The downtown Vancouver skyline has had a few glitzy additions lately. You have probably noticed the looming Microsoft and Amazon signs on prominent buildings. The two companies have opened local offices in efforts to create tech epicentres on West Coast, Canadian soil. British Columbia’s marketable resources are fast diminishing. With a deepening wobble in the economy, the province is looking to the tech industry to provide some reprieve. Enter #BCTechSummit 2016.
#BCTechSummit was a two-day event that consolidated Vancouver’s brightest start-up companies at the convention centre downtown. The first day consisted of conference sessions, Technology and Innovation showcases, a trade show and B(usiness)2B(usiness) meetings. A Coding Camp for high school students gave the second day a solid start that then went on to offer more tech showcases and trade show sessions. And finally, Techfest concluded this grand informational event with a vibrant networking evening.
Justin Trudeau is all for strengthening Canada’s tech sector in hopes of diversifying the Canadian economy, that up until now, was heavily reliant on the oil and gas industry. The tech-savvy Prime Minister inaugurated Google Canada’s new headquarters in Waterloo this year. This new centre is an addition to Google’s North American Tech Hub, that already includes tech heavyweights like San Francisco, Chicago and Austin.
Entrepreneurial successes are not uncommon in Vancouver, especially in the tech sector. You have probably heard of one, two or perhaps all of the companies that were repping at Techfest this year. All in all twelve tech companies participated in the event. They gave Vancouver’s tech industry a friendly, hopeful face. The evening included some fancy hors d’oeuvres served by a grade A catering staff. Wine and beer flowed at strategically situated bars. The aggregate vibe was informal and friendly. Gone are the rigid hierarchies of old school corporations. The tech industries have brought with them a youthful work culture that is more conducive to the creative work that they produce.
The tech sector is not only ushering in new marketable resources to the province but it is also revolutionising the city’s work culture to match that of Silicon Valley. The participating companies were each asked to give a two-minute pitch to convince attendees that they indeed are the awesomest employer. So who exactly would you have met if you had attended Techfest? Let’s take a look in alphabetical order:
Governance, Risk and Compliance is what ACL do. Their cloud-based software takes care of risk management for businesses and makes the whole experience a significantly less complicated endeavour. ACL are out there transforming accounting into a welcome dream.
Identical twin sisters Kristine Berry Steuart and Katherine Berry founded Allocadia in 2010. They have produced software that plans and organises the marketing schemes for businesses. Allocadia are growing fast, with plans to expand significantly by the end of the year, as they rapidly take on more clients.
Amazon have changed the way we shop online. A trusted source for purchasing basically anything under the sun, their website has become the world’s go-to place for the exchange of goods between buyers and sellers. The brand new office on Georgia Street in the Telus building will give Amazon’s main campus in Seattle (where it was born in 1995), some sturdy Canadian support. The brilliant tech giant, with access to cutting-edge software and web development practices, is now officially in town.
Boeing customers are served with software, analytics and expertise by their Aeroinfo division here in Richmond. They engineer solutions for fleet management that are highly specialised. The aviation industry is all about high precision and the software engineering required at Aeroinfo will be appropriately challenging.
Central 1’s software solutions cater to the specific needs of British Columbia’s credit unions. They develop financial products, payment processing applications and direct banking software systems. Central 1 give credit unions all the tools they need to achieve their financial goals. Their mobile app is also creating quite the buzz.
Clio provide cloud-based practice management for law firms. Jack Newton and Rian Gauvreau created Clio in 2008 and it has grown worldwide since then. They have some of Vancouver’s most prominent law firms as their clients. Clio’s reps were a fun bunch, dressed in their signature deep blue.
Dun & Bradstreet’s Cloud Innovation Centre offers cloud-based analytics solutions for businesses. The Vancouver office started out as the launch-pad for Indicee, a highly successful analytics app that eventually caught the attention of Dun & Bradstreet, who consequently acquired it. The Innovation Centre now helps businesses switch their operations to the cloud whilst also developing innovative cloud-based products of their own.
Cloud-based workflow and productivity applications are Function Point’s offerings. Director and CEO Chris Wilson founded the company in 1997. Since then Wilson’s vision has expanded to tackle productivity in areas ranging from accounting to client services. One look at this start-up’s website will clue you in on their quirky company culture. Really, very cool.
Grow’s software platform brings investors and loan-seekers together. Founder Kevin Sandhu is behind the innovative idea that was previously known as Grouplender. Grow is gearing up to make personal loans an effortless and trusted reality with the help of some cutting-edge software platforms.
Marketing.AI have developed an application that allows businesses to efficiently organise their marketing plans. With Marketing.AI, workflow, analytics and audits are a breeze. This start-up is passionate about their marketing and you can witness said passion via the marketing they have done for their own organisation online. Very meta!
Mobify has made safe and efficient mobile shopping a household feature. They help businesses communicate with customers while also offering a platform for trusted monetary transactions. Founded in Vancouver, in 2007, Mobify now has offices all over North America, Asia and Europe. They are, evidently, big market players.
McKesson Imaging & Workflow Solutions
McKesson have been serving America’s health care sector since 1833. In the 2000s, however, the company decided to switch gears and focus on information technology as the primary vehicle for their health care services. Their solutions today benefit patients, doctors and pharmacists alike. The list of applications McKesson have developed is impressively long and quite comprehensive. It is absolutely no surprise that they rank 11th on the Fortune 500 list.
Microsoft need no introduction but their freshly minted Vancouver office might still spike some curiosity. Since the office’s opening in 2007, the Vancouver Microsoft team has consistently grown. The closest opportunity to work for the pioneering organisation would previously have been in Redmond, Washington. The Vancouver division is equally instrumental in architecting systems, developing code, and testing software, as its Seattle cousin. Microsoft’s presence in Vancouver will only bring more shine to the city’s ingenious, local start-ups.
Real estate is one of the hottest markets in Vancouver. A source of woe and a source of hope at once, it truly is a rollercoaster of market emotions. Move Canada have developed software solutions that help real estate agents achieve their target goals and take the pains out of their high profile businesses. Based out of Richmond, they tap into a market that is at the very heart of Vancouver’s economy.
Tableau promise to provide high-quality, data analytics solutions that are easy to use, accurate, and beautiful to look at. They are a well-known organisation and have offices all over the world. Tableau are on the rise with a product that already has some big name clients like Facebook.
These guys emerged victorious at the #BCTechSummit 2016’s Innovation Showcase pitch competition, thanks to an outstanding group intelligence promoting software. Thoughtexchange’s unique software allows users to ask a question, rate answers and then make the best decision, based on analytics. This team of out-of-the-box thinkers is looking to take their creative idea to the world, along with the help of some fresh coding blood.
Trulioo’s software provides high-security, global identity verification, with which their clients can seek protection from internet fraud. Internet security becomes an increasingly pressing matter as we take larger strides in technological advancements. Trulioo covers the bases for their client’s safety needs with a very thorough platform. Their reps also showed up in costume and blue wigs, as identity theft exposing superheroes. Who can say no to costumes?
Unbounce should definitely have won Best Company Name at Techfest. What do they do with a name as cool as that? They design landing pages for marketers that require little to no training. Unbounce provide an easy and fun portal to web design. They will let your creative freak flag fly.
Techfest was hosted by Techvibes. Be sure to check out the Techvibes website for future tech-related events. The #BCTechSummit was a huge success with an impressive attendance, and Techfest was probably the most fun I have had at a networking event. Here’s hoping that we get to see more events like this in the future, and that Vancouver gets the chance to be a tech hub like its fellow West Coast tech cities. Judging from the high concentration of talent present at the convention centre on January 18 and 19, the potential seems very much to be there.
…also, the food was pretty darn good.
-Prachi Kamble