THIS WEEK IN TECTORIA

A community blog celebrating Victoria's booming tech sector

CONTACT THE TECTORIA BLOG

Got a cool story about technology and creativity in Victoria? Email stories, tips, pictures, links and anything of interest to Tessa Bousfield at: tectoria@viatec.ca

Sign Up For Canstruction, Receive Points for Your VIATeC Food Bank Challenge Team

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Food Bank Challenge Participants: Sign Up for Canstruction, Receive Bonus Points! (bonus points only apply to FBC participants)

If you and your company have enjoyed competing in the 2015 VIATeC Food Bank Challenge in February, another awesome opportunity to give back to your community is around the corner.

From May 1st to May 11th, 2015 the Dahlia Society will be hosting a Canstruction event at Mayfair Mall. Just like the VIATeC Foodbank Challenge, all food and funds raised will go to support The Mustard Seed.

Note: Canstruction is open to anyone and everyone in Victoria – you don’t have to be a tech company, VIATeC member or Food Bank Challenge participant to participate in Canstruction. They are looking forward to your support!

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The deadline for Victoria companies & teams to sign up for Canstruction 2015 is coming up at the end of February (learn more about Canstruction in Victoria here).

VIATeC Food Bank Challenge companies who sign up for Canstruction are eligible to receive extra points.

 

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2015 VIATeC Foodbank Challenge Update

Devan McCannel reports:

Week 1 of the challenge saw a very close race between Red Brick Media and RevenueWire.  Red Brick Media came out slightly ahead, with both companies raising over $2,000 in cash.

In Week 2 ParetoLogic built on their momentum from a solid Week 1 effort, earning the most points of any company for the week.  ParetoLogic’s score has been further boosted by the Bonus Points awarded to them for their relentless recruitment efforts.

As for February 16th, at the halfway point of the challenge, the top 3 companies overall are RevenueWire, Red Brick Media and ParetoLogic, in that order.

 What is Canstruction?

Canstruction is a unique charity that hosts competitions, exhibitions and events showcasing colossal structures made entirely out of full cans of food.

After the structures are built, the creations go on display to the public as a giant art exhibition. At the end of the event, all food is donated to local hunger relief organizations.

The Canstruction project has helped raise over 21 million pounds of food since 1992 through events held annually in over 150 cities around the world.

Canstruction is hosted locally by the Dahlia Society, a non-profit community society in Victoria B.C. working to end cancer and hunger by hosting unique events and supporting local initiatives.

The Dahlia Society’s 2014 Canstruction event brought in over 29,000 cans worth over $47,000, $1,000 in cash donations.

The 30,569 lbs. of cans donated in Victoria in 2014 helped create 36,683 meals, and lasted for three and a half months before the last can was opened.

Sign Up Your Team to Compete in Canstruction Victoria – May 1st to May 11th

Local companies and teams (including VIATeC Food Bank Teams) are invited to participate in Canstruction 2015 from May 1st to May 11th at Mayfair Mall.

Each team is required to have an architect, engineer, landscape architect, graphic designer, or other designated design professional. The rest of each team is made up of people like you, from the local community, who want to support the fight against hunger.

FAQ’s are here, and the signup page is here.

Important Dates
May 1st and 2nd, 2015 -Build Days
May 2nd  – Judging Day
May 3rd through May 11th during mall hours- Public Viewing
May 11th, 2015- Teardown

SXSW 2015: Join Us at Tectoria House

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Have you ever wondered about attending SXSW Interactive to showcase your products and your company and reach new or existing customers, partners and investors?

Or were you already planning on attending and would like to participate in events with your fellow Tectorians?

This year once again we are setting up Tectoria House in Austin. We hope you will join us.

Contact Rob Bennett (rbennett@viatec.ca) to travel with us to SXSW in Austin.

Tectoria House at SXSW: Participate in the largest cultural gathering on the planet

South by Southwest (SXSW) is massive series of film, technology, media and music festivals and conferences that take place every March in Austin, Texas – SXSW is one of the top cultural events of the year in the United States.

And every year VIATeC organizes and hosts a trip so that Victoria technology companies can participate SXSW.

Attending SXSW is a powerful way to raise awareness of the tech jobs and investment opportunities in Victoria in front of a critical mass of the world’s brightest minds and key influencers. What better way to showcase Tectoria and local companies looking for new partners, investors and customers?

In 2015 VIATeC is planning to bring our strongest contingent yet to SXSW to continue to get Tectoria on the map.

Besides networking and inviting investors and entrepreneurs to attend Experience Tectoria in 2015, we plan to showcase Victoria’s tech community at the SXSW trade show to educate the huge crowd all that we have going in our creative, innovative, and entrepreneurial city.

Also, for the first time ever, VIATeC will exhibit at the SXSW job fair to promote our online job board and our city as an opportunity for tech workers.

Shining a spotlight on Tectoria

We’re planning to shine the spotlight on Tectoria companies this year through a series of events at SXSW Interactive during March 13th through 17th in Austin, Texas.  We are also lucky enough to have a number of funding partners who also understand how much of an opportunity this is, and have agreed to offset some of the costs that companies will face to attend the event.

Contact Rob Bennett

Interested?  Want to know more?  Block the time off in your calendar and contact Rob Bennett (rbennett@viatec.ca) to join Tectoria House.

Together we can show the world just how cool Tectorians are!

Tectoria Newsletter Signup

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Every Friday the Tectoria team send out an engaging, eclectic update about what’s going on in Tectoria: Canada’s hottest technology region.

Learn about people making a difference in our tech scene, as well as events and activities that can help you connect with your fellow Tectorians and your community.

Sign up below and get a newsletter in your email inbox once a week!

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Winner of Giant Jenga Tournament Wins Trip for Two to a Canucks Game!

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How are your Jenga skills?

If you think you’re so hot then why not enter our Giant Jenga Tournament on Friday, January 16 at Fort Tectoria (it’s part of our VIATeC Member’s Only New Year’s Party) and win a trip for two to Vancouver? The tournament entry fee of five dollars will be donated to the Mustard Seed Food Bank.

Go to a Canucks hockey game on Flight Centre Victoria.

The grand prize of the tournament? One package for two people that includes:

  • Flight
  • Hotel
  • Two tickets to a Canucks game (of your choice)

But you’ll have to hurry – there are only a few tickets left for the VIATeC New Year’s Party.

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The Grand Prize is sponsored Flight Centre Victoria:

Note: this party is for VIATeC members only.

How to win?

At the VIATeC Member New Year’s Party on January 16 we’re hosting a giant Jenga tournment.

It’s a King’s Court system; five dollar entry fee for every team. Teams can be one or two people (maximum). Every penny of every entry fee will go to the Mustard Seed Food Bank.

Registration is first-come, first-serve.

Registration at the front door to get into the party (only a few tickets left). If you want to enter the Jenga tournament that will be a separate registration inside.

There will be four separate Jenga stations.

The first person to arrive will be the king of that particular Jenga court. The next people arriving (who have paid five dollars) can challenge the king of that tower.

Matches will be four minutes, timed.

The first person to knock the tower over loses. If the tower has not fallen, we will be keeping track of each team’s time using a chess timer. The team who has used the least amount of time after the four minutes wins.

The winner advances for free (they stay at the court), and the loser is eliminated. We will keep track of every team’s wins.

If you want to play again you can pay $5.

If you want to play again you can pay $5, get in line, and challenge another team (you can challenge any four of the stations). If you lose, pay another $5 to play.

The tournament will continue for one hour. The team that has the most wins at each station will enter a playoff using the same rules.

The two winning teams of this second round will play together in a championship match with no time limit.

The team that wins this final championship match wins the Vancouver package.

 

This Week in Tectoria: the Top 10 Stories of 2014

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Here are the top 10 stories about Tectorians most shared and celebrated by other Tectorians in 2014:

 

1. Victoria’s Own Ho Kim Recognized as Top Entrepreneur

Ho Kim, President and CEO of local tech company CAMACC and volunteer chair of VIATeC’s board of directors, named Ernst and Young’s 2014 Entrepreneur of the Year in the Information Technology category for Canada’s Pacific region.

Read more.

2. Desert Bus Shows Tectoria Cares

This November, Victoria’s Desert Bus team smashed a record, and they did it all with a bit of song and dance, a lot of social media savvy, and a preternatural ability to withstand punishing amounts of tedium.

Read more.

3. Erin Athene & LLC Introduce Young Women to Coding

Helping create new technology entrepreneurs and high-growth businesses is Erin’s passion. With this in mind, she helped encouraged Ladies Learning Code (LLC) to launch in Victoria. LLC is a Canada-wide not-for-profit group that is working to empower everyone to feel comfortable learning beginner-friendly technical skills in a social, collaborative way.

Read more.

4. TinyMob Engages in Global Warfare

It’s hard to believe TinyMob, led by Tectorians Chris Hoefgen, Alex Mendelev and Jamie Toghill, opened their Langley Street studio just over a year ago after quickly raising a whopping $2 million in seed funding. And that was just the start of their success.

Read more.

Image Courtesy of Photographer Sama Jim Canzian

5. Pretio & Tap for Tap

Pretio, the first graduate of VIATeC’s Accelerator Program, acquired the 2012 VIATeC Award Recipient for Online Strategy of the Year, Tap for Tap.

Read more.

6. Graham Baroday: the Quintessential Tectorian

“When I thought about life in Victoria, I knew I would be getting healthier and happier,” Kiind’s Graham Baradoy writes on his excellent blog. But since settling here Graham has also become a leader and driving force in our community of Tectorians.

Read more.

7. Technology Awards: Our Biggest and Best Yet

The 756 attendees wasn’t the only record broken at the sold-out 2014 VIATeC Technology Awards. This year there was also a record number of 100 nominations. It was an amazing night.

Read more.

8. Economic Impact Study

The numbers came in and we were astounded by the results.

Read more.

9. VIATeC 25

We were also startled by the year-over-year growth of the 25 highest revenue tech companies headquartered on Vancouver Island. These 25 companies generate $1.16 billion in combined revenues and employee an astounding 3,630 employees.

Read more.

10. Warren Brown: Where We’ve Been, and Where We’re Going

Warren Brown and the team at Procura together represent the potential of Victoria’s tech community, and show where we’ve been and where we’re going.

Read more.

And that’s it for 2014! What a year! And 2015 looks like it’s only going to be better!

VIATeC 25 Companies Announced

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VIATeC 25 2014

VIATeC has revealed the latest “VIATeC 25.” The VIATeC 25 is an annual list of the largest technology companies headquartered or founded in Greater Victoria, based on reported calendar revenues.

The Latest VIATeC 25 Companies…

This is the latest list of the largest technology companies headquartered or founded in Greater Victoria based on reported 2013 calendar revenues.

(in alphabetical order)

AbeBooks.com
Access Point Information Canada Ltd.
Archipelago Marine Research
AXYS Technologies Inc
Beanstream
Boardwalk Communications
CAMACC Systems
Carmanah Technologies
Contech Enterprises, Inc
FTS Forest Technology Systems
HP Advanced Solutions
JEA
Latitude Geographics
ParetoLogic
Procura
Quester Tangent
Reliable Controls
RevenueWire
Schneider Electric
Scott Plastics
Seastar Chemicals
TC-Helicon Vocal Technologies Inc.
UNIT4 Business Software
Vecima Networks
Viking Air Limited

Use the VIATeC Business Directory to quickly learn more about these companies.

2014 VIATeC 25: $1.16 Billion Combined Revenues

  • The combined revenues of the VIATeC 25 (the Victoria tech sector’s 25 biggest firms, according to revenues, that are founded or headquartered in Victoria) has reached $1.16 billion.
  • This is 20% growth in combined revenues based on 2013 reported revenues.
  • VIATeC 25 companies collectively employee 3,630 employees.
  • On average, a VIATeC 25 company generates $46.3 million annual revenues.
  • The median revenue generated by a VIATeC 25 company is $17.5 million.
Learn more about the economic impact of Victoria’s tech sector here.

Tectorian of the Week: Greater Victoria’s Tech Sector

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Our Tectorian of the Week is Greater Victoria’s tech sector.

Why?

To mark the launch of Fort Tectoria this week, we decided to crunch some numbers (actually, we went out and spent time surveying local companies and then commissioned an independent professional researcher to collect and analyze the data using a rigorous methodology) about the size and scope of Greater Victoria’s tech sector.

Well, the numbers are in, and we’re astounded by the results:

$3.15 billion in annual revenues

That’s right: according to our latest economic impact study, the 884 local companies that make up Greater Victoria’s advanced technology sector now generate an estimated $3.15 billion in annual revenues.

Another astounding number:

$4 billion total economic impact

The total economic impact Greater Victoria’s tech sector has on our local economy now tops a whopping $4 billion ($4.03 billion to be precise; see below for an explanation of “total economic impact”).

Another astounding number:

$1.16 billion VIATeC 25 combined revenues

The combined revenues of the VIATeC 25 (the Victoria tech sector’s 25 biggest firms, according to revenues, that are founded or headquartered in Victoria) has reached $1.16 billion over the past year.

That’s 20 per cent growth in combined reported revenues to since this time last year!

The latest VIATeC 25 companies are listed here.

What a way to launch Fort Tectoria! And it’s all thanks to the Tectorians like you who power our ever-expanding tech sector.

Ten years of explosive growth for Victoria’s tech sector

VIATeC has been commissioning economic impact studies for the past 10 years, and since 2004 it is apparent growth in the tech sector is continuing to accelerate.

annual revenues greater victoria tech sector viatec

In 2004, VIATeC, with the help of an independent researcher and analyst, estimated tech sector revenues to be about $1 billion.

Five years later, a 2009 economic study that VIATeC commissioned estimated the sector’s revenues had grown to $1.95 billion.

And now in 2014, we estimate the tech sector annual revenues have grown to $3.15 billion.

Estimated economic impact has grown explosively as well.

In 2009, the estimated economic impact of the tech sector was $2.6 billion. And now in 2014, the estimated economic impact has grown to a staggering $4.03 billion.

We want to point out that these are conservative estimates: we’re always wary of statisticians using multipliers to determine economic impact.

Depending on which methodology one uses, the economic impact numbers could be higher.

Greater Victoria tech sector continues to produce jobs

According to VIATeC’s just-finished economic impact study, Greater Victoria’s tech sector that now directly employs 15,000 people as well as more than 3,000 consultants and advisers, and another 5,000 individuals working in technology for companies outside the high-tech sphere.

23,000 local tech professionals

That’s 23,000 people working in the tech sector, making Victoria one of Canada’s more fun and vibrant places to launch a career or a new business.

And that’s why you all are our Tectorian of the Week!

Greater Victoria’s growing tech sector: the latest statistics (as of 2014)

$4.03 billion: Total economic impact of Greater Victoria’s tech sector

$3.15 billion: Estimated annual revenues of Greater Victoria’s tech sector

$1.16 billion: Combined revenues of the top 25 companies based in Victoria (VIATeC 25)

884: Number of tech companies in Greater Victoria’s tech sector

15,000: Number of people directly employed by technology companies

Explainer: Direct Economic Impact Vs. Indirect Economic Impact

  • The direct impact – representing the total output (revenues) directly generated by companies in the sector – is estimated at $3.15 billion.
  • The indirect impact – representing the impact of those businesses who supply inputs to the technology sector – is estimated at $876 million.
  • Combined, the total economic impact of the high technology sector within the Greater Victoria region is estimated to be $4.03 billion.

Tectorian of the Week: Nikki Lineham

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Nikki Lineham is our Tectorian of the Week.

If you want a job in Tectoria (or any other city where technology powers the economy), science and math education (aka STEM education) is critical to your future success.

The problem? STEM enrolment in universities and college is declining (on top of that fewer women are taking STEM coursework in university), which is contributing to a looming skills shortage in Canada.

Accelerate Tectoria participant Nikki Lineham has a plan to change that.

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Nikki’s startup Educating Now aims to transform math education (Nikki will be presenting at the upcoming Demo Camp):

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“Educational and brain-based research have both consistently reported that teaching mathematics concretely and conceptually is the best way to ensure students really understand the math concepts,” says Nikki. “However, this way of teaching math is completely foreign to many teachers, as they have never been educated in how to understand mathematics conceptually.”

Her goal is to help middle school and intermediate teachers learn how to teach math more effectively – if middle school students do poorly at math, they will likely never be able to progress to STEM programs in college and university, and our brain drain will never be addressed.

“She’s super passionate about children really understanding math,” says Accelerate Tectoria’s Erin Athene. “Her passion and ability to communicate is really inspiring. Nikki’s gift is to empower intermediate and middle school teachers through professional development to teach mandated new curriculum.”

Nikki will be presenting at Demo Camp at Experience Tectoria – we hope you have a chance to learn more about her startup!

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