Vancouver Startup Week is five days of sessions, workshops, pitch nights, and parties built to bring the startup community together. The best moments of the week blur together: a workshop that rewires how you think about your product, a conversation over lunch that turns into a partnership, and a founder sitting beside you who finally puts words to the problem you have been stuck on for months.
The energy spills into the neighbourhood around our Bentall Centre HQ. You look around and the city itself feels like it is leaning into the week. You see blue All-Access Passes on every block, and the VSW colours decorate Science World and Canada Place on opening night.
These moments are the connective tissue of Vancouver Startup Week. And this year, Downtown Van is making sure you have the perfect places to have them.
The Badge Pass Program
Vancouver Startup Week 2026 has partnered with Downtown Van to launch the Badge Pass Program. The concept is simple: show your VSW All-Access Pass at any of the six participating downtown businesses during the week of April 27 to May 1, and you unlock an exclusive deal.
Think of it as your All-Access Pass pulling double duty. It gets you into the sessions, workshops, and parties that make up VSW. And it gets you a warm welcome at the restaurants, pubs, and experiences that make up the neighborhood around them.
Six local businesses have signed on for the program, and each one brings something different to the table. Here is your guide to where to eat, drink, and explore downtown during startup week.
Wind Down After the Sessions
After a full afternoon of panels and workshops, you need somewhere to decompress. Somewhere with good drinks, good energy, and enough ambient noise that you can actually relax.
Donnellan's Irish Pub
Donnellan's is exactly that spot. An authentic Irish bar with live music and DJs every weekend, Donnellan's is known for pouring the best pint of Guinness in Vancouver. If you are hungry, Smashed runs their smash burger operation out of the kitchen, and the burgers are legitimately excellent. Show your All-Access Pass for 10% off your entire bill, food and drink included. The deal is redeemable once per day per guest and cannot be combined with other promotions.
The Pawn Shop YVR
If your post-session mood leans more toward tacos and tequila, The Pawn Shop YVR has you covered. This is a no dress code kind of place where vibrant graffiti art lines the walls and the menu is built around bold, Mexican-inspired dishes. The energy is lively, the cocktails are strong, and the vibe is loose, loud, and welcoming. Flash your All-Access Pass for 25% off your order, excluding happy hour items. It is the kind of deal that justifies ordering one more round of mezcal.
Sit Down and Have the Real Conversation
Some of the most important conversations of startup week need a proper table. The investor coffee that turns into lunch. The co-founder check-in that requires more than a hallway. The team dinner where you actually celebrate what you built this week.
Diva @ The Met
Diva @ The Met is a downtown institution for exactly these moments. With decades of hospitality experience, Diva blends global flavours with the bounty of British Columbia into a menu that is inventive without being fussy. The cocktail list is sharp, the service is warm, and the atmosphere walks the line between polished and relaxed. This is where you bring someone when you want the conversation to feel unhurried. All-Access Pass holders get 15% off all regularly priced food and beverage items. Happy Hour runs daily from 3:00 to 6:00 PM if you want to layer the savings.
Stock & Supply
Stock & Supply celebrates Vancouver through a dining experience built around curiosity and connection. Their signature Stock Boards combine local ingredients with bold, vibrant flavours, and the presentation is genuinely beautiful. The beverage list is exclusively local and handcrafted, which means you are drinking something made right here in BC. Show your pass for 15% off regular-priced menu items and non-alcoholic drinks. Cannot be combined with other promotions.
Desi Lounge
Desi Lounge brings premier Indian cuisine to the downtown core. Elegant appetizers, tandoori specials, classic curries, and a full lineup of vegetarian options make it one of the most versatile restaurants on this list. Whether you are grabbing a quick lunch between sessions or sitting down for a full dinner, the menu has range. And the Badge Pass deal is hard to beat: a complimentary dessert with your meal. Sometimes the sweetest part of the week is the most literal.
See the City From Above
You will spend most of startup week at street level, moving between venues and coffee shops and event spaces. Take an hour, step back, and see the whole thing from a different angle.
Vancouver Lookout
Vancouver Lookout is the city's only observation deck, and it offers a perspective you genuinely cannot get anywhere else. The mountains, the harbour, the skyline, the full sweep of the city where you are building your company and your community. It is the kind of view that resets your headspace midweek, when the schedule starts to blur and you need a reminder of why you chose to build here. All-Access Pass holders get $5.00 off adult and senior tickets.
There is something grounding about seeing the city laid out below you during a week that moves this fast. Call it a mental health break with a view.
The Neighborhood Is Part of the Story
The ecosystem that supports founders in this city extends well beyond the event stages and workshop rooms. It includes the restaurants where you have your first meeting with a potential co-founder, the pubs where you celebrate a closed round, and the local businesses that show up for the community in ways big and small.
The Badge Pass Program is a perfect example of that. Six downtown businesses decided to open their doors a little wider for the startup community this week. They are offering real deals to real people building real things. And in a week that is all about connection, having great places to gather makes everything else work better.
So grab your All-Access Pass, pick a spot from this list, and go have one of those conversations that you will still be thinking about months from now. The sessions will give you the knowledge. Downtown Van will give you the place to put it to use.
VSW 2026 runs April 27 to May 1. Grab your All-Access Pass and explore the full schedule at www.vanstartupweek.ca.
