In 2018, we celebrated our 5th anniversary within the local startup scene through our jam-packed annual event. And wow! It had a great turnout, with the highest number of sponsors, event partners, attendees, event hosts and the overall number of events to date. We feel the love, Vancouver community, we feel it!
Need we say more? Yes, we do.
We were thrilled to welcome new sponsors to the VSW family such as Microsoft, Evo, Spaces, Canadian Digital Media Network and WorkSafe BC and continue our great relationships with Techstars, BCIT, Stat Search, Unbounce and CBRE.
At the same time, we were able to continue our great event partnerships with WIT Regatta, Spark Creations, RED Academy, Brainstation and introduce new partners such as Tamwood and Nude Vodka to why Vancouver Startup Week exists and how we consistently show our support to Vancouver’s startup community. It was amazing to see law firms Boughton Law, Manning Eliott, Osler, BLG and McMillan and Miller Thomson participate to show their support to startups and provide attendees with helpful legal advice.
And to bring you even closer, the return of our Instagram takeovers in 2018 allowed our valued partners to show the behind-the-scenes of their companies. This initiative gave everyone a taste of what it was like to be a part of Mobi by Shaw, TTT Studios and other brands.
New events on our roster, such as the Investment Showcase and events highlighting topics like Cannabis, Food & Beverage, AR/VR/MR, proved to be very popular with attendees. But it was our signature events: the Recruitment Fair, Hackathon and NVBC Awards Ceremony that had record attendance.
In 2018, our Recruitment Fair, centered around the local startup and tech community, had over 600 attendees. 600+ introductions were made over 1250+ cans of Guayaki Yerba Mate between our 35 Recruitment Fair partners and attendees.
We’re extremely proud of our VanHacks Hackathon, in partnership with TTT Studios and ViDIA, which was the largest hackathon for social good in Western Canada last year. 400+ donuts and countless cups of Nespresso were consumed while 154 Hackathon participants donated 4500+ hours of software development and design to support organizations such as Ocean Wise, Mealshare, Weekend Fuelbag, Working Gear and BabyGoRound.
We also gave back to the local community through the Startup Cares initiative by donating the proceeds from drink sales at our opening ceremony and raising additional funds for the Vancouver Food Bank.
In conclusion, we’re awesome, but only because of you! So, thank you for all your unconditional support!
Since 2014, we’ve been proud to Connect People. Empower the Community. Celebrate Success.