One Year After Exposing Canada's Lab Culture Crisis, PositionScale Joins Vancouver50

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

VANCOUVER, BC, May 19, 2026 — PositionScale, the research services and software company helping Canadian university labs operate smarter and mentor better, has been named to ScaleUp Canada's Vancouver50 list for 2026. The recognition arrives thirteen months after the company's launch, which was anchored by a national report exposing widespread mentorship gaps, training deficits, and toxic lab cultures across Canadian academic research.

That report, the 2025 National Research Experience Report, found that nearly 28% of Canadian researchers operate in unsupportive or toxic lab environments, over one-third experience insufficient mentorship, and nearly half identified substantial gaps in training across experimental methods, data analysis, and scientific writing. The findings landed during a period of growing global scrutiny of academic working conditions, following a widely circulated DW Documentary and emerging stories of burnout and systemic dysfunction in university labs worldwide.

In the year since, PositionScale has built and launched a software platform now available to Principal Investigators, graduate researchers, and institutions across Canada. The platform delivers AI-enabled research operations, mentorship, and training support, addressing the same gaps the company's 2025 report brought to light. PositionScale is currently running four pilot projects supporting approximately thirty graduate researchers across multiple Canadian institutions, with selection to Vancouver50 positioning the company for its next phase of growth, including expanded institutional partnerships and a planned investment round.

Vancouver50 is run by ScaleUp Canada, a national initiative working to position Canada as a world-class source of innovation. The program serves as an investor showcase designed to connect high-potential ventures with the capital and strategic partners needed to scale globally, with a stated goal of raising $100 million for the region's most promising companies. Selection is stage and sector agnostic, with criteria centered on Canadian-made innovation, environmental or health impact, and economic contribution to the region.

"Academic research is one of the most consequential and least supported sectors in the Canadian innovation economy," said Maninder Dhaliwal, Founding Chair of ScaleUp Canada. "The infrastructure around how research actually gets done has been overlooked for decades. PositionScale is one of the few companies attacking that gap with technology that can scale, and that is exactly the kind of venture Vancouver50 exists to elevate."

"A year ago we published findings that confirmed what every researcher already knew, which is that the system supporting Canadian labs is broken in ways that hurt both people and outcomes," said Dr. Negin Kazemian, Founder and Director of Research at PositionScale. "Since then we have built and launched a software platform that gives Principal Investigators, graduate researchers, and institutions the tools to actually fix it. Being named to Vancouver50 is a signal that this work matters beyond academia, and it gives us a stronger platform to reach the labs, institutions, and investors who can help us scale the solution."

About PositionScale

PositionScale is a research services and software company helping university labs operate smarter, mentor better, and achieve more. Built by researchers, for researchers, the company's AI-enabled platform supports Principal Investigators, graduate researchers, and institutions in managing people, projects, mentorship, and compliance more effectively. PositionScale empowers academic teams to improve culture, reduce inefficiencies, and unlock the full potential of their research environments.

About Vancouver50

Vancouver50 is an annual investor showcase produced by ScaleUp Canada, highlighting 50 of the most scalable startups across the Greater Vancouver region. The program connects selected ventures with investors and strategic customers at a global scale, with the goal of raising $100 million in growth capital for the regional innovation economy. Learn more at scaleupcanada.org/vancouver50.

Contact Information

Reuben Mann
Strategic Advisor
PositionScale
+1 (778) 818-0180

Negin Kazemian, PhD
Founder and Director of Research
PositionScale
+1 (250) 859-1546