VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (October 21st 2016) - DigiBC, the association for the creative technology industries in British Columbia, congratulates the BC Government on the appointment of Kensington Capital Partners as the fund managers of the new $100 million BC Tech Fund, and Dr. Gerri Sinclair, as Kensington’s Managing Director in BC. Dr. Sinclair has a long history of supporting BC’s technology industry and is a founding board member of DigiBC.
Today’s announcement, made by the Honourable Amrik Virk, Minister of Technology, Innovation and Citizens’ Services, is a pivotal next step in the continued expansion of BC’s Technology sector set out in the Province’s #BCTECH Strategy.
“BC’s creative technology sector is already world class and a growing contributor to the broader technology industry in BC. The tech industries are an important and exciting opportunity for all British Columbians and the BC Tech Fund will help fuel BC based start-ups and emerging businesses to create the jobs and economy of the future,” said Rick Griffiths, Chair of DigiBC. “It’s inspiring to see the Province taking a leadership role in accelerating the growth of the tech sector and making it a priority industry here in BC.”
The Tech Fund is a positive step in moving BC’s tech industry to the next level. BC has a proven track record of creative technology companies growing to become global leaders, and the Tech Fund, along with other incentives, will be an accelerant to bolster this growth.
A great example is Finger Food Studios, based in Port Coquitlam. Finger Food Studios' Founder and CTO, Trent Shumay commented “As Canada's first Microsoft HoloLens agency partner, we’ve built the largest hologram on the planet—a semi-truck with a trailer—to help Paccar transform their truck design process, and ultimately transform their business." The company is set to add up to an additional 100 jobs over the next 12 months.
“Archiact has benefitted tremendously from provincial government support,” said Derek Chen, the Co-founder and President of Vancouver-based virtual reality studio Archiact Interactive. “We are thankful to have made the decision of starting the company in BC.”
"It is encouraging that the Province is committed to requiring that the new fund target BC-based startups exclusively," said Colleen Hardwick, Founder and CEO of the local tech innovation startup PlaceSpeak. "This will create greater opportunities to access growth capital, and help overcome the challenges of not being in Silicon Valley or other established centres for technological innovation."
“Electronic Arts is very encouraged by the continued support for the Technology Sector in the Province,” commented Jonathan Lutz, Chief Financial Officer for Electronic Arts (Canada), the largest employer in the video game sector in BC. “Programs such as this one strengthen the prospects for small and medium size interactive entertainment companies in BC. Companies of all sizes play a critical role in broadening the pool of jobs and enhancing the size and resilience of the videogames industry in the Province.”
About DigiBC
DigiBC is the industry association for creative digital technology companies in British Columbia. Our members include multi-national companies such as EA (Electronic Arts), Sony Imageworks, Capcom, Microsoft, Relic Entertainment (Sega), and Namco Bandai, as well as a slate of homegrown success stories such as Hootsuite, Conquer Mobile, Hinterland Studio, PlaceSpeak, Finger Food Studios, Klei Entertainment, Thunderbird TV and Archiact Interactive. These companies are creating innovative products and services in mobile, video gaming, animation, visual effects, digital marketing, and VR/AR development. Collectively, BC has 600 creative technology and digital media companies, which employ about 16,000 people and generate $2.3 billion in annual sales – making the sector one of the most significant contributors to British Columbia’s economy.
For more information, email patrick@digibc.org or visit www.digibc.org