As we welcome the new year, we reflect on all that we have accomplished in 2025.
2025 was an eventful year for InBC. We focused on strengthening and diversifying our portfolio, including announcing an additional eight investments. As of December 31, 2025, our portfolio is directly and indirectly supporting the growth of 37 B.C. companies.
We also continued to engage in the community to meet entrepreneurs across the province, and collaborate with other investors to drive more investment activity in B.C.
Also in 2025, the inaugural Web Summit Vancouver provided unprecedented opportunity for B.C. businesses to showcase their innovations and meet investors, and for us to promote B.C. as a destination for innovation and investment.
Here are some of our 2025 highlights.
January-March
We began the year by announcing our investment in Aspect Biosystems, a Vancouver-based biotechnology company pioneering Bioprinted Tissue Therapeutics to treat life-threatening diseases such as diabetes, liver disease and obesity.
Then in February, we announced our investment in Reverb Therapeutics, which is advancing an antibody-based platform to redirect and amplify the body’s natural cytokines for the potential treatment of cancer, autoimmune conditions and other diseases.
In March, we announced our investment in Burnaby-based Novarc Technologies and its autonomous welding technology that is improving productivity, safety and weld quality across a wide range of industries.
We also announced a commitment to Vanedge Capital‘s Fund IV, a Vancouver-based venture fund focused on investing in early-stage hard tech (deep tech) companies.
We continued to engage in the community to meet a diversity of entrepreneurs and drive more investment activity in B.C. including:
- Speaking on a panel at the Western Angel Investment Summit in Victoria
- Speaking on a panel at the Misfits Ventures Vancouver launch event for LGBTQ2S+ founders and investors
- Engaging with Asian Canadian investors through Asian Canadian Ventures Collective (ACVC)
- Meeting B.C. tech companies at TechExit.io
- Meeting Black entrepreneurs at the Black Entrepreneurship & Research Symposium
- Meeting Vancouver Island entrepreneurs at the Rising Economy conference presented by South Island Prosperity Partnership (SIIP)
- Cheering on B.C. cleantech companies at the Foresight Canada BC Cleantech Awards
April-June
In the Spring, we committed an investment to BrightsPark Ventures’ Brightspark Canadian Opportunities Fund II, a venture fund investing in early-stage technology companies. Brightspark expanded its presence in B.C. with the appointment of a B.C.-based Partner to lead its investments in Western Canada. The fund has so far invested in two B.C.-based companies.
In May, we attended the grand opening of our portfolio company Svante’s new Centre of Excellence for Carbon Capture & Removal in Burnaby B.C., the world’s first commercial gigafactory for carbon capture and removal filters.
Later in May, we kicked off Web Summit Vancouver by welcoming national and global investors to B.C. In collaboration with our partners Invest Vancouver, AinBC, DigiBC, Innovation UBC, Invest Surrey, Life Sciences BC, Naturally Innovative Alliance and NorthX, we organized insider bus tours to leading companies in the life sciences, cleantech and creative tech sectors across the Metro Vancouver region. A total of 25 B.C. companies were featured through facilities tours, speaker panels and showcase receptions and over 200 attendees — including investors from 17 countries, plus innovation supporters, community leaders and media — participated.
At Web Summit itself, we moderated a life sciences panel and helped judge a life sciences pitch at the B.C. Pavilion. We referred opportunities for our portfolio companies to showcase at the conference and proudly watched them speak and exhibit. Lastly, we met numerous entrepreneurs and investors both on the conference floor and at the many community-run side events.
Our community engagements in the spring also included:
- Speaking on a virtual panel for Road to Web Summit to help B.C. companies prepare for the conference
- Meeting marine tech companies and speaking at the Association of British Columbia Marine Industries (ABCMI) and Coast Innovation Forum
- Meeting Indigenous entrepreneurs at Indigenomics Impact
- Meeting healthtech companies at the National Health-Tech Innovation Conference hosted by the CHEO Research Institute at BCIT
- Mentoring women entrepreneurs and speaking at The Odlum Brown Forum Pitch Finale
- Meeting advanced materials innovators and speaking at the CAMTEC Annual Research Symposium at the University of Victoria
- Cheering on Victoria tech companies at the Victoria Innovation, Advanced Technology & Entrepreneurship Council’s VIATEC Awards
- Engaging with investors at Invest Canada conference presented by Canadian Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (CVCA)
July-September
In the summer, we committed our first follow-on investment to 4AG Robotics. 4AG was InBC’s first direct investment in a company and in less than two years, we watched the company grow from prototype to now operating on leading farms in B.C. and across the world. In 2025, the company opened a satellite office in Vancouver to support its global sales and will be moving into a 36,000-square-foot facility in Salmon Arm, B.C. to increase its production capacity.
In July, we enjoyed a sneak peek of our portfolio company Mangrove Lithium’s new lithium refining facility in Delta, B.C., which will be North America’s first commercial electrochemical lithium refining plant and a milestone in securing the domestic battery-grade lithium supply chain and advancing the climate goal toward a net-zero future.
We also enjoyed a visit to Sanctuary AI’s headquarters in Vancouver, where its general-purpose humanoid robot Phoenix showed off its dexterity skills.
Later in July, we committed an investment in Yaletown Partners’ Innovation Growth Fund III. InBC had previously invested in Yaletown’s Innovation Growth Fund II, which has backed the growth of six B.C. companies.
In September, following a robust recruitment process, we welcomed our new Chief Investment Officer (CIO) Thomas Park to the InBC team. Tom brings with him a broad and diverse set of experiences and credentials, including nearly a decade at BDC supporting innovation at the national level. He is leading InBC’s investment strategy during this exciting next stage of our growth. Read our Q&A with Tom.
With BDC, we supported two IP strategy workshops hosted by Innovation Asset Collective (IAC) for B.C. founders and investors.
We had a busy summer month supporting the innovation ecosystem across B.C., including:
- Co-hosting the Canada-EU Agri-Food Innovation Roundtable with EIT Food, Innovation UBC and the Canadian Food Innovation Network
- Providing opening remarks at Carbon Connect, an event hosted by Arca and Svante with support from NorthX and Deloitte during PNW Climate Week
- Meeting B.C. entrepreneurs at BC Founders Day
- Engaging with women investors through Canadian Women in VC (CWVC)
October-December
In October, we announced our investment in MarineLabs, a coastal intelligence company with a growing sensor network that provides hyper-localized, high-resolution weather and oceanic data to help marine industries and coastal communities make smarter, safer decisions. Later in November, we attended the grand opening of the company’s new headquarters in Victoria, B.C.
We also attended Raven Indigenous Capital Partners’ Annual Impact Feast. Raven was one of InBC’s first commitments to a venture fund. Since 2022, the fund has invested in seven Indigenous-led companies across B.C.
Then in November, we attended Novarc Technologies’ Open House in Burnaby alongside other supporters such as Seaspan and Pacific Economic Development Canada. During the event, Novarc demonstrated its new SWR™ TIPTIG Autonomy, the world’s first autonomous Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welding solution that can deliver precision and consistency previously unattainable in TIG welding.
In preparation for developing our next three-year strategic plan, we have begun a series of consultations to gather input from the innovation ecosystem to help inform our strategy, including one-on-one engagements and roundtables with entrepreneurial support organizations, investor networks, economic development agencies across B.C., Indigenous innovation supporters, post-secondary institutions and more. The purpose is to gain a well-rounded perspective on the state of entrepreneurship and investment needs across the province. We thank all the supporters across B.C. who engaged with us.
We continued to engage in the community to meet promising B.C. companies and other investors such as:
- Cheering on B.C. tech companies at BC Tech’s Technology Impact Awards
- Giving fundraising tips on a panel at Vancouver Tech Journal’s Fall Fundraising Playbook
- Meeting cleantech companies at NorthX Converge
- Meeting life sciences companies at Invest in BC by Life Sciences BC
- Meeting UBC spin-off companies at UBC Day
- Meeting early-stage companies at the VANTEC Angel Network pitch
- Meeting femtech founders at the Femtech Canada Forum
Throughout the year, we also organized another three venture capital roundtables to connect the B.C. venture capital community and share synergies. We thank BDC for generously hosting us in their space.
This new year, we are excited to continue the important work of investing in the growth of B.C. businesses, to support local founders, anchor companies to B.C., drive more investment in the province, and generate economic and jobs growth while contributing to social and environmental impact.
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