November 25 marked Innovation UBC’s 6th annual Venture Showcase and WOW, what a night! Hosted at the iconic Robson Square Theatre in downtown Vancouver, the Showcase featured 15 teams from across the Innovation UBC community who are driving change and creating impact through research and innovation. With 361 attendees (and counting) including investors, industry leaders, government partners and members of the UBC ecosystem, this year’s Showcase set a new record for attendance. The venue was packed and buzzing with excitement as teams took the stage to share their solutions to some of the most pressing challenges the world faces today.
Championing early-stage innovation
The 15 presenting teams represent some of the brightest innovators, researchers and leaders to emerge from our early-stage venture ecosystem. The goal of the Venture Showcase is to spark excitement around this incredible community while supporting their growth, traction and visibility.
Across three categories, Sneak-a-Peek, Ones-to-Watch, and Ready-to-Raise, our audience got an up-close look at the momentum building within the UBC ecosystem. Teams delivered polished presentations highlighting the opportunity, urgency and potential impact of their solutions across health, defense, infrastructure, climate and more.
Our final lineup was selected by our Evaluation Panel: Aaron Stuart (Vantec Angel Network), Michelle Ng (Vanedge Capital), Ash Gharahgozli (Front Row Ventures) and Paulina Cameron (Innovation UBC Advisory Council). They undertook the challenging task of reviewing semi-finalist pitches and assessing opportunity and readiness. Thank you to our panel for their thoughtful contributions!
The night at a glance
“As the entrepreneurship and venture building team at Innovation UBC, we are privileged to work with the next generation of entrepreneurial thinkers, researchers and their innovative discoveries that are changing the world.”
- Dr. Sean Lumb, Innovation UBC’s Associate Director, entrepreneurship@UBC
The event kicked off with networking and showcase displays, drawing over 100 attendees within the first 15 minutes of doors opening. That momentum carried through the evening as we filled the theatre—and our overflow room—with our 360+ guests eager to cheer on the presenting teams.
Opening remarks from Dr. Sean Lumb, followed by our energetic MCs Michelle Sklar (Head of Marketing and Communications) and Chang Han (Lead Entrepreneur in Residence), set the stage for a fast-paced series of presentations. Teams moved seamlessly through their pitches, spotlighting their problem, solution and asks for the community.
To keep the audience engaged, we invited attendees to participate in Venture Trivia on Slido, with 200+ joining in. Many walked away with perfect scores, and for the lucky winners, drink tickets, proving that the audience was just as captivated by the pitches as we were!
And the winners were…
The night ended with our annual People's Choice Awards, where Greypoint Industries (Sneak-a-Peek), Haibu Health (Ones-to-Watch) and tied teams CURA/Dream Photonics (Ready-to-Raise) left the theater with one more accolade to their names.
Congratulations to all presenting teams for showcasing the exceptional innovation emerging from UBC entrepreneurs. We’re honoured to have you represent our broader venture community.
Thank You!
A huge thank you to our community who showed up and showed out to support this outstanding network of innovators. We couldn’t do this without you!
Did you miss it? Check out pictures from the event on our Flickr!
