University of British Columbia entrepreneurship

The University of British Columbia (UBC) has a rich ecosystem for startups and venture capital (VC) that supports the birth and growth of innovative companies. This ecosystem is backed by a combination of university resources, intellectual capital, and networking opportunities.

Within UBC, there’s the entrepreneurship@UBC, a program designed to incubate and accelerate startups from the UBC community. It provides a range of resources, tools, and mentorship to help budding entrepreneurs take their ideas to the market. Over its existence, entrepreneurship@UBC has fostered numerous successful startups, including BioInteractive Technologies, creators of a wristband that can control digital devices with hand gestures, and AVA Technologies, which designs smart indoor gardens for consumers' use.

Moreover, the University Industry Liaison Office (UILO) at UBC actively works to transform research into real-world applications. Since its inception, the UILO, in collaboration with entrepreneurship@UBC, has fostered numerous spin-off companies originating from faculty research. Some examples of these include Aspect Biosystems, a biotechnology company specializing in the 3D bioprinting of human tissues, and Terramera, a cleantech company focused on developing sustainable biopesticide products.

UBC also boasts alumni who have made significant contributions to the startup and VC ecosystem. Michael Lazaridis, co-founder of BlackBerry and Quantum Valley Investments, is one of many notable alumni. Another successful entrepreneur affiliated with UBC is Robert Simon, who founded Borealis Ventures, a venture capital firm that invests in the built environment.

The university also fosters connections and collaboration with the broader startup ecosystem in Vancouver. For instance, it partners with local accelerators and incubators, and hosts events that bring together entrepreneurs, investors, students and alumni.