Acetech
Acetech is BC’s only not for profit organization formed by CEOs for CEOs of companies innovating with technology. We help CEO’s lead better, grow faster and feel empowered by offering a proven growth strategy program; transformative event experiences; and a trusted peer group for ongoing support.
The Discovery Foundation’s Growth Essential Program: Marketing, Sales and Staff Burnout provides a framework for profitable growth that includes practical tools and new and emerging methodologies that business leaders must make every day, including people, finance, strategy, and execution. The framework is grounded in the best practices of high growth companies and leverages the collective expertise and experience of successful CXOs and thought leaders to help them and their executive teams lead better and enhance company performance to grow faster.
NEW VENTURES BC ( TWO PROGRAMS FOR 2023)
New Ventures BC (NVBC) was initiated 20 years ago by Wal van Lierop to support early stage tech startups. As a non-profit, they run the annual New Ventures BC Competition, a Distance Venture Acceleration Program, and the ISI grant program. Their Competition has helped over 3000 startups across the Province.
The Discovery Foundation Sales Acceleration Program is a sales education and strategic advisory program for in-revenue technology start-up ventures in British Columbia. It aims to provide startups with the tactical knowledge required to execute on a digital marketing plan and is also designed to provide sales strategies to increase companies’ sales and help them to push forward on their path to scale. While there is an education component, the core program is focused on tactical sales support for ventures. The program will help companies learn a disciplined sales approach they can apply consistently. This will accelerate growth, improve their marketing approach, build a sales pipeline, close more sales, increase revenues, and build an achievable plan.
The Discovery Foundation Mosaic Accelerator will be a marketing-first, no code/low code accelerator for non-technical founders, who want to build technology or technology-enabled ventures, identify as women or non-binary, and are from underserved and marginalized communities.
Beyond providing businesses and technical support/instruction, the accelerator program will also provide mentorship and coaching sessions focused on navigating the many interpersonal, professional, and social challenges that underrepresented founders face.
SPRING
Spring uses business as a force for good to empower social impact leaders with the know-how, network and support needed to build a better business.
The Discovery Foundation’s RISE Resilience: Health Innovation Investment Readiness Program will enable growing health innovation sector companies often led by first time founders who need the capacity, training, support and connections for investment readiness to align their capital access to their growth and impact objectives. Access to the right resources, at the right time, will play a vital role in their growth and future sustainability. Aligned to this, Canada’s early stage capital providers including organizations like Vancity, Telus Pollinator Fund, Amplify Capital, SheBoot, Women’s Equity Lab, FrontFundr and many others have expressed a desire to invest in more health innovation companies if they are capital ready. It’s time to support these founders to be empowered to grow, accelerate access to capital, and scale their impact.
VOLITION
Volition brings a community-building approach to advising and events for entrepreneurs. Their vision is to create new networks and opportunities for collision, collaboration, and knowledge sharing across startup sectors and stakeholders.
Discovery Foundation’s Rise & Thrive Startup Coaching Program has been designed to support women entrepreneurs as they build and grow their technology, or technology enabled, companies. These women face many unique challenges as they step into entrepreneurship roles while building their team, pitching to funders, and expanding internationally. Many of these challenges, as well as others, have been enhanced since the onset of the global pandemic.
WEBC
Women’s Enterprise Centre is a non-profit organization devoted to helping BC women start, lead and grow their own business. Since 1995, WEC has fueled the success of women-led businesses by providing business loans up to $150K. They also provide business skills training, personalized business advice, mentoring, practical business resources and a supportive community to help women business owners gain the skills, mindset, financing and networks they need to realize their business potential.
The Discovery Foundation’s Strategic Mindset Program supports women entrepreneurs as they build their tech or tech-enabled companies. It combines a peer cohort model with established content-rich programming using the highly acclaimed Entrepreneurial Mindset (EMP) Mentoring Program, facilitated by certified EMP Practitioners, and WeBC’s Mindset Mastery for Business Growth, Negotiation, and Imposter Syndrome workshops.
To support this journey, our program combines a peer cohort model with established content rich programming, and includes our Negotiate Naturally, and two Strategic Planning workshops. The program will be geared towards women who own and lead technology or tech-enabled businesses that have been operating for 1 to 5 years and are ready for growth and expansion.
JA BRITISH COLUMBIA
Junior Achievement British Columbia prepares and inspires youth to succeed in a global economy through business education programs focused on financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship, giving them the skills and confidence they need to become leaders of tomorrow.
The Discovery Foundation Discover Your Pitch Program is a capstone experience for student companies to take their business and presentation skills to the next level enhancing their foundational elements of entrepreneurship through pitch workshops and pitch competitions. Click here to see a highlight reel from the 2023 Finals!
WOMEN IN COMMUNICATIONS AND TECHNOLOGY, BC CHAPTER
Women in Communications and Technology (WCT) is committed to advancing women in Canada by providing opportunities for members to remain relevant and connected through strong relationships and continuous learning. WCT is a national association uniquely focused on providing networking, mentoring and educational opportunities for women in the telecommunications, media and technology (TMT) industries.
The Discovery Foundation’s Speed Mentoring Program in collaboration with WCT is a series of speed-mentoring sessions for women in technology. Click here for the next event!
ANGEL FORUM
Angel Forum provides a modern and fresh take on angel investing through events, networking and education with a focus on fostering strong investor-founder relationships. Angel Forum is western Canada’s pre-eminent angel investor community with a focus on connecting promising tech start-ups with accredited angel capital.
Discovery Foundation’s Financing the Venture Program will support new ventures and start-ups who require capital to grow and scale up. Founders not only struggle to find the capital they require; they might lack the background to successfully engage and negotiate with investors. This program is focused on getting founders and their startups ready to attract capital and deal with all the complications of various finance forms, due diligence and ensuring enough capital is available for their venture.
The program helps you to be ready for pitching and engaging with the right investors, engaging in due diligence and using data rooms, discussing sources and funding and term sheets, understanding and negotiating valuation and managing post-investment relationships.
SFU VENTURELABS
SFU VentureLabs collaborates with science and tech-focused companies through structured accelerator programs designed for development and growth with actionable advice, hands-on mentoring, and valuable resources.
The Discovery Foundation Digital Marketing Boost Program will pair SFU digital marketing students with tech-focused companies interested in developing their digital communications strategies. The early-stage companies will learn best practices and know how to effectively use digital marketing tools and techniques. Students will gain work-integrated-learning opportunities across a variety of tech companies (primarily B2B, but also some B2C) and across a variety of sectors ranging from digital health to sustainability to transportation.