{"id":642219,"date":"2026-10-26T23:10:19","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T23:10:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/642219\/"},"modified":"2026-10-26T23:10:19","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T23:10:19","slug":"entrepreneur-of-the-year-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/642219\/","title":{"rendered":"Entrepreneur of the Year 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2018, Canpac Marine\u2019s Ryan Anderson bought a struggling marine services business and transformed it into a tidal-sized enterprise generating over $45 million in revenue, making him this year\u2019s EY Entrepreneur of the Year Overall Pacific winner. Anthony von Mandl\u2014billionaire, Lifetime Achievement Award recipient and founder of the Mark Anthony Group of Companies<\/a>\u2014started just as modestly, launching his career as a wine merchant from a roughly 100-square-foot office next to Vancouver\u2019s Queen Elizabeth Theatre. And before Big Way Hot Pot became a cultural phenomenon\u2014with 25 locations across North America and projected sales of more than $100 million next fiscal year\u2014founders Jack Yao and Christiana Luo ran a coffee shop in Australia.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s EY Entrepreneur of the Year Pacific cohort<\/a> is anything but uni-dimensional. The 19 featured ventures run the gamut from a Thai spa chain and a men\u2019s health-optimization<\/a> platform to a world renowned Haida fashion designer and a neuroscience firm\u2014reflecting both the breadth of B.C.\u2019s emerging business landscape and the many different paths its founders and leaders take to build something lasting. If the class of 2026 proves anything, it\u2019s that entrepreneurship in British Columbia is getting harder to define, and is far more interesting because of it.<\/p>\n

Winners
\nRyan Anderson | CEO, Canpac Marine Services<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Jack Yao & Christiana Luo | Co-founders, Big Way Group<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Ian Mortimer | President & CEO, Xenon Pharmaceuticals<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Jared Atchison | Founder & CEO, Island Technical Installations (ITI)<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Brad Liski | Co-founder & CEO, Tru Earth Environmental Products<\/a><\/p>\n

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Finalists
\nMorgan Browne, Arlene Chiang & Michael Uy | Co-founders, Oakwyn Realty<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Aiman & Zak El-Ramly | Co-founders, ZE Power Engineering<\/a><\/p>\n

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Robert Boscacci (CEO) & Cameron Fleming (CIO) | Co-founders, HME Medical Distribution<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Ryan Brinkhurst | Founder & CEO, Beautifi<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Sean Merat | Co-founder & CEO, Owl.co<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Mohammad Doostmohammadi | Founder & CEO, pH7 Technologies<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Mat Rezaei & Ramin Behzadi | Co-founders, Upguys<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Eric Xie | Founder & CEO, Acrocargo Express<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Nuttha & Jacques Goutier | Co-founders & Co-CEOs, Sabai Thai Spa<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

David Gens | Founder & CEO, Merchant Growth<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Jessica Hu | Founder & CEO, GBM Health Holding<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Ryan Weymark | Co-founder & President, Fuse Advisors<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Special Citations
\nAnthony von Mandl | Founder & Chair, The Mark Anthony Group of Companies<\/a>
\nPacific Lifetime Achievement Award
\n\"\"Credit: James O\u2019Mara
\nDorothy Grant | Owner & Fashion Designer, Dorothy Grant Studio<\/a>
\nSocial Impact Entrepreneur
\n\"\"Credit: Reluctant Elder Photography<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"BCBusiness\"\/<\/p>\n

BCBusiness celebrates the bold ideas, fearless founders, innovative leaders and game-changing companies driving British Columbia\u2019s economy forward. We deliver insightful and impactful storytelling about the power players in B.C.\u2019s business community to a connected audience, all with a deep love of the place we call home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In 2018, Canpac Marine\u2019s Ryan Anderson bought a struggling marine services business and transformed it into a tidal-sized…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":642220,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[138,336,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-642219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entrepreneurship","tag-business","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=642219"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642219\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/642220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=642219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=642219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=642219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}