It started as a testbed. Now it’s changing how BC tech grows

The first time A&K Robotics’ self-driving mobility pod moved through Vancouver International Airport, it wasn’t an official airport service. 

It was a live test—one that few young startups get the chance to deliver.

“The measure of success is: how do we move the company to the next stage of self-sufficiency?”

Many startups would love to work with airports, which move huge amounts of people and goods, and some technology companies opt to focus on winning contracts in the United States in hopes it will convince Canadian airport buyers to take a chance.

A&K Robotics didn’t have to take this route.

Its compact, autonomous vehicle, built to help travellers with mobility challenges independently navigate airport terminals, was deployed in its home province of BC. 

The company secured its airport deployment through Innovate BC’s Integrated Marketplace, a program funded through the Government of B.C. and the Government of Canada designed to support local startups operating inside real-world testbeds so they can de-risk and prove their technology in live environments. 

The framework offers large companies like YVR the opportunity to de-risk their innovation adoption while the supporting solution providers can earn a large reference customer to help them access new, global markets.

“Several international airports have been asking to test our technology, but the Integrated Marketplace gave YVR the opportunity to embark on a meaningful project that emphasized scale,” said Jessica Yip, COO and co-founder for A&K Robotics. “As a deep-tech company, this meant that we could focus on product development, iterate quickly and accelerate our path to market.”

Two years after its launch, the Integrated Marketplace is no longer just creating testbeds for startups. It is changing where and how BC companies scale amid growing uncertainty.

Startups often struggle with the leap from prototype to paying customers, but the right support can make that jump happen faster. Peter Cowan, CEO of Innovate BC, believes the program is delivering on that promise.

“For me, the measure of success is: how do we move the company to the next stage of self-sufficiency?” Cowan said. “For some, that’s going from one or two pilots to double-digit deployments. For others, it’s getting their first sales. This program is helping companies clear those hurdles faster.”

A learning curve

The past year has made one thing clear: de-risking isn’t a single step. It’s a process. Startups often require a progression of wins that make commercialization and adoption inevitable.

“We’ve had projects where multiple testbed deployments build on each other,” Cowan added. “When companies reach the market, their technology is already proven, and they can expand internationally more efficiently.”

That pattern is starting to emerge across industries.

At BC’s ports, Victoria-based MarineLabs has deployed a coastal intelligence platform that provides real-time environmental data to improve safety and efficiency in maritime operations. 

Through the Integrated Marketplace, MarineLabs is running three projects at the Port of Vancouver and the Port of Prince Rupert, two of the busiest and most complex maritime environments in Canada. 

The startup, which captured the most extreme rogue wave ever recorded off the coast of Vancouver Island in 2020, provides real-time wind, wave, and weather data to port operators, vessel pilots, and coastal engineers. Each testbed through Integrated Marketplace offers a different, high-stakes application of the company’s flagship platform, CoastAware.

The Provincial Health Services Authority testbed, launched as the Integrated Marketplace’s fourth testbed in the summer of 2024, is digitizing pathology workflows to make quality digital images available in an interconnected cloud infrastructure, a novel approach in North America.

Tamara Vrooman, President and CEO for the Vancouver Airport Authority, says that the impact is felt not just operationally but more broadly for the province.

“YVR provides an ideal environment for local innovators and cleantech companies to develop and implement made-in-B.C. solutions that work at our airport and can likely be applied to other airports and industries,” Vrooman said. “We are very proud to be a testbed for innovation and to see solutions from this collaboration advance BC business, improve our operation, and benefit our community and the economy that supports it.”

According to Cowan, these deployments are creating a path for startups to move from early pilots to industry-wide adoption.

“We’ve had some global successes, companies that are growing, as well as expanding outside of North America,” Cowan added.

Rethinking the path to adoption

For decades, Canadian startups followed a familiar script: land a big US contract, then expand from there. That approach has historically worked for many startups, but that might be starting to change.

With US procurement policies shifting inward and a US-Canada trade war stoking unease across Canada’s economy, Cowan believes the strategy of using American customers as a launchpad is becoming less reliable.

“What the trade discussion really has put on the table is: where is the best place to diversify markets long-term, and how do we speed that up?” Cowan added.

That’s where Cowan believes the Integrated Marketplace can provide value.

It is not replacing US expansion, he said, but it is ensuring that startups don’t have to depend on it. The program is giving companies a way to land their first major customers in BC, find early traction while de-risking their technology, and then choose their next markets from a position of strength.

For BC startups, it’s an opportune time to gain that position. This year, Web Summit Vancouver is bringing a massive audience of global investors and technology leaders to the province for the first time. Innovate BC sees an opportunity to align the Integrated Marketplace with the incoming international attention on the local tech sector.

“If we combine the Integrated Marketplace with the work we’re doing around Web Summit Vancouver, it creates a one-plus-one-equals-three opportunity,” Cowan added. “We’re de-risking these technologies and giving them exposure at the same time.”

For companies that might have once looked to the US for validation, this combination offers a different path: proving their technology in BC and using that momentum to reach a global audience.

With $30 million in new funding from the provincial budget, Innovate BC is planning its next phase. The focus now is on scaling what’s working and identifying the next high-impact testbed.

A few years ago, the Integrated Marketplace was an experiment. Today, Cowan said it is proving to be one of BC’s most effective tools for preparing startups for global markets while keeping them rooted in the province.

“We’ve had great uptake in the first couple of years, and the lessons we’ve learned will make the next phase even stronger.”

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Innovate BC works to foster innovation across the province so that all British Columbians can benefit from a thriving, sustainable and inclusive innovation economy.

Learn more about how the Integrated Marketplace is working to accelerate and de-risk the adoption of cutting-edge innovations throughout BC.

All photos provided by Innovate BC.