Across the province, innovators, entrepreneurs, and emerging businesses are evolving industries and creating positive impact for British Columbians and the rest of the world. Whether it’s finding sustainable solutions or creating breakthrough technologies, British Columbia is teeming with great ideas that are advancing how we work and live in exciting new ways.
Innovate BC works to foster those ideas across new, emerging, and traditional industries by strengthening our innovative capacities, forging connections, shaping forward-looking policies and celebrating our successes, while offering a series of programs aimed to address the biggest pain points faced by local businesses.
B.C.’s Innovation Ecosystem: Innovate BC represents the Government of British Columbia and works alongside the people and groups who make up the province’s innovation ecosystem – academia, researchers, non-profits, innovators and entrepreneurs – to solve the world’s biggest challenges and build great companies.
Programs With Purpose
A Crown Agency of British Columbia, Innovate BC funds and delivers programs that support the growth of the B.C. economy by helping companies start and scale, train talent that meets labour market needs, and encourage technology development, commercialization, and adoption.
“The hiring grants from Innovate BC came to the rescue and supported us in hiring developers and designers, which allowed us to take a few more risks and grow our team.” – Sam Mod, FreshWorks Co-Founder + CEO
• Growth + Mentorship – From startup to scaleup, Innovate BC supports entrepreneurs in all corners of the province through mentorship, business coaching, and intellectual property programs and resources.
• Talent + Skills Development – There’s a skill shortage in B.C. and Innovate BC is helping bridge the gap through various talent development programs. These programs target underrepresented groups, skills development, re-skilling and up-skilling.
• Tech Development + Adoption – Innovate BC facilitates the development and adoption of technology that is solving challenges faced by British Columbians and around the world through funding grants. The recently introduced Integrated Marketplace matches innovators of clean, made-in-B.C. technology with buyers looking for clean-tech solutions at identified ‘testbeds’ within the province.
By The Numbers – 2021/22
$23M Invested by Innovate BC
1.5x Leveraged Funds for every $1 Invested
$60M Innovation Funding Deployed
3x Demand for Programs
3,297 Companies Supported
~3,700 Jobs Supported
$112M Revenue Generated by Innovate BC funded Companies
$558M Investment Generated by Innovate BC funded Companies
Strengthening Community
British Columbia’s innovation community is thriving and it extends to every region of the province.
Innovate BC works to create stronger connections between those regions, and between government, talent, and industries, through hosting events, sponsorships and other initiatives that aim to cultivate a healthier and inclusive innovation ecosystem. By creating more opportunities to bring people together, our collective community can forge new ideas, form stronger partnerships, and celebrate each other’s success.
