These small-town B.C. companies are quietly building the big future of AI

4AG Robotics, Salmon Arm

Growing mushrooms may seem simple, but harvesting them is more time-intensive than you might think. The crop increases by 4 percent every hour and needs to be picked 365 days of the year—that constant, physically demanding work often results in high turnover rates. With labour shortages putting strain on food systems, one Salmon Arm–based startup is offering a solution.

Meet 4AG Robotics, the first company in the world to use AI-powered, vision-guided robots that harvest, trim and pack mushrooms at commercial scale—working 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The result: consistent mushroom quality, higher yields and predictable supply for mushroom farms globally.

4AG’s robots are directly sold to mushroom farms; the company has deployed them all over North America, Europe and Oceania. Backed by $40 million in  Series B financing and grants from PacifiCan and the B.C. Centre for Agritech Innovation, their momentum is steadily growing.

A.I. Launchpad, Nelson

When Stephen Harris first came across ChatGPT, he saw how it could transform small-town businesses. Tasks like analytics and content creation were suddenly within reach of everyday entrepreneurs.

“I have a soft spot for the entrepreneurs behind businesses, grinding it out to survive,” Harris says. After launching ventures in social media and real estate development, he founded Nelson-based A.I. Launchpad in 2024 to help small businesses harness AI tools.

Harris moved to the West Kootenays in 1995 to ski for a winter—and never left. He was drawn to Nelson’s mix of world-class talent and lifestyle enthusiasts. Now, his “side-of-desk, solo-funded” project teaches owners how to save time and money by letting AI handle the heavy lifting.

While hard to quantify, he estimates clients save over $10,000 by reducing outsourcing costs and avoiding costly HR issues. His clients include the City of Nelson and Whitewater Ski Resort, eager to use AI for efficiency and growth.

In a town where everyone knows everyone, word spread fast. Harris’s work has reached retailers, tourism operators and financial firms alike.

In true small-town spirit, Harris quips, “If I don’t know you directly, I know your brother, your lawyer or your running buddy.”

Sparkgeo, Prince George

Launched in 2010 in B.C.’s northern community of Prince George, Sparkgeo uses satellite imagery, AI and spatial analytics to turn environmental data into insight. “Location-based technology acts as the digital mirror of our planet’s changing geography,” shares Will Cadell, the company’s founder.

Sparkgeo creates geospatial tools for everyday users and experts—from lap tracking in fitness apps used by hundreds of millions to mapping technology for major social platforms to monitoring the global health of coral reefs. Plus, the company has partnered with global organizations like the World Wildlife Fund and Wildlife Conservation Society to support climate resilience. While his fully remote team has appeared in GeoAwesome’s Global Top 100 Geospatial Companies in 2025 list, Cadell says the best recognition he’s received is the customer support that has allowed him to be in business for 15 years.

As a self-described “accidental adventurer [who] talks too much,” Cadell is focused on working with his team toward their next groundbreaking goal: creating software that can interpret the mass of satellite data—a challenge that Cadell says now defines earth observation more even than launching those satellites.