About Startup Vancouver
Who we are
A vibrant hub created by entrepreneurs, for entrepreneurs at all stages to connect, learn, network & grow their ideas.
Founded in mid-2017, Startup Vancouver—the official Vancouver chapter of Startup Canada—is a volunteer-based organization that connects local entrepreneurs to the resources and people that help increase their ability to succeed. 2019 saw explosive growth in our community-building efforts, culminating with our Co-Founder Colin Weston receiving the Startup Canada Award for Community Leader of The Year. COVID protocols in early 2020 meant we had to transform our event offerings to provide value on digital platforms. We fully embraced this challenge and now reach a national audience with new channel partners.
We strive to become the go-to entrepreneurship and innovation hub in Vancouver for both tech and non-tech startups, founders and early stage companies. We support entrepreneurs at all stages of their journey, along with showcasing all the great happenings in our city through events, partnerships and online community building. Over the years, the City of Vancouver has evolved into one of the most vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystems in the world. As we grow, Startup Vancouver will leverage this momentum and become the innovation community that helps establish our home as a truly global startup city. And the most exciting news is that we’re just getting started!
Community Leader
Manuj Aggarwal & Chiara Toselli
Manuj Aggarwal (left)
Manuj is a business strategist, inventor, author, and entrepreneur. Founder/CIO of Tetranoodle Technologies, which is a “Big Data” and AI consulting company.
Manuj has four patents to his name in the field of AI and machine learning. He is a published author of two technology books. Manuj is also passionate about education and sharing his knowledge with others. He is currently teaching 185,000 students across the world.
Using his experience gained after working with companies like Microsoft, IBM, Pearson, Desire2Learn, University of British Columbia, Canada Health Infoway, and many more, Manuj decided to launch a startup mentorship program called Startup Myth Uncovered. He takes pleasure in teaching young and aspiring entrepreneurs how to start and grow a startup while mitigating startup business mistakes.
Manuj is also a host to the popular entrepreneurial podcast Bootstrapping Your Dreams which ListenNotes.com lists as one of the top 0.5% podcasts in the world. The podcast also got ranked among the Top 100 podcasts next to Tony Robbins, Gary Vee, and Tim Ferriss.
Chiara Toselli (right)
Chiara Toselli is the Head of Marketing and Sales at Pavestep, a B2B SaaS startup. She also is the co-founder of the soon-to-be launched Broke App and a senior consultant at Iota Consultants.
Before entering the startup space, Chiara was a scientist and completed a PhD in biology at the University of British Columbia. The fast-paced & dynamic environment of startups is what attracted her to start volunteering and eventually work in the startup space. She has experience in talent strategy and developing marketing & sales strategies. She hopes to translate her experience to Startup Vancouver, supporting entrepreneurs as they begin their ideas and scale their businesses.
