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Here’s who took home the coveted Victoria Tech Community Awards
Despite a record number of finalists, there could be only one recipient in each category.
James Matthews
December 09, 2022
Photo credit: VIATEC
As far as Victoria’s tech leaders are concerned, the grandest prize is not the solid-gold globe a bunch of soccer players are currently running around Qatar in the hopes of holding. Nor is it even a Golden Globe. Instead, it’s an astronaut — and a signifier of Victoria tech excellence. VIATEC held its Victoria Tech Community Awards last night, and while a record number of spotlight-worthy finalists were unveiled, there could be only one recipient in each of the categories. Let’s see who woke up next to an astronaut this morning.
Anchor Company of the Year (30+):(Sponsored by: Farris, Vaughan, Wills & Murphy LLP)Recipient: Certn
Scale Company of the Year (11-29):(Sponsored by: Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP)Recipient: Pilothouse Digital
Growth Company of the Year:(Sponsored by: KPMG - LLP)Recipient: MarineLabs
Go deeper: Scott Beatty’s ocean eyes
Startup of the Year:(Sponsored by: Bloom Technical) Recipient: Audette
Employer of the Year: (Sponsored by: Alacrity Canada)Recipient: RaceRocks
Leader of the Year: (Sponsored by: AbeBooks)Recipient: Dr. Karolina Valente
Go deeper: $100K for VoxCell’s Karolina Valente
Emerging Leader of the Year: (Sponsored by: BDC)Recipient: Julianne Johnson
The Colin Lennox Award for Technology Champion:(Sponsored by: Reed Pope Law Corporation)Recipient: Jerome Etwaroo
The Janet Baird Award for Community Champion: (Sponsored by: The City of Victoria)Recipient: Trinity MacRae
Inclusion Champion: (Sponsored by: VanCity)Recipient: Sam Mod and the FreshWorks Team
Social Impact Award: (Sponsored by: UVIC Innovation Centre)Recipient: Joni
Angel of the Year: (Sponsored by: SureSwift)Recipient: Shaun Jamieson
VIATEC Member of the Year: Recipient: Cognito Health
Product Of The Year Award:(An audience-voted award)Recipient: Barnacle Systems Inc
Go deeper: Community spotlight: Barnacle Systems
Go even deeper: Our Victoria Tech Journal spotlight series
Innovative Excellence Award - Hardware:(An audience-voted award)Recipient: Joni
Innovative Excellence Award - Software:(An audience-voted award)Recipient: VitaminLab
$150K for VIATEC’s Kitchen Connect program
In addition to dishing out awards, the event raised $150,000 for the VIATEC Kitchen Connect program. A food-business incubator and processing facility, Kitchen Connect is an integrated food hub that offers training, kitchens, and community-focused services. These funds are enough to run the program for two years.
More nominations and finalists than ever
After reviewing 187 nominations, 59 finalists from 47 companies were selected for the award categories, which swelled to 16 at the gala held on December 8. The finalists in each category were reviewed by a panel of delegates from VIATEC, Island Women in Science and Technology, Women’s Equity Lab, Capital Investment Network, Alacrity Canada, and UVic’s Coast Capital Innovation Centre.
The awards give Victoria’s technology companies a chance to be recognized and celebrated for their fantastic contributions that have undoubtedly put Greater Victoria on the map as the fastest-growing technology region in B.C. The technology sector in Greater Victoria has a total economic impact of $5.22 billion and employs 16,775 people.
The spotlight has yet to burn out
Despite the Victoria Tech Community Awards reaching its climax, we will continue to showcase the Island’s leading innovators. Our Victoria Tech Journal spotlight series highlights award finalists and recipients, so you can get to know them a little bit better. Read about other community members here and stay tuned for more spotlights to come.