Programs include professional development workshops, individual mentoring by CEOs, discussion forums, commercialization courses, business clinics and similar educational activities. The purpose is to help tech entrepreneurs increase revenues, expand into new markets, negotiate deals, assess opportunities and accelerate growth resulting in jobs for BC.
The Foundation hires “Agents” to provide business education programs for technology entrepreneurs on its behalf. Selected in an annual competition, these programs have proven successful in helping the growth of technology firms. TEP funds are used to dramatically reduce the cost of the training programs for individuals.
2024
The Discovery Foundation has partnered with eleven Agents this year to deliver twelve programs in 2024. Each of the Agents and their programs are listed below:
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 Core Acetech Program (which includes Discovery Foundation’s Core Summit Presentation and Discovery Foundation’s Health Tech Roundtable), a 3-part program will provide a framework for profitable growth that includes practical tools and new and emerging methodologies that business leaders need to consider every day, including people, finance, strategy, and execution. The framework is grounded in 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 to lead better and enhance company performance to grow faster.
NEW VENTURES BC ( two programs for 2024)
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.
Discovery Foundation Indigenous Tech Founder’s Program is a sales education and strategic advisory program for technology start-up Indigenous run ventures in British Columbia. It is designed to help Indigenous founders navigate the innovation ecosystem, receive mentorship, and connect them to non-dilutive funding, angel networks and venture capital. This program is modeled similarly to the proven Discovery Foundation Sales Acceleration Program.
The Discovery Foundation Mosaic Accelerator, in its second year, is 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 Investment Readiness Platform for BC Impact Ventures Program is designed for the investment-curious entrepreneur seeking to learn more about the fundraising process, appropriate methods of funding related to their stage and type business & some of the basic terms, but they're not ready to start fundraising. They might like templates to get started, but may be overwhelmed by complicated tools and templates traditionally used by experienced founders. They will be looking for simple examples and explainer videos to understand concepts at a high level and become empowered to raise well. Within the program, there will be:
an online Foundations for Investment Readiness platform to prepare participants for access to all types of capital for diverse founders across BC as well as access to connections to relevant capital partners, spanning grants, loans, and equity based capital
In-person and hybrid gatherings that provide learning and networking opportunities with like-minded entrepreneurs, investors and ecosystem partners
Access to Spring’s annual Impact Investor Challenges to be in the running for direct investment and introductions to the investor ecosystem and;
Introductions to Spring’s national investor network, Spring Collective
entrepreneurship at ubc (e@ubc)
Part of the Innovation UBC network, entrepreneurship@UBC is the university’s venture incubator. Guided by their mandate of supporting members of the UBC community to develop as innovators, e@UBC propels UBC innovations out into the world through venture creation.
The Discovery Foundation’s Pathway to Truth and Reconciliation for e@UBC Ventures Program aims to enhance the skills and knowledge of UBC entrepreneurs empowering them to catalyze positive change and generate impacts for the communities they aspire to serve. Three integral components of the program are:
Foundational Understanding of Truth and Reconciliation - through a series of educational workshops enabling entrepreneurs to integrate these principles into their company-building practices, complemented by the creation of a comprehensive toolkit
Relationship building with Indigenous Communities while focusing on climate solutions and health and social innovations and;
A Speaker Series with Indigenous Leaders and Entrepreneurs to diversify thinking within the entrepreneurial community, offering insights into historical contexts and future opportunities.
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 Digital Strategic Leadership Program is designed to support women entrepreneurs who want to radically rethink their business. Using a digital lens, it equips women to implement technology to improve their business performance as they build and grow their technology-focused or technology-enabled businesses.
The Discovery Foundation’s Digital Strategic Leadership Program empowers women business owners to focus more on innovation while improving their organizational processes. To support this journey, this program will help the participants to develop a digital strategy, define their customers’ journey, map internal processes and identify opportunities for optimization.
JA British Columbia
JA British Columbia (JABC) is a not-for-profit impact organization that delivers free hands-on, immersive education in work readiness, financial health, and entrepreneurship to youth in British Columbia, 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 communications and/or technology, and aims to provide women with accessible, informal mentoring opportunities, fostering potential long-term mentor/mentee relationships.
kamloops innovation centre society
Kamloops Innovation supports entrepreneurs throughout the Thompson, Nicola, and Cariboo regions of British Columbia. They focus on new business start-ups that need support and guidance as well as seasoned entrepreneurs who want to take their business to the next level.
Discovery Foundation’s Applied AI for Business and Education Program will provide opportunities to engage with AI tools – from both educational and business applications. The Program will enhance capacity not only in the educational sector - encompassing students, educators, and research offices - but also in the business and industrial sectors across Kamloops and its neighbouring regions. Generative AI and “no code” AI tools are designed to make AI more accessible to individuals and businesses without the need for extensive coding knowledge, democratizing access to AI-powered tools and fostering innovation in various domains.
Skypilots
SkyPilots is holistic leadership development that transforms our clients through progressive self-mastery, applied communication skills, and systems-thinking development.
Discovery Foundation’s High-Performance Leadership Program will consist of three core themes starting with a personal exploration of self-leadership tools, progressing to interpersonal communication and coaching skills. The program will then focus on the design of highly functional and collaborative teams, with guidance and support in the alignment of team priorities to meet the challenges of their strategy. Participants deepen their understanding of how to harmonize the high-performance drivers of leadership and team coherence.
Specifically, the themes are: SELF-LEADERSHIP - deepened awareness and embodied leadership: identity, values, presence, visioning, goals COACHING COHESION - communication skills for optimal leadership: trust, feedback, 1:1’s, EQ, constructive conflict TEAM DESIGN – assessment, planning and development of high-performance teams, team coaching for coherence.
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.
Discovery Foundation's Business Development 101 Program is a new, highly interactive course focusing on developing strategic alliances and business development skills for executives in Health Sciences companies. It will be taught through a combination of case studies, presentations, group discussions, and mentorship in a 1 day intensive workshop, with follow-on mentorship support. Taken together, the materials and support provide an integrated view on licensing transactions or deals, including early-stage licensing within universities, companies and other organizations. This course will be delivered by experts, and includes legal, valuation, and business specialists as a part of the instruction and mentoring team.
IRP - INSPIRE. RECONCILIATION. POTENTIAL.
Located in the Yukon, IRP works with Indigenous, Federal and Territorial governments, private sector business and individuals to support Indigenous self-determination and to amplify reconciliation efforts that support Nation building.
The Discovery Foundation’s Youth and Technology Breakout Session, part of the Yukon First Nation & Tech: Reclaiming Technology conference in February 2024, aimed to build youth specific engagement for further exploration of how technology and artificial intelligence can support Northern First Nations in achieving their goals and advancing Self Determination.
The event culminated in key outcomes, including an ongoing dialogue on various topics introduced during the conference. Discussions spanned different implementations and aspects of AI, exploring its potential impact on our families and nations and provided an opportunity to envision the future and dispel prevalent myths surrounding AI.
