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Vancouver is truly a GREAT place to build a startup, but most of the early-stage entrepreneurs we speak to are not aware of the local resources that are available to help them.

With applications for the Vancouver Founder Institute now open, we are excited to release the Vancouver Startup Ecosystem Canvas, which is currently in Draft v1 below! It was developed by the Vancouver Founder Institute and local leaders: Kailin Che, Todd Embley, and Wade Larson.

This is just a DRAFT, and while we spent many hours on this research, more input is needed. Please leave your comments on this collaborative Google document to help us complete the list. There are definitely omissions on this current version. 

Are you looking to build a startup in Vancouver? Then apply to the Vancouver Founder Institute today!

Text version included below, for ease of searching:

Startup Stages


There is no one right way to build a technology company, but for the sake of simplicity we have outlined a basic, common, sequential framework.

1. Idea Stage

This is where new entrepreneurs get inspired, learn best practices, develop skills, validate ideas, and begin to build their team and product.

A. Inspire

  • Startup Media: Centralized local information, listings, and news. (i.e. startup blogs/ publications/ lists/ FB groups/ newsletters)
    1. BC Technology
    2. Startup Vancouver  
    3. BetaKit
    4. Daily Hive
    5. DigiBC
    6. McMillan Startups - Blog
    7. Netsquared
    8. Ready to Rocket
    9. She Built That
    10. #Startup604 Slack Community
    11. Startup Canada - Blog
    12. Startup Digest Vancouver
    13. T-Net
    14. Tech.co Vancouver
    15. Techvibes
    16. Vancouver Entrepreneur Podcast
    17. Vancouver Startups List
    18. Vancouver Tech Journal
    19. Western District
  • Inspirational Events: Open, inclusive, beginner startup events (i.e. Startup Weekend, idea fairs, and inspirational meetups)
    1. Canada Futurists
    2. Burnaby Tech Meetup
    3. China - North America Business Meetup
    4. Entrepreneur's Community of Vancouver
    5. Fuckup Nights
    6. Founder Fridays North Vancouver
    7. Girls in Tech Vancouver
    8. Ideas Vancouver
    9. Istuary Idea Labs
    10. Query - Vancouver Queer Tech
    11. Small Business BC Meetup
    12. Startup Vancouver
    13. Startup Weekend UBC
    14. Startup Weekend Vancouver
    15. Surrey Startups and Entrepreneurs
    16. Tech Talent Meetup
    17. TechVancouver
    18. Vancouver Hi-Tech Business Meetup
    19. Vancouver Innovation Crunch
    20. Vancouver Internet of Things (IOT) Meetup
    21. Vancouver Israeli Tech Club
    22. Vancouver Startup Week
    23. YVR Startups

B. Educate

  • Best Practices: Beginner knowledge-sharing events. (i.e. beginner events that serve to educate more than inspire, like 1 Million Cups, Startup Grind, Startup Founder 101, etc).
    1. ACETECH
    2. Blockchain Vancouver
    3. Disruptive Entrepreneurs Vancouver
    4. FinTech & AI Vancouver
    5. Futurpreneur
    6. Kickstart Business Catalyst
    7. Mobile Growth Vancouver
    8. SFU Venture Connection
    9. Startup Founder 101 Vancouver
    10. Startup Grind Vancouver
    11. Startup Traction Vancouver
    12. The Open Science Network
    13. TriCelerate
    14. Vancouver Digital Project Managers
    15. Vancouver Entrepreneurs and Business Builders
    16. Vancouver Growth Hackers
    17. Vancouver Pixel Crafters
    18. Vancouver Technology Leaders
    19. https://www.meetup.com/Agile-Vancouver/
  • Training & Feedback: Skill & Idea development. (Ex. bootcamps and comprehensive training programs, like Founder Institute, General Assembly, Lean Startup Machine, code camps, etc)
    1. Agile Vancouver
    2. BrainStation
    3. Camp Tech
    4. CodeCore
    5. Founder Institute
    6. Launch Academy
    7. Lean Startup Machine Vancouver
    8. Lean Startup Vancouver
    9. Lighthouse Labs
    10. Non-Technical Entrepreneurs Meetup
    11. RED Academyhttps://www.meetup.com/Lean-Startup-Vancouver/
    12. Spring
    13. Startup Canada
    14. Startup Canada Tour
    15. Startup Pitch Bootcamp
    16. Surrey CodeCamp
    17. Vancouver Hardware Meetup
    18. Vancouver Social Innovation
    19. Vancouver Startup: Idea to IPO

C. Validate

  • Team Formation: Resources for teaming up. (i.e. events or other resources that facilitate early-stage recruitment and cofounder matching)
    1. @BestJobsInVan
    2. BizFirst Social Networking
    3. Breakfast Networking in Vancouver Meetup
    4. Business Network Connections Vancouver
    5. CoFoundersLab
    6. Entrepreneurs International Organization
    7. Forum for Women Entrepreneurs
    8. FounderDating
    9. Network Hub Toastmasters Club
    10. Social Good Vancity
    11. StartupBlink Vancouver
    12. Techfest by Techvibes
    13. The Networking Club
    14. Vancouver Business | Social Network Club
    15. Vancouver Business Events: Startups, Sales, Marketing, Growth
    16. Vancouver Entrepreneurs Forum
    17. Vancouver Entrepreneurs and Startup Network
    18. Vancouver Millionaire Mind Meetup
    19. Vancouver Young Entrepreneurs Meetup
    20. ZEED Meetup
  • Build First Product: Hackathons & resources to build. (i.e. hackathons and other builder-focused events and resources)
    1. Building Technology Innovations
    2. Code & Coffee
    3. Code for Canada
    4. Data Science Vancouver
    5. deCODE Hackathon
    6. Fishackathon
    7. Girls in Tech Hackathon
    8. Global AI Hackathon
    9. HackerNest Vancouver Tech Socials
    10. Hackseq
    11. Hackspace
    12. Ladies Learn https://www.meetup.com/Vancouver-Hack-Space/ing Code
    13. Lumohacks
    14. Makerlabs
    15. .NET User Group of BC
    16. nwHacks 2017
    17. OHBM Hackathon 2017
    18. OpenLate
    19. Product Hunt Vancouver
    20. ProtoHack Vancouver
    21. PyLadies Vancouver
    22. Tencent Mediate Space Hackathon
    23. Unearthed Vancouver 2017
    24. VANSASH
    25. Vancouver Legal Hackers
    26. Vancouver Startup Week Hackathon
    27. VanHacks 2.0

2. Launch Stage

In this stage, entrepreneurs establish and formalize the company, develop the product, get feedback from customers, and prepare for the next step.

A. Start

  • Establish: Law firms & banks for startups
    1. BDC
    2. BennettJones
    3. BMO
    4. Benchmark Law Corporation
    5. Borden Ladner Gervais LLP
    6. CIBC
    7. Clark Wilson LLP
    8. Embers Ventures
    9. Fasken Martineau
    10. Irwin, White and Jennings Barristers and Solicitors
    11. Koho
    12. LaBarge Weinstein LLP
    13. Lawson Lundell LLP
    14. MLT Aikins
    15. McMillan LLP
    16. Miller Thomson LLP
    17. National Bank of Canada
    18. Patrola Law
    19. Royal Bank of Canada
    20. Scotiabank
    21. Segev LLP
    22. Small Law
    23. TD Canada Trust
    24. Vancity
    25. Voyer Law
    26. Winright Law
  • Workspace: Co-working and flexible workspaces (note: “official” office space goes in 3.1.a. Infrastructure)
    1. Beta Collective
    2. CMPNY
    3. Creative Coworkers
    4. HiVE Coworking
    5. L'Atelier Vancouver
    6. Launch Academy
    7. Spaces Vancouver
    8. Suite Genius
    9. The AMP
    10. The Aviary
    11. The Cranium
    12. The Network Hub
    13. The Profile
    14. VanCubers
    15. Werklab
    16. WeWork

B. Develop

  • Formalize: Accounting, development and HR for early-stage startups.  
    1. 14 Oranges
    2. App-Scoop
    3. AskaTechie
    4. Atimi
    5. Cahill Professional Accountants
    6. Dynamic Leap
    7. Elevate Search Group
    8. Essential Designs
    9. Evilnut
    10. FreshWorks
    11. Hall & Company
    12. Homeroom Bookkeeping
    13. Legacy Advantage
    14. MMT Chartered Professional Accountants LLP
    15. MacKenzie Burgess Kilpatrick
    16. Murji, Yim & Associates
    17. Origami Accounting
    18. Pronexia Headhunters
    19. RMD Studio
    20. Schindler & Company
    21. Split Mango
    22. Staffords Accounting
    23. Steamclock Software
    24. Webilize
  • Prepare for Seed: Incubators and advanced mentorship. (i.e. advanced knowledge sharing, later stage events and resources for startup TEAMS)
    1. Empowered Startups
    2. Futurpreneur
    3. Interface Health
    4. Invoke
    5. Istuary Innovation Group
    6. Kickstart Business Catalyst
    7. Next Big Thing
    8. Radius
    9. Startup Next Vancouver
    10. Startup Space
    11. TiE Young Entrepreneur 2017-2018 Program
    12. The Tribe
    13. Zen Launchpad

C. Launch

  • Seed Accelerators: Seed funding mentor programs (Techstars-style programs that provide funding)
    1. Accel-rx
    2. Alacrity
    3. BC Venture Acceleration Program
    4. Cossette Labs
    5. Creative Destruction Lab
    6. DDB Ignite
    7. entrepreneurship@UBC Accelerator Program
    8. Expa Labs
    9. Foresight
    10. HATCH
    11. Highline
    12. Sauder S3i
    13. SFU Radius
    14. Spacekraft
    15. VentureLabs
    16. Wavefront Accelerator
  • Pitch & Demo: Show local startups for investment (i.e. demo days for companies seeking seed investment)
    1. Awesome Shit Club
    2. #BCTECH Summit
    3. BCIC New Ventures Competition
    4. GSEA Vancouver
    5. Launch Academy Pitch Day
    6. League Of Innovators Demo Day
    7. LEAP Pitch Day
    8. Lighthouse Labs Vancouver Demo Day
    9. The Vinetta Project
    10. Open Angel Investment Dinner Pitch
    11. Volition Pitch Night
    12. WebDxD Demo Day

3. Growth Stage

Here, a startup proves their utility, receives recognition, and scales up. This usually requires funding, angels, VCs, and ways to connect them to startups.

A. Recognition

  • Investor Networking:  Connect professional investors with founders. (i.e. events or groups that facilitate connections with professional investors)
    1. BCTech
    2. Capital Event Conferences
    3. Capital Investment Network
    4. Cascadia Venture Forum
    5. E-Fund
    6. Impact Investment Forum
    7. Keiretsu Forum
    8. Open Angel
    9. TiE Vancouver
    10. Valhalla Angels
    11. VANTEC Angel Network
    12. Vancouver Angel Forum
    13. Vancouver Angel Investors
    14. Western Canadian Angel Network Program
  • Major Media: Mainstream local business press. (i.e. major local or regional publications that frequently champion local businesses)
    1. BCBusiness
    2. Business Edge
    3. Business Examiner
    4. Business News Network
    5. Business in Vancouver
    6. CBC News
    7. CTV News Vancouver
    8. Globe and Mail
    9. Canadian Business
    10. Canadian Business Journal
    11. Financial Post
    12. Journal of Commerce
    13. Metro Vancouver
    14. The Province
    15. Vancouver Sun

B. Funding

  • Angels / Micro-VCs: Seed-stage investors
    1. Adarsh Pallian
    2. Alex Chuang
    3. Anthony Nicalo
    4. Boris Wertz
    5. Bullrun Capital Inc.
    6. Danny Robinson
    7. David Arnsdorf
    8. Ed Levinson
    9. Emily Ma
    10. Gary Yurkovich
    11. Geoffrey Shmigelsky
    12. Harry Yeh
    13. Hash Aboulhosn
    14. Jason Bailey
    15. Jett Fein
    16. Joshua Bixby
    17. Kalle Radage
    18. Keir Reynolds
    19. Keith Gillard
    20. Landon Downs
    21. Marc Van Der Chijs
    22. Matt Mickiewicz
    23. Michael Volker
    24. Mike Edwards
    25. Milun Tesovic
    26. Pankaj Agarwal
    27. Rasool Rayani
    28. Ray Walia
    29. Ryan Holmes
    30. Shafin Diamond
    31. Yaro Starak
  • Venture Capitalists: Series A and beyond
    1. Ardenton Capital
    2. Bullrun Capital Inc.
    3. CAI Private Equity
    4. Chrysalix Venture Capital
    5. Conconi Growth Partners
    6. CrossPacific Capital
    7. Frontier Foundry
    8. Garibaldi Capital
    9. GrowthWorks Capital
    10. iNovia
    11. Kensington Capital Partners
    12. Lumira Capital
    13. Pangaea Ventures
    14. Pyfera Capital
    15. Quark Venture
    16. Renewal Funds
    17. Shoreline Ventures
    18. Stanley Park Ventures
    19. TIMIA Capital
    20. Vancouver Founder Fund
    21. Vanedge Capital
    22. Varshney Capital
    23. Version One
    24. Vistara Capital Partners
    25. Victory Square Labs
    26. Yaletown Partners
    27. Raiven Capital Canada

C. Growth

  • Infrastructure: Office space, HR, local business insurance. (i.e. office space/ HR/ insurance providers for capital-rich companies to grow and scale)
    1. 42Floors
    2. BLANKSLATE Partners
    3. Bullfrog Insurance
    4. Clear HR Consulting
    5. Colliers Canada
    6. Goldbeck Recruiting
    7. Habitat Insurance
    8. Impact Recruitment
    9. Instant Offices
    10. LoopNet
    11. Park Insurance
    12. Regus
    13. Reliance Insurance Agencies
    14. Search Office Space
    15. Smart Savvy
    16. SpaceList
    17. Summit Search Group
    18. Westland Insurance
  • Expansion: Growth accelerators/consultants. (i.e. programs and business consultants for capital-rich companies to grow and scale)
    1. Accenture
    2. Annex Consulting Group
    3. Aon
    4. Bellrock
    5. Deloitte
    6. Ernst & Young
    7. FTI Consulting
    8. Grant Thornton
    9. Hay Group
    10. KPMG
    11. McKinsey & Company
    12. Mercer
    13. PwC
    14. Willis Towers Watson

4. Success Stories

Successful homegrown companies that have raised significant institutional funding, employ a large workforce, or have achieved liquidity.

  1. 7Geese
  2. Allocadia
  3. Avigilon
  4. Bench
  5. Beanworks
  6. Carbon Engineering
  7. Checkfront
  8. Clio
  9. Contractually
  10. Foodee
  11. Hootsuite
  12. Indochino
  13. Klue
  14. Koho
  15. Later
  16. LemonStand
  17. Lululemon
  18. Mobify
  19. Mojio
  20. Optix
  21. Patchful
  22. Picatic
  23. Pinshape
  24. Plenty of Fish
  25. Quietly
  26. Redfin
  27. Retsly
  28. Rentmoola
  29. Routific
  30. ShareDesk
  31. SpaceList
  32. Sprout
  33. Tasktop
  34. Trulioo
  35. Unbounce
  36. ZenHub
  37. ZipZap



Supporters


To facilitate the steps, every ecosystem needs strong supporters.

1. Evangelists

Successful local founders who lead the ecosystem & frequently mentor newbies.

  1. Adam Kyle Wilso
  2. Alex Chuang
  3. Aliya Amershi
  4. Angèle Beausoleil
  5. Angie Chik
  6. Bill Tam
  7. Brad Bruce
  8. Brooke Harley
  9. Bernd Petak
  10. Cheryl Draper
  11. Chin Hing Chang
  12. Chris Goward
  13. Craig Roh
  14. David Cameron
  15. Diraj Goel
  16. Dragos Ilinica
  17. Gerri Sinclair (Dr.)
  18. Ian S. Cruickshank
  19. J.C. Kendall
  20. Jeremy P. Whittingstall
  21. Jerome Ng
  22. Jill Earthy
  23. Jill Tipping
  24. Jillian Walker
  25. John Thornburn
  26. Karley Cunningham
  27. Keith Ippel
  28. Lauren Robinson
  29. Likky Lavji
  30. Lisa von Sturmer
  31. Manica Gautam
  32. Matt Astifan
  33. Meredith Powell
  34. Narges Nirumvala
  35. Oscar Malpica
  36. Paul Brassard
  37. Peter Luong
  38. Praveen Varshney
  39. Ray Torresan
  40. Randall Volberg
  41. Rick Pasin
  42. Rob Foxall
  43. Rocky Ozaki
  44. Sandra Giffin
  45. Sandra Wear
  46. Sarah Lubik
  47. Tyrell Mara
  48. Valerie Song

2. Government

Public organizations that facilitate local economic development

  1. BC Chamber of Commerce
  2. BC Innovation Council
  3. BC Tech Association
  4. Build in Canada Innovation Program
  5. Business Council of British Columbia
  6. Creative BC
  7. EU Chamber of Commerce in Canada – West
  8. Greater Vancouver Board of Trade
  9. North Vancouver Chamber of Commerce
  10. Small Business BC
  11. Technology & Innovation BC
  12. Trade and Invest BC
  13. Vancouver Economic Commission
  14. West Vancouver Chamber of Commerce
  15. Western Economic Diversification Canada
  16. Women's Enterprise Center

3. Talent

Major local business or tech universities and employers that attract and retain local talent.

  • Local Universities (universities with prominent technical or business programs)
    1. Acsenda School of Management
    2. British Columbia Institute of Technology
    3. Capilano University
    4. Kwantlen Polytechnic University
    5. Langara College
    6. Simon Fraser University
    7. University of British Columbia
    8. University Canada West
    9. Vancouver School of Economics at UBC
    10. Trinity Western University
  • Local Employers (Major technical employers, like Microsoft or Google or large local companies, with large local offices)
    1. ACL
    2. Amazon
    3. Apple
    4. Bell Canada
    5. Best Buy
    6. Cisco
    7. Electronic Arts
    8. Facebook
    9. Fortinet
    10. FortisBC
    11. GlobalRelay
    12. Hootsuite
    13. IBM
    14. lululemon
    15. MEC
    16. Microsoft
    17. Nokia
    18. Oracle
    19. Rogers
    20. SAP
    21. Shaw Communications
    22. Sony Pictures Imageworks
    23. TELUS
    24. Vancity
    25. Zillow

 

*  *  *

Learn more about the Startup Ecosystem Canvas here, and leave us your thoughts on the Vancouver Canvas on this collaborative Google document (This is just a DRAFT, and more input is needed!)

Are you looking to build a startup in Vancouver? Then apply to the Vancouver Founder Institute today

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