Welcome to this week’s Sunday Briefing. In this issue:

Now on to today’s briefing.

-Emily, [email protected]

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NorthX Climate Tech has opened applications for its Women in Climate Tech funding call, offering up to $3 million in non-dilutive funding for women-led ventures working on decarbonization. The deadline to apply is March 13 at 5 p.m. PST.

The initiative addresses a stubborn gap in climate tech investment. Women founders are significantly underrepresented in climate tech funding pipelines, despite strong technical performance and market potential. NorthX says fixing this requires more than just writing cheques—it means providing commercialization support that actually meets founders where they are.

NorthX has put its money where its mouth is. As Canada's largest funder of early-stage climate hard-tech innovation, the organization has committed $17 million—37 per cent of its total funding—to women founders. Those companies have gone on to raise $69 million in follow-on investment, showing the model works.

Selected ventures get more than capital. They receive technology validation through rigorous review, direct introductions to investors and industry partners, visibility through NorthX events, and hands-on support for hard-tech and first-of-a-kind solutions. Projects with measurable BC-based impact and direct GHG emission reduction get priority.

NorthX has assembled an advisory council to support participating founders and is inviting partners to join the call. The organization frames it as both an inclusion imperative and a strategic bet on an untapped pipeline of breakthrough climate solutions.

🧊 We are the champions: Ocean Networks Canada and partner CSIC Catalunya successfully deployed a second subsea observatory off Antarctica's Juan Carlos I Station, with both observatories now streaming year-round ocean data to track environmental change even during unstaffed winter months.

🩸 Period: Victoria's joni secured partnerships with BEST and Malahat SkyWalk to install period product dispensers, expanding access to organic, biodegradable menstrual care products as part of the company's mission to advance period equity across Canada.

🐟 Under the sea: Ocean AID completed its first R&D project after 46 weeks of development, building an AI-powered system that detected and sized over 200,000 fish during 800+ hours of ocean testing with 99 per cent uptime ahead of its spring launch.

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February 19-12 | 7th Western Angel Investment Summit

Western Angel Investment Summit returns for its seventh year on February 19-20 in Victoria, bringing together founders, investors, fund managers and ecosystem supporters. Day one focuses on founders with workshops on AI-powered sales generation, advisor sessions and a kickoff social, while day two explores current realities for both founders and investors. General tickets are limited; founders day tickets still available.

April 1 | VIATEC Awards

The VIATEC Awards bring the tech community together to connect, to celebrate, and to shine a spotlight on this year's most notable tech companies and individuals within Greater Victoria's $5.9 billion tech sector. This isn't your average award show – The VIATEC Awards are well known for its elaborate and fun production!.

Have something or someone we should know about?

Reply or email [email protected] so we can work together to spotlight the lesser-known stories of Victoria's tech ecosystem.