Previously, we shared how we’re changing the Vancouver Startup Week events calendar this year. To help our attendees discover the events they want to participate in, we’re organizing our events calendar into five tracks: fundraising, founders, growth, technology, and networking.
In addition to organizing our event calendar under these themes, we wanted to share insights from some of Vancouver’s top experts to help our fantastic community learn more about how to fundraise and become an effective investor, how to start their own companies, how to grow and market their companies, what they should do when developing new technology, and how networking can help them build their own communities.
In this special edition of our event track interview series, we’ve expanded on our growth section. In conversation with BC Tech Association President & CEO, Jill Tipping, we take a deeper look into how the specific programs of HyperGlobal, HyperScale, and the upcoming HyperTalent and HyperTech have helped BC startups grow and scale their enterprises.
GROWTH IMPACT
What were the 3 main steps that you took to create and expand the growth scale and export programs at the BC Tech Association?
First, we looked closely at where we spend our time and where we invest our money and redirected resources. Today around 60% of our annual budget is dedicated to accelerator programs and services that help companies grow, export, and scale.
We’re really proud of our flagship accelerator program, HyperGrowth, which has helped many companies grow their revenues and increase staffing – critical steps in surviving the transition out of startup stage.
Next, we knew we could build on this strong foundation of success to deliver more value at critical inflexion points so in the last year we’ve launched two supplemental growth programs:
HyperGlobal which builds BC tech companies’ export capacity to create global leaders and opens doors and creates opportunities. They organize trips to key export markets for on the ground customer discovery.
HyperScale which delivers customized programming that helps companies tackle and overcome common obstacles to scaling up beyond the early growth stage to create the next generation of BC anchor companies.
This fall, we are launching:
HyperTalent which focuses on increasing the pipeline of talent coming into the sector and creating clearer pathways for underrepresented groups such as women, indigenous talent, and new immigrants.
HyperTech which helps small and medium sized non-tech companies adopt technology to drive their profitability and growth and stay resilient in a changing world.
What kind of results have you seen from companies who have participated in the growth, scale and export programs in terms of sales and expansion?
We’re incredibly proud of the impact our programs have had. To quote just a few recent data points:
Avenue HQ tripled its team
Jane Software challenged themselves to dream beyond the typical grow and exit story and are continuing to grow locally with 3x growth in team and revenue.
Careteam secured two enterprise pilots and a seed round.
LifeBooster closed two pilot projects with Fortune 100 companies during the program.
The early feedback on HyperGlobal and HyperScale from participants like Urban Logiq in Vancouver and Bananatag in Kelowna has been exceptional and we are looking forward to continuing to expand the number of companies we can serve with these programs.
Our mentor network and pipeline of interested companies are exceptional so the limiting factor is really just funding.
Has there been feedback from these companies that you'll be incorporating into these programs going into the future? What are the plans for the growth, scale and export programs?
We’re always engaging in feedback from companies that go through BC Tech’s programming and the programs continue to evolve to reflect that. Probably the biggest element of feedback we have put into practice has to do with BC Tech ourselves! Our companies told us clearly that what they most value is the quality of mentors and advisors we can put in front of them. We are second to none both in finding impactful mentors and persuading them to spend some of their valuable time with our cohort companies. So, we’ve doubled down on mentor recruitment and refined our approach to matching mentors, advisors, and companies. It’s had a great impact.
We also use the feedback from companies to inform our policy recommendations. It is so important to have the right kind of environment with the right kind of policies so that the acceleration services produce sustainable growth.
Do you have any advice for any organizations that are looking to create such a program for companies that they support?
I’d let them know that fostering companies with the right kind of support is truly rewarding. What is most critical is to be sure that your advisors have direct experience of successfully growing, exporting, and scaling so that their advice is market tested and really valuable. A word of advice I’d give is to dive in fully, immerse yourself in the company challenges and the pathways to success – but measure that with patience. Impactful change takes time, but it is so very worth it.