Welcome to this week’s Sunday Briefing. In this issue, discover how your startup can get press attention, learn about the electric buses coming to a street near you, access your next office space, and plenty more.

Now, onto today’s briefing. It’s 845 words, a four-minute read.

-James, @jimmermatthews

By the way, if you're not already subscribed, you can fix that here.

Niricson completes $10M+ Series A

Niricson, a UVic spinoff that digitizes infrastructure assets like dams or spillways, completed a Series A worth over $10 million. The round was led by led by MUUS Climate partners, and joined by Bentley Systems, Sustainable Development Technology Canada, Export Development Canada, Invest Victoria, Australia, Forward Venture Capital, Techstars, and other investors. The company previously raised $2 million.

The newfound capital will impact Niricson in a pair of ways. First, the company plans to expand its global footprint by using robotics, computer vision, and acoustic technology combined with AI. That technology will make predictive maintenance of large-scale civil assets like dams, spillways, nuclear power plants, bridges, airport runways, and tunnels safer, faster, and more efficient.

Second, it will accelerate R&D efforts focused on developing the world's first AI-driven predictive analytics SaaS platform, which is dedicated exclusively to managing critical infrastructure assets. This would ensure asset safety and optimal performance for infrastructure owners and operators.

"We are now serving more than 20 large customers owning dams, bridges, runways, and other critical assets globally,” said Harsh Rathod, CEO and co-founder. “Over the last several years, we have learned a lot and built our products to address the real problem faced every day by our customers. With our series A raise complete, we now stand ready to drive even greater value for stakeholders while accelerating responsible growth throughout the globe."

🏙️ Community catchup, powered by VIATEC

Join a thriving community of entrepreneurs and innovators at Fort Tectoria! VIATEC currently has one office available, and two that will be available on September 1, to help local tech companies discover the perfect workspace and elevate their productivity.

Two offices are big enough for four, and one will hold six of your employees, with prices starting at $1,250 a month.

Included in the office rental at Fort Tectoria:

• Wifi and all utilities

• Free and unlimited boardroom usage, and monthly credits for conference room usage

• Secure bike storage on every floor

• 24/7 secure access to the facility and your workspace

• Daily mail delivery to your office

• Tenant discount at the Fort on Fort Cafe

• Furnished offices with desks and chairs, or you can bring your own

• Fully stocked kitchen for tenants to use

Contact [email protected] to arrange a tour, or visit viatec.ca/workspace for more info.

📰 More Victoria innovation news

🚌 Push to start: The governments of Canada and British Columbia invested $395.5 million to support the electrification of public transit across the province.

✍️ Press attention: Chris Neumann, partner at Panache Ventures, chatted with folks in media (including VicTJ’s own GM William Johnson) about how startups can garner press.

🕴️ Tech jobs of the week

Find your next career:

• Communications & Engagement Officer at COAST

• Software Engineer at SunTracker Technologies

Hiring in Victoria? Reply to this email and let us know!

📅 Upcoming events

August 11 | iWIST Summer Party: Prepare to be inspired as Victoria's STEM community gathers for an evening of networking, engaging conversations, and high-quality canapés.

August 16 | Business Scale-up and Productivity (BSP) Program Information Session: Are you an innovative, globally-oriented business seeking to accelerate your growth? Then it’s worth checking out this event.

Have an upcoming event? Reply to let us know.

🙋 I need…software jobs advice

A Victoria Tech Journal reader is looking for their next gig. The reader developed for a few years for a local startup — using React, Python (Django/Flask), PostgreSQL, and AWS — but also has experience in customer-facing roles. Send an email to [email protected] with your leads.

We’ve also got a community member who is looking for advice on how to get back into the software industry. In a previous life, they had a degree in computer science and a brief career as a software developer (mostly Java, Javascript, and SQL, and a bit of scripting). Can you help them figure out how to get back into IT, and which skills would be worth learning or brushing up on? Let us know if you can help at [email protected].

And, as always, whatever you’re hunting for, let us know. We’ll post it in this section and make it happen. Email your requests to the same address!