BEST START UPS IN VANCOUVER

BEST START UP, 2ND PLACE 2023 

Vancouver Mysteries is thrilled to have placed second for Best Start Up in this year’s Best of Vancouver awards by the Georgia Straight.

LOCAL START UP, INNOVATIVE GROWTH

VANCOUVER MYSTERIES HISTORY

Vancouver Mysteries, Inc started in 2014 as a side hustle and partnership between Tanya Bennett, founder of the digital marketing brand Full Serve and Will Woods, owner of Forbidden Vancouver historical walking tours. Will Woods brought years of tourism experience and contacts plus experiences with finance to the company while Tanya brought experience in business operations and digital marketing to Vancouver Mysteries. For more information about Vancouver Mysteries origin story visit here.

INNOVATION & GROWTH

In 2019, Tanya bought Will’s shares in the company so she could focus all of her energy on Vancouver Mysteries full-time. She sold her digital marketing brand Full Serve, restructured the business, and adapted a portable escape room game licensed from an escape room company in Manhattan New York to fit the Vancouver Mysteries brand and business model. It was launched as a murder mystery set in a hotel: The Case of the Hotel Detective. This game can be brought to any location with at least one big table and some chairs: hotel suites, board rooms, offices, homes and party rooms. It can also be operated as a pop-up mystery at venues – The Case of the Hotel Detective has sold tickets for events at the Pangea Pod Hotel in Whistler BC and the Vancouver Lookout, offering players a 360 degree view 168 meters (553 feet) above downtown Vancouver while they play.

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

By the end of 2020, constantly changing health restrictions and an uncertain future led Tanya Bennett to bring in some virtual games from Cluetivity in Berlin, Germany and Funlabs in Melbourne Australia. Virtual games were a weatherproof and pandemic proof fun activity that worked very well for remote teams or friends/family who wanted to meet up online (from anywhere in the world!) By early 2021, Vancouver Mysteries had designed its first virtual game, Big Top Werewolf. Vancouver Mysteries virtual games are designed by the Vancouver Mysteries team using creativity, fun, tech and virtual meetings to provide the same five star experience as Vancouver Mysteries portable and outdoor games. By 2022, Vancouver Mysteries had launched two of its own virtual games: Big Top Werewolf and Super Trivia. In addition it had the exclusive rights to an online role-playing murder mystery game Black Skull, adapted to fit in the Vancouver Mysteries offerings from a game invented by an escape room owner in Edinburgh, Scotland. In November 2022, Vancouver Mysteries won a Business Distinction Award from the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade for its Digital Transformation.

Best of Vancouver

A big thank you to the Georgia Straight for continuing their longstanding tradition of The Best of Vancouver awards! Vancouver Mysteries is so happy to be recognized in the 27th year of this annual event. This contest is not only a great way to support and celebrate local businesses but also a way to send traffic to straight.com – the digital version of an important part of Vancouver culture and history that has been around since 1967.

We are in great company in the Best Start Up awards, with Vessi waterproof shoes in first place and Bowen Island’s eBike Rental Company Bowen eBikes in third place! Check out all of the Best of Vancouver winners in the Community category here: Best Start Up

(Vancouver Mysteries also won 1st place for Best Adventure Tour Company  category with Westcoast Adventures tours of Vancouver mountains, Tofino, Whistler and northern tours in 2nd place and bus tour company Landsea Tour & Adventures in 3rd place.

A NEW VANCOUVER MYSTERIES GAME IN 2023 – GHOST PATROL!

On April 29, 2023 Vancouver Mysteries launched it’s 5th outdoor mystery game in downtown Vancouver with the generous support of the  DowntownVan business improvement association. This game will be the featured game during the 2023 Halloween Mystery Nights running October 13 -31. It is also available for private bookings for special occasions and team building.

Vancouver Mysteries Experience Team [email protected] | 778-707-1962