Startups
17 Stories
144 Canadian YC Alumni Since 2005 — and a Quiet Extraction Machine
YC sent four partners to Toronto in September 2025 and briefly banned Canadian incorporation. The real story is what happens after founders board the plane.
$10M ARR, Zero VC: How Vancouver's Quiet Bootstrappers Beat the Cap Table
One Vancouver startup hit $10M ARR without a single VC dollar — and the federal programs that made it possible are hiding in plain sight.
BC's Pre-Revenue AI Funding Gap: $24M Nationally, Zero Verified Here
No fund named 'Cascadia VC' is confirmed writing $1M+ cheques to Vancouver AI startups — but the structural gap that rumour describes is real, and most founders are miscounting the capital filling it.
$1.07B in Cleantech VC — and Vancouver's Industrial AI Founders Are Still Waiting
Canadian cleantech VC hit a record CAD $1.07B in 2024, yet the capital is concentrating at later stages. Here's why Vancouver's computer-vision industrial startups are stuck in pilot purgatory.
BC's $2.4B VC Boom Is Hiding a Series A Famine
Seed funding collapsed 47% in 2024. The founders closing Series A in 60 days aren't moving faster — they survived a brutal filter. Here's what the CVCA data actually shows.
83% of Canadian VC Capital, Five Funds: The Real Series A Math
BC attracted a record $2.4B in VC in 2024, yet early-stage deal counts fell 31% below average. The '60-day raise' story is a network outcome dressed as a playbook.
BC's $124M Clean Energy Fund Is Open Right Now — Most Founders Don't Know
BC's ICE Fund has deployed $124M in non-dilutive cleantech grants since 2008, with a rolling open intake that responds in two weeks. Here's what founders are missing.
BC's $124M Clean Energy Fund Is Open — Most Founders Don't Know It
The ICE Fund has quietly deployed over $124M since 2008, but BC's 492 cleantech companies largely miss it. Here's how the leverage mechanic actually works.
$147M and 16 Years: MineSense's Capital Trap in Plain Sight
Vancouver's MineSense has raised $147M over 16 years with no disclosed profitability. The math on deep-industrial cleantech is harder than the ESG pitch suggests.