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Two Richmond companies get $4.7M in federal grants to spur growth

New technology could help reduce impact of mining on the environment.
ideon
Ideon Technologies’ Ryan Fearon deploying muon tomography sensor at Rio Tinto’s Bingham Canyon mine in Utah in 2024.

Minister of Emergency Preparedness and Pacific Economic Development Canada (PacifiCan), Harjit S. Sajjan, recently announced $4.7 million in funding for Richmond-based Ideon Technologies Inc. and Lucid Vision Labs.

The funding, from PacifiCan’s Business Scale-up and Productivity program, aims to help with local growth and global competition for both companies as well as generating revenue and exporting sales to create jobs.

“The projects announced today show that British Columbians have the technologies the world needs to reduce environmental impacts and accelerate advanced manufacturing. PacifiCan’s investment means these businesses can continue to grow locally, creating quality jobs here at home and competing on the world stage," Sajjan said.

Ideon Technologies Inc., a software company, is receiving $2.7 million from the government to commercialize its intelligence system, which will allow them to record geological features beneath the Earth’s surface.

The funding support will help expand production at the company and introduce their technology to new markets. By minimizing the use of invasive activity in their work, the company’s technology lowers the impact on the environment.

“PacifiCan’s $4.7 million investment will support high-quality jobs right here in Richmond and ensure these home-grown businesses can continue to flourish here in Canada and make their mark globally," said Parm Bains, member of Parliament for Steveston-Richmond East.

The $2 million funding to Lucid Vision Labs is provided to boost sales and expand manufacturing capacity for their machine vision cameras, which provide immediate feedback to automated systems to enhance performance and aid manufacturing.

The cameras can also be used in the pharmaceutical industry for cell imaging, detecting cell types, states and modifiers. 

The funding will help Lucid to purchase equipment to expand productivity and production.

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