Innovate BC is a Crown agency of the Province of British Columbia that supports innovation, entrepreneurship, and technology commercialization across the province. Headquartered in Vancouver, it provides funding, programs, and industry connections to help startups, scaleups, researchers, and businesses develop and bring new technologies to market.
What drew you into innovation and technology, and how did that path lead you to Innovate BC?
My background has historically been in IP. I've done a lot of licensing and strategy work over the last two decades, including with France Brevets, the French patent fund. IP is one of the main drivers of success for companies on a global scale. Ninety percent of the market value S&P 500 is made up of intangible assets, and IP is a lever many companies use as they grow and scale.
I ended up meeting individuals who wanted to make sure IP was embedded into programming in Canada. I helped get the Innovation Asset Collective funded, a $30 million initiative designed to help cleantech startups and scaleups build strong IP positions and compete internationally. After that, Ontario asked me to set up its IP agency, and later B.C. asked if I would be interested in leading Innovate BC and expanding beyond the IP file into the broader innovation ecosystem.
Innovate BC operates largely behind the scenes within the province's innovation ecosystem. How do you help companies move from idea to scale?
Our role is to identify gaps in the ecosystem and make sure companies have the support they need at the right stages of growth, helping them turn technology into globally competitive products and services. We have programs across the innovation continuum, from idea through scaleup, including microgrants, IP programming, education and funding.
Probably the flagship program is Integrated Marketplace, where we help companies secure a first customer. We work with organizations such as Vancouver International Airport, the Port of Prince Rupert and the Port of Vancouver, helping de-risk technology adoption through co-funding. That gives companies a critical reference customer they can use to start selling internationally. MarineLabs is a good example. They deliver coastal intelligence, and we helped them work with one of the ports, and that reference customer helped them secure another port customer in the United States.
As companies look beyond traditional markets, what role does Innovate BC play in helping them expand internationally?
The decision about where to grow is ultimately up to the companies. However, we help them identify opportunities, diversify markets and think about expansion beyond the United States. That often ties directly into IP strategy because companies selling into Europe, the U.S. or Asia-Pacific may need different IP positions depending on the market.
I've seen much more discussion over the last year and a half about selling into different countries and markets. The canary in the coal mine for me is IP. Patents take three to five years to mature, so when companies start adjusting their patent strategies, it usually means they're making long-term decisions about entering new markets.
Why is intellectual property such a critical component of building globally competitive companies?
There are really four things companies need to scale: regulatory capability, talent, access to capital and IP. Those four pieces have to work in unison. If we want economic prosperity and we want companies to own what they create, we need strong IP support.
A strong IP position can support higher margins, help companies compete internationally and build the maturity needed to scale globally. We've seen cases where companies had IP asserted against them by large multinationals and found the only viable outcome was a sale because they could not compete against those positions. That's why we focus on helping companies build strong IP positions from the outset.
What do you see as the biggest barriers preventing Canadian companies from becoming global-scale businesses?
Canada continues to struggle most with talent and capital when compared to the United States. The U.S. has a much larger base of multinational companies and people who have experience scaling businesses.
Capital remains a challenge because once companies reach a certain size, they often require funding levels that exceed what is available domestically. As a result, capital frequently comes from outside Canada. We are competing globally not only for customers, but also for talent and investment capital.
Commercialization depends on more than invention alone. How do you help companies prove new technologies and gain market adoption?
Once technology is adopted, companies can hire more staff, generate more revenue and create a pathway to growth. We've worked with companies through Vancouver International Airport where successful pilots generated interest from additional buyers. A&K Robotics, for example, attracted international interest after demonstrating its autonomous people movers in Vancouver. Adoption creates credibility, and credibility creates market opportunities.
Integrated Marketplace is a uniquely Canadian approach because it brings the supply side and demand side together. We require adopters to come to the table and test new BC created technology within their own operations, using physical or thematic testbeds across sectors such as airports, ports, forestry and emergency management. The model creates collaboration across the ecosystem rather than leaving companies to prove technologies entirely on their own.
As British Columbia looks to strengthen its innovation economy, what are your biggest priorities at Innovate BC today?
A major focus has been Web Summit Vancouver. This year the event brought over 20,000 attendees, approximately 1,200 startups, 600 international media representatives and over 750 investors. Through our Road to Web Summit Vancouver program, we spend months preparing companies to showcase themselves effectively, helping them strengthen their IP positions, improve market readiness and maximize exposure.
More broadly, if companies own what they create, they retain the economic benefits that flow from it.
That's especially important when discussing sovereignty, data and artificial intelligence. It's not enough to own infrastructure such as data centres; companies also need to own their datasets and the outputs generated from them. I've seen companies build valuable products [based on data] only to discover later that contractual terms meant they didn't actually own what they created.
If Canada wants to turn its advantages into long-term economic success, an environment has to be curated for companies to succeed over time. The companies I've seen succeed were helped along the way, with access to mentors, capital and support at critical moments. Early-stage companies often struggle most with traction and adoption, while scaleups often need experienced peers who have already solved the challenges they're facing.
