Launch BUILDERS Steal the Spotlight in an Exciting Month at Launch

Launch successfully hosted multiple events including Launch Builders & CxO Dinner Vancouver, celebrated the achievements of its community members, and continued to foster entrepreneurship by actively contributing to the startup ecosystem.

Launch Builders Meetup

Our Launch Builders Meetup, presented by Smythe, turned out to be an overwhelming success. This sell-out event was held at Microsoft Vancouver on July 27 and saw an enthusiastic turnout of entrepreneurs, industry experts, and tech enthusiasts. Our builders truly shone on stage with their inspiring product demos:

  • David Matheson from Klue
  • Daniel Mathews from bam! Comics
  • Arnav Mishra from DYNE
  • Gaurav Joshi from myMomentum
  • Ove Holmqvist from Holonic Systems
  • Lionello Lunesu from Defang
Launch Builders

Stay tuned for more in the next edition of Launch Builders – COMING SOON!

If you’re an entrepreneur looking to immerse yourself in a community of like-minded individuals, get exclusive access to our network of investors, partners, founders, mentors, and resources by joining our incubator program, LaunchPad.

Launch in Media & Events

India’s leading daily, The Times of India featured an interview with our CEO, Ray Walia, discussing recent changes to Canada’s StartupVisa program through the recently announced Canada’s new Tech Talent Program, and what these changes imply for startups and founders looking to expand to North America. Read the two-part series below:

We hosted our latest TractionConf CxO Dinner in Vancouver on July 26, presenting a confluence of leaders and experts from fintech, personal identity, and e-commerce sectors. This event was presented by Launch & Smythe, in collaboration with Whiteboard Law, and Boast Capital.

We had a fantastic time meeting partners, members, and friends at Startupfest, Montreal, which took place from July 13-15. The event was an impressive display of speakers, startups, investors, and entrepreneurs from around the world.

Ray joined the steering committee of INNOVATEwest. His contribution will be instrumental in shaping the direction of the Growth – Startup/Scaleup summit and driving innovation forward to help startups scale up.

  • Launch CxO Dinner Vancouver
  • Startup Fest Montreal
  • Ray Walia, Innovate West Steering Committee
  • East by Northwest global summit in Vancouver
  • University Canada West - Ray Walia

1. CxO Dinner, Vancouver, 2. With the Launch network at Startupfest, Montreal, 3. InnovateWEST Steering Committee, 4. Keynote at EXNW Summit, Vancouver, 5. Ray Walia with the panel at UCW

The creative world came together for the EXNW East by Northwest global summit in Vancouver to catalyze the development of content and storytelling by racialized creators where Ray Walia gave a keynote session on why Vancouver is the hub for film, television, gaming, animation and tech. He joined an amazing lineup of speakers including Shannon Lee, Chair of the Bruce Lee Foundation & daughter of legendary Bruce Lee; Bing Chen, Founder of AU Holdings; Prem Gill, CEO of Creative BC and many others.

Ray was also invited to University Canada West (UCW) to discuss building startups in Canada. Over 200 international students attended this event, and Ilya Brotzky, a Launch alumni and CEO of VanHack, joined the panel.

Member & Alumni Milestones

We love celebrating the successes of our community members.

  • Our Maple Company Flutterwave’s CTO, Gurbhej Dhillon, was recently named among the Top 25 CTOs of 2023 by Financial Technology Report. Flutterwave is fast establishing itself as one of the primary connectors between Africa and the global economy.
  • KOHO, a proud Launch alumni, recently hit the milestone of 1 million users! Launched in 2016, KOHO has recorded $6 Billion in transactions per year and helped more than 100,000 users build or improve their credit histories.
  • Maplerad, another one of our Maple companies, was recently featured on On Deck’s top 40 companies as a promising fintech platform tackling meaningful challenges. As the only African company on the list, Maplerad is making significant strides in the banking-as-a-service industry.
  • Our Maple company, BigFish Technology, bagged the Best Growth Partner of the Year award by M TECH Thailand. Specializing in digital risk management, BigFish is a cybersecurity solution provider that concentrates on cybersecurity solutions.
  • Also making a mark in the industry is our Maple member company, Arestor, recognized as one of the top 15 Canadian startups shaping the AI and the graphic design revolution in the country by Canada Venture News.

These represent just a glimpse of the noteworthy milestones and accomplishments that have shaped our recent path. As we continue our journey, we eagerly anticipate bringing you more narratives of innovation, teamwork, and progress. Subscribe to our newsletter and stay connected for further updates from Launch!

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Launch's International Maple Accelerator Program

Launch is a designated organization of the Canadian Government’s Startup Visa Program & the Global Skills Strategy Program. Launch’s Maple Program is designed to help emerging tech companies expand their business to North America. We help tech companies identify the best path for immigration for their team and their families through Startup Visa, Express Entry, Provincial Nomination, or Global Talent Stream. For more information visit launchacademy.ca/maple.