Vancouver Economic Commission (VEC) teams engage with Vancouver-based entrepreneurs and founders on a regular basis. One of the most frequent things we hear when out and about is that fledgling businesses find Vancouver a comparatively difficult place to raise capital. Well, we have good news in two parts. Firstly, there’s never been a better time to raise early-stage capital in Vancouver—and secondly, we and our partners can help.
Despite having the highest rate of head office growth in Canada, seeing records amount of venture capital, and being ranked as Canada’s top startup ecosystem, there is still work to be done to support entrepreneurs in connecting them with the capital they need. As such, the VEC is pleased to partner with early stage investor and accelerator program leaders, Highline BETA, New Ventures BC, and Spring Activator, to deliver the Discovery Foundation Capital Mentorship Program and Vancouver Technology Showcase.
About the Discovery Foundation Capital Mentorship Program
The Discovery Foundation Capital Mentorship Program is designed to help early-stage, for-profit entrepreneurs become more strategic in raising capital critical to accelerating their ventures. Running from April 25th through to the end of May, the program is a series of impactful events featuring panels, workshops, pitch training, investor–company matching and networking opportunities.
This program will most benefit CEOs and founders of growth-oriented technology and impact economy companies in Metro Vancouver who have already launched a product or service. Their companies generate revenue and are ready to seek external sources of funding to accelerate growth; they are planning their investment strategy and are looking at a timeline of raising capital in the next six months.
The Capital Mentorship Program kicks off with a sold-out ‘Strategic Fundraising 101’ workshop, which functions as a prelude to the main stage of the program, Mastermind: Capital. Beginning today, the VEC invites Vancouver-based tech entrepreneurs to apply to this stage—an entrepreneur-only, hands-on and cohort-based series of workshops delivered by Spring and complimented by special guests aimed at accelerating founders’ efforts to raise capital.
Program Schedule
May 6th: Funding Workshop: an intensive 5-6 hour deep dive into process of raising capital, giving entrepreneurs the training, tools, and knowledge to raise the right money at the right time. Through pre-session content made available through Spring’s LMS and in-session workshopping, entrepreneurs will develop a solid understanding of the process, investment deliverables. and the nuances of getting investor ready.
May 8th to 29th: A series of weekly mastermind sessions aimed at honing in on some of burning issues entrepreneurs experience as they prepare for raising a round. This will be delivered by Spring and complimented by special guests aimed at accelerating founders’ efforts to raise capital.
About the Vancouver Technology Showcase
Following Mastermind: Capital, the top-performing will be offered the opportunity to be featured at the Vancouver Tech Showcase on May 29. The Vancouver Tech Showcase highlights Vancouver’s emerging momentum and high-potential companies to an audience of Canadian and US investors. Each startup in the Vancouver Tech Showcase will be rigorously vetted by an independent Selection Committee comprised of key Vancouver investors including BC Tech Fund, Vancouver Founders Fund and Vanedge Capital.
They will be matched with appropriate investors in a highly-curated environment. See last year’s showcase here and about one of the resulting success stories.
If you are an entrepreneur (or know a friend who is) and would benefit from the Discovery Capital Mentorship Program, we encourage you to share this opportunity.
