The 23rd annual New Ventures BC Competition presented by Innovate BC is well underway. New Ventures BC is giving away $250,000 in non-dilutive cash and prizes to promising tech ventures based inside the province. Beyond the top three Innovate BC prizes, there are additional industry-specific prizes to be won.

An initial batch of nearly 200 startups has been squeezed into 16 and this week that figure will be further distilled.

As Vancouver’s technology publication of record, Techcouver has covered most of the competitors at some point or another. Below, we highlight some of the startups looking to stay in NVBC’s cutthroat competition this week.

AI for Landlords

Demand for rental homes has hit a zenith thanks to the lowest vacancy rates North America has witnessed since 1993 combined with a major increase of immigration. Traditional methods are left gasping, unable to fulfill ballooning demand.

Leasey aspires to relieve the challenges of an overburdened property market, where supply struggles to meet surging demand, and labour shortages and staff turnover add further trouble.

Leasey acts as a digital right-hand of property managers, allowing them to fill tenancies with less effort and in less time. The platform offers a multifaceted service that incorporates property onboarding, listing promotion, lead pre-qualification, showing scheduling, tenant screening, and document handling.

Gone are the days of the back-and-forth negotiation of showing times and fretting over no-shows, the startup promises. These and other tedious aspects such as document handling are also digitized and simplified, eliminating paperwork and signature-chasing. Leasey claims to cut vacancy periods by 60% and can save up to 20 hours per listing—all while attracting three times more qualified leads.

In a world where one-third of property managers’ time is consumed by manual and repetitive tasks, Leasey offers a beacon of light toward better time and task management.

Wearable for Lifting

In November, we reported on an emerging startup in Vancouver’s fitness industry, conceived by Zach Higgins and Connor Holowachuk, who met through the League of Innovators’ youth-focused Labs program.

Under the brand Eigen Fitness, Higgins and Holowachuk have been developing a new tech product called Nodes, which are coin-sized wearables that empower gym goers “to progress as fast as possible while avoiding injury,” according to the BC startup.

Nodes leverage real-time power, velocity, range of motion, tempo, and rep variation data to provide insight on ideal weight selection for each set. The sensor-based hardware device is boosted by artificial intelligence on the software side, which acts to help gym users measure weight training progress, form, and more.

Eigen claims the AI-powered Node is “the only truly wearable device built exclusively for the gym.”

This year, the passion and vision behind Eigen Fitness landed the startup among Techcouver’sannual “10 Homegrown B.C. Startups to Watch.”

We also named it one of five BC-based Tech Startups Helping Canadians Get and Stay Fit in 2023.

Higgins and Holowachuk recently launched the Eigen Fitness Nodes on Kickstarter, rendering Nodes available for preorder for the first time.

The demand for Nodes eclipsed that goal within a day, exploding past the mark.

Winter-Proof Wearable

There are a lot of these snow-seekers: North American ski hills get about 80 million visits per year.

However, ripping down mountains in the dead of winter isn’t the safest activity. And estimates suggest up to 20% of these injuries involve the head, which is of particular concern. A head injury on the slopes could incapacitate a person from calling for help.

SkiKrumb provides a safety net for outdoor enthusiasts braving the wintry hills. The Vancouver startup is developing a compact, waterproof, and durable device that combines GPS technology with a software platform to mitigate the risks associated with skiing and snowboarding.

What sets skiKrumb apart from other tracking devices, the founders say, is its reliability in cold conditions, which tend to majorly reduce the battery life of conventional cellphones. A long-lasting power supply ensures a constant flow of data, making it reliable even in frigid conditions.

Beyond the tracker, skiKrumb is aiming to provide a robust software suite that offers accurate insights and full location history for every user on the mountain.

Property Tech Platform

A fledging firm known as Proxima HQ specializes in offering an end-to-end digital sales platform specifically designed for property developers and sales and marketing teams.

Proxima HQ’s prop-tech platform replicates all the visual and digital tools traditionally found in a physical sales centre. These tools include project overviews, 2D floor plans, 3D building models, and renderings.

Founded in 2022, the company focuses on flexibility, allowing developers to customize their sales and marketing programs through controlled content release and activating multiple touch-points for increased sales opportunities.

A key feature of the Proxima HQ platform is its real-time data feedback, which tracks sales performance and buyer preferences, providing insights into buying behaviour that can help drive sales strategies.

The platform also offers a high-fidelity sales tool. Such functionality equips sales teams with a trainable tool, enabling them to provide a consistent sales experience.

Current clients using the startup’s technology include Keystone Properties, Royal Pacific Realty, and Landa Global Properties.

AI Assistant for Healthcare

Vancouver-based Ginger Desk has positioned itself as a Virtual Assistant service for health practitioners across North America.

With a keen eye for gaps in the market, natural health expert Dr. Julie Durnan leveraged her 15 years of industry experience to found Ginger Desk after observing how practitioners grappled with admin tasks, especially when clinics closed due to the pandemic in 2020.

Ginger Desk sprouted from the understanding that practitioners’ job satisfaction was closely tied to supportive administrative structures, rather than factors like clinic decor or location. While witnessing the struggle of peers handling admin work—from managing bookings to replying emails post bedtime—Durnan envisioned a service that could shoulder these burdens and allow practitioners to focus on their core responsibilities.

Ginger Desk’s strength lies in its team of virtual assistants, all trained in the “Ginger Methodology” developed by Durnan from her years of successfully running clinics. This method emphasizes operational and organizational expertise, providing health practitioners with comprehensive administrative support.

With an up-to-date knowledge of health practitioners’ favourite Electronic Medical Records, state-specific regulations, and clinical terminology, the Ginger Desk team comes pre-trained and ready to serve clients.

The startup caters to a wide clientele, from small-scale practice owners to large clinics, ensuring health practitioners at all stages receive the support they need.