Every business can be an Impact Business.

 

Many of Vancouver’s entrepreneurs create positive change in their local ecosystems. For some, the way in which they create impact is obvious in the purpose of their product or service. For others, it’s less so, as impact is woven into the way they design and optimize their supply chains or engage the surrounding community. The Vancouver Economic Commission and Spring know that every business can be an impact business. In fact, the huge number of impact businesses is one of the things that sets Vancouver’s startup ecosystem apart from others around the world.

VANCOUVER STARTUP CITY: IMPACT, brought to you by the Vancouver Economic Commission in close partnership with Spring, is a series of events designed to celebrate and support the local impact ecosystem in three ways:

  1. SHOWCASE businesses that are already operating with impact
  2. EDUCATE startups that who are looking to ramp up and take advantage of their impact potential
  3. CONNECT like-minded entrepreneurs around the common belief that any business can be an impact business

 

Thank you to all who attended Startup City: Impact!
Startup City is coming back October 3rd for the Fall instalment. Click here to learn more.

Vancouver Startup City: Impact in the News

June 6

Monday

12:30 PM - 1:30 PM

Raise Money from the Crowd and Your Customers

Join Spring + FrontFundr to learn about how equity crowdfunding can help your impact business grow! This June 6th “Lunch and Learn” event will consist of a 20-minute information session about FrontFundr, as well as a presentation on how local impact companies, such as Lux Wind Turbines and Pique Fund, are operating to create positive social and environmental change. Following that, we’ll open up the floor for a Q&A period. We’re looking forward to an engaging hour of lunching and learning!

 

Register today!

Monday

4:30 PM - 6:00 PM

Founder Hour

Presented by RADIUS & the Vancouver Economic Commission

Investor Insights with Tom Williams

Tom is originally from Vancouver Island. He dropped out of junior high school to learn product at Apple, raised his first institutional round at 19 and became a VC Associate at 20. As a Social Venture Institute alumni, Tom started Canada’s first non-profit micro philanthropy foundation in his mid-twenties which has distributed over $3m to Canadian charities. He fell in love with enterprise software in his early 30s and invests regularly in founders passionate about revolutionizing education and healthcare.

Join a select group of social venture and technology founders to hear Tom’s perspective on the necessity of entrepreneurial thinking and views on what’s driving impactful change and business opportunities into the future.

 

Register today!

Monday

6:00 PM - 9:00 PM

BlastOff

Radius

Since December, the hard-working ventures in Slingshot 3, RADIUS Ventures’ flagship 6-month accelerator, have learned, tested, grown, challenged, and laughed with (and at) each other. The Slingshot program finds and amplifies top emerging social ventures and helps them to become investment ready and growth ready. As this 3rd cohort wraps up, you’re invited to a community celebration – part demo-day, part social innovation mixer, part kick-off to Startup City: Impact!

 

Register today!

June 7

Tuesday

11:30 AM - 2:00 PM

Finance 101:

Make your organization stand out from the crowd

Vancouver Economic Commission, New Ventures BC and Spring

Equip yourself with the tools and knowledge to align with strategic investors, raise capital, and grow your business. Keith Ippel, Co-Founder and Partner, Spring Activator, has mentored countless startups through capital raising, with $4M raised in 2015. Now he’ll teach you how to be strategic in your investment-seeking methods.

 

Register today!

Tuesday

3:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Fast Pitch

New Ventures BC & Vancouver Economic Commission

Fast Pitch offers each selected founder two minutes to give their elevator pitch and receive valuable, on-the-spot feedback on high-level messaging in a safe, supported and entrepreneur-only session.

The evening will be facilitated by Tom Williams, a Canadian Angel Investor & Founder of BetterCompany from BC, currently living in San Francisco. Tom delivers similar sessions for the C100, an organization dedicated to supporting Canadian founders in Silicon Valley and the Bay Area.

In addition to being one of the most active angel investors in Canada, Tom is passionate about empowering entrepreneurs, making impactful connections and fueling impact through ed-tech, med-tech and scalable purpose-driven business.

Only 25 ventures will be selected.

Send us your pitch deck, AngelList profile, or website.

Deadline to apply: June 2, 2016

 

Interested in participating? Apply today.

June 8 & 9, 2016

Wednesday

6:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Mythbusting Mixer

Vancouver Economic Commission

Businesses are the engines of innovation solving tough local and global challenges. In their quest to change the world, education plays an important role, separating myth from reality.

Join us to break down common myths about what it means to be an impact-based business.

 

Register today!

Thursday

12:00 PM - 8:00 PM

TractionForce 2016

In the past, transformational technology was available only to those businesses with deep pockets. Cloud technology and software-as-a-service (SaaS) platforms have revolutionized access to the best tech solutions for companies of all sizes in all corners of the world. This access has led to an ever-expanding brain-trust of individuals who are now dreaming up tech-lead solutions to any business challenge. Enter the app. Join us for the 4th annual TractionForce on June 9th at the Commodore Ballroom. Vancouver’s premier business technology and transformation event will showcase companies just like yours who are leveraging cloud technology to speed up the journey from inception to success.”

 

Register today! Attendance is free.

Thursday

6:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Career Fair

Spring

What does a career with impact look like? What can you do if you’re looking to use your working hours to make positive change in your community? Come and explore the possibilities that exist for work in the impact economy in Vancouver. Meet do-good businesses who are actively recruiting and explore what it might be like to start up your own impact business at Co-Founder’s Corner.

 

Register today!

June 10 & 11, 2016

Friday

8:30 AM - 12:00 PM

Freelance Friday – Impact Addition

Drop in for the IMPACT edition of Freelance Friday — a monthly pop-up coworking morning where independents, creatives and entrepreneurs orbiting in the impact space meet AND get work done! Join hosts, Crystal Henrickson and Annika Reinhardt from the Talent Collective at Suite Genius for one productive morning! Attendance is open to all and free. RSVP and invite your freelancing friends!

 

Register today!

Friday

6:00 PM - 9:00 PM

SpringU Demo Day

Spring

If you want the world to change for the better, don’t wait for others to do it, you have it in you to be a change maker too! Come out and celebrate with Spring and see how our companies are changing the world and how you can too. With over 160 entrepreneurs incubated, Spring has helped launch over 120 companies and created over 90 jobs in the past 2 years. Demo Day is their grand opportunity to pitch to the public, raise awareness, attract talent, and pique the interest of investors.

 

Register today!

June 11, 2016

Saturday

9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Open Source Circular Economy Day Vancouver

Join us at the HiVE in a hackathon to take a hands-on action to support a circular economy locally and globally, using transparent, open source methods. We will be working on new ideas, testing prototypes, products, and designs for an Open Source Circular Economy. Here are some challenges that we’ll be working on: food recovery and composting, mobile plastic recycling, circular textiles, zero waste retail, and reusing construction materials.

Cost: Free

 

Register today!

Saturday

9:30 AM - 11:00 PM

Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation (CBCF) Hackathon

Join us in innovating for breast cancer awareness and prevention. On Saturday, June 11th, Lina’s Dream, Victory Square Labs, Launch Academy and ProtoHack are teaming up to bring together community leaders and change-makers for the first ever Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation (CBCF) Hackathon.

Over the course of 12 hours, you’ll team up, ideate, prototype, and pitch your idea for their #DontForgetToCheck campaign. Winning teams will continue to work with the CBCF and take home over $15,000 worth of in-kind prizes to bring their ideas to life. What’s unique about this hackathon is that there is no-coding or programming required.

Cost: $10
Venue: Launch Academy

 

Register today!

Speakers

2645e89

Pietra Basilij

Sustainable Community Development

The Vancouver Economic Commission
About Pietra Basilij
Speakers-03

Keith Ippel

Founder at Spring University

LinkedIn
About Keith Ippel
Speakers-02

Donovan Woollard

Managing Director, RADIUS Ventures

LinkedIn
About Donovan Woollard
Speakers-01

Tom Williams

Founder at BetterCompany

Twitter
About Tom Williams
Speaker - Annika-04

Annika Reinhardt

Co-Founder at Talent Collective Co.

LinkedIn
About Annika Reinhardt
Crystal_Henrickson

Crystal Henrickson

Co-Founder at Talent Collective Co.

LinkedIn
About Crystal Henrickson
michelle

Michelle Bonner

Director of Training at Climate Smart

LinkedIn
About Michelle Bonner
Theo

Theodora Lamb

Principal at Cicada Community Consulting Inc.

LinkedIn
About Theodora Lamb
Colin

Colin Stansfield

Executive Director at Potluck Catering & Knack Works

LinkedIn
About Colin Stansfield
Greg

Greg Fitzgerald

Entrepreneur & Advisor at Carbon Analytics, Future of Fish, and PayBrisk

LinkedIn
About Greg Fitzgerald
Jessica

Jessica Pautsch

Sustainable Business Developer at Social Impact Technology Accelerator

LinkedIn
About Jessica Pautsch
Suzanne-Ma

Suzanne Ma

Co-Founder at Routific

LinkedIn
About Suzanne Ma

Partners & Contributors