Creative Destruction Lab Vancouver

Overview

In September 2016, the UBC Sauder School of Business launched the Western Canada extension of the Creative Destruction Lab (CDL). Started in 2012 at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, CDL helps high-calibre technology start-ups activate their commercial potential and benefit to society. After the success of the first expansion test in Vancouver, CDL now operates at 14 sites around the globe, anchored at research-intensive universities across North America, Europe and Australia. Today, CDL-Vancouver hosts six streams: Compute, Biomedical Engineering, Climate, Minerals, Advanced therapies and Cancer. These streams focus on supporting the convergence of technologies that improve human health and wellness and advance solutions to preserve our natural world.

Building Something Massive

CDL is an objectives-based mentorship program that supports participating ventures in accelerating their trajectory as they work to scale ambitious tech-based businesses. Over a period of nine months, participating ventures attend four full-day Sessions during which CDL Mentors – a collective of leading entrepreneurs, experienced operators, venture capitalists, and subject matter experts – help to set three objectives for ventures to prioritize over the following eight weeks. Participating ventures also have the opportunity to interface with, and learn from, individual and corporate partners, UBC students, and pedigreed guests who bring a wide range of domain expertise and ecosystem connections.

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Venture Success

Since launching in 2016, CDL-Vancouver has supported 420+ ventures into the program. As of April 2025, the CDL-Vancouver Ventures have generated over $6.69 billion in equity value. Amongst the ventures that have participated in CDL sites across the network, over $50B CAD has been generated in total equity value. This success of CDL-Vancouver companies is a direct result of the support of over 130 mentors who have committed 5,000+ hours annually to supporting the site's ecosystem. For every $1 committed to CDL Vancouver operating, our ventures have attracted about $100 in investment.

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Local Streams

Minerals Stream

For founders seeking to commercialize hardware or software innovations that are enabling step-change improvements in the efficiency, safety, and sustainability of mineral exploration and the mining industry. 

CDL Minerals will support founders with applications spanning ore body discovery and definition, mineral extraction and processing, and sustainability and post-mining activities including water stewardship, waste to value and tailings management. Solutions may be applied to greenfield or brownfield metallic and industrial mineral exploration and mining projects.

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Biomedical Engineering Stream

For founders commercializing engineering innovations to improve the quality, speed, cost, or accessibility of healthcare. The Biomedical Engineering Stream is particularly suited for highly-skilled entrepreneurs and researchers who are developing innovative technologies (from bench to bedside) based on engineering principles and multidisciplinary sciences to solve health, biological and medical needs.

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Compute Stream

For founders commercializing the next generation of breakthrough technologies in computing. The Compute Stream at CDL-Vancouver, interdisciplinary by design, featuring both the hardware and software solutions changing how and where the computing happens.

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Climate Stream

For founders developing high-impact, scalable solutions to address climate change and help preserve our natural world. The Climate Stream at CDL-Vancouver is particularly suited for technical founders tackling climate, natural resource, and environmental challenges predicated on novel innovations. Ventures in the program work with world-class mentors to sharpen objectives, prioritize time and resources, raise capital, and engage with experts at the forefront of research to accelerate their path to commercialization.

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Global Streams: 

Cancer Stream:

For founders working to commercialize new tools, techniques or products that enable better research, detection, diagnosis, prevention, access, care delivery, treatment and/or offer a potential cure for any cancer. CDL Cancer will also accept technologies or platforms that improve patient quality of life during and after treatment. This stream is tailored towards early-stage companies (pre-seed to seed) or even projects (pre-incorporation); however, startups at all levels of maturity with cutting-edge technological innovations in the cancer space will be considered.

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Advanced Therapies Stream:

For founders solving biological, medical, and healthcare problems using cutting-edge therapeutics, including cell and gene therapies, biologics, drug-antibody conjugates, and other biological products. The Advanced Therapies Stream operates across three CDL sites (CDL-Toronto, CDL-Vancouver, and CDL-Wisconsin) and aims to accelerate the translation of science and technology innovations from across the therapeutic value chain.

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World Class Mentorship

CDL is a mentorship first program; participating ventures will have the opportunity to interact directly with CDL Mentors to identify and customize achievable but challenging, and most importantly relevant, practical objectives. CDL Mentors are the highest calibre resource for judgement; they have built significant technology companies themselves and / or contributed novel technical and scientific advancements, and are better positioned than anyone to help Venture Founders, who are trying to solve big problems, make meaningful progress in building a disruptive, scalable business. The CDL-Vancouver mentor group also boast many UBC and Sauder alumni, including, but not limited to, Paul Geyer (Fellow, BME), Ali Pejman (Associate, Compute), Jenny Yang (associate, Compute), Andrew Fursman (Fellow, Compute), Ali Tehrani (Fellow, Advanced Therapies), and Colin Harris (Fellow, Climate). CDL’s founder Ajay Agrawal completed his PhD at UBC Sauder (Professor, Rotman School of Management).

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The Role of UBC Students

The CDL Courses offer students at the undergraduate and graduate levels real-world exposure to high-potential deep tech science and technology start-ups in the process of rapid growth and investment, building on related coursework such as COMM 486J: Disruption, COMM 489: CDL Investment course, BAEN 507: Disruption, and BAEN 508: CDL Investment course, by providing them the opportunity to support the ventures with market analysis, strategic advice, financial analysis, and other core activities related to building early stage start-ups. Since 2016, over 500 students have participated in the courses at UBC. The CDL courses have provided a platform for undergraduate and graduate level students from across UBC faculties to develop market entry plans, investment memos, and early stage financing decks for local and international ventures. And now, students are tasked with allocating seed investment dollars into CDL ventures presenting their due diligence and memos to a panel of local venture capitalists in the process of investing real capital into startups. Students have invested over $200,000 into CDL ventures. The CDL courses provide experiential learning about start-up life.