VANCOUVER — B.C.’s new minister in charge of innovation, Ravi Kahlon, has been in the job for less than two weeks, but he has already seen evidence of the “unique challenges” the province’s tech ecosystem faces when it comes to federal funding.
It’s a problem the BC Tech Association confronted last week when it cleared out of the rented Vancouver space where it housed local startups in its Innovation Hub. It has become a digital-only support service for the region’s tech community after it could no longer afford to keep the Hub’s doors open.
In an interview with The Logic, Kahlon acknowledged the importance of finding consistent funding to support the province’s tech community, saying, “We need to think long term; it can’t be short term.”
And he says he’s already begun work on two other key initiatives: establishing a provincial venture capital fund and an intellectual property strategy.
