Making BC Tech Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

BC’s got the brains, the talent, and the startups—but scaling hardware in this province still feels like an uphill climb. To become a global technology hub, we need to be harder, better, faster, stronger—from public funding to local manufacturing and strategic partnerships.

HardTech Forum (formerly Vancouver Hardware Meetup) is assembling a panel of leaders from government, innovation hubs and industry who are working to make that a reality. Organized by MistyWest, this HardTech Forum will share how to keep BC-born innovations scaling at home—not just south of the border.

With rising trade tensions and tariff battles, there’s never been a better time to declare “No More Mr. Soft Tech” 💪

EVENT DETAILS

Doors open at 5:30pm
Panel Discussion starts at 6:30pm
Networking from 8pm until close

General Admission is $30 and includes food and refreshments.

Only a few tickets will be available at the door, so we recommend registering in advance.

OUR PANELISTS

Keith Ippel
Founder and Co-CEO of Spring and Spring Collective

With over 25 years in tech and impact businesses, Keith has trained 400+ impact entrepreneurs on investment readiness and raising capital, supported companies like Hootsuite, SocialNature, and Foodee, and helped raise over $80M in funding as an angel investor. He holds an MBA from Ivey Business School and a BBA from Wilfrid Laurier University.

Byron Thom
Partner at Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC)‘s Industrial Innovation Venture Fund

Byron Thom is a Partner at the BDC Industrial Innovation Venture Fund. As a lifelong technology enthusiast, he has worn many hats in his tech career. As a founder of industrial IoT company, Optigo Networks, he both helped develop their hardware networking platform and installed their first customer orders at sites across North America. He is also a trained lawyer, having worked at a leading IP boutique and drafted and prosecuted his company’s own patent applications where he was a named inventor. Byron now invests in both hardware and software companies across many different sectors, including advanced manufacturing, ag and food technologies, and technologies for extractive sectors (oil & gas, mining, etc.).

Michael Ansara, Mid-Market Tech Lead at Export Development Canada (EDC)

Michael Ansara is a Vancouver-based Senior Relationship Manager at Export Development Canada, with over 12 years of experience across Western Canada, primarily as a digital industries and clean technologies lead. Within his role, Michael advises and supports Canadian, commercialized mid-market businesses in the Metro Vancouver area with their cross-border growth endeavors by providing connections, risk mitigation, and non-dilutive/dilutive working capital solutions. Before joining EDC, Michael worked in the banking and trade finance industry in Toronto. He is also a Certified International Trade Professional and is considered a tenured and senior resource for EDC across western Canada given his experience, mentorship, and expertise.

Reynald Hoskinson
VP of Technology at FORM Swim

Reynald Hoskinson began their professional career as a Teaching Assistant at the University of British Columbia in 1999. Reynald then became a Research Assistant at the same university in 2001. In 2002, they were a Sound Programmer at Radical Software. In 2005, they became a Researcher at Brightside Technologies. From 2009 to 2014, they were a Research & Development Manager at Recon Instruments, where they were responsible for leading an R&D group that developed prototypes with new interaction, sensing and display methods, as well as optical design, simulation and testing, including system requirements and Zemax specification. Reynald then became a Research Associate at Simon Fraser University in 2014, before becoming the VP of Technology and VP Engineering at Form in 2016.

OUR PARTNERS

Vancouver Hardware Meetup is made possible by the gracious contributions from our partners. Thanks to their support, we will continue bringing the community together for years to come.

PLATINUM

Memfault is the first embedded observability platform that empowers teams to build more robust devices with software at scale.

GOLD

Manning Elliott is a CPA firm with offices located in Vancouver, Burnaby, Surrey, and Abbotsford that provides personalized accounting and business advisory services to companies operating within a wide range of industries.

From initial R&D and prototyping to proof of concept and MVP, Intent act as partners to their clients, helping them create innovative product concepts and make their vision a reality.

Edge Impulse is the leading development platform for machine learning on edge devices, empowering developers to create and optimize solutions with real-world data.

SILVER

Nordic Semiconductor plays a key role in the realization of the wireless future. Their award-winning Bluetooth Low Energy solutions pioneered ultra-low power wireless, making them the global market leader.

Thurs, May 15

Making BC Tech Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

EVENT DETAILS

OUR PANELISTS

Keith IppelFounder and Co-CEO of Spring and Spring Collective

​Byron ThomPartner at Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC)‘s Industrial Innovation Venture Fund

​Michael Ansara, Mid-Market Tech Lead at Export Development Canada (EDC)

​Reynald HoskinsonVP of Technology at FORM Swim