Gorgeous views, four season fun, stellar wines and more recently a thriving tech sector – does the Okanagan have it all? A recent KPMG survey revealed that by the end of 2023 the region was home to 787 tech companies, 82% of which are privately held and 61% are less than 9 years old. Collectively, they added $4.9 billion to the BC economy in 2023. The sector supports 32,645 jobs and pays $3.1 billion in salaries and benefits, with 46% of workers being under age 35.1
And nurturing the next wave is a part of the picture. On May 22, 2025, the 7th annual Okanagan Angel Summit will award a lucky startup with a cheque for $180,000. The annual meet up of ideas and investors kicked off on April 1. Ten days later 24 of the original 35 applicants from across Western Canada learned they were heading to the quarter final round. Applicants then have just three minutes to convince panellists they merit being one of 12 that advance to the semis. Six finalists will take the stage on May 22 to make their last, best pitch in front of a live audience.2
Half of the quarter finalists are from the Okanagan. They include ventures focused on agritech, AI-powered clothing manufacturing, human healthspan, gaming & animation, medical tech, fintech, and human fertility. All this innovation from a region with approximately 256,000 residents and projected to grow to 318,000 by 2035.
Success stories
Investors are well aware of tech’s local track record, including two Kelowna based companies founded by Jeremy Lang. He started Pela, which makes compostable phone cases (and pioneered the concept) in his garage in 2011. Pela’s products are currently sold in 16 countries. Lomi, another Lang idea and a Pela subsidiary, makes the Lomi Kitchen Composter, a countertop appliance available across North America and Europe that transforms food waste into nutrient-rich dirt within hours.3 Bananatag, an internal communications software company, was founded in Kelowna in 2011 and merged ten years later with Germany’s Staffbase. The combined company operates now under the Staffbase brand and has over 1,000 customers globally and employs 450 people in 11 locations, including Kelowna.4 So the sector’s optimism is understandable. In a 2023 survey, 65% of firms were expecting to add headcount in the next year.5
Education is creating a local talent pool
There’s a good chance some of those hires are local, thanks to critically important educational pipelines. At Okanagan College, full-time diploma programs include civil engineering, electronic engineering, mechanical engineering and infrastructure and computing technology.
Over at UBCs Okanagan (UBCO) campus, 1,399 graduate students are working towards Masters designations that include data science, biotechnology and engineering. Significantly, 50% of UBCO grad students choose to stay in the region after school. And the UBCO Faculty of Applied Science webpage hints at ideas that might become the next big thing: on April 27th there’s a Masters degree thesis defence titled “Applications of Data-Driven Machine Learning for Real-Time Water Quality Monitoring in Water Distribution Systems” 6
Demographic trends support growth
In census language, we’re talking about the Regional District of Central Okanagan (RDCO), which basically maps to Greater Kelowna. Between 2016-2021 the RDCO grew faster than any other census metropolitan area in Canada. The region once attracted retirees due to its warm, dry and sunny climate with relatively mild winters. It still does but the population – and labour force – is getting younger.
From 2016-2021, the share of the overall population aged 15 years and older popped by 15.3%, well above 8.5% for the rest of BC and 5.9% nationally. This drove strong growth in the labour force (15.1%) and employment growth (13.9%), that topped B.C. and the country. These trends help fuel the Okanagan’s economic development but the secret sauce is having self-starters, which are synonymous with tech. Okanagan has plenty, with a higher proportion of self-employed (19.2%) compared with B.C. (17.3%), Canada (14.1%) and other CMAs.7
The Angel Summit is hosted by Accelerate Okanagan, an organization that strives to give local start ups a boost with a solid mix of educational, coaching and mentoring opportunities. An annual membership costs $350 and gets you discounted pricing (or less, based on need) on a range of programming targeting different stages of the entrepreneurial journey. An individual with just an idea and a laptop might check out Start Up Basics, an online training designed to familiarize participants with building a business plan and identifying and validating a potential market. Further along the entrepreneurial path is Fundable, an eight-week program that introduces founders to key fundraising concepts and the ins and outs of getting their company to a level where it can be seen as an investable venture – and a potential Angel Summit winner.
Challenges
Affordable housing, a familiar problem right across the country, is an issue. The Okanagan’s natural beauty and four-season recreational choices are compelling but the median price of a newly constructed home in the region ticked up 3.3% in 2024 to $1,580,000 after three years of double-digit increases. Average rent for a two-bedroom apartment was $1,916. But housing starts rose by 27.6% in 2024 from 2023, and multifamily starts increased by 36.2%.8 Economic and population growth often bring crime too, and local rates are higher than both provincial and national averages, although 2024 data dropped somewhat from 2023. And despite the buzz in the region and success of many Okanagan start ups, top tech talent always has options. So competing for the best minds against Vancouver, Seattle, California and the rest of Canada will always be a challenge.
Sources
1 https://accelerateokanagan.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/OkanaganTech_EconomicImpact_2023Report.pdf
2 How It Works | Okanagan Angel Summit
3 https://lomi.com/pages/about-us
4 Following merger with Kelowna’s Bananatag, Staffbase secures $145 million | BetaKit
5 https://accelerateokanagan.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/OkanaganTech_EconomicImpact_2023Report.pdf
6 Events from April 13 – April 16 – UBC Okanagan Events Calendar