The annual prize is awarded by venture capital firm New Ventures BC, supported by the BC Innovation Council, to “the idea most likely to be commercially viable with the greatest value”.

“The sole reason we exist as a company is to help education agencies be more productive and increase sales”

Launched in 2014, the Vancouver-based startup provides an online platform enabling education agencies to coordinate study abroad programmes, gather data and issue invoices online, and monitor business performance.

In just over a year it has become the most widely-used industry tool among education agencies, according to CEO Nicolas Miller.

“Now with more that 700 agents using our platform, we feel incredibly thankful and indebted to all of them,” he told The PIE News. “We wouldn’t be here with out the help and support of all of our customers. Especially those that were patient with us in the early days.”

“The sole reason we exist as a company is to help education agencies be more productive and increase sales,” he added. “So we’ll use the money to develop new product features that further improve operational efficiency and communication with schools.”

Edvisor’s website

The annual competition aims to promote innovation in the technology sector, which generates more than CAN$23bn in revenue for BC and is the second fastest private job creator in the province.

To compete, companies must submit an eight-page business plan before pitching to a panel of 15 judges made up of venture capitalists.

A total of $300,000 in prizes was awarded to eight tech startups in this year’s award. In second place, Vancouver-based simulation software startup Ziva Dynamic won $55,000, followed by ChangeHeroes, a crowdfunding platform that has raised over $1m to date, which won $37,000.