provides continuous support, enducingand months of complex analysis into minsuring clients are never overwhelmed by digutes. Our technology integrates four specialital izedmarketing.

AI agents to analyze zoning regulations, generate code-compliant designs, provide precise ROI projections, and optimize approval probabilities. By addressing critical Company of the Year inefficiencies in the property development SCALE process, we help accelerate housing supply Presented in partnership with Clio and improve affordability.

With our platform, developers can evaluate properties 10,000x faster, discover 27% more density on average, and make data-driven decisions with Winner unprecedented confidence. Based in Vancouver, our 100% made-in-Canada solution Hiive is the leading managed liquidity providserves professional developers, investors, er for private companies and their shareholdhomeowners, and realtors. ers. Hiive offers the first centralized platform designed to meet the unique needs of issuers, institutions, sophisticated investors, and employee shareholders for facilitating primary Gamechanger and secondary trading in private companies.

DEAL OF THE YEAR With more than $2Bn traded annually, Hiive empowers leading private companies to manage liquidity, raise discretionary capital, and gain market insight.

Winner Clio, the global leader in legal technology, helps law firms manage their practice, streamline operations, and enhance client experiencBoast is revolutionizing how innovative comes. Trusted by legal worldwide, panies access R&D professionals tax credits through a Clio offers a comprehensive platform for client unique platform that integrates AI technology intake, case management, billing,Since and 2011, paywith technical and tax expertise. ments—empowering firmscompanies of all sizes to work we've helped over 1,000 unlock efficiently profitably.

With a commitment more thanand $600 million in innovation fundto innovation, security,reducing and accessibility, Clio ing while dramatically the time and continues to set the standard forwith howclaimlegal complexity traditionally associated professionals leverage technology to deliver ing R&D tax credits.

Our platform seamlessbetter legal services.

Recognized for its indusly integrates with existing business systems tryidentify, leadership, Clio is shaping the future of leto document, and maximize eligible gal practice. credits, while our QuickFund program provides advance access to expected refunds.

2025 Technology Impact Awards

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2025 Technology Impact Awards

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Company of the Year

STARTUP

Aspect Biosystems is a biotechnology comPresented in partnership with Electronic Arts pany pioneering the development of bioprinted tissue therapeutics to transform how we treat some of the most elusive diseases.

Aspect’s bioprinted tissue therapeutics are Winner designed to replace, repair, or supplement biological inside the body.

They are Up to 50%function of the seeds planted in our greencreated will by applying full-stack tissue therahouses never goitson to become mature, peutic platform, which yielding plants, due to integrates issues like proprietary low germiAI-powered bioprinting technology, or compunation or vigour, plant abnormalities, seedtationaldisease. designInsporos tools, therapeutic and borne technologycells, analyzes advanced biomaterials.

Aspect is currently foeach individual seed using our proprietary cused on developing cell-based therapies for hardware to gather unique data and processmetabolic andwith endocrine disorders, including ing this data AI to find defective or disboth proprietary well as strategieased seeds andprograms sort themas out before plantcallyThis partnered programs, a collaboing. conserves these including valuable resources ration with Novo Nordisk in focused on diabetes and improves efficiency our greenhouses andallowing obesity. growers to focus their time and by energy on growing quality, healthy plants.

Copperleaf is a leading AI-powered Asset Wildfires are increasing in frequency, size, and Investment Planning (AIP) solution, helping severity—fueled by climate change, land-use organizations make faster, smarter, and more patterns, and strained firefighting resources. confident decisions. It offers a comprehensive Today’s response systems are reactive, huframework for comparing investments against man-dependent, and limited by visibility, pilot financial metrics, risk targets, and non-finansafety, and slow response times. This results cial goals. Built on ISO 55000 standards, Copin massive losses: lives, homes, critical infraperleaf ensures reliability and consistency in structure, air quality, biodiversity, and billions investment planning. Users can get started of dollars in economic damage each year. quickly with pre-built industry value models, What sets Fireswarm apart is that we are streamlining the decision-making process. Its not selling drones—we’re delivering a drone advanced optimization engine helps identify agnostic mission-ready wildfire intelligence the highest-value decisions while respecting platform that saves time, money, and lives. key constraints, making strategic planning more efficient. Additionally, the platform enables organizations to explore various scenarios to enhance their planning capabilities.

Focusing on innovation and customer success, Spare’s AI-driven platform is transforming the way cities move. Spare’s core offering Company of the Year spans paratransit (transportation services for GROWTH individuals with disabilities) and microtransit Presented in partnership with Osler (flexible, on-demand public transportation).

Spare’s platform unlocks digital transformation, workflow automation, and operational efficiency in the form of lower ride costs for citizens Winnerand mobility operators.

Hypercharge Networks is a leading provider of smart electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions for residential and commercial buildings, fleet operations, and other rapidly growing sectors. Driven by its mission to accelerate Founded in 2002, Zafin provides SaaS core EV adoption and enable the shift towards a modernization and transformation solutions carbon neutral economy, Hypercharge is comoffering an integrated platform and capabilmitted to offering seamless, simple solutions ities that simplify operations and enable inincluding industry-leading hardware, innovacreased revenue, profitability, and enhanced tive and integrated software, and comprehencustomer experiences for top banks worldsive services, backed by a robust network of wide. Zafin’s platform enables business users public and private charging stations. to work collaboratively to design and manage pricing, products, and packages, while technologists streamline core banking systems. With Zafin, banks accelerate time to market for new products and offers while lowering the cost of Arya is a modern, AI-powered EMR platform change and achieving tangible business and built by physicians, for physicians. Designed risk outcomes. The Zafin platform increases to streamline clinical workflows and elimibusiness agility while enabling personalized nate after-hours charting, Arya helps healthpricing and dynamic responses to evolving care providers across Canada save time, recustomer and market needs. duce burnout, and focus on what matters most—patient care. Arya is redefining what an EMR should be.

Gamechanger

COMPANY CULTURE Presented in partnership with Vancity

Glüxkind is revolutionizing early parenthood through intelligent technology that empowers, supports, and evolves with modern families.

Spare’s mission is to unlock theSmart potential of Our flagship product, the Rosa Strollmobility everyone. With a strong presence er, is anfor AI-powered parenting companion in North Europe, Asia, Spare is that goesAmerica, way beyond theand traditional.

With the leading of demand response features like provider adaptive push and brake assist, transit software.

It empowers transit auto-rocking, built-in white noise andagencies stories, worldwideGPS to deliver efficient, flexible, andperrereal-time tracking, and app-enabled sponsive transportation services.new parents sonalization, Glüxkind supports

eMonster Solutions Ltd. is a Vancouverbased IT consulting firm driving digital transformation since 2017. We deliver custom web and software development, Winner systems, and digital marketing ERP/CRM solutions. As a certified Shopify Partner For over twenty years Animikii with alliances with Google, Meta,Indigenous and AWS, Technology has national built digital solutions Inwe’ve earned and global with recogdigenous communities, putting people before nition—ranked #34 on Forbes Canada’s profit.Startup As an Indigenous-owned B Corpone we Best Employers 2024, named collaborate with 100 organizations to implement of Clutch’s Top Fastest-Growing Comtechnology in culturally informed, panies Worldwide in 2025, and respectful awarded ways.

We recognize that is by Techbehemoths astechnology a winnerbyinitself SEO, not a solution to theDevelopment, pressing issuesand we face, Custom Software UX/ rather it must be guided by a clients system across of valUI Design.

Trusted by 700+ ues that promote mutual understanding and Canada, we excel in providing scalable,

throughout their daily journeys.

high-impact solutions.

equity. Our company values come from Anishinaabe Seven Sacred Teachings and they also guide our core tool Niiwin, a platform designed to empower Indigenous Peoplesdeto Roomvu offers AI-powered solutions take control of their own stories and data. and signed for real estate, mortgage, finance, insurance professionals. The platform automatically creates localized, branded content, including daily social media videos, and auto-posts acrosscybersecurity Social Media programs channels, Kobalt.iothem develops email newsletters, blogs and websites.

It intefor small and medium-sized businesses to grates email marketing and AI-driven calls to help them maximize their growth potential. nurture and schedule We’re an leads experienced team of appointments, cyber security enabling professionals to attract clients and professionals and developers determined to close deals faster.

Roomvu's technology revomake a dent. Our experience, combined with a lutionizes MarTech Solutions, clients fresh mindset, allows us to seeallowing the challenges to build a cybersecurity strong local presence withand minimal in current approaches seek effort, and provides continuous support, out innovative ways to address them. We enare suring clients are never by diga proud member of the overwhelmed Queer Tech Network ital andmarketing. are certified in Canada as a Great Place to Work.

Company of the Year

SCALE Presented in partnership with Clio

Traction Rec is a leading provider of technology solutions for nonprofit community centers and parks and recreation organizations.

Utilizing the Salesforce platform, Traction Rec Winner is a purpose-built solution that empowers community organizations to efficiently manHiive is the leading managed liquidity providagefor memberships, programs, social services, er private companies and their shareholdfinancial and centralized more. Withplatform a focus ers.

Hiiveoperations offers the first on innovation and impact, Tracdesigned to meet thecommunity unique needs of issuers, tion Rec continues to be a key player in driving institutions, sophisticated investors, and emthe digital transformation.

Traction Rec has ployee shareholders for facilitating primary beensecondary recognizedtrading as a Salesforce Partner and in private ISV companies. of themore Year, Canada’s Top Growing Companies With than $2Bn traded annually, Hiive

by Globe andleading Mail, and namedcompanies as one of Deempowers private to loitte’s Technology Fast 50 growing companies manage liquidity, raise discretionary capital, in Canada. and gain market insight.

Gamechanger Boast is revolutionizing how innovative comINDUSTRY INNOVATION panies access R&D tax credits through a Presented in partnership with Innovate BC unique platform that integrates AI technology with technical and tax expertise. Since 2011, we've helped over 1,000 companies unlock more than $600 million in innovation fundWinner ing while dramatically reducing the time and complexity traditionally associated with claimThisFish Inc.credits. is a market leader inseamlesssoftware ing R&D tax Our platform and artificial with intelligence the seafood inly integrates existingfor business systems dustry.

ThisFish’s Tally and software is a eligible smart to identify, document, maximize manufacturing andQuickFund supply chain platform credits, while our program provides advance access to expected refunds.

22 2025 Technology Impact Awards

wearebctech.com

2025 Technology Impact Awards

wearebctech.com

that enables seafood processors to automate and digitize their production, quality control, traceability and inventory workflows using Company of the Year tablet computers and IoT devices in real-time.

STARTUP TallyVision is an AI-enabled smart camera for Presented in partnership with Electronic Arts proautomated visual inspection in seafood cessing. ThisFish Inc. won Innovate BC’s Aquaculture Innovation Award and Thrive Canada’s Agritech Startup Award. The company curWinner rently has customers in 13 countries on three continents.

Up to 50% of the seeds planted in our greenhouses will never go on to become mature, yielding plants, due to issues like low germination or vigour, plant abnormalities, or seedIntiveo’s patient engagement software alborne disease. Insporos technology analyzes lows dental practices to automate, tailor and each individual seed using our proprietary report on key points in the patient journey hardware to gather unique data and processso they can create positive experiences that ing this data with AI to find defective or disbuild trust. Founded in 2010, Intiveo proudly eased seeds and sort them out before plantreleased its first product to its first paying cusing. This conserves these valuable resources tomer in 2012. That same year, the company and improves efficiency in our greenhouses opened its main office in downtown Vancouby allowing growers to focus their time and ver, BC. In 2015, Intiveo released its first comenergy on growing quality, healthy plants. mercial product, and by 2023 the company had achieved a key milestone of $10 million in ARR. In early 2025, it was announced that Intiveo was chosen as one of Canada’s Top 100 Small and Medium Employers.

Wildfires are increasing in frequency, size, and severity—fueled by climate change, land-use patterns, and strained firefighting resources.

Today’s response are reactive, huSimplyAsk.ai is a systems Vancouver-based technolman-dependent, and limited by visibility, pilot ogy company specializing in AI-powered autosafety, slow response times. mationand products and services forThis bothresults SMBs in massive losses: lives, homes, critical infraand enterprises. With over 10 years of automastructure, air quality, biodiversity, and billions tion and consulting experience with customof in economic damage year. ersdollars like TELUS, Rogers, the City of each Vancouver, What sets Fireswarm apart is that we are and more, SimplyAsk.ai enables organizations not selling drones—we’re delivering a drone to become faster and more intelligent by opagnostic mission-ready intelligence timizing their business wildfire operations through platform that saves time, money, and lives. technologies like AI automation. SimplyAsk. ai’s offerings include Symphona, the ultimate no-code, AI-powered suite of automation tools designed to make optimizing business operations smarter, easier, and cheaper for both SMBs and enterprises. SimplyAsk.ai also Glüxkind is revolutionizing early parenthood provides enterprise AI consulting services, inthrough intelligent technology that empowers, cluding custom software projects, data migrasupports, and evolves with modern families. tion, QA, and more.

Our flagship product, the Rosa Smart Stroller, is an AI-powered parenting companion that goes way beyond the traditional. With features like adaptive push and brake assist, VRIFY provesbuilt-in that AIwhite in mineral exploration auto-rocking, noise and stories, doesn’t have be a black box. Buildingperon real-time GPS to tracking, and app-enabled our successful visualization tool, new we launched sonalization, Glüxkind supports parents throughout their daily journeys.

DORA, the world’s only AI-Assisted Mineral Discovery Platform. DORA puts the power of AI into the hands of geoscientists, enabling Company of the Year them to find what others can’t. Backed by GROWTH a $12.5M Series B raise and trusted by hunPresented in partnership Osler results, includdreds of clients, VRIFYwith delivers ing new discoveries and increased valuations for companies like Southern Cross Gold and RUA GOLD. We’re pioneering a new category Winner and accelerating exploration with the industry’s most advanced AI and largest proprietary Hypercharge Networks is a leading providdataset. er of smart electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions for residential and commercial buildings, fleet operations, and other rapidly growing sectors. Driven by its mission to accelerate Gamechanger EV adoption and enable the shift towards a CLIMATE carbon neutralLEADERSHIP economy, Hypercharge is committed to in offering seamless, simple Presented partnership with MDA Spacesolutions including industry-leading hardware, innovative and integrated software, and comprehensive services, backed by a robust network of public and private charging stations.

Winner SenseNet deliversAI-powered ultra-early EMR wildfire detecArya is a modern, platform tion, prediction, and management tools that built by physicians, for physicians. Designed protect communities, critical infrastructure, to streamline clinical workflows and elimiassets and naturecharting, for private enterprises and nate after-hours Arya helps healthpublic authorities.

Our platform is the most care providers across Canada save time, recomprehensive in focus the world—with more duce burnout, and on what matters than 25 patents—and integrates diverse data most—patient care. Arya is redefining what sources including ground sensors, cameras, an EMR should be. satellite imagery, historical weather data, and infrastructure maps. This integration provides unparalleled, real-time insights that use AI to empower proactive wildfire monitoring, management, and decision-making. Moreover, our scalable solution serves a broad range of market segments: Federal, and eMonster Solutions Ltd. isProvincial, a VancouverMunicipal Urban Fire Departbased IT governments; consulting firm driving digital ments; Utilities; Power transformation sinceTransmission; 2017. We Railways; deliver Forestry;web Mining; Oilsoftware & Gas; and, Developers. custom and development, ERP/CRM systems, and digital marketing solutions. As a certified Shopify Partner with alliances with Google, Meta, and AWS, we’ve earned national and global recognition—ranked #34 on Forbes Canada’s Corvus Energy, proudly founded in BC, CanBest Startup Employers 2024, named one adaClutch’s in 2009,Top is the leading provider of energy of 100 Fastest-Growing Comstorage Worldwide systems (ESS) maritime, offshore panies in for 2025, and awarded andTechbehemoths port applications. With 1300 in projects by as aover winner SEO, and the most marine battery systemand installaCustom Software Development, UX/ tions worldwide, more 50% of the across world’s UI Design.

Trusted bythan 700+ clients maritime we vessels battery-hybrid and Canada, excelwith in providing scalable, high-impact solutions.

zero emission technologies use a Corvus Energy system. In addition to developing industry-leading energy storage solutions, working Roomvu offers AI-powered solutions one dewith Toyota, Corvus Energy developed signed for real estate, of the industry’s mostmortgage, advancedfinance, marine and fuel insurance professionals.

The platform autocell systems.

Both technologies contribute matically creates localized, to emissions reduction, fuelbranded savings, content, and imincluding daily efficiency, social media videos,ocean and auproved energy benefiting ento-posts them Social Media channels, vironments andacross coastal communities around email newsletters, blogs and websites. It intethe world. grates email marketing and AI-driven calls to nurture leads and schedule appointments, enabling professionals to attract clients and close deals faster. Roomvu's technology revolutionizes MarTech Solutions, allowing clients Daanaa, founded by UBC PhDs, is a leader to build a strong local presence with minimal in power electronics and semiconductors, effort, and provides continuous support, enaccelerating the clean energy transition with suring clients are never overwhelmed by digits proprietary Power Transaction Unit (PTU) ital marketing. technology. This next-generation power conversion module enables OEMs in solar, energy storage, automotive, and data centers to build highly efficient, Company of the Year streamlined systems while reducing engineering complexity. The SCALE PTU eliminates multiple conversion steps, Presented in partnership with Clio reducing energy losses, heat generation, and bulky components. Its programmability allows real-time optimization, creating adaptive systems that enhance efficiency and Winner reliability. By driving innovation in power conversion, Daanaa is powering cleaner, more Hiive is the leading managed aliquidity providresilient future and positioning BC as a global er for private companies and their shareholdcleantech ers.

Hiive leader. offers the first centralized platform designed to meet the unique needs of issuers, institutions, sophisticated investors, and employee shareholders for facilitating primary and secondary trading in private companies.

With more than $2Bn traded annually, Hiive empowers leading private companies to manage liquidity, raise discretionary capital, pH7 Technologies is a cleantech company and gain market insight. based in Vancouver, BC, developing a proprietary closed-loop process to extract critical and precious metals in a more sustainable and economical way. Using a combination of organic, inorganic, and electrochemical Boast is revolutionizing how innovative commethods, our process enables the recovery panies access R&D tax credits through of a high-value metals—including Platinum Group unique platform that integrates AI technology Metals (PGMs),and gold, nickel, and cowith technical taxcopper, expertise.

Since 2011, balt—from challenging sources such asunlock mine we've helped over 1,000 companies tailings, low-grade ores, waste rock, andfundendmore than $600 million in innovation of-life materials.

Unlikereducing traditional ing while dramatically theextraction time and methods, pH7’s process produces noclaimtoxic complexity traditionally associated with emissions wastewater significantly reing R&D taxorcredits.

Our and platform seamlessduces energywith use existing and greenhouse emisly integrates businessgas systems sions, including a 99.9% SOx, to identify, document, andreduction maximize in eligible NOx, andwhile CO₂. our QuickFund program procredits, vides advance access to expected refunds.

23

2025 Technology Impact Awards

Company of the Year

BC Innovators

wearebctech.com

HALL OF FAME Company of the Year

Roomvu offers AI-powered solutions designed for real estate, mortgage, finance, and Presented in partnership with Electronic Arts Presented in partnership with Osler insurance professionals. The platform automatically creates localized, branded content, The BC Innovators Hall of Fame recognizes the key role of innovation to BC’s economy including daily social media videos, and auand the leaders that have left a legacy on this province, enriching our technology and to-posts them across Social Media channels, innovation ecosystem and building a stronger BC economy. email newsletters, blogs and websites. It inteWinner Winner grates email marketing and AI-driven calls to Up to 50% of the seeds planted in our greenHypercharge Networks is a leading providOUR INDUCTEES FOR 2025 ARE: nurture leads and schedule appointments, houses will never go on to become mature, er of smart electric vehicle (EV) charging soluenabling professionals to attract clients and yielding plants, due to issues like low germitions for residential and commercial buildings, close deals faster. Roomvu's technology revonation or vigour, plant abnormalities, or seedfleet operations, and other rapidly growing lutionizes MarTech Solutions, allowing clients borne disease. Insporos technology analyzes sectors. Driven by its mission to accelerate to build a strong local presence with minimal each individual seed using our proprietary EV adoption and enable the shift towards a effort, and provides continuous support, enhardware to gather unique data and processcarbon neutral economy, Hypercharge is comsuring clients are never overwhelmed by diging this data with AI to find defective or dismitted to offering seamless, simple solutions ital marketing. eased seeds and sort them out before plantincluding industry-leading hardware, innovaGreg Caws Randy Garg Christy Wyatt ing. This conserves these valuable resources tive and integrated software, and comprehenand improves efficiency in our greenhouses sive services, backed by a robust network of INDUCTEES: Company of the Year by allowing growers to focus their time and public PREVIOUS and private charging stations. energy on growing quality, healthy plants.

SCALE

STARTUP

GROWTH

Presented in partnership with Clio

Greg Aasen

Mark Betteridge

Judy Bishop

Arya is a modern, AI-powered EMR platform

Jeff Michael Kathy Ward David Klaus physicians, Butler for physicians.

Designed Deering Booth built byBrown Chaplin Winner Demers

Norman Durieux

Allen & Connie Eaves

to streamline clinical workflows and elimiWildfires are increasing in frequency, size, and nate after-hours charting, Arya helps healthseverity—fueled by climate change, land-use Hiive is the leading managed liquidity providcare providers across Canada save time, repatterns, and strained firefighting resources. er for private companies and their shareholdduce burnout, and focus on what matters Today’s response systems are reactive, huers. Hiive offers the first centralized platform most—patient care.Judi Arya is redefining whatDavid man-dependent, and limitedNorm by visibility, Andrew pilot Gordon Roy Ryan Moe needs of Paul Haig designed Hugh to meet the unique issuers, English Harries an Henderson Holmes Hughes Kay Kermani Lee Francis Farris EMR should be. Hess safety, and slow response times. This results institutions, sophisticated investors, and emin massive losses: lives, homes, critical infraployee shareholders for facilitating primary structure, air quality, biodiversity, and billions and secondary trading in private companies. of dollars in economic damage each year.

With more than $2Bn traded annually, Hiive What sets Fireswarm apart is that we are empowers leading private companies to Julia Amos Jack Josh Greg Shahrzad Firoz Don John Gordon Greg not Lev selling drones—we’re manage liquidity, discretionaryRasul capital, y Michelson Newton Nilson Peet raise Rafati Mattrick Macdonald delivering MacFarlanea drone Malpass agnostic mission-ready wildfire intelligence and gain market insight. eMonster Solutions Ltd. is a Vancouverplatform that saves time, money, and lives. based IT consulting firm driving digital transformation since 2017. We deliver custom web and software development, Jonathan Don Geordie Shannon Laurie Warren John Gerri Keith Ken Jim Boast is revolutionizing how innovative comERP/CRM and digital marketing Sinclair Rhone Rix Rose Rogers Roy Roysystems,Schultz Seminerio Spencer Spencer Spilsbury panies access R&D tax credits through a solutions. As a certified Shopify Partner Glüxkind is revolutionizing early parenthood unique platform that integrates AI technology with alliances with Google, Meta, and AWS, through intelligent technology that empowers, with technical and tax expertise. Since 2011, we’ve earned national and global recogsupports, and evolves with modern families. we've helped over 1,000 companies unlock nition—ranked #34 on Forbes Canada’s Our flagship product, the Rosa Smart StrollmoreRay than $600 Boris million in innovation fundBest Employers 2024, one Ralph named Mossadiq Alan David Shafin Bill Startup James Morgan Topham Turfus Umedaly Walia Wertz Winter Tejani Thompson er, is an Sturdy AI-powered Sutcliffe parenting companion ing while dramatically reducing the time and of Clutch’s Top 100 Fastest-Growing Comthat goes way beyond the traditional. With complexity traditionally associated with claimpanies Worldwide in 2025, and awarded features like adaptive push and brake assist, ing R&D tax credits. Our platform seamlessby Techbehemoths as a winner in SEO, auto-rocking, built-in white noise and stories, ly integrates with existing business systems Custom Software Development, and UX/ real-time GPS tracking, and app-enabled perto identify, document, and maximize eligible UI Design. Trusted by 700+ clients across sonalization, Glüxkind supports new parents credits, while our QuickFund program proCanada, we excel in providing scalable, throughout their daily journeys. vides advance access to expected refunds. high-impact solutions.

24

FUSION CONTINUED FROM PAGE 16

General Fusion uses a sphere of pistons similar to those found in a car engine to drive the fusion process. • STEFAN LABBÉ

than using, like, the world’s biggest laser,” said Donaldson.

Those tests started in the spring of 2025.

Once a week, engineers sought to crush the f usion f uel i nside a meta l cha mber.

Temperatures are expected to ramp up from the current four million degrees Celsius to 100 million degrees by 2026.

By 2027, the new half-size reactor will serve as a test machine to prove whether the company’s design can release more energy than it consumes.

The company has experienced a series of ups and downs throughout 2025. In May, the company laid off more than a quarter of its employees and slowed experiments due to a US$125-million funding shortfall.

And in August, it announced US$22 million in new financing, enabling it to hire back some staff and fund its immediate goal of getting its LM26 test reactor to 10 million degrees Celsius.

As experiments ramp up, the next step will be to swap out the solid metal cans inside the LM26 reactor with a liquid metal chamber designed to solve three engineering problems.

Unlike the current test reactor, a bubble of liquid lithium can be crushed multiple times without being replaced. That’s a critical feature if a power plant is to continuously produce power, says Laberge.

The liquid metal chamber is also designed to shield the machine from high-energy particles produced by fusion. The result, claims the company, is a power plant that can operate for decades.

Then there’s the question of fuel. Deuterium isotopes can be extracted from seawater. But tritium, a second isotope used in the fusion machine, is not found in nature, making it a scarce and therefore expensive fuel.

General Fusion’s liquid lithium core is designed to solve that problem by producing an indefinite supply of its own tritium.

“We can actually make more tritium than we burn,” Laberge said.

If LM26’s tests are successful—and the compa ny fi nds a way to secu re enoug h investments to continue—General Fusion claims it will need another seven years to scale up the machine into a working power plant.

Where in the world that fusion plant would be built remains an open question, although the B.C. company has a standing offer from the United Kingdom to build an intermediate machine in partnership with the country’s atomic energy agency.

“We have a way of doing fusion that would make a great power plant,” said Donaldson.

“What we have to show next is that the fusion actually works.”

25

General Fusion engineers analyze data after firing a shot of plasma through the company’s new LM26 fusion test reactor. • SUBMITTED

The race to fusion accelerates General Fusion is among a handful of startups promising to move from experiments into realworld power plants. It has some stiff competition, especia l ly a m id a cool i ng i nvestment cl i mate and uncertainty from U.S. President Donald Trump’s multiple rounds of tariffs that together have roiled global capital markets, and caused many investors to avoid taking the same risks they otherwise would a few years ago.

Spu n out of t he M a ssachu setts I n st it ute of Technology, Commonwealth Fusion Systems has raised US$2 billion in capital—more than any other fusion startup—as of early 2025.

The company has a nearly identical timeline to General Fusion: It aims to prove its magnetic fusion technology works by 2027, with plans to build a working power plant in the U.S. state of Virginia by 2033.

And across the border in Seattle, Helion Energy says that by 2028, it will start generating electricity for Microsoft by firing two rings of plasma at each other.

It’s not clear if any of the aggressive timelines to commercialize fusion are realistic.

Over the past several decades, fusion’s proponents h ave c l a i m e d t h e te c h nolog y wa s p oi s e d to revolutionize global energy, only to face further delays.

From his office in Livermore, Calif., Town said he believes fusion will one day become commercially viable, but that scientists remain in “discovery mode” with a lot more work still to be done.

While the U.S. lab is largely focused on research to advance national security, scientists working there are keenly aware that its success in 2022 could eventually help reshape the future of sustainable energy.

Consider this moment as the Wright Brothers’ first flight, said Town. They proved aviation was possible, but it wasn’t until years later that people regularly boarded aircraft to cross oceans and continents.

If fusion can be turned into a commercial reality, Town said it will democratize energy in the same way flight reshaped the way people travel. That, he added, would be good for everyone.

“You get to this point where we don’t have to worry so much about climate change,” he said. “It’s not really if, it’s when.” 

26

From RESET to RESURGENCE B.C. tech sector veterans see confidence and capital returning to form

BY JOHN KURUCZ

F

ire and brimstone has seemingly dominated tech talk in some circles in recent years.

A s recent ly a s l a st yea r, adject ives l i ke “cleansing” and “fire sales” may have come up in discussions among industry insiders. Comparisons were made to the dot-com bust or the market collapse of 2008.

In 2021, inflated valuations and unsustainable growth fuelled by a tech sector bubble left many technology companies bloated.

A year later, technology stocks began to plunge as inflation, rising interest rates and recession jitters sent investors into safer havens. Technology companies were forced to resort to massive layoffs.

After reaching out to a number of players in the startup and venture capital (VC) spaces to get a pulse check for 2025, the consensus seems to suggest that the peaks and valleys of even last year have begun to normalize. The artificial intelligence boom is leading that resurgence by leaps and bounds, but gains and confidence are returning in data analytics, robotics and the life sciences, among others.

“That cleansing, I think, is pretty much done, and 2024 and early 2025 took care of it,” says Brent Holliday, CEO of Garibaldi Capital Advisors. “From a macro-economic perspective, the impact of tariffs and everything else has kind of washed through enough for the tech industry to know that there’s less uncertainty.”

Holliday takes into account three main factors to gauge where the winds are blowing: innovation, capital and access to talent. A region-wide lack of capital is today’s sore spot.

In his role with Garibaldi, Holliday’s bread and butter is interfacing with buyers of technology firms and growth equity investors who are looking to invest in technology companies.

They want to put their money in the less risky, scalable businesses and that drove the price up for hugely successful companies, because everybody was after them.

“It’s a simple supply-and-demand problem,” Holliday says. “And yet, good companies that maybe weren’t growing at 50 per cent and were just slightly profitable

Brent Holliday, CEO of Garibaldi Capital Advisors, sees renewed investor confidence returning to B.C.’s tech sector. • SUBMITTED

were getting completely ignored because everybody was chasing those other deals.”

Hol l iday suggests 2025 sta rted wel l but that con fidence was sig n i fica ntly upended due to uncertainty south of the border. Buyers are extremely risk averse, and diligence is taking longer as they go back to their boards or investment committees.

Holliday says minor details that could have been fixed easily in past scenarios are now becoming anchors of apprehension, ultimately leaving deals in a holding pattern at best, or eroding confidence altogether at worst.

“That’s not helpful, but I see lots of interest in making these later-stage investments in the tech companies in Canada,” Holliday says. “What I’m seeing in the

27

markets in the later half of 2025 is that many think that they have figured [U.S. President Donald Trump] out.”

For Ray Walia, figuring out where the head—and the heart—stand with respect to our southern neighbours is perhaps the single biggest factor for attracting venture capital; for learning applicable, on-thejob skills; or to simply expand one’s personal and professional networks.

Whatever misgivings one may have about the current state of American affairs, the sheer numbers across the board in the U.S. can’t be ignored.

“Silicon Valley is back on fire because there’s so much activity happening and it comes down to density,” Walia says. “There are more funds, more people to interact with, more people looking for deals in the U.S. than there are in Canada.”

Walia co-founded and is CEO of Launch Academy, one of Western Canada’s leading tech incubators.

H is compa ny has i ncubated more tha n 6,000 entrepreneurs from more than 100 countries. Three hundred of them have reached seed and Series A funding, raising more than $2.5 billion dollars.

He breaks down investors across four spheres, with the paying customer being the first and best. From there, there are early and later-stage VCs, angel investors and then friends and family.

When an economy experiences uncertainty like what’s being seen domestically, the friends and family are inevitably out. When VCs see downturns, risk tolerance and confidence can wane.

Again, with the numbers.

YES, WE WANT TO BE CANADIAN AND YES, WE WANT INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY TO STAY IN CANADA. BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN THAT YOU SHOULD IGNORE THE FACT THAT THE BEST CHANCE OF GETTING FUNDED IS LOOKING DOWN SOUTH RIGHT NOW.  Ray Walia CEO, Launch Academy

28

Jill Tipping, CEO of the BC Tech Association, argues affordability myths miss the point: “There isn’t a single thriving, amazing, ambitious tech ecosystem in the world that has a low cost of living.” • SUBMITTED

“The time and energy that you put in and try to raise money in the U.S. is exponentially less compared to the time and energy that you would have to do in Canada, because you have fewer people to talk to,” Walia says. “Yes, we want to be Canadian and yes, we want intellectual property to stay in Canada. But that doesn’t mean that you should ignore the fact that the best chance of getting funded is looking down south right now.”

And while chasing money stateside is one thing, chasing affordability down south is a different conversation altogether. BC Tech Association CEO Jill Tipping suggests it’s a fallacy that tech talent could—or should—pursue careers in the U.S. to avoid Vancouver’s affordability crisis.

“There isn’t a single thriving, amazing, ambitious tech ecosystem in the world that has a low cost of living,” Tipping says.

“It’s challenging and it would be nice to have a low cost of living because that would give us a comparative advantage.”

W here we need a re-think is around taxation.

Tipping says Canadian tax policies may have made sense in a previous iteration of globalization and free trade, but the current system isn’t competitive enough for people to choose to be entrepreneurs or make venture-type investments nationally.

She points to the U.K. and Australia in particular, where more favourable capital gains tax regimes encourage people to make investments in tech, to be a business owner, or to start and grow a business.

“There is fierce competition for talent and there’s a need to actually build up national champions and not assume that your companies can sell without barriers

Ray Walia, co-founder and CEO of Launch Academy, says the U.S. still remains the go-to for capital despite recent gains for B.C. tech companies. • SUBMITTED

into the States and other huge markets,” Tipping says.

“We’ve got our issues, but they’re so much milder than what one might face anywhere else in the world. This is our century, this is our opportunity to shine.” 

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Building Talent From Within

Kiersten Enemark, director of B.C. affairs at the Council of Canadian Innovators, urges the B.C. government to cut red tape to help attract global tech talent. • CHUNG CHOW

B.C. tech bets on local skills over imports

BY DAISY XIONG

D

espite turbulence south of the border, B.C.’s tech sector is holding its own, with less of an eye on foreign relocations and more focus on cultivating homegrown talent in the age of artificial intelligence.

Sluggish job growth in B.C.’s tech sector—1.2 per cent in 2023 followed by a 0.3 per cent decline in 2024— along with layoffs at major firms, has eased hiring pressure. But attracting top global talent remains challenging, says Nathan Wawruck, vice-president

at Robert Half Canada.

“You might get a few extra people coming to Canada, but the reality is, for highly skilled people, they’ll probably still make more in the U.S., even with extra fees and extra paperwork,” says Wawruck, referring to Washington’s surprising introduction of a $100,000 fee for that country’s H-1B visas earlier this year.

The U.S. tech sector relies on the H-1B program to bring highly skilled foreign workers.

The higher fee leave startups and medium-sized companies in the U.S. at a hiring disadvantage compared with larger competitors who can afford to

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eat the higher costs.

But the higher fee has left some to wonder if B.C. looks like a more enticing destination to hire foreign tech talent to work out of satellite offices.

There are stumbling blocks, though.

Vancouver tech workers earned an average of $102,479 in 2024, according to research from The Dais think tank at Toronto Metropolitan University. Their U.S. counterparts earned $147,865 in May of that same year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The high costs of living, especially for housing, have made B.C. even less attractive for global talent, Wawruck adds. A 2025 report from Chapman Un iversity n a med Va ncouver t he t h i rd most unaffordable housing market in the world.

“Our number one challenge in B.C. is to attract people here. The math just doesn’t always add up,” Wawruck says.

Red tape is also adding to the challenges in attracting talent, according to Kiersten Enemark, director of B.C. affairs at the Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI), a not-for-profit representing more than 175 of Canada’s fastest-growing technology companies.

B.C. is one of the few provinces that requires a separate license for recruiters for international talent.

While the application process is straightforward, some are experiencing processing delays of more than three months.

“These delays are resulting in the loss of highly skilled talent to other provinces and countries,” says Enemark, who is urging the province to expedite license processing or exempt it for recruiting workers hired through the federal government’s Global Talent Stream.

CCI is also calling on Ottawa to introduce an Innovation Patent Box—a tax incentive offering reduced rates on profits derived from intellectual property—to encourage domestic innovation. And the organization recommends Ottawa reintroduce the 2023 policy that fast-tracked H-1B visa holders for Canadian work permits.

“The federal government should be monitoring the H-1B situation very closely. It could be good news for Canada. However, we have to be strategic about it,” says Enemark.

B.C. is one of three provinces that experienced a net job loss in its technology industry, with 249 fewer jobs in 2024 compared with 2023, according to a recent report published by CompTIA, a U.S.-based trade association for the IT industry, titled State of the Tech Workforce Canada.

“It’s disappointing that they lost jobs, but it’s not a big surprise,” says Stephanie Hollingshead, CEO of TAP Network, the human resources association for B.C.’s tech sector.

Last year was a tough time for the technology i ndustr y i n B.C., w ith w idespread work force reductions that continued from 2023. Contributing factors i ncluded a post-pa ndem ic correction, economic uncertainty driven by higher interest rates and U.S. tariff threats, and shifts in investment priority from g row th to profits, accord i ng to Hollingshead.

“We also saw less venture capital coming into the province last year,” she says.

Hollingshead says reductions are ongoing in the tech

THE REALITY IS, FOR HIGHLY SKILLED PEOPLE, THEY’LL PROBABLY STILL MAKE MORE IN THE U.S., EVEN WITH EXTRA FEES AND EXTRA PAPERWORK.  Nathan Wawruck Vice-president, Robert Half Canada

industry, especially in the creative tech sector, which boomed during the pandemic. But she adds recent layoffs are smaller than last year’s.

Companies began the year conservatively, delaying spending and limiting hiring to critical roles, as they monitored the May federal election and U.S. tariffs, Hollingshead says. Although digital services are exempt, tariffs are affecting many tech companies’ clients.

Still, Hollingshead says she is encouraged to see more hiring in the province in the last few months.

“We’re seeing HR jobs showing up, which is a sign of hiring when they’re hiring for HR folks,” she says.

Ilya Brotzky, CEO of tech recruitment firm VanHack, says the market is slowly moving back toward prepandemic levels.

“I think it’s a more stable economy. … Interest rates have been decreasing in Canada and not going up in the U.S,” he says.

“And also, a lot of the AI boom has been causing c o m p a n i e s to i n v e s t i n R & D [r e s e a r c h a n d development] and to build new products.”

Adaptability a key skill in AI era With limited success attracting talent from abroad, many B.C. tech firms are focusing on hiring and upskilling local workers, especially in AI. Clio, a Burnaby-based legal technology firm, says B.C. employees have accounted for almost 40 per cent of their Canadian hires since the beginning of the year.

“While the tech landscape is certainly competitive, we see B.C. as a rich and thriving hub for talent,” says Marina Harris, chief people officer at Clio, in a statement.

“Rather than focusing on external challenges, our strategy is to cultivate a workplace that attracts and, more importantly, retains top talent.”

As demand for AI adoption ramps up, Clio has focused on building AI fluency for all employees and evaluates candidates’ “AI competency” during the hiring process, according to Harris.

This ranges from evaluating candidates’ proficiency with third-party AI tools to their ability to develop AI strategy, or reimagining workflows to maximize the

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Stephanie Hollingshead, CEO of TAP Network, expects tech industry employment in B.C. to grow in 2025 compared with 2024. • ROB KRUYT

impact of AI, depending on the role.

“However, the most critical attribute we hire for is a growth mindset,” says Harris.

“This innate curiosity and eagerness to learn is what truly equips our team to embrace new technologies and stay ahead of the curve.”

Clio also invests in professional development and workplace culture to retain top talent, she adds.

As tech job demand grows—with Canadian employers projecting an average of 13 per cent headcount growth in 2026, according to a recent survey from TAP Network—Wawruck says competition for tech

talent will intensify.

In addition to AI, talent who specialize in areas such as cloud computing, machine learning and cybersecurity are in higher demand, and they often look for more than just competitive compensation, he adds.

“Flexibility is still something that people really look for. If a local employer is trying to figure out how to stay competitive, that’s a big one for sure,” says Wawruck.

“And then there’s other things like offering training budgets, especially for technical people.”