UBC School Communities
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Atelier - Every Sunday - A weekly gathering of UBC students to work on side projects within a dedicated time. Note that you are not allowed to work on school work.
- Creative Destruction Lab - September to May - A seed-stage startup program for massively scalable, science-based startups. Operating in multiple locations, the program provides mentorship and funding from experienced entrepreneurs and investors.
- LaunchWeek - October to March - An accelerator support for creating and launching your project within one week. This program spans three sessions and applications are required.
- Innovation OnBoard - September to February - Student-led competition and interdisciplinary collaboration among science, engineering, and business students. Over six months this includes workshops, lectures, an innovation fair, and a pitch competition with cash prizes.
- entrepreneurship@UBC - January & September - An offering for students, faculty, staff to help explore a future in entrepreneurship and innovation through various forms of programming, mentorship and physical space.
- UBC Start-ups - Run by students and dedicated to supporting and fostering entrepreneurship at UBC, through workshops with investors, entrepreneurial events and pitch competitions with cash prizes.
- Nucleate - January - A student-led organization for graduate-level students that represents the largest global community of bio-innovators. Offers various programming and mentorship.
- Pear Socials - Every Month - A gathering of young innovators to connect, collaborate and transform ideas.
- Summer Entrepreneurship Program - May to August - Faculty of Applied Science and ICICS. The program provides support to students and teams wishing to advance their ideas utilizing novel technologies or systems that could have an impact on the world.
External Communities
- New Ventures BC - A non-profit organization that recognizes, encourages, and supports BC entrepreneurs, runs monthly in-person and virtual events in Vancouver.
- Vancouver Tech Journal - Vancouver’s premier tech media and newsletter with recurring events and collaborations such as morning tech coffee.
- Vancouver Entrepreneurs Forum (VEF) Society - Vancouver’s largest tech-focused networking forum for entrepreneurs and founders. Memberships are paid but they regularly run free events.
- Vancouver Startup Week - May to June - A series of tech and startup events across a week during the summer. Tickets cost money but you can reach out to the organizers to volunteer and get free tickets.
- Northeastern University - Vancouver - Northeastern University’s Vancouver campus, focused on tech and innovation. They regularly run career and tech-focused networking events for university students.
- Techstar Vancouver - An organization that runs recurring 3-day hackathons for students interested in building their own ventures/projects.
- SFU VentureLabs - SFU’s startup accelerator, with many general startup resources, and regular start-up and tech-focused events hosted downtown Vancouver.
- Toast Women in Tech - Startup community for women interested in a career in tech or entrepreneurship. They run a yearly technology forum called the Virtual Summit.
- Novus - A community for startup founders, builders, and creatives to come together, co-work and demo. Sign up for weekly sessions.
Startup Competitions
- InnovateBC Innovation Challenges - BC Government’s Innovation Challenges typically posts a series of innovation competitions throughout the year on various industries or topics. Winners typically walk away with funding, mentorship, or other startup resources.
- Spring Activator Impact Investor Challenge - Impact-focused competition for founders to get investor-ready. The winner walks away with a pooled prize of over $100,000 in funding.
- Spring Activator Women-Led Impact Investor Challenge - Spring Activator’s women-led impact-focused competition for founders and entrepreneurs to become investor-ready. The winner walks away with a pooled prize of over $100,000 in funding.
- New Ventures BC Competition - The longest-running tech competition in BC, offers $250,000 in prizes, fostering startup growth through expert knowledge sharing and networking within the tech community.
- UBC Innovation Onboard - UBC’s student-led 6-month startup program including 10 workshops, lectures, and a final pitch competition for students interested in learning the 0 to 1 of venture building.
- LOI Demo Day - Canada’s largest accelerator program for founders under 25. League of Innovator runs a series of startup programs to help startups build, scale, and acquire funding.
- Stu Clark - New Venture Championships - Join Winnipeg's 3-day competition for entrepreneurs, with $60,000 in prizes, networking, and tracks for undergraduates and graduates.
Incubator & Accelerator Programs
- League of Innovators - Pre-Inception - Empowers young entrepreneurs with programs, resources, and mentorship to develop skills and launch startups in Canada
- NEXT 36 - Pre-Inception - At the University of Toronto, this initiative supports 36 young innovators in launching their own ventures by providing mentorship, funding, and resources.
- RippleX Fellowship - Pre-Inception - Helping underrepresented students across North America build venture-backable B2B software companies.
- Cansbridge Fellowship - Pre-Inception - Hosted in a major entrepreneurship hub, a program for undergraduate students from Canada, offering mentorship, networking opportunities, and a summer experience.
- The Residency - Post Inception - Over 4 months of collaboration, coaching and demos with the ability to raise funding from investors.
- Z Fellows - Post Inception - Over 1 week, with $10K, Z Fellows is a community for technical founders.
- Thiel Fellowship - Post Inception - A program founded by Peter Thiel that awards young entrepreneurs with funding and mentorship to pursue innovative projects.
- YCombinator - Pre-Seed - A renowned startup accelerator program and seed capital firm based in Mountain View California, known for fostering early-stage tech companies through mentorship and funding.
Angel and VC Groups
- Angel Forum - In-person pitch events in Vancouver with an angel investor audience.
- Front Row Ventures - Invests in student founders and active across 20 Canadian campuses.
- Keiretsu Forum - Group of investors who provide financing to entrepreneurs, with over 50 chapters located on 4 continents.
- Propel Impact - A venture capital firm focused on investing in early-stage startups that have the potential for significant positive social and environmental impact
- Ripple Ventures - Helps enterprise founders at the pre-seed go from idea to market with deep support.
- Vantec Angel Network - Be one of the 10-15 startups who pitch on first Wednesday of the month in Vancouver.