Welcome to this week’s Midweek Memo. In this issue, read about an opportunity to access seed-stage funding for your startup, meet a 22-pound robot collecting DNA samples from marine life, and find out how Ocean Networks Canada is supporting critical infrastructure in the event of an earthquake.

Now on to today’s briefing. It’s 827 words: a three-minute read.

-Emily, [email protected]

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Local businesses take a chunk of $18.3 million in PacifiCan funding

Three Vancouver Island-based businesses are set to benefit from a $18.3 million funding announcement from the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada (PacifiCan). The investment, which includes seven businesses, is intended to help recipients scale up their operations, create more jobs, accelerate growth, and bring made-in-B.C. products to markets around the world.

"British Columbians are known around the world for innovation,’ said Harjit S. Sajjan, the federal minister responsible for PacifiCan. “Business leaders across the province are transforming industries like agriculture and digital technology. PacifiCan is here to support these businesses. The investments announced today will strengthen B.C. companies' competitiveness and help to ensure long-term prosperity for all British Columbians."

Receiving investment from PacifiCan are:

• MarineLabs: The Victoria-based company will receive $1.8 million to grow its ocean data network. MarineLabs makes sensors that track weather and waves for ports and ship operators in real-time. In addition to creating new jobs, this investment is intended to help the company add more sensors and improve its forecasting tools, making marine travel safer and more efficient.
  

• Mustimuhw Information Solutions: An Indigenous-owned software company in Duncan, Mustimuhw will use an investment of over $3.26 million to expand its digital health platform. The company develops software that helps First Nations and Indigenous health and family-services organizations manage medical records and other personal data in a culturally sensitive way.
  

• VitaminLab: The local health and biotech company will use PacifiCan’s $921,278 funding to expand its operations. VitaminLab creates personalized vitamin supplements using health data. This investment will support the company's move to a larger facility, introduce automation, and meet growing demand for its products.

📰 More Victoria innovation news

💡 Shine a light: Startup TNT is accepting applications for its Summit XI, an investment expo where startups pitch to access seed-stage funding from angel investors and Startup TNT’s venture fund, TNT Capital. Application close March 11.

🤖 We are the robots: Victoria-based Ocean Diagnostics was highlighted for the launch of its 22-pound robot which measures environmental DNA from marine organisms and animals. The robot, named Ascension, can be deployed almost 400 metres underwater.

🌎 You gotta shake it out: On Monday, Ocean Networks Canada detected an earthquake southwest of Bellingham and notified its critical infrastructure subscribers, giving 11 seconds of notice before shaking began.

🕴️ Tech jobs of the week

Find your next career:

• Electrical design specialist at the University of Victoria

• Senior business systems analyst at BC Pension Corporation

• Project coordinator at Iris Dynamics

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

📅 Upcoming events

March 7 | Know Your Faults — Earthquake Hazards of the Cascadia Subduction Zone

Vancouver Island owes much of its physical beauty to its location along a major plate boundary, the Cascadia subduction zone. Unfortunately, this comes at a price: the ever-present threat posed by earthquakes and secondary hazards like tsunamis, landslides, and liquefaction. This lecture will introduce what we know about the Cascadia megathrust fault, responsible for great earthquakes (up to magnitude 9) every few hundred years, but also deep earthquakes in the subducting Juan de Fuca plate and shallow earthquakes in the overriding North American crust, which though smaller in magnitude are both more frequent and potentially very damaging locally.

March 11-13 | 27th Annual Victoria International Privacy & Security Summit

The summit, hosted at the Victoria Conference Centre, is fully in person and will welcome up to 1,000 professionals involved in public sector transformation, security, and privacy. This year’s event will highlight strategies for public sector transformation in the new world of artificial intelligence. This summit brings together visionaries, experts, and innovators to explore the intricate intersection of advanced artificial intelligence with critical privacy and security imperatives.

Have an upcoming event? Reply to let us know.

🙋 I need a…

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