Welcome to this week’s Midweek Memo. In this issue, meet the manufacturing company working on a climate solution, check out the new release from a local videogame developer, and learn about the Victoria-based company hiring for a ton of roles.

By the way, if you're not already subscribed, you can sign up by clicking here.

Victoria manufacturing company takes on clean energy solution

Rainhouse Manufacturing Canada received $750k from the B.C. Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy (CICE) to advance its demonstration of an energy storage solution. The project will use retired electric vehicle batteries to store power, solving a problem faced by many rural municipalities with intermittent access to energy — particularly when it is enabled by solar or wind generation.

“This project makes clean energy accessible to remote Canadian communities while keeping EV battery packs outside landfills,” said Ray Brougham, CEO and founder of Rainhouse Manufacturing Canada. “With CICE we will mature our technology and unique business model to a full commercial deployment and ready for scale up. We will make Canada self-reliant to meet our climate mandate and become a sizable player in this emerging market."

Founded in 2001, the local company services a range of industries through design and production of goods, such as military fighter jets, semi-conductors, and medical wearable devices. While Rainhouse has established battery manufacturing capabilities on Vancouver Island, the funding will allow the venture to scale its 100kWh containerized battery energy storage system to a 1MWh system. This can enable Rainhouse to build out a “pay-per-use” service for rural communities looking to purchase energy.

“B.C. is home to amazing innovators that are fast-tracking our progress towards ambitious net-zero targets and securing a greener and more prosperous future for generations to come,” said Ged McLean, executive director of CICE. “CICE is proud to be funding B.C.’s clean energy technologies at the intersection of breakthrough and real-word implementation. Together, we are full charge ahead.”

Rainhouse is the only Victoria-based winner among the nine innovators selected to receive a cumulative total of $5.2 million from CICE. The company is one of B.C.’s early adopters of repurposing electric vehicle batteries, alongside startups such as Moment Energy based in Vancouver.

📰 More Victoria innovation news

⚾️ Game time: Victoria game developer Metalhead Software just released Super Mega Baseball 4 in partnership with EA Sports. Watch the trailer here.

💭 Thinking ahead: Kate Fagan Taylor, principal at GrowthPoints Strategies and board member at iWIST, writes on LinkedIn: Top ways to improve your strategic planning this year.

🧫 Tried and tested: Local biotech firm StressMarq Biosciences was profiled for its methods to improve drug discovery outcomes. Learn more in Manufacturing in Focus.

👩🏻‍💼Victoria tech moves

• Aimee Xu joins Audette as a Graphic Designer.

• Jason Goldsworthy, CEO of COAST, spoke on a panel on the future of B.C.'s blue economy at Coastal Zone Canada Association's 2023 conference.

🕴️ Tech jobs of the week

Find your next career:

• Player Success Representative at Kano

• Accountant at Victoria Hospice Society

• Office Administration, Receiving, Shipping at Anchor Marine Electric

• Lead Data Scientist, Energy & Environment, and many other roles, at Othersphere

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

📅 Upcoming events

June 17: iWIST Wellness Wander at Royal Roads Trail

June 20: Rock Bay Industry, Arts & Innovation District Ideas Jam

July 6: Hey Snowflake! OK Boomer. by Engaged HR

Have an upcoming event? Reply to let us know.

📝 Review of the week

We produce the Victoria Tech Journal for you, and we want to make sure it’s serving you as best as we can. Have your say:

Want to let us know more? Take the poll and leave us a comment. Here’s what one of our readers thought on Sunday: