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

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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

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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

 

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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