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Welcome to this week’s Sunday Briefing. In this issue, learn about advice for small businesses, an award win for RaceRocks, and the next TEDxVictoria.

Now on to today’s briefing. It’s 668 words: a three-minute read.

-Emily, [email protected]

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Open Ocean Robotics funding round focused on Southeast Asia

There was more good news coming out of Victoria’s blue economy last week, with Open Ocean Robotics announcing the close of a $2.8M investment round.

The funds will support product and technological advancements, geographic expansion into Southeast Asia, and scaling manufacturing of Open Ocean Robotics’ uncrewed surface vehicles (USV).

The round was co-led by Antares Ventures, a Singapore-based deep-tech venture fund focused on sustainability challenges in Southeast Asia, and Spring Impact Capital, a Canadian impact venture fund, with participation from Katapult Ocean, Alacrity Canada, DTN Ventures, individual investors, and PacifiCan.

“This investment from leading global impact investors underscores their confidence in our company and our vision for sustainable, cost-effective, and scalable ocean monitoring,” said Julie Angus, CEO and co-founder of Open Ocean Robotics. “With this funding, we will expand our ability to help maritime companies and agencies achieve safe and secure ocean monitoring through real-time data provided by our USVs and AI systems.”

Just last month, Open Ocean Robotics was one of eight Island-based organizations to receive a portion of $3.5 million in funding from PacifiCan to help scale production of its USVs.

📰 More Victoria innovation news

🤑 ‘Cause I’m the taxman: Tying into October Small Business Month, the latest Chamber Chats podcast included a conversation with Tara Benham, a partner and national tax leader at accounting and advisory firm Doane Grant Thornton.

🏆 We are the champions: RaceRocks — a woman-led, Indigenous-owned training modernization company focused on defence, aerospace, military, marine, coastguard and other training sectors — won the Excellence in Company Culture award at the 2024 Technology Impact Awards.

💧 Ripple in still water: TEDxVictoria 2025 announced its theme: “Ripples.” Speakers will explore the ways in which one decision can impact many. Applications to speak are open.

🕴️ Tech jobs of the week

Find your next career:

• Development Director at EA Sports

• Project Lead at Babcock

• Software Development Manager - Streaming Platform at WealthSimple

Hiring in Victoria? Reply to this email and let us know!

📅 Upcoming events

October 30 | Tenfold Victoria - #025

​Tenfold brings together Victoria builders, operators, technologists, creatives, and founders, and offers weekly co-working, demos, and hang outs. What are you working on this week? Register now as space is limited.

November 15 | Biomedical Engineering and Health Technology Showcase

UVic’s annual event brings together researchers, students, industry, and government agencies to talk about what’s new and exciting in biomedical engineering and healthtech. This year’s speakers include Dr David Juncker, Jessica Vandenberghe, Scott Phillips, Dr Nick Dechev, Dr Mike Berger, and Annelise Lapointe. The event will also include a research and industry fair, BioInnovate Pitch Challenge, and poster showcase.

Have an upcoming event? Reply to let us know.

🙋 I need a…

We at Victoria Tech Journal know you, our community, pretty well. Are you searching for someone in your field to have coffee with, a hiring hookup, a lead on local investors, or suggestion for a great Victoria tech tool? Whatever you’re hunting for, let us know. We’ll post it in this section and make it happen.

Email your requests to [email protected].

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