Three Canadian quantum frontrunners have been chosen to participate in the first round of a United States (US) military-supported research program aiming to build a usable quantum computer by 2033. 

“We are really simplifying the stack that brings a faster development roadmap toward a quantum computer.”

Julien Camirand Lemyre

Toronto-based Xanadu, Vancouver-based Photonic, and Sherbrooke, Que.-based Nord Quantique are all part of Stage A of the Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI), a program run by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), a research and development agency of the United States Department of Defense. They are jockeying for up to $316 million USD ($445 million CAD) in funding if they can show they can develop a fault-tolerant quantum computer that works.

The companies chosen by DARPA for the program’s first phase, which include US juggernauts Hewlett Packard Enterprise and IBM, have all charted different paths to developing a quantum computer. Xanadu focuses on photonic quantum computing and claimed this year to have solved scalability through networking quantum computers together. Photonic develops silicon spin qubits that it networks together, and Nord Quantique works on superconducting qubits with a special type of error correction at the qubit level. Qubits are the basic programming units of quantum computing.

Nord Quantique CEO Julien Camirand Lemyre said in an interview with BetaKit that he thinks his company will excel in the program because it is differentiated in the market due to its error-correction technology, one of the key frustrations in quantum computing.

“We are really simplifying the stack that brings a faster development roadmap toward a quantum computer,” Lemyre said.

RELATED: How meaningful is D-Wave’s claim to quantum supremacy?

The QBI program aims to accelerate the timeline toward a commercially usable quantum computer, as the subject has led to market volatility in the sector and debate among quantum leaders. Experts have placed estimates anywhere from five to 20 years from now. 

The QBI program began as a pilot project involving Microsoft and Palo Alto, Calif.-based PsiQuantum. DARPA is responsible for technological innovations to be used by the US military, and has contributed to key milestones such as the graphical user interface, a cognitive assistant that later became Apple’s Siri, and the Internet itself. The agency has also developed lethal weapons to be used by the US armed forces, including a self-guiding bullet and killer robots. 

Eighteen companies (15 of which have been revealed so far) were chosen for Stage A, where each is awarded $1 million USD to conceptualize a utility-scale quantum computer. 

Those that make it to the next level, Stage B, will receive up to $15 million USD towards a research and development plan. Lemyre told BetaKit that participants would be required to supply $20 million USD of their own funding in this phase. Nord Quantique is actively looking for Canadian defence stakeholders, such as venture capital or government, to invest, he said. 

RELATED: Kensington acquires One9 to establish a defence tech VC platform

Any companies that reach Stage C will work with the US government to “verify and validate” a usable quantum computer design, according to the QBI website. They will also hit the jackpot of up to $300 million USD in funding.

The Canadian participation in this program comes amid increasing tensions between the US and Canada due to an ongoing trade war. At the same time, investors have ramped up interest in defence technology, and global military spending has hit record highs. 

When asked whether he has concerns about Canadian innovation being used by the US military, Cadieux said, “Not at this point.” He added that he sees DARPA’s program as support from the US for developing quantum technology in Canada. 

Despite the DARPA funding, Lemyre told BetaKit that the intellectual property (IP) of developments made during Stage A will remain with the participating company. However, he said that DARPA has not provided further details on what this will look like for future phases. 

A document on the QBI website states that with regard to general-purpose IP rights, “Each agreement will be negotiated separately and to the mutual benefit of both parties.”

Feature image courtesy IBM.

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Vancouver-based identity verification platform Trulioo has appointed former Nuvei executive Vicky Bindra as its new CEO, succeeding outgoing leader Steve Munford as he moves into retirement.

Bindra brings experience in senior executive positions at financial giants such as Mastercard and Visa, and most recently served as chief operating and product officer at Montréal-based payments company Nuvei. Trulioo said that Munford will be working closely with Bindra to ensure a smooth transition.

“His deep industry expertise and visionary leadership make him the ideal executive to drive the next phase of innovation and expansion for Trulioo,” Munford said in a statement. “Vicky’s passion for building products and his deep understanding of payments and marketplaces will be instrumental in shaping the future of Trulioo.”

Bindra joined Nuvei as part of a C-suite expansion in 2022 and, according to his LinkedIn, departed this past December shortly after the FinTech company was taken private by American private equity firm Advent International.

At Trulioo, Bindra’s focus will be on accelerating the company’s product innovation and enhancing its global reach, he said in a statement. 

“While the regulatory environment and technological enhancements are challenging businesses to onboard and manage customers and transactions safely, there is a need to improve speed and reduce friction and complexity,” Bindra said. “I look forward to working with the talented team at Trulioo to advance the company’s position as The World’s Identity Platform.”

Founded in 2011, Trulioo’s digital platform is meant to help companies verify identities, comply with know-your-customer regulations, and prevent fraud. The company claims it covers 195 countries and checks against more than 6,000 watchlists.

Munford is retiring after leading the company for just over five years. He took on the CEO post from Trulioo co-founder Stephen Ufford in March 2020, when he moved to chair Trulioo’s board. Trulioo said the company strengthened its global presence, expanded its product offerings, and tripled its revenue during Munford’s five years at the helm. The company also became a unicorn under his watch, when it secured a $476-million CAD Series D round at a $2billion CAD valuation in 2021. 

Feature image courtesy Trulioo. 

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Montreal-based healthtech startup Vopemed (previously known as Vope Medical) has obtained $2.29 million CAD in pre-seed funding to back development and clinical testing for Claris, its AI-driven software for enhancing surgery visualization.

Montreal’s Genson Capital led the round with a $1.5-million investment. Investissement Québec (IQ) provided an additional $750,000. The technology could “significantly improve” surgery efficiency and precision, and makes Vopemed “well-positioned to make a lasting impact,” according to Genson’s Jacques Courtois.

This funding validates the need for enhanced surgical visualization and reinforces our mission to bring AI-powered image enhancement into every operating room.

Amy Lorincz
Vopemed

Claris aims to upgrade video feed quality for laparoscopic surgeries, which are done with a small incision and a camera-equipped tube, and robot-aided procedures. 

Vopemed CEO Amy Lorincz claims this will address “persistent visibility challenges” with minimally invasive surgeries. This theoretically allows for safer and more precise operations. BetaKit has asked for more details of how the technology works.

“This funding validates the need for enhanced surgical visualization and reinforces our mission to bring AI-powered image enhancement into every operating room,” Lorincz said in a statement.

Vopemed plans to use the funding to speed up both the development and clinical validation processes. This includes expanding research and development, widening the software’s use to more clinical applications, and forging stronger relationships with hospitals and individual surgical teams.

Genson has made previous investments in Montreal-area healthtech startups, including regenerative therapy creator Neurenati and stem cell therapy firm Morphocell. The city has also raised its profile through companies like Eli Health, whose at-home hormone measurement technology won a CES 2025 award for innovation.

RELATED: Montréal healthtech startup with transatlantic ties raises $43 million CAD for RNA-based cancer immunotherapies

IQ has made a number of substantial healthcare investments in recent months. It participated in a $43-million funding round for cancer immunotherapy startup Epitopea, while health-oriented VC firm Glen Ventures received $5 million from an IQ-managed fund bankrolled by Québec’s Ministry of Economy, Innovation, and Energy.

There is additional pressure to develop more homegrown and locally managed technology in light of US tariffs. While growing companies like Toronto’s PocketHealth have received expanded funding in the past year, international giants like AstraZeneca have swooped in to acquire Canadian brands.

Image courtesy Jafar Ahmed via Unsplash.

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When Akshay Singh first started filing his taxes after university, everything was simple.

But after marriage and kids, life got more complex and his tax equations grew more complex and daunting too. The once straightforward paperwork evolved into what felt like an overwhelming challenge, filled with new deductions and credits that were difficult to navigate.

“Over time, I totally lost the confidence to file my own taxes,” Singh said. 

“It’s a challenge, a huge opportunity, and a great learning journey.”

Akshay Singh, Intuit

Today, Singh is an Engineering Group Manager at Intuit.

Intuit’s AI-driven expert platform powers TurboTax, Credit Karma, QuickBooks, and Mailchimp, which are used by approximately 100 million people and businesses around the world.

From that vantage point, Singh has seen firsthand how many people struggle with the same uncertainty, and now he has the opportunity to improve the technology that helps people file taxes, manage payroll, track business expenses, and more. 

For decades, Intuit’s do-it-yourself financial technology made tax filing easier for those with simple returns. But for people like Singh with more complex situations that could benefit from additional guidance from a financial expert, the company knew it had to find an effortless way to connect people to the expertise they needed, and help them feel more confident in their finances.

Enter Intuit’s Virtual Expert Platform (VEP): a capability that combines AI, expert advice, and a decades-long understanding of customer needs.

With VEP, Intuit doesn’t have to wait for customers to ask for help while using their platform. Instead, it is able to anticipate their needs and proactively offer solutions, through a unique hybrid of AI and human expertise. The platform uses AI to connect people with the right tax or bookkeeping expertise when they need help, making expert support faster and more accessible.

Intuit is further enhancing its platform through an increased focus on delivering “done-for-you” agentic AI experiences, where the company automates tasks, end-to-end workflows, and entire functions, and connects customers to one of its more than 12,000 AI-enabled human experts for that last mile or to complete all of the work. 

Intuit automatically uploads data the customer has connected, saving experts from manual data entry and searching various forums for customer details to make the first interaction a standout experience. 

Intuit’s experts can complete the customer’s tax return in as little as two hours, offering proactive and personalized assistance, and providing opportunities for customers to access their money instantly.

“Taxes and finances are complicated, and our customers want expert help without the hassle,” said Shilpa Reddy, who leads the VEP as Vice President at Intuit. “Our platform helps customers get the right level of expertise, whether from AI or a human expert, so they can maximize their money with less effort and greater confidence.”

A chance for true ownership

The Intuit engineers who work on VEP were drawn to this work for different reasons. 

Singh was drawn in by the appeal of the problem itself, and the chance to build technology that is used by millions of people each year.

Nicholas Yee, on the other hand, was drawn by the potential of building something foundational for a company like Intuit, in the heart of Toronto’s tech scene. Yee, who had previously worked in banking, startups, and scale-ups, saw VEP as an opportunity to work with AI and shape a team and product from the ground up. Today, he is a Senior Software Engineering Manager with the VEP team.

“I was excited to be part of a growth organization and get to help build out a team, build out a culture, and do that in Toronto,” Yee said.

When he joined, his focus was on finding people eager to push AI forward and experiment quickly. He wanted to shape the product, test ideas with real users, and make decisions that directly impact how millions of people access financial help. At Intuit, that’s exactly what he found.

“One of the things about my team is that we’re told to be experimental, to try things out,” Yee said​. “I thought that was a great opportunity, since it allowed us to work at the speed of a startup, with the scale of a globally trusted brand.”

Experiments at Intuit are driven by data. Behind the scenes, teams analyze real-time customer interactions to identify the next problem to tackle and where AI can make the biggest impact.

The system behind VEP evaluates availability, expertise, and urgency before routing a case. If AI can resolve the issue, it steps in. If not, VEP escalates the request, connecting the customer to a tax or bookkeeping professional instantly. AI also enhances the expert experience by providing relevant insights and support to improve interactions with customers.

AI plays a role in the process, but it doesn’t replace the human connection that expertise depends on. “We are building so that humans will always be in the loop in the way we think about AI,” Reddy added.

This interplay between machine learning and human support is the heart of the VEP model. Intuit wanted to build a system that could predict customer intent, and surface the right kind of support, whether that is AI-driven assistance or access to real human expertise.

“We’ve been able to build AI-powered features to help our experts focus on the conversation with the customer by automating tasks like note-taking, searching for relevant resources that they can share with the customer, or even making recommendations on the best way to solve the customer’s issue. Our goal is to ensure that our experts have all the tools they need to provide the best customer experience,” Yee added.

For engineers, working on something like Intuit’s Virtual Expert Platform is a rare challenge. The stakes are high, the scale is massive, and the impact is immediate. 

A culture of experimentation

Experimentation has shaped Intuit’s approach to product development from the start. In 1983, co-founder Scott Cook launched “Follow-Me-Homes,” a practice where engineers observe real customers using the software in their own environments. The idea was simple: watch, listen, and learn, rather than assume. 

“We as engineers actually get to see experts using the product, which is a very unique opportunity,” Yee added. “These are also really insightful. Hearing what they like, what they don’t like, and seeing what their experience is like—it really helps me get a better understanding of the customer.”

Follow-Me-Homes continue decades later alongside Intuit’s Design for Delight framework, ensuring teams replace guesswork with firsthand insight. Intuit employees—not just engineers or designers—have access to training on design thinking as part of the company’s focus on customer-driven innovation. 

Engineers are also embedded with product teams and designers to make decisions that define how financial expertise is delivered. This requires strategic thinking about AI, including how the platform analyzes customer queries to understand their intent.

Singh sees this evolution in AI’s abilities as foundational to the bigger opportunities ahead.

“We are really excited and deeply invested in making more AI-native experiences,” he said. “We’ve been investing in AI for more than a decade, and even with the experiences that are serving users today, we are getting an opportunity to rethink them in a new way.”

The team is still experimenting, refining, and figuring out how to push the platform forward. For Singh, that’s what makes the work exciting.

“It’s a challenge, a huge opportunity, and a great learning journey,” he said.

---

Intuit is building the future of AI-driven expertise and is looking for engineers to help shape it. Explore opportunities on Intuit’s career site.

All photos provided by Intuit.

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Toronto-based corporate card and expense management technology startup Float has rolled out a new foreign exchange (FX) product aimed at helping its business clients convert between currencies more easily and cost effectively as they contend with the fallout from the Canada-United States (US) trade war.

“In moments of weakness, saving money becomes really important.”

Float FX will allow Canadian companies using the startup’s business finance software platform to convert funds from CAD to USD and vice versa for a 0.25-percent fee. This is a 90-percent discount compared to some of the major Canadian banks, which can charge approximately 2.5 percent for currency exchange.

In an interview with BetaKit, Float chief financial services officer Andrew Dale said that while moving into FX was always part of Float’s roadmap, the company decided to prioritize the launch of Float FX in response to feedback from customers facing financial strain due to increased currency volatility and rising cross-border costs amid trade tensions.

“What we’ve been hearing from Canadian businesses is, ‘Allow us to save money on US dollar-related stuff faster and sooner,’” Dale said.

Founded in 2019, Float aims to simplify spending for Canadian companies. The startup’s flagship business finance platform combines corporate cards with spending management software, giving finance teams real-time visibility into business spending as well as the capacity to spend, track, approve, and reconcile expenses. 

Float caters largely to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) left underserved by banks and legacy solutions. Today, the startup serves over 4,000 Canadian companies, including Ada, Clutch, Cohere, Knix, and Jane App.

RELATED: Float raises $70-million Series B led by Goldman Sachs

Earlier this year, Float closed $70 million CAD in Series B funding led by Goldman Sachs to broaden its suite of products and financial services for Canadian businesses. This round came less than 12 months after the startup secured a $50-million credit facility from Silicon Valley Bank to grow its corporate credit offering.

“We’ve launched products that help our customers access more capital, access credit, streamline and automate their financial operations, [and] pay different types of bills on Float,” Float co-founder and CEO Rob Khazzam told BetaKit. “FX is a really unique opportunity now to offer them something through Float that puts more money in their pocket.”

Float claims it is able to offer such low FX rates in-house thanks to the size of its customer base compared to other FinTech startups and the fact that it is a registered money services business, which means it does not need to pay for a third-party FX provider. Dale said that Float’s scale, which includes a large amount of customers spending and loading both Canadian and US dollars in Float, enables the startup to match those currencies to each other for FX purposes.

Dale noted that the Canadian dollar has been weak compared to the US dollar lately thanks to tariffs and uncertainty, adding that, “In moments of weakness, saving money becomes really important.”

RELATED: Canadian founders face rising costs, wasted time ahead of trade war escalation

Float’s February survey of 400 Canadian SMBs found that 65 percent expect to be impacted by US tariffs. Companies surveyed expressed the greatest concern about increased costs when exporting to the US, currency fluctuations, and higher prices from US suppliers.

Float FX is part of a broader package of products that the startup has been developing to help Canadian businesses with any degree of US operations save some cash and protect their margins “at a time when every dollar counts.”

This includes Float’s flagship high-yield account product as well as the abilities to manage USD and CAD balances without a US-domiciled account, issue USD cards, pay US vendors via wire or ACH (a type of electronic bank-to-bank payment used in the US), and reimburse US employees within Float.

“We’re launching [these capabilities] sooner than we had expected, and part of that is a real recognition at Float that this is a unique window right now,” Khazzam said.

Feature image courtesy Float.

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Canada appears to have escaped the worst of the United States’ (US) latest and most dramatic round of tariffs yet, but Canadian entrepreneurs are still feeling the impact of ongoing trade uncertainty. 

US President Donald Trump announced what he called “reciprocal” tariffs on more than 60 countries in front of a crowd at the White House Rose Garden this evening, but Canada and Mexico were notably absent from the list.   

The sweeping tariffs are on all imports to the US, except those compliant with the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) free trade treaty, according to a White House fact sheet. Non-compliant Canadian goods will continue to be charged at a 25-percent rate while non-compliant energy and potash will see a 10-percent tariff. 

In other words, these tariffs are a continuation of what the US instituted toward Canada last month, which the US portrayed as part of an effort to curb perceived cross-border fentanyl smuggling. These tariffs initially affected all imported Canadian goods, but after negotiations, were revised to exclude CUSMA-compliant goods. That exclusion was set to expire today, but is now continuing. 

“Canadian businesses can breathe a little easier for now.”

Startup Canada

Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI) president Ben Bergen told BetaKit that Trump’s announcement “changes nothing” for Canada’s fundamental trade situation with the US. Bergen added that Canada’s trade strategy has bet on stability with the US for too long, and that after months of trade turbulence, Canada needs a “bold, modern economic strategy.” 

“What’s needed now is a focused, forward-looking industrial policy: one that supports Canadian firms, drives investment toward high-value sectors, and deploys procurement as a strategic tool,” Bergen said.

Startup Canada posted on LinkedIn that while the new tariffs are impacting global trade, “Canadian businesses can breathe a little easier for now.”

The fact sheet goes on to say that, in the event the current tariff orders against Canada are terminated, CUSMA-compliant goods would “continue to receive preferential treatment,” while non-CUSMA compliant goods would be subject to a 12-percent tariff.

Trump also announced that all foreign automobiles imported into the US would be subject to a 25-percent tariff, though it is currently unclear how the renewed exemption for CUSMA-compliant goods will impact this. Trump also signed an order to close the de minimis trade exemption on May 2, seemingly for good this time, after pausing the exemption in February backed up inbound packages at US customs. The de minimis exemption allows shipments into the US under $800 to cross the border duty-free. Chinese marketplaces like Temu and Shein heavily rely on the exemption, but it also affected the direct-to-consume sales of Canadian goods producers like SRTX, the maker of Sheertex tights.

Following Trump’s announcement, Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters that Trump’s measures are “going to fundamentally change the international trading system,” but that a number of important elements of the Canada-US relationship were preserved despite many tariffs remaining in place.

“As of this evening, the tariffs on automobiles will enter into force, and the US has signalled that there will be additional tariffs in so-called strategic sectors: pharmaceuticals, lumber, and semiconductors,” Carney said. “We are going to fight these tariffs with countermeasures, we are going to protect our workers, and we are going to build the strongest economy in the G7.”

Carney announced in a press conference following publication that Canada is implementing a  25 percent counter-tariff on vehicles imported from the US that are not compliant with CUSMA.

Uncertainty continues for entrepreneurs

Global markets reacted dramatically the day after Trump’s tariff action, with indices such as the S&P 500 falling 4.3 percent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 3.4 percent, and the Nasdaq Composite falling 5.5 percent as of 2:30 PM on April 3. 

While Canada seems to have escaped the worst of the action, the ongoing uncertainty was already making it harder to plan and adding costs for entrepreneurs, founders told BetaKit. More than three-quarters of Canadian startups said they were impacted directly or indirectly by the tariffs, according to a survey released last week from tech hubs MaRS and Communitech. Forty-one percent said their 2025 revenue could drop, and 11 percent said they planned to cut staff due to the trade war.

The impacts of the trade war saw Montréal-based payments company Lightspeed Commerce pull back its revenue outlook for its 2025 fiscal year from a 20-percent to an 18-percent year-over-year gain, citing “several macroeconomic conditions” that had deteriorated. CEO Dax Dasilva told BetaKit that tariffs and trade wars “certainly play a role” in creating uncertainty in the market.

If times weren’t uncertain enough, the US senate passed a resolution last night, with limited support from Republicans, to terminate the national emergency Trump declared to justify the tariffs on Canada. The resolution is set to be sent to the Republican-controlled US House of Representatives, where it will likely die.  

RELATED: Canadian founders face rising costs, wasted time ahead of trade war escalation

The top concerns of startups surveyed by MaRS and Communitech were raising capital in this environment, go-to-market execution, and accessing customers. Among their demands were increased funding for business support programs and increased government procurement of Canadian products.

At the announcement, Trump still voiced his displeasure with Canada’s supply management system, a national policy framework that controls the supply of agricultural products. Carney said earlier today that supply management was “off the table” in any future negotiation with the US.  

Trump claimed the broadly applied tariffs, which he called “reciprocal,” were individually calculated to determine the monetary and non-monetary measures that other countries imposed on US imports, then cut in half to “be kind.” Affected countries include China, with a tariff of 34 percent, the United Kingdom at 10 percent, and India at 26 percent. 

The White House has been calling today “Liberation Day” in the weeks leading up to this latest round of so-called “reciprocal” tariffs against target countries, whether “friend or foe,” —all with the aim to “Make America Wealthy Again.” Trump said the goal of the tariffs is to bring the manufacturing of goods like automobiles and semiconductors back to the US. 

UPDATE (04/03/2025): This story has been updated with information following the tariff announcement, including the de minimis exemption, as well as government and market reaction.

Feature image courtesy Daniel Torok via Wikimedia Commons.

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Richmond, BC-based General Fusion has tapped a well-known private space industry  leader to guide its efforts to commercialize fusion reactors.

The company is enlisting Bob Smith, the former CEO of Jeff Bezos’s spaceflight company Blue Origin, as a strategic advisor. He will help shape General Fusion’s “technology development and strategic growth,” according to a company statement.

Smith stated he believed fusion would represent the “last energy source humanity will ever need.” 

Before Blue Origin, Smith held leadership positions at aerospace and science companies including United Space Alliance, Sandia Labs, and Honeywell. That experience with cutting-edge technology will be “invaluable” as General Fusion moves toward supplying power by the mid-2030s, claimed CEO Greg Twinney.

Smith stated he had been tracking fusion energy development “closely” during his career, and believed that the technology would represent the “last energy source humanity will ever need.” He also saw fusion as key to reducing carbon emissions and dealing with the “worst consequences of climate change.”

General Fusion started operations at its Lawson Machine 26 (LM26) technology demonstrator in March. Where most fusion energy projects use lasers or superconducting magnets to generate fusion-encouraging plasma for as long as possible, General Fusion is counting on a concept known as magnetized target fusion. If successful, this will use mechanical compression to produce fusion in short pulses, which the company claims will help keep costs low and eventually allow reactors to be located closer to the cities they will serve.

RELATED: General Fusion takes major step in quest for Canadian fusion reactors

Smith left Blue Origin in September 2023 amid concerns the company wasn’t progressing as quickly as its main rival, Elon Musk’s SpaceX. While Blue Origin accomplished multiple goals during Smith’s tenure, such as launching its first crewed mission in 2021, its New Glenn heavy lifting rocket didn’t launch until January 2025. That’s years behind SpaceX, which first launched Falcon Heavy in 2018.

The company still has multiple milestones to reach before its fusion technique is practical, including reaching a “scientific breakeven equivalent” temperature where the energy output is equal to the necessary heating. It also has yet to outline how it will incorporate the technology into working power plants.

General Fusion has raised $440 million CAD so far through public and private channels, with $69 million of that coming through the Canadian government’s Strategic Innovation Fund. In March, Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson characterized the company as a “powerful innovator” that maintained Canada’s reputation for spearheading nuclear science.

Former Blue Origin CEO Bob Smith. Image courtesy of General Fusion.

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So-called Liberation Day is here, and one thing is certain: Canadian businesses can’t say for sure what tariffs await them. 

The last three months have felt like endless whiplash for Canada, which has been caught in a trade war with an unpredictable United States (US) administration. Since taking office, US President Donald Trump has threatened 25-percent blanket tariffs on Canadian imports, agreed to a month-long détente, slapped duties on Canadian steel and aluminum, and then again delayed tariffs on Canadian goods covered under the 2020 Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA)—which was negotiated by Trump himself.

“Nothing hurts business more than ‘wait and see.'”

Jean-Simon Fortin
Paperplane Therapeutics

The ongoing uncertainty has had both direct and knock-on effects on Canadian businesses, which have been left struggling to strategize, devoting energy to hypotheticals, and facing rising costs. More than three-quarters of Canadian startups said they were impacted directly or indirectly by the tariffs, according to a survey by tech hubs MaRS and Communitech. Eleven percent said they planned to cut staff due to the trade war.

On Wednesday, the US is expected to impose between 20 and 25 percent tariffs on the remaining Canadian goods covered by the free trade agreement, as part of a broader protectionist policy rollout. But given past behaviour, what will come down the pipeline is anyone’s guess—and Canadian founders may have to redraw plans accordingly.  

Back to the drawing board

For Canadian entrepreneurs, uncertainty is manifesting in myriad ways, reflecting the widespread economic reverberations of the trade war. One founder told BetaKit last month that after Trump delayed tariffs on some Canadian goods, the constant back-and-forth made it “impossible to plan.” Another called it “exhausting.”

Paperplane Therapeutics, a Montréal-based software healthtech company, is in a similar boat. Paperplane ships US hardware into Canada to install its virtual-reality software. Tariffs are causing supply chain “logistical headaches” that make long-term planning difficult, according to CEO Jean-Simon Fortin. 

“While it’s possible to plan, it’s a huge drain on time and resources—and it creates a climate where hesitation and paralysis become the default,” Fortin told BetaKit. “Nothing hurts business more than ‘wait and see.’”

RELATED: How is Canadian tech responding to the trade war?

One of the biggest challenges, Fortin said, is the added financial burden. Fortin has had to work with an import-export agency and pivot the company’s supply chain to find alternative distribution channels. 

“For us to maintain competitiveness, we need to eat the tariff costs.”

Josh Ogden
Aerial Vehicle Safety Solutions

Another Canadian software startup that ships hardware over the border says that there are no good resources describing how startups should deal with these circumstances, creating “a lot of extra work.” 

For Aerial Vehicle Safety Solutions (AVSS), a New-Brunswick-based company that manufactures components for commercial drones, uncertainty around tariffs is a drain on resources.

“We are wasting time bouncing tariff and standard pricing multiple times a week,” AVSS CEO Josh Ogden told BetaKit. “For us to maintain competitiveness, we need to eat the tariff costs.” 

Typically built on a stable relationship between the Canadian and US dollars, companies are also now confronting cross-border currency volatility. Early-stage telecom company Sweat Free Telecom says its biggest uncertainty is currency fluctuations, according to founder and CEO Chanakya Ramdev. The startup said that it is “hit twice as hard” by the weakening Canadian dollar, as it collects revenue in CAD but its billing costs are in USD.

And planning can only get a company so far in the face of an unpredictable administration. On The BetaKit Podcast in February, SRTX founder and CEO Katherine Homuth said that businesses should have plans “A through D” to deal with tariff uncertainty.

But the textile manufacturing startup, which produces its rip-resistant Sheertex tights in Canada, temporarily laid off 40 percent of its staff ahead of tariffs that it said could impose up to 41-percent duties on its product shipments into the US. Homuth said she would be stepping down last week as part of a condition on a crucial funding round, whose urgency was only accelerated by the trade war. 

RELATED: Government of Canada commits over $6 billion to help businesses weather trade war

To mitigate the trade war fallout, the federal government has rolled out a multibillion-dollar aid plan to support businesses. Though entrepreneurs have welcomed the initiative, some are advocating for targeted trade and procurement policies to protect the Canadian economy.

Startups surveyed by MaRS and Communitech are calling for increased funding for business support programs, increased government procurement of Canadian goods, and more support for diversifying away from US markets. Fortin told BetaKit that stronger trade agreements and more domestic procurement opportunities in Canada would help companies currently at the mercy of US trade policy. 

The Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI), an organization that represents Canadian scaleups, has been pushing for procurement reform since before the trade war began. It has argued for creating a federal target for small and medium-sized enterprise procurement targets. 

“Our proximity to the US was always viewed as our greatest strength. Those positive attributes are no longer there in the way they previously were,” Bergen said. “Making sure we have a business climate that is hypercompetitive is essential to our survival and success as a country.”

Feature image courtesy Harry Spink via Unsplash.

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Kraken has appointed Cynthia Del Pozo as the newest leader of its Canadian business and become the latest international cryptocurrency exchange to secure a restricted dealer licence in Canada. 

Del Pozo will lead Kraken’s next phase of growth across Canada, the San Francisco-based company said in a blog post, adding that she will strengthen the exchange’s regulatory, political and commercial relationships as it scales its presence across North America. Del Pozo is taking the place of Alex Mehrdad, who held the role for just over a year after taking the reins from Mark Greenberg when he was promoted to a global role in August. 

Kraken said it has enhanced its governance, security, and compliance protocols to “meet the highest industry standards.”

Mehrdad departed Kraken last month, according to his LinkedIn profile. A Kraken spokesperson told BetaKit in an email statement that Mehrdad played a major role in the process of securing the restricted dealer licence.

The spokesperson added that he departed to pursue new opportunities that “align more closely with his career focus,” and added that he will “always remain a Krakenite at heart.”

According to Del Pozo’s LinkedIn profile, she previously served as the CEO of Gemini Canada. Despite filing a pre-registration undertaking (PRU) to become a restricted dealer itself, Gemini, founded by billionaire twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, abruptly departed Canada alongside other exchanges last year after Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) announced tighter restrictions on crypto exchanges. 

“With nearly 15 years experience in corporate development, operations and fintech consulting, Cynthia is exceptionally well-equipped to lead Kraken’s expansion and engagement across Canada at this pivotal time for crypto’s evolution,” the blog post reads. 

Del Pozo is taking the lead on Kraken’s Canadian operations as it obtains its restricted dealer licence, something it has pursued since it entered a PRU with the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) in 2023, which granted it conditional approval to operate while pursuing the full registration. A restricted dealer is a special registration for firms that don’t fit under other categories like investments, mutual funds, or exempt markets, where securities regulators tailor the registration with specific requirements or conditions. 

RELATED: WonderFi and Kraken Canada each break $2-billion CAD mark for assets under custody

Kraken said the undertaking has enhanced its governance, security, and compliance protocols to “meet the highest industry standards.” 

“This foundation supports our vision of expanding product access, improving user experience, and contributing to the evolution of a secure and innovative digital asset environment in Canada,” the Kraken spokesperson told BetaKit.

Kraken’s Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) ruling, filed under its parent company name Payward, lays out the exchange’s commitments such as know-your-customer rules, anti-money laundering measures, and regular transaction reports to the regulator. Kraken secured its licence almost exactly one year after cryptocurrency giant Coinbase became the first international crypto exchange to register as a restricted dealer in Canada. 

According to its OSC filing, Kraken intends to apply for registration as an investment dealer, seek membership with the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO), and to seek approval to operate an alternative trading system. Montréal-based crypto platform Shakepay became a CIRO member earlier this year, providing its customers with protections such as compliance oversight and capital adequacy. The Kraken spokesperson said that becoming a CIRO member is a “top priority” that unlocks new opportunities to expand its product suite.

Kraken said that its Canadian operation has grown exponentially over the past two years, having doubled its team size and monthly transacting users during the PRU process, and exceeded $2 billion CAD in combined client assets under custody. 

CORRECTION (04/02/2024): This story has been corrected to note that Alex Mehrdad was Kraken’s General Manager of Canada for just over a year. An earlier version of this story stated he held the role for just over six months. BetaKit regrets the error.

Feature image courtesy Kraken via its website.

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Toronto asset manager Kensington Capital Partners has acquired the venture capital (VC) business of Ottawa-based One9 to establish its own defence technology VC platform.

As part of this deal, Kensington has acquired the One9 team minus general partner (GP) Daniel Weinand, the One9 brand, and all future One9 investment activities (including new funds and direct investments). Kensington has also acquired a minority stake in One9 Capability Labs with the option to purchase it fully later. One9’s Special Mission Fund, which is now fully deployed, and its existing portfolio were not included in the acquisition. Both companies declined to disclose any of the financial terms of the transaction.

“Defence is so much more than guns, bombs, and bullets.”

Glenn Cowan, One9

One9 and Kensington have been investing in defence tech together since 2020. The two firms started with special purpose vehicles (SPVs) before Kensington decided to anchor One9’s first and only fund to date with a $10-million CAD commitment in 2022.

In a joint interview with BetaKit, One9 founder and managing partner Glenn Cowan and Kensington senior managing director Rick Nathan said that the two firms decided to join forces to capitalize on a variety of tailwinds poised to benefit the defence tech sector, including increased interest in defence investment in the wake of rising international tensions. Together, they plan to invest in more defence tech startups and VC funds both in Canada and abroad.

“There’s a real opportunity in Canada to build a platform focused on national security technology [and] defence technology, using early-stage, emerging, disruptive tech companies to be a part of a critical and much-needed new defence-industrial base,” Cowan said.

Cowan argued that his domain expertise from his time serving in the Canadian Armed Forces and supporting defence tech startups with One9, coupled with Kensington’s scale, credibility, and track record as one of the country’s largest VC investors, make for a “very logical” combination.

VC funding for defence tech has been gaining traction in recent months. At a time when much of the tech sector has been “soft,” and valuations of VC-backed companies have broadly declined, Nathan claimed Kensington has seen “real growth and real success” in its defence tech portfolio.

Kensington and One9 have collaborated on several investments, including Tomahawk Robotics, a Florida-based drone control technology firm that was sold in 2023 to Virginia’s AeroVironment for $120 million USD in cash and stock. The pair also invested in Utah’s Strider Technologies, which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to turn open-source data into strategic intelligence. Strider secured $55 million in Series C funding late last year.

RELATED: An election primer on what Canadian innovators need

With a federal election looming and a trade war with the US underway, Cowan, Medcan chair and CEO Shaun Francis, and others have been lobbying incoming leadership to increase Canada’s defence commitments and improve procurement, which they argue is needed to bring the country up to speed with its peers and modernize the Canadian military.

The Liberals and Conservatives have both committed to ramping up defence spending, which Nathan and Cowan believe bodes well for the sector and their new relationship. Meanwhile, a growing crop of defence tech startups south of the border see room to take business away from traditional contractors under President Donald Trump’s administration.

Cowan, a retired squadron commander in Canada’s Joint Task Force 2, previously spent 18 years with the Canadian Armed Forces, of which 13 were with Canadian Special Operations Forces Command. He served on multiple combat deployments in Afghanistan, information operations in the Middle East, and hostage recovery operations in Africa, where he was a strategic planner and tactical commander.

He launched One9 Venture Partners in October 2020 with Weinand, a co-founder of Shopify, as a defence, intelligence, and national security-focused investment fund aimed at bridging the gap between private capital markets and innovative military technologies with substantial civilian uses.

RELATED: Canadian Armed Forces veteran, Shopify co-founder team up for $50-million military tech fund

One9 initially hoped to raise $50 million CAD for its Special Mission Fund, but was ultimately only able to secure $10 million, including $7 million from Kensington, with the remaining $3 million from high-net-worth investors, including Weinand (also GP) and Shopify president Harley Finkelstein.

Cowan said that raising a first-time fund in a niche, specialized asset class during the COVID-19 pandemic as someone with a special forces background was “a tough lift.” He credited Nathan and Kensington for being “very early believers” in One9.

“Probably the biggest elephant in the room around that was the defence focus in Canada,” Cowan said. “Not only is a first-time fund hard, but Canada is a tough market for this sector.”

Between the Special Mission Fund, SPVs, and a separate One9 entity, the firm has deployed a total of approximately $23 million across six defence tech startups. Ottawa’s Ventus Respiratory Technologies, which is developing respiratory tech for military, law enforcement, and first responders, marks One9’s sole Canadian investment to date. Cowan attributed this to One9’s focus on the Series A level, a threshold he said not a lot of Canadian defence tech firms meet at the moment.

Capability Labs, One9’s 6,000-square-foot industrial office and workshop in downtown Ottawa, is where One9 hosts portfolio companies, conducts due diligence, finds deal flow, and connects startups with military players and other end users for demonstrations.

It is rare for a Canadian VC firm to be acquired. For Kensington, which just sold a majority stake in its own business to AGF Private Capital last year, One9 shores up its defence tech expertise and support capabilities on the VC side of its business.

Cowan and Nathan are betting that shifting political and social winds will lead many Canadian institutional and other private investors who have typically been more skittish of defence tech investing for a variety of reasons to become more comfortable with this sector.

“We expect to deploy significant capital in Canada in this sector.”

“Defence is so much more than guns, bombs, and bullets,” Cowan said, citing “top-secret level encryption and cloud compute” as one of the many examples of non-weapons-related defence tech that could also have positive implications for civilians.

Nathan believes Canada has “all the building blocks” to establish a strong defence tech sector, including strong capabilities in areas like AI, robotics, and cybersecurity that have largely not yet been leveraged for defence applications.

Kensington invests in both tech companies and other VC funds, a strategy it intends to apply to defence in a more focused manner with One9. While there are not any other VC funds in Canada dedicated exclusively to defence tech, Nathan noted that there are some strong Canadian companies. “There is stuff here, it’s just not focused, and it’s not that much,” he said.

Nathan and Cowan are confident that more defence tech companies and VC funds will emerge in Canada over the coming years, and together, hope to play a role in supporting them. 

“We’re here in Canada and we expect to deploy significant capital in Canada in this sector,” Nathan said.

Feature image courtesy One9.

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Raymond, Alta.-based agricultural biotech company AdvancedAg has secured $2 million in seed funding from Raven Indigenous Capital Partners as it looks to expand its North American footprint. 

Raven, which invests exclusively in Indigenous enterprises, was the lead and sole participant of the all-equity seed round. AdvancedAg will use the funding on research and development, creating intellectual property, and expanding market access, the company said in a statement, adding that it is positioned to bring its products to more farms across North America. 

AdvancedAg is forecasting sales growth upwards of $9 million by 2026.

Founded in 2001, AdvancedAg is an Indigenous, family-owned company producing microbial agricultural products aimed at reducing farmers’ reliance on synthetic chemical products. The company provides seed, soil, and foliar (leaf)-applied products that it claims promote plant growth and disease resistance. 

“My mom and I were ‘crazy people’ trying to get this business off the ground, often told we were ‘wasting our time’ by those around us,” AdvancedAg CEO Joshua Day Chief wrote in a LinkedIn post. “But every year, we became a little less crazy. Now, we’re seeing hundreds of millions of dollars pour into the biological space, and this investment will help us stay ahead.” 

RELATED: Raven Indigenous Capital Partners tops initial target for second fund with $100 million final close

While an Alberta Innovates profile on AdvancedAg indicated the company would be seeking Series A funding this year, director of operations Daniel Wevers told BetaKit that was “a typo” and, while this was the company’s first external raise, there may be future rounds in the next couple years.

Wevers also told BetaKit the company currently has around 1,000 customers and made $3.4 million in sales revenue last year, adding that the company is forecasting sales growth upwards of $9 million by 2026. 

“At Raven, we invest in ventures that not only drive commercial success but also create lasting, positive change in their industries,” Raven associate Josh Alook, who is also joining AdvancedAg’s board, said in a statement. “AdvancedAg’s leadership in sustainable agriculture and their deep ties to farming innovation and natural solutions made this investment a natural fit.”

Feature image courtesy AdvancedAg. 

The post Raven Capital cultivates Indigenous-led biotech company AdvancedAg with $2-million seed investment first appeared on BetaKit.

Victoria-based holding company Tiny has bought a controlling 66 percent stake in Serato, one of the best-known brands in DJ software, for $66 million USD ($94.5 million CAD).

Purchase follows a blocked $81.6 million CAD merger between Serato and AlphaTheta in August 2024.

Tiny is making the purchase with a combination of cash and common shares. The cash portion is $42 million USD and the deal values Serato at $175 million, according to the New Zealand Herald. The company expects to close the deal in the second quarter of 2025 provided regulators and shareholders approve. Serato will remain headquartered in New Zealand. BetaKit has reached out to Tiny for more details on the deal.

The two companies share a “unified vision for Serato’s future” that includes “strategically and thoughtfully expand[ing] upon its strong legacy,” according to Tiny CEO Jordan Taub. Tiny added that the deal should boost its annual recurring revenue by approximately 45 percent, to between $55 million and $57 million.

Serato co-founder AJ Wilderland said the move “accelerates” his company’s growth while staying true to the “community of artists” that use its software.

Serato launched in 1998 and is best known for Serato DJ, a popular line of software for mixing music during live sets. The company also develops production software like Serato Studio and plugins like Serato Sample. Pioneer, Roland, and other major music hardware manufacturers build mixers and other controllers that integrate tightly with Serato’s software.

RELATED: Tiny appoints WeCommerce head Jordan Taub as its new CEO

The move comes relatively soon after a failed merger. New Zealand’s Commerce Commission blocked AlphaTheta, owner of the hardware and software company Pioneer DJ, from acquiring Serato in August 2024 in a deal that would have been worth over $100 million New Zealand dollars (about $81.6 million CAD). Regulators were concerned the move would “substantially” reduce competition in the DJ software space.

Tiny has made a string of key acquisitions and investments across multiple industries since it was founded in 2007. These include interface designer MetaLab in 2017, career site Girlboss in 2020, coffee maker brand AeroPress in 2021, and movie-focused social media platform Letterboxd in 2023. Serato chief Young Ly cited Tiny’s “unique long-term approach and track record” with these companies as a reason to get “excited” for the new deal.

The holding firm faced upheaval in June 2024 when co-founders Andrew Wilkinson and Chris Sparling stepped down as co-CEOs, with Taub leaving e-commerce company WeCommerce to take the helm. Tiny’s stock price fell 16 percent after word news that Wilkinson would sell $8.4 million in shares, although most of those proceeds went to Wilkinson’s Tiny Foundation fund as well as early employees from companies like MetaLab.

Image courtesy of Arthur Edelmans via Unsplash.

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German multinational technology conglomerate Siemens is investing $150 million CAD over five years to establish what it calls a Global AI Manufacturing Technologies Research and Development (R&D) Center for Battery Production in Canada. 

The new R&D center will be initially located at Siemens Canada’s head office in Oakville, as well as in Toronto and Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, the company said in a statement, with the investment covering labor, equipment, software, and ecosystem support. The facility will focus on developing artificial intelligence (AI) manufacturing technologies with an initial emphasis on battery and electric vehicle (EV) production. 

“Taxpayers shouldn’t be subsidizing those operations without a clear understanding of the return on investments to them.”

Skaidra Puodžiūnas
CCI

Siemens CEO of factory automation, Rainer Brehm, said the company chose Canada for the facility because of the country’s “highly qualified talent and strong collaborations with world-leading universities,” adding that the facility will position the company as a key player in the global battery sector. 

In a statement, Ontario Premier Doug Ford called the investment a “vote of confidence” in the province, which supported the investment with $7.2 million through the Invest Ontario Fund.

The financial support shortly follows an open letter signed by 75 Ontario CEOs calling on Premier Ford to prioritize homegrown innovation as the province takes centre stage in the trade war between Canada and the United States.

The open letter, put forward by the Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI), argues that provincial economic policy has prioritized short-term foreign direct investment (FDI), such as foreign multinationals like Siemens investing in their Canadian operations, over long-term domestic wealth creation. The letter demands that Ford prioritizes procurement resources, and investment vehicles like Invest Ontario, for Ontario-based companies. 

RELATED: Seventy-five Ontario CEOs sign open letter calling on Premier Doug Ford to prioritize homegrown innovation

CCI Ontario affairs director Skaidra Puodžiūnas said in an email statement to BetaKit that domestic companies provide greater economic benefit, and that “every dollar funnelled to foreign entities is a missed opportunity” to advance Ontario’s prosperity. 

“We keep seeing these investments into foreign companies from the Ontario government while the Premier asks us to ‘Buy Ontario,’” Puodžiūnas said in a statement. “A German company doing more manufacturing in Ontario is welcome to expand, but taxpayers shouldn’t be subsidizing those operations without a clear understanding of the return on investments to them.”

The province claims Siemens’ new center will create 90 jobs and leverage collaborations between battery manufacturers and universities to upskill the province’s auto workforce. The federal government is also providing undisclosed support for Siemens’ investment, but an ISED spokesperson told BetaKit that negotiations between Siemens and the Government of Canada for the project are still ongoing.

“The terms and conditions regarding the nature and level of support to be provided remain to be finalized,” the spokesperson said.

Siemens investment in Canada follows it announcing plans to cut eight percent of jobs in its struggling industrial automation business exactly two weeks ago, representing 5,600 employees, according to Reuters. Siemens also announced plans in early March to invest $285 million USD in its United States manufacturing business, creating two new facilities in California and Texas that it claimed are expected to create 900 jobs. In its statement, Siemens did not note any support from American federal or state governments. 

UPDATE (04/01/2025): This story has been updated with commentary from an ISED spokesperson.

Feature image courtesy Siemens.

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When Usha Srinivasan walked into the Brampton Venture Expo in 2022, she expected the usual: founders networking, startup pitches flying, and business ideas taking shape.

She did not expect to see a flood of résumés.

The event had drawn an unexpected crowd of professionals who weren’t there to launch companies. They were looking for jobs.

“There is an amazing pool of talent out there, and startups should be taking advantage of it.”

Usha Srinivasan, BReady

“The professional talent we’re talking about—people who have engineering, software, data analytics, science, business, marketing, sales, finance backgrounds—were struggling to find employment, doing what they can part-time here and there,” Srinivasan said.

“It’s nothing new, but at the same time, it’s just more exaggerated in Peel Region.”

Brampton has become one of Canada’s fastest-growing cities in terms of population, adding approximately 100,000 people between 2020 and 2025. Immigration had fuelled much of that growth, with thousands of highly educated newcomers settling in Peel Region. 

On paper, they should be a hiring manager’s dream. Many hold degrees in engineering, business, and science, and many have experience at global companies. Yet, when they applied for jobs, they hit a wall.

As of June 2024, the unemployment rate for recent immigrants had climbed to 12.6 percent, significantly higher than the national average. At the same time, as of the third quarter of 2024, the Toronto economic region reported approximately 91,500 unfilled positions.

The issue clearly wasn’t a lack of talent. But there was a disconnect.

“When you’re new to the country, you typically get bombarded with the obvious brands—banks, telecoms, big tech companies,” she said. “But the reality is, large companies have thousands of applications, so the chances of getting noticed are really low.”​

This is a challenge Srinivasan understands firsthand. When she immigrated to Canada in 1997, she didn’t start in a big city. She moved where the jobs were. 

“When I came to this country, I lived in New Brunswick. I even lived in Whitehorse for three years, because as an immigrant, I had to move around to find opportunities,” she added.

Eventually, she landed in Toronto and built a career in market research consulting, startups, talent development, and incubators, working at Frost & Sullivan, MaRS, and more recently at Brampton Venture Zone at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU). 

Over the years, she saw the same story play out again and again for local immigrants, and soon realized the problem might not be with the candidates or the employers, but the way the job market is set up. And with Canada now embroiled in a trade war with one of its closest allies, that mismatch between talent and opportunity is becoming an economic liability. 

Fixing a broken hiring system

Most job platforms operate the same way: companies post roles, candidates apply, and most never hear back. Srinivasan wanted to flip that model.

She built BReady, a virtual hiring platform designed to connect skilled professionals with startups and small businesses—companies that don’t have brand recognition, big HR teams, or the resources to sift through thousands of applications. 

She partnered with Jeby James and Litson Thomas, the founders of AI platform 316.ai to build the platform. They understood these challenges all too well as immigrants with software development and recruitment backgrounds and prior experience building related products like writecv.io and Lilyhire.

Unlike traditional job sites, BReady doesn’t require candidates to constantly apply for roles. Instead, they create one profile—including a résumé, a 500-word pitch, and a short video answering a critical thinking question.

Employers don’t see names, universities, or other identifying details upfront, only skills and experience. Srinivasan said this means there is no way for employers to make snap judgments.

“We wanted to remove as much bias as possible,” she added. 

Hiring is just as streamlined on the employer side. Companies upload a job description, and BReady’s AI-driven matching system that goes beyond just keywords and skills by ranking the most relevant candidates. If they like what they see, they send an interview request. The platform also keeps the talent pool fresh by deactivating profiles that fail to respond to interview requests. 

Taking talent offline

BReady is also designed to prepare candidates for the realities of the job market.

The platform connects users with LinkedIn Learning courses, soft skills training, and offers curated education on the industry sectors that are dominant in that region, as well as upskilling certificates from partner universities. It runs regular in-person and online programming including targeted recruitment events, office hours where hiring managers and HR professionals help candidates refine résumés, develop interview skills, and get direct feedback.

That education extends beyond the platform. The BReady platform includes regular “field trips” where candidates are taken for visits to  local factories in food processing and manufacturing, startup offices, or logistics hubs. This gives them a chance to meet hiring managers in person, see how the business operates, and get a foot in the door.

According to Srinivasan, the results have been immediate.

“After these trips, the candidates are always so blown away,” she said. “They tell me, “I never thought about this industry as a place for me to work.’”​

“Startups should be taking advantage”

Launched in April 2024, BReady has already signed up 1,200 job seekers from across Ontario and 140 employers in the Peel Region. The focus has been on startups and small to medium-sized businesses, which often lack full HR teams and hiring managers are often the CEOs themselves.

“Speed is important in the startup world,” Srinivasan said. “All employers have to do is go onto the platform, do the search, and talk to the individual. It can take minutes to find a candidate and have a conversation.”​

Now, she has spun BReady out as an independent nonprofit. Originally launched and incubated within TMU, BReady will now stand on its own, a shift that allows it to scale beyond Peel Region.

“We are already in conversation with York Region, with other communities, and with 10 chambers of commerce across Ontario, who are all interested,” she added.

The long-term vision extends even further. Srinivasan envisions BReady as a nationwide talent platform connecting skilled immigrants with employers in growing industries. “Everyone coming through the Express Entry visa program should create a profile on this platform,” Srinivasan added.

The team is developing new features, including a Zoom integration and an applicant tracking system to make hiring even easier.

With a trade war between Canada and the United States now in full swing, Srinivasan believes BReady’s spinout comes at an opportune time. 

“This tariff war is demonstrating how reliant Canadian businesses are on the US market—and how unprepared they are to pivot,” she added. “Imagine the competitive edge companies could gain by hiring an immigrant from Europe, Africa, South America, or Asia—someone with firsthand knowledge and connections to untapped markets.”

The expansion won’t just benefit job seekers. Srinivasan believes it will also serve Canada’s startup ecosystem, since BReady is designed for companies that need agile, problem-solving employees.

Srinivasan, who has spent years working with incubators and scaling ventures, knows firsthand how valuable that kind of talent is.

“There is an amazing pool of talent out there, and startups should be taking advantage of it.”

---

For job seekers, BReady means less guessing and more real career opportunities. For startups, it’s a direct line to top talent. Sign up today and start connecting.

All photos provided by BReady.

The post How to land a tech job without the hassle first appeared on BetaKit.

Vancouver-based digital healthcare company Well Health is exercising its call rights to gain a majority controlling interest in its long-time strategic partner Healwell AI. 

The call rights are a result of Well Health’s October 2023 investment in Healwell, which gave Well Health the right to acquire more than 60 million voting shares of Healwell within three years, as well as converting all of its Healwell convertible debentures and interest accrued to purchase even more voting shares. Following the close of the call options today, Well Health expects to hold an approximate 37 percent economic interest, and an approximate 69 percent voting interest, in Healwell on a non-diluted basis.

The call options are closing in conjunction with Healwell’s $165-million CAD acquisition of New Zealand healthcare data management company Orion Health, which it agreed to this past December. It has since been securing financing to close the transaction. 

RELATED: Fuelled by Well Health partnership, Healwell looks to apply AI to preventative care

Healwell chairman Hamed Shahbazi, who is also the founder and CEO of Well Health, said in a December statement that the Orion acquisition will bring significant large enterprise customers and a new channel for the distribution of Healwell’s AI products and services

Well Health said that it is anticipating Healwell to contribute approximately $160 million in revenue with positive adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) to its consolidated financial statements over the next 12 months. Meanwhile, the concurrent Orion Health acquisition is expected to generate more than $100 million CAD  in revenue with “strong double digit Adjusted EBITDA margins.”

“By combining our scale and national footprint with HEALWELL’s expertise in AI and Orion’s experience in implementing global health information systems, we believe we are well-positioned to deliver cutting-edge AI-enabled solutions that will enhance patient care and drive innovation,” Shahbazi said in a statement.

RELATED: Hong Kong billionaire ups stake in Well Health Technologies with $81-million CAD private share purchase

Last week, Healwell reported that it had achieved record annual revenue in its fiscal 2024 financial report, raking in approximately $39 million, a 433 percent jump compared to fiscal 2023, though it reported an overall net loss exceeding $25 million on the year.

Meanwhile, Well Health had to delay the release of its annual financial statements this week due to the “accounting implications” of an investigation with its non-wholly own Delaware-based subsidiary Circle Medical. Well Health said that Circle Medical’s billing practices are being investigated by the United States Attorney’s Office, and that the impact of the investigator’s request for information is required to finalize its financial statement for the year. 

Hong Kong-based billionaire and founder of deep tech venture capital firm Horizons Ventures, Solina Chau, increased her ownership stake in Well Health to 14.53 percent through an $81-million CAD private share purchase agreement this past October. The purchase followed a comprehensive earnings call earlier in the year, where Shahbazi revealed plans to spin out and publicly list Well’s software-as-a-service (SaaS) business segment. 

Feature image courtesy Healwell AI via YouTube. 

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Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) Leader Pierre Poilievre has rolled out a proposal to defer capital gains taxes in what he calls a bid to spur domestic investment.

The Conservatives said they would extend the policy if it leads to a “major economic boom.”

Poilievre said that if elected, the capital gains tax on asset sales, such as for stock or property, would be deferred until after the end of 2026 if the proceeds are reinvested in Canada. Capital gains taxes for those investments in Canadian businesses would be deferred, too, until investors cash out or invest it outside of the country. 

“Canadians will have a powerful incentive to sell foreign investments and reinvest the proceeds, creating jobs in Canada,” Poilievre said. “Because the break does not go to anyone moving money out of the country, investors will be strongly discouraged from moving money out of Canada. Instead, they will bring it home to build, invent, create, and hire here in Canada.”

The tax break would go into effect July 1 and end on December 31, 2026, with a price tag of $10.5 billion, the CPC said. But the Conservatives said they would extend the policy if it leads to a “major economic boom.” The party did not provide details on how this impact would be measured. 

The Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI), an organization representing Canada’s scale-ups, said the CPC’s proposed policy is in line with its mandate of driving Canadian domestic investment and supporting business growth. 

RELATED: An election primer on what Canadian innovators need

“At CCI, we have long advocated for policies that enhance access to capital for high-potential Canadian firms—whether through improved non-dilutive funding, streamlined tax credits, or investment incentives that keep capital working inside Canada,” CCI president Benjamin Bergen said in a statement. 

The Canadian Venture Capital Association (CVCA) CEO Kim Furlong called Poilievre’s focus on economic policy “very encouraging.” 

“Policies that unlock capital and encourage private investment will help strengthen Canada’s competitive position and drive economic growth,” Furlong wrote in an email to BetaKit. 

Graeme Moffat, a senior fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto, said this policy is an “explicit acknowledgment” of Canada’s failure to invest in productivity. According to the Fraser Institute, a free-market-oriented think tank, Canada’s corporate investment since 2014 in intellectual property and technology has slowed, as has its productivity compared to the United States (US).

Moffat said the policy would theoretically boost investment in key areas, such as venture capital (VC), technology, and labour upskilling. 

VC investor Matt Roberts said that the “devil is in the details” when it comes to this policy, as some of the reinvested funds could be funnelled towards companies that do not drive the goal of growing the economy, such as real estate. 

“It’s a good policy but I’d like to know which companies would be eligible and how long the lockup for your reinvestment would be,” Roberts told BetaKit. 

Moffat told BetaKit that a CPC government would have to be “very careful and very clever” to avoid benefiting “monopolistic” industries that do not contribute as much to productivity gains.

RELATED: Liberals’ capital gains tax hike is dead, lifetime exemption limit increase to stay

“Because so many key market sectors are dominated by oligopolies, it’s hard to incentivize Canadian companies to invest as much as they would need to realize productivity gains,” Moffat said. 

Moffat said that under the proposed policy, Canadians could reinvest capital gains into productive pursuits, such as new technology and intellectual property, or instead store money in investment vehicles tax-free. For example, reinvesting capital gains into a real estate investment trust (REIT), which profits from rising housing prices, would be incentivized under the new policy.  

“There are all kinds of ways this capital gains exemption proposal could pervert Canadian markets for the worse, rather than incentivizing the kind of investment we need to get out of our funk,” Moffat said. “So the devil really is in the details, and it’s not easy to get it right.” 

“It’s hard to incentivize Canadian companies to invest as much as they would need to realize productivity gains.”

Graeme Moffat

“Sophisticated financial institutions and operators will find ways to get this money,” Moffat continued.

Capital gains taxes have been the subject of much debate since the Liberals proposed a controversial capital gains tax inclusion rate hike as part of Budget 2024. After nearly a year of backlash to the policy, the increase was cancelled by Prime Minister Mark Carney soon after he took office. 

However, Carney said he would maintain the planned increase to the Lifetime Capital Gains Exemption limit to $1.25 million on the sale of small business shares and farming and fishing property. The prime minister said the government would introduce legislation to facilitate this “in due course.” 

Poilievre’s proposal comes as he and Liberal leader Mark Carney face off in a snap election campaign set against the backdrop of a trade war with the US. US President Donald Trump has said he would impose further tariffs on Canadian imports as soon as Wednesday, on top of existing 25-percent duties on steel and aluminum. 

Feature image courtesy CPAC.

The post Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre promises to defer capital gains taxes if proceeds reinvested in Canada first appeared on BetaKit.

Two of Canada’s larger decentralized finance (DeFi) companies marked big gains in 2024.

Toronto-based DeFi Technologies reported that its assets under management  jumped last year to $1.18 billion CAD, a 132 percent increase over 2023. That was a 900% growth from  the market nadir at the end of 2022, according to the company.

The startup attributed the bull run to product and distribution upgrades as well as “rising investor demand” for regulated digital assets. The firm also made key acquisitions in 2024. It bought the liquidity provider Stillman Digital and ventured into AI-based asset management by making a majority investment in Neuronomics.

Donald Trump’s US presidential election victory in November coincided with a price spike of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other virtual currencies. 

Fellow Toronto crypto company WonderFi, in turn, said its revenues more than doubled in 2024 to $62.1 million, an increase of 108 percent. The company pointed to several factors behind the growth. Its client assets under custody at its exchanges Bitbuy and Coinsquare surged 109 percent to reach $2.1 billion, while its in-house crypto platforms handled nearly $3.6 billion in trading volume through fiscal 2024, a 28 percent bump over 2023, WonderFi claimed.

The brand accomplished this in part by completing its acquisition of clients from Bitstamp, a Robin Hood-owned, Luxembourg-based crypto exchange that exited Canada last year. It also drove expansion in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region by completing the purchase of FX Institutions. The Canadian wing of a key competitor, Kraken, also reported topping $2 billion in assets under custody in November.

The prior year wasn’t completely smooth. Most notably, WonderFi CEO Dean Skurka was reportedly kidnapped and held for ransom in November. 

RELATED: WonderFi plots expansion beyond crypto into multi-asset trading with Eightcap

The year was lucrative for the DeFi and crypto industries as a whole. While prices were already going up earlier in 2024, Donald Trump’s US presidential election victory in November coincided with a price spike of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other virtual currencies. Trump had promised more crypto-friendly policies, most recently including talk of a Fort Knox-style “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve” of questionable utility.

Accordingly, both DeFi Technologies and WonderFi are optimistic about 2025. DeFi Technologies expected its revenue for the year to climb to $227.2 million, and noted that figure might grow if there are “proportional increases in revenue.”

WonderFi didn’t share a new outlook, but highlighted early 2025 expansion efforts. It bought Blade Labs’ technologies related to Solana cryptocurrency in January, and launched a consumer-facing crypto wallet app, Wonder Wallet, in February. Most recently, it unveiled plans in March to go beyond crypto with access to derivatives trading through Eightcap.

Image courtesy of André François McKenzie via Unsplash.

The post Optimism continues in Canadian decentralized finance as DeFi and WonderFi report major gains year-over-year first appeared on BetaKit.

“Why can’t we do this in Ontario?”

That was the question Shoaib Ahmed and a group of Toronto Metropolitan University students asked in 2019 as they zipped through Washington, DC, on e-scooters, effortlessly bypassing gridlock. 

The experience was seamless: find a scooter, scan a code, and ride. No waiting, no surge pricing, no hassle.

“Mobility is a human right. It’s a human necessity.”

Shoaib Ahmed, Scooty

Ahmed couldn’t help but wonder why such a solution didn’t exist in Ontario.

When he returned home, he co-founded Scooty, a Brampton-based micro-mobility company that launched Ontario’s first e-scooter program.

While building Scooty, Ahmed realized the real question wasn’t why e-scooters weren’t there—it was why Ontario was dragging its feet on introducing new mobility solutions.

As one of North America’s largest supply chain hubs with a growing population and worsening congestion, Ontario’s transportation and logistics sectors seem primed for innovation.

Ontario has committed billions to modernizing its transit and logistics network over the past five years, with investments in smart mobility, electric vehicle adoption, and AI-driven supply chain solutions. The province also introduced legislation last year aimed at reducing regulatory obstacles and streamlining approval processes for key infrastructure investments.

But for startups in the transportation and logistics space, getting integrated into local transit infrastructure still means facing regulatory hurdles, municipal approvals, and operating inside of an inherently cautious business culture. 

“You can’t just put scooters on the street and hope for the best,” he added. “You need city approval. You need permits. You need to prove it works within the existing system.”

So Ahmed turned to the Toronto Business Development Centre (TBDC) for help. As a Canadian startup incubator known for its work with newcomer entrepreneurs, TBDC guided Scooty through the complexities of working with municipal governments, securing regulatory approvals, and accessing critical funding. 

TBDC connected Ahmed with key stakeholders, including Canada’s Transport Minister, and helped refine Scooty’s strategy for winning municipal contracts. The step-by-step support led to Scooty securing a GO Transit account and unlocking $1 million in non-dilutive funding.

Shifting into gear  

Scaling a mobility startup in Ontario means navigating an inherently cautious industry. In a 2024 KPMG study, 150 Canadian tech leaders cited the country’s risk-averse culture as a top challenge in growing their businesses. 

Arjun Khosla learned this firsthand. After years as a shipping officer, he launched Bitmetric, an India-founded logistics software company that expanded across Africa and the UAE before setting its sights on North America.

“The market here is quite different,” Khosla said. “Canada is a bit conservative with respect to adopting new technologies. Businesses want to know if you already have Canadian clients, and it takes a few months of convincing them and talking to them before you can get them on board.”

For Khosla, breaking into North America has been “a slow road.” But through mentorship and the Startup Visa Program, TBDC introduced Bitmetric to potential clients, investors, and government stakeholders, helping Bitmetric successfully establish its Canadian operations and secure six US clients.

“TBDC was really helpful in making us understand how business works over here,” Khosla said. “It’s not just meeting a client and closing a deal within a week. It takes time to build relationships.”

Revving up with TBDC 

Like Ahmed and Khosla, Vedant Mankad, founder of Docoholic, encountered similar roadblocks. His company, founded in Ahmedabad, India, automates supply chain workflows with AI, helping logistics firms process quotes, invoices, and shipment updates in real time. 

After launching in India and Dubai, Mankad saw an opportunity in Ontario’s logistics sector. The province is home to 29 ports that handle more than 62 million tons of cargo annually and 14 border crossings to the US. But cracking the market wasn’t going to be easy.

“Business in Canada is built on relationships,” Mankad said. “In the US, a few demo calls can close a deal. Here, it takes months of meetings, referrals, and proof of ROI before companies commit.”

Determined to do things right, Mankad joined TBDC’s Startup Visa Program. There, he was introduced to trade organizations, supply chain stakeholders, and investors.

Since then, Docoholic established a North American client base of 20 businesses, with a goal of reaching 100 by year-end. 

“TBDC really helped us reposition for this market so that we can cut down our sales cycle,” Mankad said. 

Building the on-ramp

TBDC is one of many Ontario organizations that see newcomer entrepreneurs as a growing asset to the province’s mobility ecosystem. 

“Ontario’s startup ecosystem thrives on diversity and innovation,” said Claudia Krywiak, President and CEO of the Ontario Centre of Innovation. “Newcomer entrepreneurs bring fresh perspectives and bold solutions to today’s market challenges. Ensuring they have the right support to scale benefits us all.”

For Ahmed, the journey with TBDC didn’t end once Scooty secured permits and funding. After proving micro-mobility could work in Brampton, he is now mentoring the next wave of mobility startups with TBDC.

As a mentor, Ahmed helps founders navigate the same funding gaps and regulatory barriers  he once faced. Sometimes, it’s structured office hours. Other times, it’s an in-person walk-through of Scooty’s warehouse, showing startups how they scaled.

Beyond funding and mentorship, TBDC also aims to equip entrepreneurs with the tools, networks, and market insights needed to thrive in Canada. Many founders, like Ahmed, recognize the importance of paying it forward. Now, he helps other startups navigate the same barriers he once faced.

“The guidance we give isn’t one-size-fits-all,” he said. “Every startup is different—their structure, their revenue model, their regulatory barriers. What we do is figure out the right playbook for them.”

Transportation startups don’t have the luxury of moving fast and breaking things. They often need government buy-in, strong regulatory knowledge, and an understanding of how to work within a highly cautious industry. 

Ahmed believes that’s where a startup incubator, like TBDC, can provide real value. “They’re like a compass,” Ahmed said. “They’ll point you in the right direction, but you still have to do the work.”

TBDC also believes Canada is now at a critical inflection point, particularly as trade relations with the US worsen, and is betting on Canada’s ability to attract and retain world-class talent by supporting global entrepreneurs with the right resources.

Modernizing how people and goods move extends far beyond government spending. According to Ahmed, it requires startups willing to test new ideas and prove what works.

“Mobility is a human right. It’s a human necessity,” Ahmed said. “Here in Ontario, it might iterate, but it’s not slowing down.”

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Scale your startup faster with the right support. Join TBDC to connect with top mentors, build valuable relationships, and unlock investment opportunities. Get started today.

Feature image by Lianhao Qu via Unsplash. All other photos provided by TBDC.

The post Inside the push to get Ontario’s mobility startups moving first appeared on BetaKit.

That ticking clock you hear in the back of your mind is 2025 preparing to strike Q2. Prepare accordingly.

For Team BetaKit, Q2 means the true start of conference season. We’ll be hard at work crisscrossing the nation to attend tech events of all shapes and sizes in the name of innovation and socialization. 

The preparation is intense. Travel-sized liquid containers have been purchased. Air Miles discounts have been applied. Comfy shoes: secured.

New on the travel agenda this year is Web Summit Vancouver, rolling into the 604 area code for the first time under a different name (RIP Collision).

To best prepare, BetaKit wants to hear from you: the topics and speakers you’re interested in, recommendations for those visiting the Best Coast for the first time, whether or not you plan to attend, etc.

Anonymized insights from the (quick and easy to complete!) survey will inform forthcoming BetaKit content. Vancouver nightlife tips will be enjoyed by the attending BetaKit team.

We hope to see you there!

Take BetaKit’s Web Summit Vancouver survey

Douglas Soltys
Editor-in-chief

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Tech Startups: Ready to break into new markets?

Join Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst on Friday, April 4 for a free webinar designed to help tech founders sharpen their go-to-market strategy and win over buyers.

We’ll cover:

• What CISOs and security buyers are really looking for
• How to avoid common procurement pitfalls
• Proven go-to-market tactics for new sectors
• Insights from successful startups

When: Friday, April 4, 2025

Time: 12–1 PM EST | Where: Virtual 

Spots are limited — register now to accelerate your growth.

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TOP STORIES OF THE WEEK

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SRTX founder and CEO Katherine Homuth to step down amid fundraising push and tariff threat

SRTX founder and CEO Katherine Homuth will step down from her role at the Montréal-based textile manufacturing and material innovation company as it publicly courts external funding and battles tariff-related uncertainty.

Homuth confirmed to BetaKit that SRTX signed a term sheet for a funding round, which was shared with employees and shareholders this week. She said she would step down as part of the deal’s closure, calling it “the right decision for me and the business at this time.”

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Lightspeed to expand and revamp sales team as part of revised go-to-market effort

At its Capital Markets Day investor presentation this week, executives for Lightspeed Commerce detailed how the company will invest in a sales-led go-to-market strategy as part of its business transformation plan to focus on its “growth engines.”

CEO Dax Dasilva said Lightspeed plans to expand its sales team to more than 150 reps across its North American retail and European hospitality businesses, though the sales strategy will manifest slightly differently between the two.

Dasilva also addressed investor concerns about its recently scaled back revenue outlook, which the company reduced from an approximate 20-percent to an 18-percent increase year-over-year. Dasilva said it reflected a “softness” in same-store sales across North America and Europe, as well as small business optimism, which has led to fewer new businesses and cautious investing from established ones.

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Seventy-five Ontario CEOs sign open letter calling on Premier Doug Ford to prioritize homegrown innovation

Seventy-five Ontario-based CEOs have signed a new open letter asking Ontario Premier Doug Ford to implement a laundry list of innovation and economic policy ideas within the first 100 days of his new majority mandate to “reclaim control over [Ontario’s] economic destiny.”

The open letter positions Ontario in “economic crisis,” as the province has taken centre stage in the trade war between Canada and the United States, its biggest international trading partner. 

The letter argues that provincial economic policy has prioritized short-term foreign direct investment over long-term domestic wealth creation and that, without a deliberate shift in economic strategy, the province risks “further erosion of its competitiveness, sovereignty, and long-term prosperity.”

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Québec budget overhauls innovation tax credits, earmarks millions for tariff impacts

The 2025-26 Québec budget tabled by Finance Minister Éric Girard contains a slew of new initiatives in response to Canada’s trade war with the United States while addressing longstanding provincial complaints regarding direct investment and tax credit supports.

The budget, which marks a record deficit for the province, introduced changes to Québec’s innovation tax credit system and revived an early-stage investment program with fresh funding. The government also committed $900 million in direct aid to businesses and over $600 million to mitigate the economic impacts of US tariffs.

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Canadian Quantum Commitments 

This year has seen Canadian quantum computing companies claim breakthrough after breakthrough, and this week was no different. New partnerships and developments continue to work towards an accelerated timeline for the theoretical field. 

• Québec-based non-profit tech accelerator Numana announced a strategic partnership with Finnish telecom giant Nokia and United States-based tech company Honeywell to help develop secure communication technologies designed to be compatible with quantum computing.
• Toronto quantum computing firm Xanadu is collaborating with materials giant Corning to create the “low-loss” networking needed to scale quantum computers, according to the companies.
• University of Ottawa researchers claim they have discovered new ways to control atoms that could both broaden physics knowledge and have practical applications for medicine and quantum computing.

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US deep tech VC Celesta Capital adds BDC alum Charles Lespérance as Canadian partner

Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm Celesta Capital has grown its ranks, hiring former BDC Capital partner Charles Lespérance as its first partner based in Canada, where he will work out of Montréal to help Celesta source deals, make investments, and raise money.

With Lespérance’s help, Celesta hopes to expand its presence in Canada. Lespérance said he offers an established deal sourcing and co-investment network, expertise in complementary areas like quantum, mining, and oil and gas, and “extensive financial restructuring experience.”

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Vooban hiring up to 25 AI roles in Ontario as it welcomes surge in enterprise AI adoption

Québec City-based artificial intelligence (AI) solutions company Vooban is expanding into Ontario and growing its team as it looks to ride a wave of interest in AI integration.

To fill its new Toronto office, Vooban plans to hire for 20 to 25 roles, including sales architects, cloud solution architects, and account executives, before the end of 2025. Vooban now finds itself well-placed to capitalize on an increasing number of Canadian companies adopting AI solutions as they look to boost productivity in an uncertain economic environment.

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Basetwo emerges from CIX Summit 2025 as Canada’s representative for the Startup World Cup

Toronto-based AI manufacturing startup Basetwo took a major prize at Elevate’s 2025 CIX Summit and will represent Canada at the Startup World Cup this October.

Basetwo was among the 24 CIX Startup Award recipients recognized at the event, held this week at the Design Exchange in Toronto. Basetwo will be among the regional winners from around the world convening in Silicon Valley to give a four-minute pitch to Startup World Cup judges and investors for a chance at a $1-million USD investment.

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FEATURE STORIES FROM OUR PARTNERS

• FreshBooks found that small business owners are dragging their feet on taxes, and it’s hurting their bottom line. Chief Growth Officer Faye Pang says it’s time to ditch the last-minute scramble. Read more about how to make tax planning a year-round strategy.
• Consensus 2025 is seeking Web2 and Web3 developers to take part in North America’s largest blockchain hackathon. PitchFest will also give early-stage startups a shot to pitch live to top VCs and execs. Read more about the opportunities for builders at Consensus 2025.

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Weekly Canadian Deals & Dollars

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• VAN – Styx Intelligence secures $2.7M for cybersecurity platform
• VAN – Addy becomes exempt market dealer following $100K fine
• CGY – Movement51 appoints Emily Smiley as executive director
• EDM – Nanoprecise closes Series C to fuel geographic expansion
• KW – Descartes acquires American firm 3Gtms for $164.4M
• KW – KA Imaging to provide spectral X-ray detector in space mission
• SHB – BioAlert raises $2.5M for water quality monitoring tech
• STJ – CoLab Software expedites AI development with $5.6M partner contribution

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The BetaKit Podcast — Canadian foodtech has a scale-up problem

“By the time these companies are ready for B and C [rounds], their cap tables are super clean, too. So it doesn’t really make sense that we’re not putting money into them.”

In a time of global uncertainty, a new report by the Canadian Food Innovation Network (CFIN) shows that Canada lags other countries in foodtech funding, relying too much on public funding. CEO Dana McCauley joins to discuss the report, how CFIN’s 6,500 members are navigating tariffs, and why it’s important that Canada invests in the tech that feeds us.

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Take The BetaKit Quiz – This week: Trump’s group chat, Knix makes a splash, Lightspeed slows its roll

Think you’re on top of Canadian tech and innovation news? Time to prove it. Test your knowledge of Canadian tech news with The BetaKit Quiz for March 28, 2025.

Feature image courtesy of Web Summit via Flickr.

The post Are you going to Web Summit Vancouver? first appeared on BetaKit.

Do you know how Canadian food gets from the farm to your table? I don’t.

I also don’t really know how Canada’s food industry is responding to the ongoing tariff threats, and how much the ‘buy Canadian’ movement is softening the blow.

“ By the time these companies are ready for B and C [rounds], their cap tables are super clean, too. So it doesn’t really make sense that we’re not putting money into them.”

Dana McCauley
CFIN CEO

But our guest does. This week, we’re talking to Dana McCauley, CEO of the Canadian Food Innovation Network (CFIN), a member-based organization representing over 6,500 players in Canada’s food sector.

CFIN has just released an ecosystem report on the state of foodtech investment showing Canada lagging in the later stages, leaving foodtech overly reliant on public funding—something I actually do know about, as it matches Canada’s venture sector broadly. Tellingly, public grants account for nearly one-third of all investment rounds in Canada, compared to 5 percent in the United Kingdom and 8 percent in the United States.

At the early stages, Canada does actually match its global counterparts. As McCauley put it, “ We don’t have a startup problem. We have a scale up problem. We’ve kind of orphaned these companies.”

But what is food tech? And what do these innovators need to compete and succeed, particularly in a time of global uncertainty and threats to national sovereignty?

I guarantee you’re going to be hungry by the end of this episode. But we’ll try to fill your tummy first with data. So let’s dig in.

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The BetaKit Podcast is presented by The Cyber Challenge: your pathway to new sales, industry connections, and non-dilutive funding.

The Cyber Challenge, powered by Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst and CCTX, helps Ontario-based startups tackle real-world cybersecurity challenges.

If you’re ready to scale, refine, and lead cybersecurity innovation, apply today at www.thecyberchallenge.ca.

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Feature image courtesy CFIN. Edited by Darian MacDonald.

The post Canadian foodtech has a scale-up problem first appeared on BetaKit.

Vancouver-based fractional real estate investment platform Addy has officially become an exempt market dealer (EMD) after being fined by the British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) for trading securities as an unregistered business. 

An EMD is a registered dealer permitted to trade private securities not subject to the same rules as a publicly traded company, but still accountable to regulation. 

The company announced that it is now an EMD in British Columbia and all passport jurisdictions in a blog post earlier this week, calling it a “turning point” after years of discussion with the BCSC. Co-founder and CRO Stephen Jagger told BetaKit that the registration allows Addy to operate in every jurisdiction in Canada except Ontario, which has its own process and the company is currently working to register with. 

Addy said the newfound regulatory status will make its transactions faster and more efficient, as well as help it expand its offerings to include equity, debt, and real estate funds.

Addy voluntarily provided information and made admissions to regulators, BCSC said.

While transactions previously had to flow through third-party EMDs, Jagger said Addy can now act as its own registered dealer with compliance measures integrated into its platform, avoiding its users being redirected to third-party sites. He added that Addy’s new offerings are “happening very soon” and expected to roll out progressively. 

Founded in 2018 by Jagger and CEO Mike Stephenson, Addy allows retail investors to purchase a share of real estate on its platform for as little as one dollar. The approach aims to democratize access to real estate investments, which are traditionally limited to high-net-worth or institutional investors due to the high capital requirements. The company’s website claims it holds a total asset value of more than $1.3 billion across more than 50,000 Canadians.

Earlier this month, the BCSC revealed that Addy paid a $100,000 fine for trading approximately $26 million of securities without being registered as an EMD between 2018 and 2025, an average of $700 per investor. 

The BCSC said Addy triggered the requirement to register by soliciting investments and intermediating securities trades, and by receiving compensation from the fees for its platform. The BCSC said that Addy attempted to justify exemption because it used crowdfunding and EMD partners to facilitate trades, but that those exemptions were not applicable.

RELATED: Doormat becomes Ownright, closes $4.5 million to help more Ontarians seal real estate deals

“Addy, which has no prior history of securities regulatory misconduct, voluntarily provided information to BCSC investigators and made admissions to them, thus avoiding a Notice of Hearing,” BCSC said in a statement. 

As detailed in Addy’s blog post, the startup initially facilitated real estate investments through a special purpose vehicle, but by “property #27” the BCSC informed the company it would have to register as an EMD to continue operating. 

Instead, Addy said it pivoted to partnering with third-party EMDs to facilitate investments but, in April 2024 the BCSC told the company that “wasn’t enough.” Addy then applied to become an EMD in August 2024. Jagger said that Addy will now primarily operate through its own dealer, Addy Dealer Corp, but may continue to work with other EMDs where it makes sense.

“Having our own EMD means we’re no longer dependent on external dealers—but we’re building an ecosystem, not a walled garden,” Jagger said. 

Feature image courtesy Tierra Mallorca via Unsplash.

The post Fractional real estate investment platform Addy becomes exempt market dealer after BCSC fine first appeared on BetaKit.

Sherbrooke, Que.-based BioAlert Solutions has raised a $2.5-million seed round to expand the reach of its automated water quality monitoring technology. 

BioAlert’s focus is on detecting Legionella bacteria, which is responsible for a severe form of pneumonia called Legionnaires’ disease. 

The company has developed a device that can detect water-borne pathogens in cooling systems in buildings, such as hospitals, data centres, and manufacturing plants. It also provides a remote software platform for managers to monitor contamination levels off-site. 

BioAlert claims that its tech is up to five times more sensitive than the current industry standard of pathogen detection, allowing its clients to take preventive measures to avoid harmful contamination. 

GreenSky Ventures and cleantech-focused Cycle H20 co-led the round, with participation from Fondaction and British Columbia-based venture firm Spring Impact Capital. Cycle H20 is an early-stage focused on water tech, formed as a partnership between Montréal-based Cycle Capital and Québec City-based H20 Innovation. BioAlert previously raised $1.9 million in 2019, according to La Presse, as well as $900,000 through Sustainable Development Technology Canada in 2021. 

“[BioAlert] is poised to set the standard for real-time water quality monitoring, which will become increasingly important as regulations for monitoring expand across multiple jurisdictions,” Michael List, founder and managing partner of GreenSky Ventures, said in a statement. 

RELATED: SDTC funding flowing again with applications for projects under NRC IRAP to open “early” fiscal 2025–2026

BioAlert’s focus is on detecting Legionella bacteria, which is responsible for a severe form of pneumonia called Legionnaires’ disease. 

BioAlert’s device continuously runs a biological technique called quantitative polymerase chain reaction, which amplifies and calculates the amount of a particular DNA sequence present in a sample. This allows the machine to target Legionella specifically and determine its concentration in a given water system. The monitoring system sends out an alert to building managers when the concentration crosses a harmful threshold.  

BioAlert co-founder and CEO Étienne Lemieux told La Presse that the company’s mission was inspired by local public health history. A mass Legionella contamination event in Québec City in 2012, which killed 14 people and impacted nearly 180 others, led to the Québec government introducing more stringent regulations to protect citizens living close to industrial water cooling systems.

Wastewater monitoring technology also became a key data source for public health after the COVID-19 pandemic hit, when it was deployed across Canada to detect the levels of virus proliferating in the water. Health Canada still monitors national wastewater viral activity levels for COVID-19, flu, and other respiratory viruses.

BioAlert’s technology has been approved by Health Canada and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Lemieux told La Presse. The company said it’s already working with clients in industrial, commercial, and governmental facilities in both the United States and Canada. 

The startup plans on using the funding to expand its reach from the currently 60-odd places it’s currently installed. It also hopes to expand its detection capabilities to include common pathogens such as E. coli and salmonella.

Feature image courtesy BioAlert.

The post BioAlert secures $2.5 million to help companies detect and manage harmful pathogens in water first appeared on BetaKit.

The post Trump’s group chat, Knix makes a splash, Lightspeed slows its roll first appeared on BetaKit.

When the Fram2 science mission, a private spaceflight, will launch as soon as March 31, a Canadian company will play an important role.

University of Waterloo spinoff KA Imaging is providing a spectral X-ray detector, the Reveal 35C, that will go aboard a Crew Dragon spacecraft for the three- to five-day private spaceflight. It will be a key component of the SpaceXray project, which will bring the first medical X-ray machine to space.

If successful, Fram2 will represent the first crewed mission to study both polar regions from a low Earth orbit.

Researchers will use the X-ray system to study the effects of microgravity on astronauts’ bone densities as well as gauge the quality of the imagery. KA’s technology melds the conventional digital radiograph with images of bones and soft tissue. Astronauts lose about 1-2 percent of their bone density per month while in microgravity.

Medical X-rays have been impractical in space until now. Size, weight, and power requirements have limited them to Earth. On top of KA’s detector, the in-space tech revolves around a portable X-ray system from US-based MinXray. The generator can run on a lithium-ion battery, eliminating the need for power from the spacecraft itself.

If successful, Fram2 will represent the first crewed mission to study both of Earth’s polar regions from a low Earth orbit. The X-ray study will represent just one of the projects. The crew will also study aurora-like behavior and conduct amateur radio transmissions.

RELATED: The Canadian Space Mining Corporation thinks it can put a nuclear reactor on the moon by 2029

The four astronauts aboard the Crew Dragon capsule are all civilians new to spaceflight, but with experience studying Earth’s poles. Mission commander Chun Wang (who is funding the project) and vehicle commander Jannicke Mikkelsen both hail from Norway. Pilot Rabea Rogge will be the first female German astronaut, while mission specialist Eric Philips is an explorer from Australia.

Academic contributors include the Mayo Clinic, MIT, and St. Louis University.

KA Imaging was founded by CEO Amol Karnick, CTO Karim Karim and the late Sina Ghanbarzadeh. Karnick is a veteran of the medical device industry who has worked at both startups as well as industry giants like GE Healthcare.

Canada has played a significant role in space technology, most notably contributing the Canadarm robotic arms used aboard Space Shuttles and the International Space Station. It has had a relatively limited impact on private spaceflight, however. Most notably, the early-2000s Canadian Arrow spacecraft project fell short of winning the X-Prize competition for taking civilians into space. Aerospace entrepreneur Burt Rutan’s company Scaled Composites won the challenge in 2004.

Feature image courtesy of Fram2.

The post The first medical X-ray to go to space will use Canadian imaging tech first appeared on BetaKit.

Calgary-based Movement51 (M51), the not-for-profit sister organization of women-led investment firm The51, has appointed Emily Smiley as its new executive director. 

Smiley joins M51 following her eight year tenure at Toronto-based incubator DMZ, most recently acting as its director of partnerships and investor relations. Smiley helped scale entrepreneurship programs, secure corporate partnerships, and launch national initiatives to support women founders while at DMZ, M51 said in a statement. 

“We are confident in her ability to elevate M51 as a national leader in financial education and economic development.”

Alison Pidskalny

“We are at a defining moment for women’s financial influence, and I am thrilled to join Movement51 as we scale our impact,” Smiley said in a statement.

Launched in 2021, M51 aims to drive change in the areas of financial acumen, financial education, and entrepreneurship, and investing by providing opportunities for woman-identifying and gender-diverse people to acquire tools, practice skills, and build financial confidence.

The organization’s flagship programs include the Financial Feminism Investing Lab, Founder Lab, and Investor Bootcamp. Smiley follows previous executive director Danielle Gifford, who joined in September 2022 to head the organization’s early growth and departed in December 2023. 

Under Smiley, M51 said that it is set to accelerate its expansion beyond Alberta, strengthen its partnerships, and create greater access to financial education, investment, and entrepreneurship. 

“Her proven track record in fundraising, program development, and stakeholder engagement will be instrumental as we expand our reach and deepen our impact,” M51 board chair and former interim executive director Alison Pidskalny said in a statement. “We are confident in her ability to elevate M51 as a national leader in financial education and economic development.” 

RELATED: The51 appoints Highline Beta founder Lauren Robinson as managing partner

Last year, M51 ran five programs with more than 400 program participants, and expanded its reach to 48 cities, according to its 2024 Impact Report. The report also states M51’s Financial Feminist Investing Lab graduates raised $1.4 million in capital over the year, bringing its total impact to $2.3 million. M51 has a goal of activating $2.5 billion in women-led capital by 2030, a spokesperson told BetaKit in an email statement.

Earlier this month, The51 made a leadership addition of its own, appointing Highline Beta co-founder Lauren Robinson as managing partner. The appointment allowed general partners Shelley Kuipers and Judy Fairburn to focus on their roles as the firm prepares to scale its presence across the country. 

The51 also closed its $51-million CAD Food and AgTech Fund in January after actively raising for nearly four years. The Food and AgTech Fund invests in diverse founders who are transforming food and agriculture with advanced technology between the pre-seed and Series A stages.

Feature image courtesy Movement51.

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Edmonton-based Nanoprecise Sci Corp has secured $36 million USD ($52 million CAD) in equity and debt financing to fuel its geographic expansion and product development plans.

“With the world moving towards AI and automation, there is no better time to prove that [energy-centred maintenance] is the next big thing in manufacturing.”

The predictive maintenance technology startup helps clients in industries like mining, oil, and gas anticipate equipment failure and reduce downtime using artificial intelligence (AI).

Nanoprecise’s Series C round closed earlier this month. The equity portion was co-led by Vancouver’s Yaletown Partners and BDC Capital’s Industrial Innovation Venture Fund, with support from fellow new investor BMO Capital Partners and existing backer Export Development Canada (EDC). CIBC Innovation Banking provided a credit facility. 

The company plans to use this capital to enhance its tech, invest in research and development, and support its expansion into Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa, and Australia. Nanoprecise plans to add 50 employees to its 127-person team, with hires in AI, human resources, customer success, and operations to support these goals.

Nanoprecise founder and CEO Sunil Vedula told BetaKit that the financing included $2 million USD in secondary and $36 million in primary capital—the latter of which consisted of a combination of equity in debt that he declined to disclose. This round brings Nanoprecise’s total funding to $53 million USD, a figure that also includes $10 million USD in Series B financing led by EDC from January 2023.

Vedula claimed that Nanoprecise’s Series C was an up round that valued the company at more than $100 million, but declined to share the company’s exact valuation.

RELATED: Nanoprecise closes $10-million USD Series B for manufacturing monitoring software

Founded in 2017 by Vedula, a mechanical engineer, Nanoprecise has developed AI-powered predictive maintenance and condition monitoring software that leverages internet-connected sensors to gauge the health and performance of industrial equipment used for manufacturing in real time.

Through its tech, Nanoprecise aims to help predict failures, reduce unplanned downtime, extend equipment life, and ensure maintenance takes place in an energy-efficient fashion. 

“With the world moving towards AI and automation, there is no better time to prove that [energy-centred maintenance] is the next big thing in manufacturing,” Vedula said.

Nanoprecise is targeting clients in energy-intensive and asset-heavy industries ranging from metals to mining, cement, chemicals, oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, food and beverage, pulp and paper, and transportation, and has amassed a customer base that includes Fortune 1000+ enterprises and mid-sized manufacturers.

RELATED: Galatea secures $2.7 million to help oil and gas companies tackle waste disposal

The startup has seen growing adoption from companies looking to meet net-zero carbon emissions goals and digitize their maintenance practices without overhauling their existing infrastructure. It serves customers in North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia across a range of industrial facilities, from remote mining operations to large-scale manufacturing plants. 

According to Vedula, Nanoprecise grew its annual recurring revenue (ARR) to $10 million in 2024, up 114 percent year-over-year, thanks in part to “a clear shift in industry and priorities” and expanded relationships with existing customers.

Nanoprecise also saw a churn of less than five percent, improved its gross profit, saw its customer acquisition costs fall, and posted net revenue retention of more than 115 percent. “These metrics reflect not only rapid growth, but a scalable and efficient business model with sticky customers and strong unit economics,” Vedula said, noting that he expects Nanoprecise to hit $20 million in ARR in 2025.

“Nanoprecise is not just talking about efficiency to the customers but is also displaying the same discipline in its finances, as it has achieved maximum revenue per dollar of investor funds raised in its class,” Yaletown co-founder and partner Hans Knapp said in a statement. 

Feature image courtesy Unsplash. Photo by Dominik Vanyi.

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Consensus 2025 is looking for Web2 and Web3 developers to take part in North America’s largest blockchain hackathon, a three-day challenge focused on building real solutions.

Consensus, which takes place May 14 to 16, will also showcase the world’s most promising early-stage Web3 and artificial intelligence companies in a highly anticipated pitch competition.

“Our EasyA Consensus Hackathons are the ultimate launchpad for founders and developers.”

Dom Kwok, EasyA

For the first time, North America’s largest and longest-running crypto conference is landing in Toronto, home of the first Bitcoin & Ethereum ETFs, a large cluster of blockchain startups and a deep bench of AI and Web3 talent.

More than 20,000 people from 100 countries are expected at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre from May 14 to 16.

Consensus is already drawing a powerhouse speaker lineup, and the EasyA x Consensus Hackathon is where builders break out. Hundreds of developers, engineers, and technical founders will sprint to create and ship new Web3 projects in a fast-paced, high-stakes competition.

“Consensus has a huge focus on showcasing the incredibly creative and profound projects and builders from across crypto,” said Brad Spies, Managing Director of Consensus. “Only at Consensus can you hear directly from top protocols about their technical roadmap and most exciting projects, then see thousands of the world’s top developers build epic projects from scratch, and discover dozens of apex seed-stage startups in a high-stakes pitch competition.”

The best projects don’t just win. They also get backed by the world’s best investors.

“Our EasyA Consensus Hackathons are the ultimate launchpad for founders and developers,” said Dom Kwok, Co-Founder of EasyA. “Not only do the world’s best investors actively look to back our hackathon winners from day one, but projects launching at our hackathons also garner the attention of millions of eyeballs through the CoinDesk media network, which has an audience of over eight million viewers.”

San Francisco-based BlindPay, which was a 2024 hackathon winner at Consensus, now operates as a Y Combinator-backed platform enabling fully private cross-border payments. 

RampMeDaddy, another past winner, turned a simple Telegram bot into an instant memecoin trading tool with over 100,000 users. They’ve also been backed by Draper University.

The hackathon aims to help top talent prove their concepts, secure backing, and turn ideas into a venture-backed company. Investors, VCs, and industry leaders will be watching. 

The priority deadline to apply is April 4, with the next deadline on April 18.

Whether you’re prototyping something new, or getting your product in front of investors, Consensus is designed to support what builders actually need: resources, feedback, funding, and face-time with the right people.

Here are some other opportunities for Canadian builders at Consensus 2025.

The pitch that opens doors

The CoinDesk PitchFest is where early-stage founders take the mic. Startups can pitch live to elite VCs and execs for a shot at funding, strategic partnerships and press exposure.

Past winners and finalists have gone on to raise millions in venture funding, secure major partnerships, and grow fast.

Rise Works, the 2023 winner, recently closed a $6.3-million Series A funding round to expand its hybrid payroll infrastructure for Web3 teams. Metagood, a 2023 finalist, has also raised funding from high-profile investors for its non-fungible token marketplace. 

Zivoe, a 2024 finalist, landed $8.3 million to broaden credit access through blockchain-based lending. And Nodepay, also a 2024 finalist, raised $7 million to power real-time data infrastructure for AI and crypto firms.

PitchFest finalists will get a featured interview on CoinDesk Live, coverage across CoinDesk’s media network, and two VIP passes to next year’s conference.

Startups should submit their applications for PitchFest by April 20.

Where real deals get made

Consensus is designed to help builders connect with the people and resources they need to scale.

Through the Deal Flow Zone, founders can schedule targeted 30-minute meetings with investors, corporates, and ecosystem leaders using the Consensus App. These aren’t random hallway chats — they’re curated conversations with real intent, backed by one of the industry’s largest pools of capital.

Beyond formal meetings, the conference makes space for more organic deal-making. Daily Meetups help founders connect directly with devs, designers, and operators working on similar problems. Networking lounges range from open workspaces to invite-only rooms curated for specific verticals or stages.

And once the conference floor closes, the connections keep going. Toronto will play host to dozens of side events, founder dinners, and after-hours meetups, many of which become the starting point for new products, pilots, or partnerships.

Tickets are selling fast. If you’re planning to be at Consensus 2025, now’s the time to lock it in. Use code BETAKIT for 20 percent off your pass. Get your pass today.

All photos provided by Consensus.

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Toronto-based artificial intelligence (AI) manufacturing startup Basetwo took a major prize at Elevate’s 2025 CIX Summit and will represent Canada at the Startup World Cup this October. 

Basetwo was among the 24 CIX Startup Award recipients recognized at the event, held this week at the Design Exchange in Toronto. Basetwo will be among the regional winners from around the world convening in Silicon Valley to give a four-minute pitch to Startup World Cup judges and investors for a chance at a $1-million USD investment. 

The win follows Basetwo closing an $11.5-million USD ($16.5-million CAD) Series A round to develop its AI-powered copilot for manufacturing engineers this past January. 

RELATED: Basetwo closes $16.5-million CAD Series A round to optimize manufacturing with AI copilots

The CIX Startup Awards annually recognize the top early and growth-stage Canadian startups, plus a new “emerging” category for startups with less than $1 million CAD in annual revenue this year. 

The lists are compiled by the CIX Selection Committee, composed of more than 100 global investors and experts who evaluate submissions based on business model, quality of offering, innovation, market opportunity, management depth, and the diversity, equity and inclusion commitments of leadership.

Basetwo was among this year’s recognized early-stage startups (defined as having annual revenue between $1 million and $10 million CAD), a category it shared with the likes of Edmonton’s Artificial Agency, Vancouver’s MyFO, and Calgary’s Carbonova.

Recognized growth-stage startups included established Toronto-based FinTech firms Float and Brim Financial, as well as Calgary-based cleantech firm Summit Nanotech. Finally, beneficiaries of the new emerging category included AI-powered knowledge-sharing platform EZee Assist, cleantech startup Relocalize, and emergent water-cleaning startup Xatoms, which also won the FemStem Pitch Competition at CIX Summit.

Xatoms has been winning various awards as of late, recently taking home a top prize at this year’s South by Southwest (SXSW) pitch competition and three prizes at last year’s Startupfest.

Jack Newton, founder of legaltech software company Clio, also received CIX’s Innovator of the Year award, which is selected by the CIX advisory board to recognize companies that have “profoundly disrupted and transformed their industries.” Clio, which recently made what Newton claimed was one of the company’s largest acquisitions, closed a $900-million USD (then $1.24-billion CAD) Series F last year at a more than $4-billion CAD valuation. Past recipients of the award include Shopify, Wattpad, Lightspeed, and last year’s winner, Cohere.

Feature image courtesy Elevate.

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The 2025-26 Québec budget tabled by Finance Minister Éric Girard contains a slew of new initiatives in response to Canada’s trade war with the United States (US) while addressing longstanding provincial complaints regarding direct investment and tax credit supports. 

The budget, which marks a record deficit for the province, introduced changes to Québec’s innovation tax credit system and revived an early-stage investment program with fresh funding. The government also committed $900 million in direct aid to businesses and over $600 million to mitigate the economic impacts of US tariffs. 

“Québec’s budget is a shrinking pie, in which the innovation economy gets a relatively larger, more focused share,” said Louis-Félix Binette, executive director of startup support non-profit Mouvement des accélérateurs d’innovation du Québec (MAIN).

One tax credit to rule them all 

The Québec government announced it will abolish eight refundable tax credits related to research and development and replace them with the brand-new refundable Research, Innovation and Commercialization Tax Credit (CRIC) to facilitate investment in innovation projects. 

The streamlining is meant to combat the lower rates of R&D investment in Québec relative to Ontario and other G7 countries. The move also delivered a win to provincial business group Conseil de l’innovation du Québec, which had called for a simplification of the tax credit system. 

The new tax credit, known as CRIC, covers 30 percent of the first $1 million in eligible R&D investments by Québec companies. It represents a consolidation of several tax credits, including for scientific research and experimental development, for fees paid to research consortiums, and for industrial design.   

The new tax credit, known as CRIC, covers 30 percent of the first $1 million in eligible R&D investments by Québec companies.

Guillaume Lajoie, communications and public affairs manager at MAIN, said the change will make it easier for enterprises to get access to tax credits for R&D. The new credit will ease the pre-commercialization process by making the tax credit available for market testing, Lajoie added, and cover the expense of buying equipment that did not fall under the federal Scientific Research and Experimental Development tax credit. 

Jean-François Harvey, Director of Québec Affairs at the Council of Canadian Innovators, welcomed the overhaul to the tax credit system, calling it a “step in the right direction.”  

RELATED: Québec is executing its innovation plan. Will it pay off?

It’s not the only tax change impacting tech companies. The tax credit CDAE, which covers information technology (IT) adoption for businesses, is pivoting to CDAE^IA, which specifically requires artificial intelligence (AI) to be part of any new tech integration companies claim through this tax credit. 

The new budget did leave one burning tax question: whether the province will implement the controversial capital gains tax inclusion rate increase put forward by the federal government last year.

The budget currently states that Québec will match the federal government’s decision, but there is no mention of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s recent decision to cancel the increase. 

“Québec will follow all official federal announcements closely and will make a decision once this information is known,” a spokesperson for the Ministry of Finance wrote to BetaKit in French. 

Impulsion PME replaced with new $200-million fund 

After months of no news on the fate of popular early-stage investment-matching program Impulsion PME, the government has announced a new $200-million investment vehicle using the money originally meant for Impulsion PME, including $50 million from the Stratégie d’innovation 2022-2027. 

Impulsion PME (IPME) was considered a key investment-matching program in the early-stage tech ecosystem designed for startups to close their first rounds. Delivered through provincial investment agency Investissement Québec, the program’s quiet shuttering in November left some entrepreneurs struggling to raise financing.

DÉPART, a program geared towards regional economic development, was put on hold at the same time as IPME, and is now also back on with $15 million over two years starting 2026-27. 

RELATED: Québec’s dismal seed-stage performance could spell trouble for province’s startup pipeline

Lajoie told BetaKit that this is a positive step for the early-stage ecosystem and represents a “shift” from negative attitudes about program closures in the fall. Seed-stage performance in the province also struggled throughout 2024, with ecosystem experts calling the numbers “concerning.” 

The government is replacing the Plan québécois en entrepreneuriat (Québec Entrepreneurship Plan) 2022-2025 with Plan PME (Small Business Plan) 2025-2028. It is dedicating an initial $42 million over three years to the initiative.

Jean-Pierre D’Auteuil, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Economy, Innovation and Energy, wrote in an email to BetaKit that the new plan will be more expansive than the Québec Entrepreneurship Plan and include measures to help entrepreneurs invest in projects to boost productivity.

Tariffs prompt hefty support envelope

Faced with US tariffs on aluminum and steel and the threat of blanket tariffs on Canadian goods, the Québec government made good on its previous pledges to assist companies impacted by the trade war. 

The budget laid out $400 million over two years in loans for businesses directly impacted by tariffs, and earmarked nearly $200 million for diversifying export markets and supply chains away from the US. Some Québec companies, including Montréal-based rip-resistant tights manufacturer SRTX, have already implemented layoffs in response to the economic uncertainty created by tariff threats. 

The government committed $900 million in direct aid to businesses through the Fonds du développement économique to encourage Québec companies to adopt automation, robotics, digital transformation, and AI. 

Key players in the tech and research ecosystem saw a boost, too. The budget allocated $100 million toward Bromont, Que. innovation zone Technum Québec, $54 million to support the province’s life sciences sector over three years, and $22 million toward research activities at Montréal-based AI institute Mila. 

Under this innovation envelope, the government pledged $96 million to modernize government services, $73.4 million of which will go toward automation. 
The commitments were part of a hefty $5.4 billion in support over five years dedicated to “stimulating wealth creation” in the province, the Québec government said.

Feature image courtesy Éric Girard on X.

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SRTX founder and CEO Katherine Homuth will step down from her role at the Montréal-based textile manufacturing and material innovation company.

The Information first reported the news, noting that Homuth’s departure was “part of an effort to secure a much-needed funding deal.” The Globe and Mail has reported that the yet-to-be-closed $40 million financing would be led by past investors H&M, Export Development Canada, Business Development Bank of Canada, and Investissement Québec (IQ).

“People lose nerve on the story when they realize that production is not at full steam. They want to see it.”

Katherine Homuth

Homuth confirmed to BetaKit that SRTX signed a term sheet for a funding round, which was shared with employees and shareholders this week. She said she would step down as part of the deal’s closure, calling it “the right decision for me and the business at this time.”

SRTX is the maker of Sheertex rip-resistant tights, which consist of a uniquely durable polymer several times stronger than steel wire.

Its manufacturing operations, which are solely located in Canada, put the startup in the crosshairs of US tariff impacts. The circumstances led Homuth to temporarily lay off 40 percent of its 350-person staff in February.

“With 85 [percent] of our sales in the US, and tens of millions invested in our Canadian factory, the impending US tariff changes and delays in closing the final portion of our fundraise have led to tremendous financial uncertainty,” Homuth wrote in a Substack post in February.

Homuth said the proposed 25-percent tariffs on Canadian imports, plus the elimination of the de minimis exemption, would slap a 16-percent additional tax on its shipments to US retailers and a total 41-percent tax on consumer orders. To dodge the duties, Homuth told BetaKit at the time she began sourcing certain materials from the US instead of internationally, and selling more products to stores within Canada.

Along with vertically integrating its Montréal factory last year, SRTX pivoted its sales from direct-to-consumer to wholesale, selling to brands such as H&M, Costco, and Macy’s. 

RELATED: SRTX temporarily lays off 40 percent of staff ahead of US tariff “worst-case scenario”

Homuth founded SRTX in Muskoka, Ont., in 2017 as Sheerly Genius. In addition to its flagship tights, SRTX has two B2B products: Cortex, a software-based manufacturing solution, and Watertex, a patent-pending water-repellent fabric. The retail company has secured around $250 million USD in financing to date, including debt. It was valued at roughly $350 million USD in 2022.

In December, SRTX raised $25 million USD ($35 million CAD) in convertible debt from IQ, the Québec government’s investment arm, to scale its wholesale manufacturing operations. Returning investors included Toronto-based ArcTern Ventures and Philippines-based Kickstart Ventures as part of a larger $70-million CAD round. 

Homuth had been candid on social media about the company’s fundraising needs. In January, she said SRTX needed $23 million USD in equity financing by the end of Q1 2025 to invest in infrastructure, lower its per-product costs to $2.50 from $12, and unlock its path to profitability. The company is currently selling its tights at $10 per unit. 

In a Substack post, Homuth called the strategy of proving market viability at a loss “not glamorous.” On The BetaKit Podcast, Homuth also spoke to the difficulty of fundraising given SRTX’s ambitious strategy.

RELATED: SRTX’s Katherine Homuth wants to solve for everything

 ”Something that is very different about our fundraising journey to a B2B SaaS business is that we have really had to fight for and cobble together these rounds of financing,” Homuth said. “People lose nerve on the story when they realize that production is not at full steam. They want to see it. They want it to be crystallized and ready, which is incredibly hard and incredibly frustrating.”

At an International Women’s Day event focused on business risk and failure hosted by Invest Ottawa earlier this month, Homuth was candid about her ambitions for SRTX while separating her identity from her role within the company. 

“You are not your company. You might be the current vision of the company, but you are not it in the end,” she said. “You have to be able to make some rational, cold decisions about what is right for you as well, as a human, in this journey.”

“I’m absolutely loving this, I’m hoping we can take this through IPO. But I also know I have a life as a founder beyond this, and I have lots and lots of things I want to do in the world.”

With files from Douglas Soltys and Alex Riehl. Feature image courtesy The BetaKit Podcast.

Update (3/30/25): This story has been updated with commentary from SRTX CEO Katherine Homuth and additional details on the financing.

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At its Capital Markets Day investor presentation today, executives for Montréal-based Lightspeed Commerce detailed how the company will invest in a sales-led go-to-market strategy across North America and Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). 

The go-to-market shift is part of a transformation plan Lightspeed unveiled alongside its third-quarter earnings last month, which identified its North American retail and EMEA hospitality businesses as its two “leading growth engines.” 

The transformation plan is the product of a months-long strategic review of the company that explored taking the commerce platform private. After extensive acquisition discussions with several potential suitors, Lightspeed ultimately decided the plan to focus on North American retail and EMEA hospitality presented “the best available path to maximizing value” for both the firm and its shareholders. 

“We’ve identified these markets as our growth engines because they drive our highest close rates, our strongest product market fit, have compelling unit economics, and our most defensible competitive position,” CEO Dax Dasilva said. “Just in the last 12 months, the growth engines generated approximately $630 million in revenue, even in just our near term focus areas, we are looking at a [total addressable market] more than 30 times that.” 

Lightspeed plans to have 100 “feet-on-the-street” sales reps in EMEA by next March. 

Dasilva told investors the company will allocate capital to support its priorities as part of the transformation plan, which are to grow Lightspeed’s customer locations in its growth engines, drive gross profit through subscription revenue in particular, and enhance its profitability with a focus on adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) and free cash flow. 

As part of its renewed focus on these markets, Lightspeed will rely less on inbound sales through advertising and more on outbound direct sales, Lightspeed president JD Saint-Martin explained to investors. Dasilva said Lightspeed plans to expand its sales team to more than 150 reps across its retail and hospitality areas, though this sales strategy will manifest slightly differently between the two. 

For retail, Saint-Martin said that Lightspeed is verticalizing its sales and marketing infrastructure, reorienting its remote sales team and brand marketing to specialize on its “eight fortress verticals” rather than “one-size-fits-all.” Those focus verticals are apparel and footwear, home and garden, sports and leisure, vape and smoke, jewelry and watches, wine and liquor, health and beauty, and pets. 

“Underpinning this strategy is AI and automation, which helps us refine how we identify those ideal customer profiles, how we engage with these merchants and, ultimately, how we convert those leads into Lightspeed customers,” Saint-Martin said, claiming the company has grown its outbound bookings by more than 300 percent year-over-year. 

RELATED: Lightspeed scales back fiscal 2025 revenue outlook as “several macroeconomic conditions have deteriorated”

For EMEA, Saint-Martin said the strategy includes more “feet on the street,” bolstering a hyper-local sales force in major urban areas across Europe, and ensuring a direct relationship with restaurant owners and operators. The company has grown its team from only 20 sales reps this past November to 55 current sales reps, with plans to have 100 by March 2026.  

Dasvila said the company is already seeing results from its transformation plan, which included changes to its pricing to “better align” with the value Lightspeed delivers and its December reorganization that saw the company lay off approximately 200 employees to “prioritize resources for strategic areas of the business.” 

“We started the year with an adjusted EBITDA outlook of at least $40 million and have increased that guide by more than 30 percent because of the benefits of the transformation that we have seen in-year,” Dasilva said.   

RELATED: Dax Dasilva on staying public, Lightspeed’s plans for growth, and hiring in Montréal

Earlier this week, Lightspeed scaled back its revenue outlook by two points, from an approximate 20-percent increase year-over-year to approximately 18 percent year-over-year. Dasilva addressed investor concerns about the pullback at the presentation, saying it reflected a “softness” in same-store sales across North America and Europe, as well as small business optimism, which has led to fewer new businesses and cautious investing from established ones. CFO Asha Bakshani also said the company is assuming the near-term softness will continue for the 2026 fiscal year, but is confident it will achieve, if not beat, its revised outlook. 

As part of Lightspeed’s transformation plan, the company said last month that it intended to free up capital to invest in growth areas and conduct a share repurchase program to return up to $400 million USD in cash to shareholders. Bakshani announced at the presentation that Lightspeed has completed a share repurchase representing about 6 percent of total shares, or $132 million USD, and had renewed its bid to repurchase another tranche of shares worth about $95 million USD. 

With its transformation plan in place, Bakshani said that Lightspeed is targeting total gross profit growing at a compound annual growth rate of 15 to 18 percent across its next three fiscal years, representing a total of $700 million USD in gross profit and 20 percent adjusted EBITDA margins. That would be a marked improvement for the company, which reported $115.9 million USD in gross profit last quarter, a 14 percent increase year-over-year.

Feature image courtesy Elevate.

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Canada’s tax system is a double-edged sword for small businesses and startups.

While these businesses drive nearly half the country’s gross domestic product, many struggle to navigate the system’s complexities, especially as rules and requirements continue to evolve.

“There’s an opportunity for us as an ecosystem and as a country to make the process clearer for business owners.”

Faye Pang, FreshBooks

It’s no surprise, then, that many are putting off tax prep. A new FreshBooks survey on small business tax trends found that small business owners are delaying their filings, which can lead to missed opportunities.

Faye Pang, Chief Growth Officer at FreshBooks, believes the identified challenges small business owners face around taxes are a relevant point of discussion across markets. 

“Canada’s multi-layered tax system, with both federal and provincial regulations, can indeed create a confidence gap,” Pang said. “However, by embracing proactive strategies and leveraging available resources, small business owners can transform tax preparation from a burden into a strategic advantage.”

The gap between planners and procrastinators

FreshBooks’ data highlights a common problem: taxes are often treated like that persistent notification you keep swiping away—always hovering, slightly stressful, and impossible to ignore forever. And just like those ignored notifications, procrastinating on taxes can cost small business owners more than they realize.

There’s a spectrum of approaches to tax planning, with some small business owners treating it as a year-round process and others scrambling at the last minute. While a significant portion of respondents claim to start early (78 percent), many still delay the process.

Younger small business owners, particularly Gen-Z are more likely to delay tax prep. More than half of Gen Z self-employed respondents wait until the deadline is imminent. However, this trend presents an opportunity for education and early adoption of effective tax management practices.

In Canada, the problem runs deeper than habit. A 2021 survey found that 60 percent of Canadians had not filed their taxes by late March, and nearly half of small business owners say financial literacy gaps have hurt their bottom line. 

“Small business owners excel at running their businesses, but they’re typically not financial experts,” said Pang. “This underscores the need for accessible resources and tools that simplify tax management.”

Addressing complexity and leveraging resources

For early-stage startups, Canada’s tax system can seem like a maze. Federal and provincial rules stack on top of each other, deductions come with strings attached, and key incentives like SR&ED tax credits require careful attention. A missed deadline or small oversight can mean leaving capital on the table.

Pang acknowledged that recent shifts in Canada’s tax policy, such as the modified capital gains tax rule, have also caused significant confusion.  

“The modified capital gains tax rule has led to considerable work, rework, and uncertainty, further eroding the confidence of small business owners and leaving them unclear about their future tax obligations,” Pang said. “These changes also highlight the importance of staying informed and seeking expert guidance,” she added.

FreshBooks’ survey found that 35 percent of small business owners struggle with the complexity of tax laws, and 32 percent struggle to identify deductions. These uncertainties can lead to missed incentives, which can end up shaping key decisions, including hiring, fundraising, and pricing.

According to Pang, procrastination is often a symptom of a system that demands expertise, but doesn’t offer the resources to build it. 

“There’s an opportunity for us as an ecosystem and as a country to make the process clearer for business owners, by providing clearer guidance and making that information more accessible about eligibility to help small business owners really break down the process,” Pang added.

Systemizing it

Many business owners are turning to software to bridge the confidence gap during tax season. FreshBooks found that 35 percent use tax software, while a growing number rely on AI-driven bookkeeping tools to stay organized year-round.

For Pang, that number is still far too low.

“That stat is steadily ticking up in my mind, far too slowly,” she said. “The reality is that two-thirds of small business owners aren’t adopting available technology solutions designed to simplify financial processes, leading them to miss out on efficiency gains and potentially higher profits.”

Pang believes startups need to think about tax strategy not as an annual fire drill driven by the fear of audits and penalties, but as an ongoing process optimized with the right tools. 

“We believe a simple and really powerful shift is simply integrating technology into financial tracking, not just at tax time, but throughout the entirety of the year,” she said.

FreshBooks aims to simplify tax prep by automating expense tracking, categorizing transactions, and generating tax-ready reports for small businesses. It syncs with bank accounts to minimize manual entry, captures receipts digitally, and streamlines invoicing, while its financial reporting and payment tools help small business owners stay organized.

“It makes that pile of work at tax time much smaller,” Pang added.

The businesses that systemize tax preparation, she said, are the ones that stay compliant while freeing up time, capital, and headspace for growth.

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Stay ahead of tax season with the right tools and strategies. 

Read the full FreshBooks report here, and learn more about how FreshBooks helps small businesses stay on top of their finances.

All photos provided by FreshBooks.

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Waterloo, Ont.-based multinational and logistics software company Descartes Systems Group has acquired Columbus, Ohio-based 3Gtms, which operates as 3G, a fellow transportation management platform, for $115 million USD ($164.4 million CAD) in cash. 

According to Descartes, 3G’s shipping partners, third-party logistics providers, and freight brokers use its platform to optimize domestic shipments by road, using its software tools for planning, rating, consolidation, and routing that cover the entire shipment lifecycle.

In a statement, Descartes chief commercial officer Andrew Roszko said that 3G’s solution brings strong domestic transportation management functionality for different sized delivery modes, like truckload, less-than-truckload (LTL), and parcel.

Descartes acquired two other American companies in the latter half of 2024. 

Roszko added that the acquisition expands Descartes’s reach in North America, and adds a network of API-integrated LTL carriers. LTL, as the name implies, refers to smaller-volume shipping that allows for multiple shippers to share space on a single truck. 

“Much like Descartes, 3G has been successfully building solutions that connect shippers, carriers and logistics services providers to efficiently digitize and manage the lifecycle of shipments,” Descartes CEO Edward J. Ryan said in a statement. “We look forward to working with 3G’s team of deep domain experts to bring our products together and we’re thrilled to welcome 3G’s partners and customers into the Descartes family.”

Founded in 1981 and listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange since 1998, Descartes offers software solutions for use in logistics and supply chains, including managing and monitoring logistical processes such as delivery resources, invoices, documentation, and shipments. The company’s growth has been fuelled by actively acquiring other freight, transportation, and supply chain management companies. 

RELATED: Descartes acquires UK-based logistics platform BoxTop for $18 million CAD

Descartes made a total of four acquisitions in 2024, including two other American companies in MyCarrierPortal and Sellercloud. MyCarrierPortal, acquired in September for approximately $24 million USD ($32 million CAD), provides onboarding and risk monitoring software for freight providers. Sellercloud, acquired in October for $110 million USD ($149 million CAD), provides inventory and order management software for retailers. 

While Descartes continues to be a Canadian company scooping up American companies, the trend so far this year seems to have been the opposite. Toronto-based companies like Softchoice, Payfare, Carbon6 Technologies, and Street Context have all been acquired by American companies. American private equity firm Primus Capital also recently acquired a majority stake in Calgary FinTech startup Reach, and Google is reportedly close to acquiring Waterloo, Ont.-based AdHawk Microsystems.

Descartes looked across the pond for its early 2024 deals, acquiring UK shipment management platform provider BoxTop Technologies for 10.25 million pounds (then $18 million CAD) last June and Dublin, Ireland-based customs declaration software Aerospace Software Developments for 54 million euros (then $79 million CAD) last April.

Feature image by Marcin Jozwiak on Unsplash.

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Québec City-based artificial intelligence (AI) solutions company Vooban is expanding into Ontario and growing its team as it looks to ride a wave of interest in AI integration. 

To fill its new Toronto office, Vooban plans to hire for 20 to 25 roles, including sales architects, cloud solution architects, and account executives, before the end of 2025. It has close to 200 employees in Montréal and Québec City, and has five people working in Ontario so far in sales and human resources. 

“Some companies are very conscious about the fact that they are late, and some of them want to be more bold than conservative.”

Vooban is a service company that helps client companies implement AI solutions faster, executive vice-president Hugues Foltz said. Founded 14 years ago, Vooban began as a custom software developer, mainly working with the Department of National Defence. It started offering AI integration services before the release of OpenAI’s large-language model-based text generator ChatGPT and the subsequent boom in generative AI adoption. 

Vooban now finds itself well-placed to capitalize on an increasing number of Canadian companies adopting AI solutions as they look to boost productivity in an uncertain economic environment. 

Some clients have already incorporated AI functionality and are returning for their next projects, while others are jumping on the AI bandwagon for the first time. 

“Some companies are very conscious about the fact that they are late, and some of them want to be more bold than conservative,” Foltz told BetaKit. “Many companies actually contact us to transform themselves as fast as possible.”

RELATED: AI roundup: Cohere commands attention, Apple Intelligence delays, a vibe coding PSA

The demand for AI integrations has ticked up in Canada in recent years, even for businesses operating outside of the tech space—though a 2024 report showed AI adoption in Canada lags behind its global peers. According to Statistics Canada, more than 10 percent of Canadian companies surveyed in 2024 plan to use AI over the next year. Market research from IBM indicates that over half of Canadian businesses plan to increase their AI investments in 2025. 

This has coincided with steady growth for Vooban: Foltz said the company’s revenue has grown by 50 percent for three years running. 

Foltz said Vooban helps companies identify areas to introduce AI where the return on investment will be highest, from accounting to supply chain management. Some of its biggest Canadian clients include aerospace manufacturer Pratt & Whitney and Crown corporation Canadian National Railway.

Vooban does not have proprietary AI models, but the team uses a mix of commercially available models that they determine align with customer needs.

Another part of its expansion strategy in Ontario is identifying acquisition targets, Foltz said. Early last year, the company acquired Québec-city based Stratéjia to add further expertise in business intelligence and data governance. 

In addition to its hiring plans in Toronto, Foltz said Vooban plans to expand into the US and sign its first US client, with a Vancouver expansion as a secondary priority. 

AI as a tool in the trade war arsenal  

Apart from its Ontario expansion, Vooban’s services are in local demand as Québec companies face economic headwinds, including an ongoing US-Canada trade war set to heavily impact domestic manufacturers. 

The company was drafted by its shareholder, Québec pension fund Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), to help deliver a business support program launched in the wake of US tariff threats in February. 

RELATED: CDPQ launches program to help Québec startups pivot amid tariff threat

The AI Expertise Program targets Québec-domiciled businesses that generated over $25 million in revenue in 2024. Once accepted into the program’s first cohort, participating companies attend workshops led by Vooban on integrating AI solutions, all covered by CDPQ. Some companies will have the chance to move on to a second round, where Vooban will provide support in implementing an AI-driven innovation project.

The program also offers access to capital, through grants or loans, and networking opportunities to diversify their clients away from the US. In a statement, CDPQ president and CEO Charles Émond said the tariff threat must be seen as a “call to action” for Québec companies to “mobilize like never before.” 

CDPQ invested in Vooban in 2023, marking the company’s first source of external funding since its founding in 2011. Though it did not disclose an amount, CDPQ senior director of private equity Yves-André Levasseur joined Vooban’s board as part of the round.

Feature image courtesy Vooban.

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Toronto quantum computing firm Xanadu is collaborating with Corning, the New York State-based materials giant best known as the maker of protective Gorilla Glass for smartphones. Corning will contribute fibre optics and fibre array know-how to help Xanadu network photonic quantum computing chips like those in its Aurora system. BetaKit has reached out to both companies to ask for details about the agreement. 

The two plan to create the “low-loss” networking needed to scale quantum computers, according to the companies. Reliable, general-purpose quantum computers will reportedly need “thousands” of connected chips. Xanadu’s 35-chip Aurora computer currently offers 12 qubits (quantum bits), but the company wants to reach the 1-million-qubits milestone that Microsoft and other companies are targeting for a truly powerful, fault-resistant quantum machine.

Xanadu became a tech unicorn in 2022 as one of Canada’s most prominent quantum computing companies.

“Aurora demonstrated scalability and networkability on photonic quantum computers and our next goal is to dial down optical loss,” Xanadu photonics engineering lead Inna Krasnokutska said in a statement. The companies say the collaboration will take advantage of Corning’s “world-leading capabilities” in fibre optics.

Xanadu has already claimed two quantum computing advancements in 2025. In January, it maintained that it had managed a “pivotal” breakthrough by networking quantum computers together. Earlier in March, it outlined a new approach to error correction that could reduce overhead compared to past methods.

RELATED: How meaningful is D-Wave’s claim to quantum supremacy?

Founded in 2016, Xanadu became a tech unicorn in 2022 as one of Canada’s most prominent quantum computing companies. The startup has secured multiple funding rounds worth over $100 million all together, and as of last spring, has been trying to raise another $200 million for a quantum data centre. It has also worked with Toronto Metropolitan University to develop a quantum computing academic program, and other efforts to improve the talent selection in the field.

The announcement comes as Canada-born D-Wave claims to have achieved quantum supremacy, or demonstrating the ability of a quantum computer to solve a problem no conventional computer can address in a reasonable timeframe. IBM and other industry leaders have argued that supremacy alone isn’t enough, and that it’s also important to develop quantum computers with real-world utility.

Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun “Jensen” Huang has said that genuinely useful quantum computers are realistically over 20 years away. D-Wave chief Alan Baratz disagreed, however, claiming that Huang had a “misunderstanding” of the field and that his company was years ahead. However, D-Wave’s quantum annealing approach differs from the photonic systems Xanadu and other quantum players frequently use.

Xanadu X8 quantum computing chip. Image courtesy of Xanadu.

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St. John’s, Nfld.-based CoLab Software is expediting the development of an artificial intelligence (AI) tool for its engineering design collaboration and communications platform after receiving $5.6 million in financial support from an industry partnership with ExxonMobil.

“Hebron and Hibernia see this project as building foundational capabilities in artificial intelligence and software development in Newfoundland and Labrador.”

Nicholas Maccallum

The funding comes from a partnership between CoLab and the Hibernia and Hebron projects, oil rigs off the coast of St. John’s that are jointly owned by major oil companies including ExxonMobil, Chevron, and Suncor. ExxonMobil operates Hebron and holds the largest stake in the company operating Hibernia.

The partnership was formally struck in December 2023, CoLab chief strategy officer Taylor Young told BetaKit in an email statement, and it includes subscriptions to CoLab’s software and funds for research and development work. 

The funding supports around 60,000 hours of additional local software development to expedite the creation of its new ReviewAI product, CoLab said in a statement. ReviewAI is a new tool for its platform that aims to help inform engineers decisions and automate routine tasks and administrative work. CoLab added that it has hired 17 new full-time roles at its headquarters in St. John’s and secured another undisclosed Fortune 50 partnership since the financial contribution closed. 

“Hebron … and Hibernia … see this project as building foundational capabilities in artificial intelligence and software development in Newfoundland and Labrador,” ExxonMobil Canada research and development manager Nicholas Maccallum said in a statement. “It is advancing the global reach of a local software company to provide a competitive market solution for collaborative design workflows.”

Scott Humber, a senior manager with Hebron engineering service contractor Aker Solutions, said in a statement that they completed more than 2,900 design reviews with CoLab’s software in 2024, cutting their design review cycles from weeks to days.

RELATED: CoLab raises $28.6-million CAD Series B to grow its team and incorporate AI 

Co-founded in 2017 by CEO Adam Keating and CTO Jeremy Andrews, CoLab’s tool allows 2D and 3D computer-aided design files to be uploaded into the cloud and edited by multiple users. Engineering teams can send their designs for review where others can leave feedback and comments for discussion. The tool also captures analytics on the average time taken to complete reviews, address feedback, and common issues in the review process. 

CoLab said the research and development funding from the partnership will allow it to accelerate development in the machine learning algorithms that automatically identify similar design files, generative AI to help surface lessons learned or highlights from past reviews, new ways to view 3D engineering data, and enterprise security and compliance controls. 

The initial scope of the foundational ReviewAI work for the project planned to take 24 months and is set to complete by 2026, Young said, adding that CoLab will continue to work on expanded parts of ReviewAI internally and alongside its industry partners.

Last May, CoLab secured $21 million USD (then $28.6 million CAD) in Series B funding to develop the AI capabilities of its platform—including ReviewAI—and expand its engineering teams, committing to bring its total headcount from 86 to 125 by the end of 2024. Young told BetaKit that CoLab currently has 131 employees. 

CoLab was the first company from Atlantic Canada to be accepted into the Y Combinator accelerator program, immediately raising a $2.7-million-CAD seed round after the accelerator’s Demo Day in 2019, and a $17-million USD (then $21-million CAD) Series A round in October 2021 to further expand its sales team. 

Feature image courtesy CoLab via LinkedIn.

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Silicon Valley-based venture capital (VC) firm Celesta Capital has grown its ranks, hiring former BDC Capital partner Charles Lespérance.

“Deep tech in Canada is very much still at the cooperative stage; there are many more good opportunities than available funding today.”

Charles Lespérance,
Celesta Capital

Lespérance joined the deep tech-focused VC firm earlier this month as its first partner based in Canada, where he will work out of Montréal to help Celesta source deals, make investments, and raise money.

Before Celesta, Lespérance helped manage BDC Capital’s $200-million CAD Deep Tech Venture Fund alongside Thomas Park—who also recently departed the Government of Canada-backed Crown corporation and has since joined Singapore deep tech VC firm Antares Ventures as a senior advisor.

“I love early-stage deep tech investing,” Lespérance told BetaKit over email. “I first met many of the folks at Celesta when we co-led a round in a Montréal-based silicon timing company called Stathera. I remember being blown away by the network and experience that their team brought to the table.”

Founded in 2013, Celesta is a global VC firm that targets companies in the Series A to Series C range developing deep tech solutions that leverage semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI), sensors, and advanced materials. Celesta, which is currently investing out of its fourth fund, has amassed a portfolio of 106 companies and $1.1 billion USD in assets under management. The VC firm has exited 39 investments to date, including Habana Labs, Nuvia, and Robinhood.

While India and Israel have been Celesta’s two leading overseas markets outside of the United States (US), the VC firm has also made investments in the Asia-Pacific region and backed two startups with operations in Canada: Stathera and Canadian-founded, San Jose-based AI platform for manufacturing Quartic.ai. 

With Lespérance’s help, Celesta hopes to expand its presence in Canada. Lespérance said he offers an established deal sourcing and co-investment network, expertise in complementary areas like quantum, mining, and oil and gas, and “extensive financial restructuring experience.”

RELATED: TandemLaunch closes $37-million Fund IV to create and back deep tech startups

“His extensive knowledge and relationships throughout the deep tech and Canadian VC ecosystems are a perfect fit for our team and reflect the commitment we are making to invest in Canada moving forward,” ​Celesta founding managing partner Nicholas Brathwaite told BetaKit over email.

Brathwaite cited the strength of Canada’s “research muscle and technical workforce” as two contributing factors to Celesta’s interest in the country. “There is a significant opportunity to identify compelling technologies and build great businesses within Canada,” he argued.

“Deep tech in Canada is very much still at the cooperative stage; there are many more good opportunities than available funding today and having more knowledgeable and active participants in the sector will benefit everyone involved,” Lespérance said.

Lespérance’s hire comes just over a year after Celesta partnered with Hamilton, Ontario’s McMaster University to help startups and researchers affiliated with the school commercialize their intellectual property. 

“Celesta has deep ties to many of the world’s largest tech companies, which can help us give our investee companies access to a network it would take them years to otherwise develop, without having to relocate to the US,” Lespérance said. 

Feature image courtesy Celesta Capital.

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Seventy-five Ontario-based CEOs have signed a new open letter asking Ontario Premier Doug Ford to implement a laundry list of innovation and economic policy ideas within the first 100 days of his new majority mandate to “reclaim control over [Ontario’s] economic destiny.”

The signatory list includes the leaders of many notable Ontario tech companies, including ApplyBoard’s Meti Basiri, Borrowell’s Andrew Graham, CentML’s Gennady Pekhimenko, Loop Financial’s Cato Pastoll, PointClickCare’s Dave Wessinger, and Baylis Medical Technologies executive chairman Frank Baylis, who recently lost out on his leadership bid for the federal Liberal party. 

“The actions taken in the first 100 days of this government will determine whether Ontario remains vulnerable or takes control of its economic future.”

The open letter, put forward by the Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI), positions Ontario in “economic crisis” as the province has taken centre stage in the trade war between Canada and the United States, its biggest international trading partner. The letter argues that provincial economic policy has prioritized short-term foreign direct investment (FDI) over long-term domestic wealth creation and that, without a deliberate shift in economic strategy, the province risks “further erosion of its competitiveness, sovereignty, and long-term prosperity.”

“In agriculture, healthcare, critical minerals, high-IP manufacturing, and cyber technologies, there is no cohesive strategy to turn Ontario’s raw materials, ideas and data into sustained economic strength,” the letter reads. “Ontario must adapt with a strategy that prioritizes homegrown innovation as a core policy.”

The signatories list eight policy items they insist be implemented within the first 100 days of Ford’s new mandate, some of which come with even stricter timelines. At a high level, the open letter asks that Ford strengthen capital support for Ontario firms, build domestic capacity in key sectors, end the “Era of Low-Value FDI,” strengthen Ontario’s cybersecurity and innovation ecosystem, overhaul procurement, accelerate innovation adoption in healthcare, increase economic resilience, and address the province’s “talent crisis.”

Much of the open letter’s demands hinge on the province using its funding and procurement resources on Ontario-based companies, including prioritizing them for funding from provincial investment vehicles like Venture Ontario and Invest Ontario, as well as implementing a domestic-first procurement strategy for cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and public sector technology adoption. 

The letter also asks that Ontario speed up the launch of a procurement modernization program called the Health Innovation Pathway (HIP), asking for it to be implemented within the next six weeks. HIP was first announced in Ontario’s 2023 budget and then promised again with the launch of the second phase of the province’s life sciences strategy this past October.

RELATED: “It’s done, it’s gone”: Ontario Premier Doug Ford cancels $100-million Starlink contract in tariff response

Ford has already made procurement a central component of his retaliation strategy in the US trade war. Earlier this month, the premier cancelled Ontario’s $100-million contract with satellite internet company Starlink, which is owned by US President Donald Trump’s confidant Elon Musk, and banned all US-based companies from taking part in provincial procurement. Ford said that Ontario spends an annual $30 billion on procurement.

Still, the open letter’s signatories are seeking a swift commitment from Ford’s government to overhaul much of the province’s practices to focus on Ontario-based companies and initiatives. 

“We need a strategy that positions Ontario as a sovereign economic force—one where local companies scale, innovation stays here, and prosperity is built to last,” the letter reads. “The actions taken in the first 100 days of this government will determine whether Ontario remains vulnerable or takes control of its economic future.” 

Feature image courtesy Pixabay. Photo by Jermaine Will.

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Vancouver-based cybersecurity startup Styx Intelligence has secured $2.7 million CAD in seed funding to help organizations address potential online threats to their brands and safeguard their digital presence.

The company is developing a software platform designed to enable clients to quickly detect and respond to threats ranging from brand impersonation to phishing scams and data leaks.

“These types of risks are continuing to evolve and increase.”

Santosh Nair, Styx

Styx was founded in 2021 by CEO Karim Ladha and CTO Santosh Nair—two repeat cybersecurity entrepreneurs who sold their last company, Vancouver-based managed security services provider Integrity-Paahi Solutions, to Deloitte back in 2016. 

In an interview with BetaKit, Nair said that since Styx launched, the volume of impersonation and phishing scams has grown. He claimed brand-based attacks against enterprises have been on the rise lately, and noted that the emergence of generative artificial intelligence (AI) has led to cases where enterprises have been targeted by convincing AI-generated imposter content. 

“These types of risks are continuing to evolve and increase,” Nair told BetaKit in an interview, noting that he sees “a huge market opportunity” in helping organizations monitor and remediate these types of threats through Styx’s platform.

Styx’s all-equity seed round closed in October. The financing was led by BDC Capital’s Seed Venture Fund, with support from fellow new investors Framework Venture Partners, Top Down Ventures, and Sprout Fund. Ladha declined to disclose Styx’s valuation.

RELATED: 1Password builds on B2B growth with acquisition of UK-based Trelica to help companies secure unmanaged apps

This round brings Styx’s total funding to $4.3 million, a figure that includes $1.6 million in pre-seed financing from 2023.

Nair and Ladha bring decades of experience working in enterprise cybersecurity to Styx. “We have a long history of building companies,” Nair said.

As organizations’ digital footprints have expanded, and cloud and software-as-a-service (SaaS) adoption has increased, Nai said that the visibility of threats has declined as companies’ ability to manage them has faltered. The CTO said many organizations have historically relied upon the ability of their teams to manually detect and take down digital threats, but this approach is no longer scalable given the increasing volume of attack vectors and potential risk areas.

At the same time, there is an onus on organizations to spot and address these threats early to mitigate their reputational, and in some cases, financial impact.

“We felt that the market was being underserved,” Ladha told BetaKit.

Enter Styx, which aims to bring a “unified approach to external cybersecurity.” The startup’s platform tracks organizations’ digital footprints from an external-facing perspective across a variety of platforms, keeping customers informed of potential risks, helping them take action, and tying everything together into a risk score.

RELATED: Top Down Ventures completes $10-million USD first close of new venture fund for managed service providers

“Styx Intelligence is addressing an emerging market need with an AI-first approach that is both timely and essential, especially as AI and deepfakes reshape the threat landscape,” BDC Capital Seed Venture Fund partner Dinar Ahmed said in a statement.

Styx’s clients include Coca-Cola Canada, GreenShield, KPMG, and Reitmans. While Styx is focusing on mid-sized to enterprise clients to start, like financial services and retail firms and governments, the startup has also been seeing some demand from smaller customers.

Styx intends to use this funding to expand its team and invest in product development and sales and marketing. The startup already has clients in the United States and Latin America with plans to move into Europe.

On the product side, Styx’s game plan entails improving its platform’s detection capabilities, bolstering its customer experience, and investing in more automation on the takedown front.

Feature image courtesy Styx Intelligence.

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Québec-based non-profit tech accelerator Numana has announced a strategic partnership with Finnish telecom giant Nokia and United States (US)-based tech company Honeywell to help develop secure communication technologies in the era of quantum computing. 

The partnership will see Honeywell and Nokia contribute technological expertise to Numana’s Kirq Quantum Communication Testbed, which allows businesses in Québec to experiment with quantum technologies for telecom networks. 

Honeywell Aerospace Technologies will bring its quantum encryption technology to the testbed, while Nokia will leverage its advanced cryptographic network technologies. 

“God knows that in the current geopolitical context, it’s essential to have these capabilities and infrastructure to enable secure communications.”

Minister Christine Fréchette

The partnership will serve to develop quantum-safe communication networks, Numana said, as well as provide education and training to businesses to implement this technology.

Increasingly powerful quantum computing puts traditional data encryption methods at risk, experts say, posing significant security risks to businesses, consumers, and governments. Since quantum computers could eventually solve complex problems much more quickly than traditional computers, they could be used to break through existing encryption technology. 

Developing a national secure quantum communications network is also part of Canada’s National Quantum Strategy. 

“It’s about reinforcing Québec’s position as a strategic world centre for technological innovation in cryptography and quantum communications,” Christine Fréchette, Québec’s Minister of Economy, Innovation and Energy, said in French at a press conference. “God knows that in the current geopolitical context, it’s essential to have these capabilities and infrastructure to enable secure communications.”

RELATED: How meaningful is D-Wave’s claim to quantum supremacy?

The partnership announcement with two non-Canadian companies comes amid calls for the government to support domestic firms in the wake of a US-Canada trade war.  

In response to a reporter’s question about the wisdom of partnering with American company Honeywell, Fréchette said that Québec only has an issue with the US administration and its tariff policy. 

“Whether businesses are American, European, or foreign, if they are established in Québec and help the province move forward strategically, we will be here to support them,” Fréchette said in French. 

The Québec government recently announced it would be providing up to $50 million in loans to companies affected by tariffs in the province. 

François Borrelli, outgoing CEO and president of Numana, added that this partnership does not pose security risks to domestic firms as the testbed is an experimental platform. Since there is no sensitive data currently flowing, he said, the partnership doesn’t represent a security concern.

Catherine Gentilcore was appointed as Numana’s new president and CEO in February. The non-profit organization serves as a think tank and “macro-accelerator” of quantum technology development in Québec, and oversees the operation of the testbed. Numana’s corporate partners include telecom giants Bell and TELUS, which provide the physical infrastructure for the testbed, such as fibre optic networks. 

RELATED: Sherbrooke’s quantum sector gets $8.1-million boost from federal government

The Québec and federal governments previously committed over $10 million in 2022 and 2023 to launch the testbed. The platform allows businesses to try out new quantum technologies without disrupting any current digital communications infrastructure. 

The Kirq testbed consists of three Québec hubs with several sites for partnering companies to conduct research on quantum communications. Hubs in Sherbrooke and Montréal are already up and running, while Québec City’s is expected to debut later this year, Borrelli said. It had previously been set for early 2024. 

The testbed is already providing a platform for several academic and private research projects, including the Université de Sherbrooke-led CanQuEST consortium to develop hybrid quantum transducers and the QuantaMole consortium at Polytechnique Montréal for quantum molecular materials, devices, and applications.

The Sherbrooke hub is located within the provincially funded DistriQ Quantum Innovation Zone, which is home to quantum research laboratories and collaborative office space. With federal and provincial support, Sherbrooke has grown into a key hub for Canada’s quantum ecosystem, with quantum startups such as Nord Quantique and Qubic Technologies headquartered there. 

Feature image courtesy Numana.

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Montréal-based Lightspeed Commerce has pulled back its revenue outlook for its 2025 fiscal year, which ends on March 31, as its same-store sales and subscription revenues have taken a hit over the past couple of months. 

Lightspeed said in a statement that “several macroeconomic conditions have deteriorated” since reporting its third-quarter earnings last month, where its revenue outlook carried an approximate 20-percent increase year-over-year. Lightspeed has now adjusted its revenue outlook to reflect approximately 18 percent year-over-year growth. 

Lightspeed said factors such as heightened inflationary pressures, increased job insecurity, and weakened consumer confidence have impacted discretionary spending among consumers.

“This shift has led to a decline in same-store sales through February and March to date,” Lightspeed said in a statement. “In addition, declining small business optimism is dampening new business formation. As a result of these factors, Lightspeed experienced significant pressure on transaction-based revenue and, to a lesser extent, on subscription revenue.”

After declining to go private, Lightspeed is expected to detail its transformation plan at its Capital Markets Day later this week. 

Lightspeed said it still expects to report a fiscal 2025 adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of over $53 million USD.

The February decline noted by Lightspeed lines up with the beginning of the chaotic trade war between Canada and the United States (US), which has seen a dizzying back-and-forth of tariff actions between the two countries over the past nearly two months. 

In an email statement to BetaKit, Lightspeed CEO Dax Dasilva said that it is difficult for Lightspeed to isolate the exact reasons for the “macroeconomic deterioration,” but added that tariffs and trade wars certainly play a role in creating uncertainty in the market. 

“Businesses thrive when there is a measure of certainty in growth, trade and consumer spending, and ongoing trade disruptions are a contributing factor to businesses—and consumers—being more cautious about spending.” 

Much like in Dasilva’s previous conversation with BetaKit, when asked how Lightspeed plans to address the macroeconomic factors if they persist, he plugged Lightspeed’s Supplier Network, which he said helps customers navigate “changing macroeconomic conditions and supply chain issues.” 

“Lightspeed will continue to focus on ensuring our customers are best positioned to changing environments by putting technology to work for them, just like we did during the COVID pandemic and through previous macroeconomic conditions,” he said. 

RELATED: Lightspeed to stay public company after strategic review

Founded in 2005, Lightspeed sells point-of-sale and commerce software and hardware to restaurants, retailers, and hospitality providers. The company is dual-listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol LSPD.

Lightspeed announced its outlook adjustment just a couple of days before its Capital Markets Day on March 26, which will provide a three-year vision for the company and a comprehensive update on the operational and financial impact of its recently-announced transformation plan. The plan was the culmination of a months-long strategic review where Lightspeed considered going private via acquisition, but ultimately chose to carry on as a publicly traded company. 

As the trade war places uncertainty onto many Canadian businesses, some Canadian consumer goods startups that are reliant on US materials and production have found themselves caught in the crossfire of disrupted supply chains, while others have come to benefit from a nationwide buy-Canadian campaign. 

This week, Lightspeed released the results of a survey of 1,000 Canadians it conducted earlier this month, which found that 91 percent of respondents are either currently focused on buying Canadian products or planning to do so. The survey also found that 74 percent said they are likely to continue buying Canadian products even if the US tariffs are removed. 

Feature image courtesy Lightspeed.

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University of Ottawa researchers have discovered new ways to control atoms that could both broaden physics knowledge and have practical applications for medicine and computing.

The team isn’t expecting its work to lead to real-world uses in the near future.

Physics professor Ravi Bhardwaj and fellow scientists have published a paper in Nature Communications showing that it’s possible to control the ejection of electrons from atoms and molecules (thus ionizing them) using optical vortex beams, or light beams with angular momentum. 

Previously, the scientific community has been aware of very few ways to control this ionization, which takes place both naturally, such as in lightning, and in technologies like plasma TVs.

Bhardawaj told BetaKit that the findings could eventually lead to significant improvements in a number of fields, particularly in medical imaging. The reliance on light limits the spatial resolution of imaging due to diffraction limits (that is, spreading the light beams out). There have been efforts to overcome this through stimulated emission depletion microscopy (STED). This new approach could one day allow for “better spatial resolution” through the use of one optical vortex beam to localize that light below the diffraction limit.

The new ionization method could also be applied to attosecond science, which deals with light-matter interaction at very small time scales, and plasma physics, Bhardawaj added. The technique could produce what he described as “energetic extreme ultraviolet light” and charge particles that could be helpful with imaging.

RELATED: General Fusion takes major step in quest for Canadian fusion reactors

The researchers added that this could be helpful for controlling individual particles, a key element in quantum computers. Quantum systems write and read data by changing the intensity and frequency of incident light. Optical vortex beams could offer an “additional degree of control,” according to Bhardawaj.

The team isn’t expecting its work to lead to real-world uses in the near future. This is “fundamental research,” Bhardawaj said, and the researchers are “not attempting to commercialize it.”

The news comes amid a wave of Canadian breakthroughs and investments in the quantum sector. Vancouver-based Photonic claimed in February to have discovered a more efficient quantum error correction method. Earlier in March, Canada-born company D-Wave maintained that it had achieved quantum supremacy, or solving a problem with a quantum computer that would be virtually impossible for a conventional computer in a reasonable time.

More than 100 quantum research projects received $78.7 million in total federal funding in January, while the government provided $8.1 million to a startup and three innovation partners to the quantum sector in Sherbrooke, Que.

Image courtesy of Hal Gatewood on Unsplash.

The post Atomic discovery made at University of Ottawa could one day advance quantum computing, medical imaging  first appeared on BetaKit.

It turns out I was wrong.

In 2024, I was responsible for a lot of parasocial helicopter parenting about Canadian tech’s young generation of entrepreneurs. People like Jocelyne Murphy and Scott Langille, who both spoke at BetaKit Town Halls. Without the support and mentorship they were asking for, I said, we might soon lament Canadian tech’s lost generation.

The kids weren’t lost. They were just in the lab, building. 

Last week, Socratica hosted possibly the world’s largest student-run tech demo day at the Waterloo Rec Centre, filling the 2,500-person venue and leaving an additional 1,300 hopeful attendees to watch the livestream.

I encourage you to watch it yourself. Like a Sex Pistols concert, in 10 years everyone will claim to have seen it live. Like a Sex Pistols concert, it will launch a bunch of great bands (and hopefully a few great tech companies, too).

You can see Murphy and Langille in the photo above, smiling and fist-pumping and hugging like they have both successfully produced and won the Super Bowl, or maybe the 4 Nations Cup. Founded in 2022 by a couple of University of Waterloo students, Socratica’s Symposiums have tripled in size with each edition. The collective now has a node on every continent and wants one in every major city around the world.

My old BlackBerry colleague and Market.dev founder, Tarun Sachdeva, told me that Socratica will end up being more important for Waterloo than UW’s co-op program. A bold prediction!

I asked Anson Yu, one of the Symposium organizers, why so many young people from around the world wanted to come to their demo day. “People want to feel that there are people excited and doing something about making the future better,” she said. Socratica provides the “social permissioning” to try something new.

In the days following, many of these young people reacted online as if they had just experienced the canon event of their origin stories. I’m all for self-awareness but I would encourage them to keep looking to the future.

Go further. We’re all rooting for you. We’ll help where we can.

Douglas Soltys
Editor-in-chief

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TOP STORIES OF THE WEEK

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Liberals’ capital gains tax hike is dead, lifetime exemption limit increase to stay

Prime Minister Mark Carney officially announced that the Government of Canada will cancel its proposed hike to the capital gains tax inclusion rate, following nearly a year of backlash from Canadian technology and business leaders since the Liberals introduced the changes in Budget 2024.

The feds also said they intend to maintain the planned increase to the Lifetime Capital Gains Exemption limit to $1.25 million on the sale of small business shares and farming and fishing property. The announcement did not mention the Canadian Entrepreneurs’ Incentive, the other measure the Liberals announced last year to mitigate the impact of their capital gains tax hike.

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Telus partners with Nvidia to transform its data centre into a Canadian “Sovereign AI Factory”

Canadian telecommunications giant Telus has partnered with global semiconductor manufacturer Nvidia to upgrade the artificial intelligence (AI) compute power of its Rimouski, Que. data centre and turn it into a “Sovereign AI Factory.”

Announced this week at Nvidia’s GTC conference for AI developers, Telus’s upgraded data centre in Rimouski, Que. aims to help Canadian businesses and researchers develop AI products by providing the supercomputers and software needed to train AI while keeping data within Canada’s borders.

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How meaningful is D-Wave’s claim to quantum supremacy?

Canadian-born company D-Wave Quantum Systems said last week that it achieved “quantum supremacy” in what it calls a groundbreaking paper in the prestigious journal Science. Despite the lofty term, some Canadian experts say supremacy is not the be-all, end-all of quantum innovation. 

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FreshBooks reveals new CEO Shaheen Javadizadeh after securing $179 million in debt from Morgan Stanley

Toronto-based accounting software company FreshBooks has casually unveiled Shaheen Javadizadeh as new permanent CEO alongside a new $125-million USD ($179-million CAD) debt financing round.

The new leader and financing follow a multi-year struggle for the company, which has seen a number of executive departures, office closures, and rounds of job cuts. According to Morgan Stanley, FreshBooks is expected to use this new debt financing to refinance its existing debt and fuel its continued growth. 

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Shopify acquires search startup Vantage Discovery for undisclosed amount

Canadian e-commerce giant Shopify has acquired San Jose, Calif.-based artificial intelligence-powered retailer search startup Vantage Discovery for an undisclosed amount.

While Shopify declined to disclose any details of the transaction, the company told BetaKit that Vantage Discovery’s search platform and team will play a key role in “supercharging” Shopify’s work for both merchants and buyers. 

Shopify also announced that it is voluntarily transferring its United States stock exchange listing from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) to the Nasdaq Global Select Market (Nasdaq) on March 28. Shopify will continue trading under the ticker symbol SHOP, and its Toronto Stock Exchange listing remains unaffected.

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Canada invests $36.6 million in Strategic Innovation Fund technology networks

The Government of Canada is investing a total of $36.6 million in five Strategic Innovation Fund networks in hopes of fostering emerging technology sectors and attracting major investments.

The investments include support for the Clean Resource Innovation Network, the Canadian Agri-Food Automation and Intelligence Network, the Canadian Food Innovation Network, Natural Products Canada, and the Mining Innovation Commercialization Accelerator. 

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Upcoming tech events 

As the snow thaws and the temperatures warm, Canadian tech emerges from hibernation to gather at events across the country. 

• Elevate’s CIX Summit 2025 will take place March 26 at Toronto’s Design Exchange. Laura Lenz from OMERS Ventures and Prashant Matta from Panache Ventures are leading opening remarks, and Clio CEO Jack Newton will share the experience of building his legaltech brand. 
• The blockchain- and web3-oriented Consensus conference has revealed the lineup of speakers for its inaugural Toronto showing, which runs May 14-16, 2025. Speakers include the likes of WonderFi CEO Dean Skurka and Coinbase Canada CEO Lucas Matheson. 
• Web Summit Vancouver has revealed the first 25 speakers for its conference at the Vancouver Convention Centre from May 27-30. The rebranded Collision features Jay Graber, CEO of emergent microblogging service Bluesky, 1Password co-CEO Jeff Shiner, and Trevor Martin, the head of Mammoth Biosciences (the biotech firm hoping to resurrect the woolly mammoth). 
• This year’s Startupfest will take place from July 9 to 11 at Montréal’s Grand Quay. The festival will feature appearances from Hustle Fund general partner Elizabeth Yin, Mila senior director Shingai Manjengwa, and Alchemist Accelerator CEO Ravi Belani. 

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FEATURED STORIES FROM OUR PARTNERS

More highlights from across the Canadian ecosystem:

• Small businesses told TD they needed one e-commerce solution, not a patchwork of tools. Read about why TD built its own e-commerce platform in partnership with BigCommerce.
• John Solomos chose to scale his startup in his hometown of Markham. Today, BlueBird IT Solutions is the country’s largest healthcare IT-managed services provider. Read the founder’s tribute to the City of Markham.
• Innovate BC’s Integrated Marketplace started as a testbed for emerging startups in BC. Amid the current trade war, it has taken on a new importance. Read about why the program is becoming a hedge against US uncertainty.

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Weekly Canadian Deals & Dollars

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• VAN – UniDoc to acquire the software used in its health cubes
• CGY – Summit Nanotech secures $36.5M for lithium extraction tech
• CGY – Former Klue reps raise $500K for sales platform Quack 
• WPG – AdTech company Taiv acquihires Local Reach founding team
• KW – Page raises $4.1M seed for government relations platform
• KW – Google reportedly close to acquiring AdHawk
• TOR – Doormat rebrands to Ownright, secures $4.5M seed round
• TOR – Sprout Family raises $1.7M pre-seed round
• MTL – Polytechnique Montréal receives $50M to establish deep tech institute

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The BetaKit Podcast — AI roundup: Cohere commands attention, Apple Intelligence delays, a vibe coding PSA​

“Apple won’t use user data to develop and train AI. And Apple lives in a world where AI is going to be table stakes in any software or hardware moving forward.”

A tech palate cleanse for all the election and trade war talk. This week, Rob and Doug tackle the latest AI developments: vibe coding, Cohere’s (temporary?) LLM pole position, AI data centres from Telus (powered by Nvidia), and Apple’s delayed intelligence.

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The BetaKit Quiz — This week: Google eyes AdHawk, Nvidia’s Canadian partner, and a red light for Tesla

Think you’re on top of Canadian tech and innovation news? Time to prove it. Test your knowledge of Canadian tech news with The BetaKit Quiz for March 21, 2025.

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Don’t miss out—contact us now!

Feature image courtesy Socratica’s Freeman Jiang.

The post The future of Canadian tech runs through Waterloo first appeared on BetaKit.

There has been a lot of (necessary) election and trade war talk on The BetaKit Podcast recently. But this week we just want to nerd out on some tech news.

So consider this week’s episode a tech palate cleanse, focused on AI (the pickled ginger of tech conversations).

“Apple won’t use user data to develop and train AI. And Apple lives in a world where AI is going to be table stakes in any software or hardware moving forward.”

Any conversation about AI should start with Apple Intelligence and its ongoing delays. Last year, we said that Apple’s riskiest decision in years might be catching up to AI too soon. For a company that often ignores the existence of new tech until it is ready to roll it out at scale, news that a Siri able to compete with ChatGPT (or anything else) might not come until 2026 has ruffled some feathers, particularly if you recently purchased an Apple Intelligence-ready device. But given reports that Apple might be starting from scratch, was it still the right call?

On the opposite end of the vaporware spectrum is Cohere’s Command A large-language model (LLM), which both exists and currently sits in pole position ahead of the company’s global competitors for speed and efficiency. It’s a nice feather in the cap of Canada’s ‘Great AI Hope’ no matter how long it lasts, but as Decelerator’s Rob Kenedi notes on the podcast, with LLMs becoming increasingly commoditized, is it the data centre owners who will ultimately win the AI wars? Cohere has an iron in that fire as well, as does Telus, with claims of Canadian AI sovereignty—both data centres will be powered by Nvidia chips.

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RSS

That last morsel had a bit of a sour taste to it, and this is supposed to be the palate cleanse episode, so I’m switching up the vibes to talk about vibe coding. Y Combinator’s Garry Tan recently claimed that a quarter of his accelerator’s batch of startups are building products almost entirely written by LLMs. This seems like the beginning of a marked shift in the way tech is built, right? Well, as @leojr94_ and others have revealed, with great vibes come great responsibility. Please consider this your vibe coding PSA.

Let’s dig in. 

Related links:

• Something Is Rotten in the State of Cupertino
• Apple’s AI division reportedly starting from scratch  
• Apple’s Craig Federighi Discusses the Future of iPhone AI
• Apple’s Catch-22
• Cohere’s Command A goes brrrrrrrrr
• Cohere had to extend the axis a bit
• Telus, data centres and ‘Sovereign AI’ (powered by Nvidia)
• 25% of Y Combinator’s latest startup batch is vibe coding
• Vibe coding startups are already raising millions
• @leojr94_ vibe coded his way into a cyber attack (lol)

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Feature image courtesy Cohere. Episode edited by Darian MacDonald.

The post AI roundup: Cohere commands attention, Apple Intelligence delays, a vibe coding PSA first appeared on BetaKit.

Toronto-based accounting software company FreshBooks has casually unveiled its new permanent CEO alongside a new $125-million USD ($179-million CAD) debt financing round. 

Shaheen Javadizadeh will be taking the reins from long-time interim leader Mara Reiff, who has overseen the company since former president Mark Girvan and former CEO Don Epperson departed in November 2023. Reiff, who initially joined the company as chief data officer, is now the company’s COO, according to FreshBooks’ website. 

Debt round and new CEO comes after a long period of leadership turnover at FreshBooks.

FreshBooks did not make a formal announcement about Javadizadeh taking the job, but the company website now lists him as CEO. A FreshBooks spokesperson told BetaKit in an email statement that Javadizadeh joined the company in the fourth quarter of 2024 (his LinkedIn profile shows he has held the post since January).

His first public mention at the helm was accepting $125-millon USD in debt financing from Morgan Stanley’s expansion capital and private credit funds this week.

“FreshBooks looks forward to leveraging [Morgan Stanley’s] expertise in this next chapter of growth,” Javadizadh said in a statement. 

Describing himself as a professional CEO, board member, and entrepreneur in his LinkedIn profile, Javadizadh has previously held executive leadership positions at Texas-based legal software company Wolters Kluwer, California-based library management software Innovate Interfaces, and California-based printing company 4over. He also currently serves as the chairman of the board at California-based TakeIn, a food e-commerce platform he co-founded. 

FreshBooks declined to disclose to BetaKit any additional details on the debt, why FreshBooks raised it, or if the company considered or pursued equity financing.  

This is not the first time FreshBooks has taken on sizable debt. One year after the company raised a $130-million USD (then $163-million CAD) investment round at a unicorn valuation in August 2021, FreshBooks secured a $100-million USD syndicated debt facility from BMO Financial Group and J.P. Morgan to aid global expansion plans it has since pulled back on. 

RELATED: Inside FreshBooks’ struggle to reach profitability

Reiff’s tenure as interim leader overlapped a multi-year struggle for FreshBooks to find profitability. This past October, The Globe and Mail reported that in the first half of 2024, FreshBooks had little cash, high debt, and was looking for capital to remain operational. According to Morgan Stanley, FreshBooks is expected to use this new debt financing to refinance its existing debt and fuel its continued growth. FreshBooks told BetaKit that it will use the debt to continue on its current path of driving profitable growth as a company. 

“We believe FreshBooks has a tremendous market opportunity ahead of it and are confident that our growth credit and capital solutions teams are uniquely positioned to support FreshBooks in this important stage of its growth,” Pete Chung and Ashwin Krishna, the heads of the Morgan Stanley funds, said in a joint statement. 

The debt round and new CEO comes after a long period of leadership turnover starting in March 2023, when the now-departed CEO Epperson embarked the company on a journey to become profitable by 2025 through headcount and programmatic spending reductions. 

When BetaKit asked about the state of that plan in October, following a number of executive departures, office closures, and rounds of job cuts, a FreshBooks spokesperson told BetaKit that its strategy “remains focused on growing FreshBooks’ profitably in the North American market.”

When asked where the company now stands on its path to profitability, FreshBooks declined to comment on its specific financials, but called the financing from Morgan Stanley a “vote of confidence.” A FreshBooks spokesperson added that the company has not made any significant changes to its team size since October, and that it continues to hire into critical positions across the organization.

Feature image courtesy FreshBooks.

The post FreshBooks reveals new CEO Shaheen Javadizadeh after securing $179 million in debt from Morgan Stanley first appeared on BetaKit.

The post Google eyes AdHawk, Nvidia’s Canadian partner, and a red light for Tesla first appeared on BetaKit.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has officially announced that the Government of Canada will cancel its proposed hike to the capital gains tax inclusion rate.

Carney promised to do this earlier this month after the Liberals elected him to replace Justin Trudeau as party leader and prime minister, following nearly a year of backlash from Canadian technology and business leaders since the Liberals introduced the tax changes in Budget 2024.

The Liberals’ backtrack follows nearly a year of backlash from Canadian tech leaders.

The feds said they intend to maintain the planned increase to the Lifetime Capital Gains Exemption limit to $1.25 million on the sale of small business shares and farming and fishing property. Carney indicated that the government will introduce legislation to facilitate this “in due course.”

Today’s announcement did not mention the Canadian Entrepreneurs’ Incentive (CEI), the other measure the Liberals announced last year to mitigate the impact of their capital gains tax hike. When asked what will become of the CEI, a Department of Finance spokesperson told BetaKit that “more information will come in due course.”

“Canada is a country of builders,” Carney said in a statement. “Cancelling the hike in capital gains tax will catalyze investment across our communities and incentivize builders, innovators, and entrepreneurs to grow their businesses in Canada, creating more higher paying jobs. It’s time to build one Canadian economy—the strongest economy in the G7.”

The announcement comes with another federal election on the way: Carney is reportedly expected to dissolve Parliament this weekend and call a vote for late April. For his part, Conservative leader Pierre Polievre has also pledged to scrap the increase should his party form government.

The Government of Canada initially proposed raising the inclusion rate on capital gains—which include profits from the sale of assets like stock or property—from one-half to two-thirds, meaning that a greater percentage of capital gains would be considered taxable income, potentially bumping some individuals and companies into new tax brackets. The goal was to help the Liberals finance billions in new spending and increase tax fairness.

To mitigate the impact of this hike, the Liberals also shared two other planned measures. The first is an increase to the cumulative LCGE, a longstanding tax exemption designed in part to help encourage risk-taking among small business owners, from $1 million in lifetime capital gains to $1.25 million. The second was the launch of the CEI, a new incentive for people who own at least five percent of a business, which reduces the inclusion rate to 33.3 percent on a lifetime maximum of $2 million in eligible capital gains.

RELATED: An election primer on what Canadian entrepreneurs need

The proposed capital gains tax changes prompted immediate and loud backlash from many of the country’s tech leaders, who argued it would stifle tech entrepreneurship and investment and exacerbate Canada’s existing productivity challenges. Meanwhile, others argued this reaction was overblown.

The proposed changes were set to take effect on June 25, 2024, but the Liberals never passed legislation to enact them, and earlier this year, the government delayed their implementation until 2026.

“The formal rollback of the capital gains tax increase is a welcome move, but it’s bittersweet—Canada’s reputation in the tech sector has already taken a hit,” Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI) president Benjamin Bergen said in a statement. “The proposed change signalled to investors and entrepreneurs that Canada was becoming a much harder place to succeed, and that kind of uncertainty has real consequences.”

Bergen said that CCI and the Canadian tech scaleups it represents appreciate the move, but argued that rebuilding trust also requires a policy environment that supports domestic firms, especially amid Canada’s ongoing trade war with the United States and global volatility.

Feature image courtesy Mark Carney via LinkedIn.

The post Liberals’ capital gains tax hike is dead, lifetime exemption limit increase to stay first appeared on BetaKit.

Vancouver-based UniDoc Health, which sells cube-shaped kiosks for remote healthcare, has struck a deal to purchase software and other assets from American healthtech firm AMD Telemedicine.

UniDoc has entered into a definitive agreement to buy AMD Telemedicine’s name, Agnes Connect software, related intellectual property, customer subscriptions, and accounts for $175,000 USD ($251,000 CAD) in cash to strengthen its telehealth offering. This will mark UniDoc’s first acquisition to date.

UniDoc has developed a cube-shaped kiosk for remote medical appointments.

In a statement, UniDoc CEO Tony Baldassarre said that AMD Telemedicine deal will bolster UniDoc’s existing software, position UniDoc to provide “a more comprehensive and seamless” telehealth product overall, and give the company direct access to an established network of customers.

This strategic acquisition remains subject to customary closing conditions, including approval from the Canadian Securities Exchange, where UniDoc trades, if required. Baldassarre expects this deal to close by next week.

UniDoc has developed a cube-shaped, self-contained virtual kiosk called the H3 Health Cube to enable remote medical appointments and examinations with physicians. These cubes contain traditional medical and diagnostic tools, as well as artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled solutions aimed at facilitating consultations as though patients were present in a doctor’s office.

According to Baldassarre, the H3 Health Cube can help facilitate blood tests, urine analysis, electrocardiograms, dermatology assessments, X-rays, magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography scans, dialysis, and more. Its system is designed to be integrated with hundreds of additional medical devices. UniDoc does not facilitate self-testing—the CEO noted that a nurse or trained technician is always physically present to operate medical instruments.

RELATED: Phoenix secures equity funding from Valspring, venture debt from CIBC for prescription drug service geared to men

Through its combined software-hardware offering, UniDoc hopes to replicate the in-person medical consultation process for patients in a variety of geographic areas, including rural regions and places where healthcare services have been affected by conflict.

UniDoc was founded in early 2021 and went public later that year. After three years of work developing its tech, UniDoc is now focused on commercialization, Baldassarre said. The company is targeting markets including healthcare ministries, rural areas, disaster zones, hospitals, defence ministries, academia, and retail.

Late last year, UniDoc delivered its first three AI-equipped H3 Health Cubes to clients, including a children’s hospital in Ukraine and the Aiutamoli a Vivere Foundation, an Italian aid group that plans to deploy it in places like Ukraine and Gaza.

The AMD Telemedicine product Agnes Connect is a secure, encrypted, cloud-based clinical examination platform that UniDoc already uses to integrate data from its devices with live video conferencing, documentation, and medical images.

UniDoc’s Neil Connect offering is a rebranded version of Agnes Connect, the software that serves as the platform for all of the company’s H3 Health Cubes. The Vancouver healthtech firm has been working with AMD Telemedicine for the past three years, and Baldassarre said acquisition discussions began three months ago. This agreement gives UniDoc full control of Agnes Connect, eliminating dependence on a third party.

According to Baldassarre, AMD Telemedicine previously let some of its employees go, but UniDoc plans to retain its engineers and sales team. Once the acquisition is complete, UniDoc intends to continue supporting Agnes Connect’s existing customers and grow its client base. At this time, Baldassarre said AMD Telemedicine will continue operating under its current name.

Feature image courtesy UniDoc Health.

The post Paging Dr. Cube: UniDoc to buy software from AMD Telemedicine to improve remote healthcare offering first appeared on BetaKit.

Toronto-based Sprout Family startup has closed a $1.7-million CAD pre-seed round as it looks to increase the accessibility of fertility, surrogacy, and adoption care to Canadians. 

The all-equity round, which closed this past October, was led by StandUp Ventures with participation from Blue Collective, MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund, The51, Boon Fund, and some undisclosed Canadian angel investors. 

Sprout will focus on expanding its care team in the coming months to support its growing member base.

Founded in 2023 by CEO Jackie Hanson and COO Suzanne Mason, Sprout’s platform helps employers include comprehensive fertility, surrogacy, and adoption benefits in their health plans. Sprout sells its access to its platform to human resources and benefits teams, which in turn provide access to their employee members. 

The platform provides employees with educational family planning resources, a network of fertility clinics and surrogacy agencies, and unlimited telehealth appointments with specialists. Businesses can also add Sprout Pay to their package, which provides financial benefits to cover expenses related to fertility treatments, medications, surrogacy, and adoption.

Although paying a surrogate or paying a company to arrange surrogacy services is illegal in Canada under the Assisted Human Reproduction Act, intended parents have to cover many costs related to surrogacy, such as for medications, travel, and non-covered medical services. Hanson told BetaKit in an email statement that Sprout helps its members navigate the complexities of both Canadian and international surrogacy, including process mapping, connection to legal support, and guidance on agency selection.

“We help our members choose between domestic and international options based on what’s best for them and their goals,” Hanson said.

According to the World Health Organization, an estimated one in six people worldwide experience infertility on average. While there are avenues to achieve conception despite fertility issues, many treatments and medications are very costly and are not covered by most Canadian employers.

Sprout will use its fresh capital to bolster its go-to-market efforts, expanding partnerships with insurers, benefits brokers, and employers, Hanson told BetaKit, adding that Sprout will also work on improving its platform with a strong focus on personalization and information transparency.

RELATED: Flora Fertility closes $1.5 million CAD to bring individual fertility insurance across North America

“We recognize that every path to parenthood is unique, and we’re committed to ensuring that everyone who needs support—whether for fertility treatments, surrogacy, egg freezing, adoption, or other family-building options—has access to the right resources and care,” Hanson said. 

The company currently has five full-time employees, a team it grew soon after the round closed, and five part-time contractors. Hanson said Sprout’s focus in the coming months is to expand its care team to support Sprout’s growing member base.

Sprout has seen significant growth and investment in fertility benefits since it launched last year, according to Hanson, and is now supporting thousands of members across the country. Sprout has also struck partnerships with major Canadian insurance carriers, including Canada Life, offering distribution access to over 10 million covered Canadians.  

Feature image courtesy Sprout Family.

The post Sprout Family raises $1.7 million pre-seed round to make fertility benefits more accessible in Canada first appeared on BetaKit.

The first time A&K Robotics’ self-driving mobility pod moved through Vancouver International Airport, it wasn’t an official airport service. 

It was a live test—one that few young startups get the chance to deliver.

“The measure of success is: how do we move the company to the next stage of self-sufficiency?”

Many startups would love to work with airports, which move huge amounts of people and goods, and some technology companies opt to focus on winning contracts in the United States in hopes it will convince Canadian airport buyers to take a chance.

A&K Robotics didn’t have to take this route.

Its compact, autonomous vehicle, built to help travellers with mobility challenges independently navigate airport terminals, was deployed in its home province of BC. 

The company secured its airport deployment through Innovate BC’s Integrated Marketplace, a program funded through the Government of B.C. and the Government of Canada designed to support local startups operating inside real-world testbeds so they can de-risk and prove their technology in live environments. 

The framework offers large companies like YVR the opportunity to de-risk their innovation adoption while the supporting solution providers can earn a large reference customer to help them access new, global markets.

“Several international airports have been asking to test our technology, but the Integrated Marketplace gave YVR the opportunity to embark on a meaningful project that emphasized scale,” said Jessica Yip, COO and co-founder for A&K Robotics. “As a deep-tech company, this meant that we could focus on product development, iterate quickly and accelerate our path to market.”

Two years after its launch, the Integrated Marketplace is no longer just creating testbeds for startups. It is changing where and how BC companies scale amid growing uncertainty.

Startups often struggle with the leap from prototype to paying customers, but the right support can make that jump happen faster. Peter Cowan, CEO of Innovate BC, believes the program is delivering on that promise.

“For me, the measure of success is: how do we move the company to the next stage of self-sufficiency?” Cowan said. “For some, that’s going from one or two pilots to double-digit deployments. For others, it’s getting their first sales. This program is helping companies clear those hurdles faster.”

A learning curve

The past year has made one thing clear: de-risking isn’t a single step. It’s a process. Startups often require a progression of wins that make commercialization and adoption inevitable.

“We’ve had projects where multiple testbed deployments build on each other,” Cowan added. “When companies reach the market, their technology is already proven, and they can expand internationally more efficiently.”

That pattern is starting to emerge across industries.

At BC’s ports, Victoria-based MarineLabs has deployed a coastal intelligence platform that provides real-time environmental data to improve safety and efficiency in maritime operations. 

Through the Integrated Marketplace, MarineLabs is running three projects at the Port of Vancouver and the Port of Prince Rupert, two of the busiest and most complex maritime environments in Canada. 

The startup, which captured the most extreme rogue wave ever recorded off the coast of Vancouver Island in 2020, provides real-time wind, wave, and weather data to port operators, vessel pilots, and coastal engineers. Each testbed through Integrated Marketplace offers a different, high-stakes application of the company’s flagship platform, CoastAware.

The Provincial Health Services Authority testbed, launched as the Integrated Marketplace’s fourth testbed in the summer of 2024, is digitizing pathology workflows to make quality digital images available in an interconnected cloud infrastructure, a novel approach in North America.

Tamara Vrooman, President and CEO for the Vancouver Airport Authority, says that the impact is felt not just operationally but more broadly for the province.

“YVR provides an ideal environment for local innovators and cleantech companies to develop and implement made-in-B.C. solutions that work at our airport and can likely be applied to other airports and industries,” Vrooman said. “We are very proud to be a testbed for innovation and to see solutions from this collaboration advance BC business, improve our operation, and benefit our community and the economy that supports it.”

According to Cowan, these deployments are creating a path for startups to move from early pilots to industry-wide adoption.

“We’ve had some global successes, companies that are growing, as well as expanding outside of North America,” Cowan added.

Rethinking the path to adoption

For decades, Canadian startups followed a familiar script: land a big US contract, then expand from there. That approach has historically worked for many startups, but that might be starting to change.

With US procurement policies shifting inward and a US-Canada trade war stoking unease across Canada’s economy, Cowan believes the strategy of using American customers as a launchpad is becoming less reliable.

“What the trade discussion really has put on the table is: where is the best place to diversify markets long-term, and how do we speed that up?” Cowan added.

That’s where Cowan believes the Integrated Marketplace can provide value.

It is not replacing US expansion, he said, but it is ensuring that startups don’t have to depend on it. The program is giving companies a way to land their first major customers in BC, find early traction while de-risking their technology, and then choose their next markets from a position of strength.

For BC startups, it’s an opportune time to gain that position. This year, Web Summit Vancouver is bringing a massive audience of global investors and technology leaders to the province for the first time. Innovate BC sees an opportunity to align the Integrated Marketplace with the incoming international attention on the local tech sector.

“If we combine the Integrated Marketplace with the work we’re doing around Web Summit Vancouver, it creates a one-plus-one-equals-three opportunity,” Cowan added. “We’re de-risking these technologies and giving them exposure at the same time.”

For companies that might have once looked to the US for validation, this combination offers a different path: proving their technology in BC and using that momentum to reach a global audience.

With $30 million in new funding from the provincial budget, Innovate BC is planning its next phase. The focus now is on scaling what’s working and identifying the next high-impact testbed.

A few years ago, the Integrated Marketplace was an experiment. Today, Cowan said it is proving to be one of BC’s most effective tools for preparing startups for global markets while keeping them rooted in the province.

“We’ve had great uptake in the first couple of years, and the lessons we’ve learned will make the next phase even stronger.”

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Innovate BC works to foster innovation across the province so that all British Columbians can benefit from a thriving, sustainable and inclusive innovation economy.

Learn more about how the Integrated Marketplace is working to accelerate and de-risk the adoption of cutting-edge innovations throughout BC.

All photos provided by Innovate BC.

The post It started as a testbed. Now it’s changing how BC tech grows first appeared on BetaKit.

A group of former Shopify employees have closed $4.1 million CAD in seed funding to fuel their goal to turn Page into the go-to platform for government relations.

The Kitchener-Waterloo software startup is developing an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered platform designed to track government activity and policy changes. Page’s flagship product is an “AI lobbyist” to help organizations monitor, analyze, and influence governments in real time. 

“The trade war and all the shifts that we’re seeing have caused a lot of uncertainty in the business world.”

Since its launch early last year, Page has advanced from a concept to a platform that offers coverage of governments across Canada, excluding municipalities and territories. The startup plans to use this fresh capital to invest in hiring and compute, and expand its platform to track government activity across the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK).

With a trade war underway and a federal election looming, Page co-founder and CEO Ben Cox argued that Page’s market timing “couldn’t have been better.”

“The uncertainty and the trade war and the tariffs and the change in government have really put a spotlight on companies needing to make sure they have good, clear, actionable insight into what’s happening … I think the current climate is just a really visceral example of why this is so important,” Cox told BetaKit in an interview.

Page’s all-equity, all-primary seed round closed in February. It was led by New York City’s Twelve Below, with support from fellow new investors, San Francisco-based Go Global Ventures and Canaan Partners, plus existing backers, Toronto’s Ripple Ventures and Kitchener-Waterloo’s Garage Capital. Cox declined to disclose Page’s valuation.

This financing brings Page’s total funding to more than $5.5 million CAD. That figure includes a $1.4-million CAD pre-seed round from April 2024, which was led by Ripple with support from Garage, the University of Waterloo’s Velocity Fund, and undisclosed angels, and was raised via simple agreement for future equity.

Founded in 2024 by Cox and CTO Elliot Dohm, Page is currently based at the University of Waterloo incubator Velocity. The Page co-founders previously spent approximately a decade working at Shopify in software development roles: Cox most recently served as a director of customer experience product engineering, while Dohm was an engineering manager. 

The other members of Page’s now six-person team have all previously worked at Shopify and worked on AI tools for businesses.

RELATED: “My god, this is exhausting”: US delays some tariffs against Canada until April

“We are excited to partner with Page because we believe Ben and Elliot are extraordinary founders with an ambitious vision to redefine how enterprises manage external relations with AI,” Twelve Below partner Byron Ling told BetaKit. “Recent technological breakthroughs in AI have made it possible to build products like Page, enabling companies to monitor, analyze, and influence government and media in real time at scale.”

For Cox, who studied politics and has always been interested in government, launching Page “was an opportunity to meld two worlds that I’m really passionate about” and build some tech for a space that he said features limited innovation.

Page claims its AI can ingest government data from a wide variety of sources, including video, audio, and written documents from committees, chambers, consultations, legislation, and news coverage, then analyze that info based on clients’ interests and concerns. 

Collectively, this represents “an absolutely preposterous amount of data” that is often not well organized and, historically, difficult to navigate, Cox said.

Cox claimed that Page “makes it really easy to see what’s going on” and does so much faster and more efficiently than a human is capable of doing on their own. The startup is also working to provide more analytics and help customers figure out how to get in front of the right people in government and pitch them on the issues that impact their organizations.

RELATED: University of Waterloo’s Velocity moves out of the garage and into the arena

According to Cox, Page has been generating traction with a variety of customers, including large enterprises, growth-stage companies, industry associations, and government-relations consultancies across industries like tech, manufacturing, and insurance. This includes clients who previously did government relations and those who otherwise could not afford to do so.

“Companies and organizations of all sizes are probably more familiar now than they have been in a long time [of] just how important it is to keep tabs on [the] government,” Cox said. “The trade war and all the shifts that we’re seeing have caused a lot of uncertainty in the business world.”

“Recent technological breakthroughs in AI have made it possible to build products like Page.”

Byron Ling, Twelve Below

Ling noted that “these fast-paced changes at global, federal, and local levels are creating volatility for large enterprises and generating an overwhelming amount of data that is impossible for a human to track alone.”

According to Cox, what Page is doing had not been possible until very recently thanks to recent advancements in AI.

These days, Cox argues that organizations cannot afford to only pay attention to governments in their own jurisdictions; they also need to “have that cross-border or even global perspective.”

With its US and UK expansion, Page hopes not only to sell into those markets but also to provide its existing clients based in other countries with more insight from abroad. This includes moving down to the municipal level as well.

“We want Page to be the go-to platform for doing government relations for everybody,” Cox said.

Feature image courtesy the University of Waterloo.

The post As trade war rages, Page raises $4.1 million to help organizations track government changes with AI first appeared on BetaKit.

Elevate’s CIX Summit 2025 will take place March 26 at Toronto’s Design Exchange. Like last year’s showcase, it promises to be a significant opportunity for Canadian tech startups to promote and grow their businesses—and for the broader tech ecosystem to discuss challenges facing the industry now and in the future. Here’s what you need to know, whether you’re attending the gathering or watching from afar.

BetaKit and TechTO are co-hosting an official afterparty at the Scotland Yard Pub.

This year’s event is compressed into one day, but follows a similar format to past years. Two venture capital leaders, Laura Lenz from OMERS Ventures and Prashant Matta from Panache Ventures, are leading opening remarks. They’ll discuss the status of the Canadian tech industry, including VC investments.

A series of pitch showcases will aim to highlight startups at various stages. In the morning, the Emerging category will feature the “most promising” businesses, including SXSW competition winner Xatoms. The Early category, meanwhile, covers very young but “high-potential” startups like insurance-automation newcomer Quandri. The growth category spotlights established but quickly-scaling firms like Float and Summit Nanotech.

Among the headlining speakers will be Clio founder Jack Newton, who is receiving CIX’s Innovator of the Year award and will share his experience building his legaltech brand. StackAdapt CEO Vitaly Pecherskiy, in turn, will share success stories that include a $235 million USD ($337 million CAD) investment round for the Toronto-based adtech firm last month.

RELATED: Consensus 2025 crypto conference will feature WonderFi’s Dean Skurka and Coinbase Canada’s CEO

Not surprisingly, the US trade war is taking centre stage at panel discussions. A morning panel with founders from Deloitte and District Ventures Capital, plus the Canadian Council of Innovators, will discuss the challenges of greater Canadian economic independence. An afternoon session will touch on how Canada can find a small silver lining in US President Donald Trump’s anti-DEI campaign by using it to attract diverse talent northward. Other panels address deep tech, regulation, proptech, semiconductors, and fintech.

Some of the biggest moves might take place behind the scenes. A new-for-2025 Investor Forum will see Kim Furlong, CEO of the Canadian Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (CVCA), host a private session for high-profile investors. There are also five founder roundtables limited to Startup passholders, and four meeting exchange blocks where early- and growth-stage companies can chat with investors.

Of course, it wouldn’t be the CIX Summit without networking. BetaKit and TechTO are co-hosting an official afterparty at the Scotland Yard Pub that promises useful conversations alongside drinks. You have to be a CIX badge holder and reserve in advance.

Image of 2024 CIX summit courtesy of Elevate.

The post CEOs of Clio and StackAdapt, VC leaders from OMERS and Panache among headliners at CIX Summit 2025   first appeared on BetaKit.

Calgary-based lithium extraction startup Summit Nanotech has secured a $25.5-million USD ($36.5 million CAD) funding round to go from demonstration to commercialization. 

The round led by returning investors Evok Innovations and BDC Capital’s Climate Tech Fund, with participation from Xora Innovation, Capricorn Investment Group, LG Technology Ventures, and Japanese mining company Mitsui Kinzoku’s SBI Material Innovation Fund. 

“This funding comes at a pivotal time for Summit as we strengthen our strategic partnerships and transition from demonstration to full-scale commercial design,” Summit Nanotech founder and CEO Amanda Hall said in a statement. 

The startup recently commissioned a demonstration plant in Northern Chile.

Founded in 2018, Summit uses advanced nanomaterial and a data analytics platform to offer direct lithium extraction technology. Lithium is a critical chemical element used to manufacture batteries, including for electric vehicles. Summit claims that its patented denaLi product captures the lithium ion from brine water with minimal impact to the environment.

“We need to get more competitive lithium to market if we are to meet the global demand for electric vehicles,” BDC Capital Climate Tech Fund partner Cheri Corbett said in a statement, adding that Summit is the kind of growth-minded Canadian business BDC is designed to “help get to the next level.”

Summit said it has achieved a few key milestones in the past six months, including commissioning a demonstration plant in Northern Chile, one of the largest sources of lithium in the world. 

RELATED: Mangrove Lithium secures $50.4 million to construct lithium refining plant in British Columbia

The company last raised $50 million USD ($67.4 million CAD, at the time) in what it classified as a “Series A2 round” in January 2023. Hall called the raise a bridge round, and noted that Summit hoped to raise a larger Series B round that gives it a “high valuation” at a later date. 

In September 2023, Bloomberg reported that Summit was looking to raise a $150-million Series B round at a valuation between $400 million and $600 million. Hall also told Bloomberg at the time that her company may also look to go public, or be acquired by a lithium producer or electric-vehicle maker. As of now, it appears none of the three options has panned out, outside of this latest raise. BetaKit has reached out to Summit for more details on its efforts to raise a Series B round but did not hear back by press time.  

Summit Nanotech was one of the many returning Canadian companies on this year’s Global Cleantech 100 list. The list, developed by San Francisco-based research and consulting firm Cleantech Group, aims to predict what cleantech companies around the world will make a substantial impact on the market in the next five to 10 years.

Feature image courtesy Summit Nanotech via Facebook.

The post Summit Nanotech closes $36.5-million funding round to commercialize lithium extraction tech first appeared on BetaKit.

Canadian-born company D-Wave Quantum Systems said it achieved “quantum supremacy” last week after publishing what it calls a groundbreaking paper in the prestigious journal Science. Despite the lofty term, Canadian experts say supremacy is not the be-all, end-all of quantum innovation. 

D-Wave, which has labs in Palo Alto, Calif., and Burnaby, BC, claimed in a statement that it has shown “the world’s first and only demonstration of quantum computational supremacy on a useful, real-world problem.”

It is a very important and mostly academic metric, but certainly not the most important in the grand scheme of things.

Martin Laforest, Quantacet

Coined in the early 2010s by physicist John Preskill, quantum supremacy is the ability of a quantum computing system to solve a problem no classical computer can in a feasible amount of time. The metric makes no mention of whether the problem needs to be useful or relevant to real life. Google researchers published a paper in Nature in 2019 claiming they cleared that bar with the Sycamore quantum processor. Researchers at the University of Science and Technology in China claimed they demonstrated quantum supremacy several times. 

D-Wave’s attempt differs in that its researchers aimed to solve a real-world materials-simulation problem with quantum computing—one the company claims would be nearly impossible for a traditional computer to solve in a reasonable amount of time. D-Wave used an annealing designed to solve optimization problems. The problem is represented like an energy space, where the “lowest energy state” corresponds to the solution. 

While exciting, quantum supremacy is just one metric among several that mark the progress toward widely useful quantum computers, industry experts told BetaKit. 

RELATED: Is Québec Canada’s quantum province? 

“It is a very important and mostly academic metric, but certainly not the most important in the grand scheme of things, as it doesn’t take into account the usefulness of the algorithm,” said Martin Laforest, managing partner at Quantacet, a specialized venture capital fund for quantum startups. 

He added that Google and Xanadu’s past claims to quantum supremacy were “extraordinary pieces of work, but didn’t unlock practicality.” 

Laforest, along with executives at Canadian quantum startups Nord Quantique and Photonic, say that the milestones of ‘quantum utility’ or ‘quantum advantage’ may be more important than supremacy. 

According to Quantum computing company Quera, quantum advantage is the demonstration of a quantum algorithm solving a real-world problem on a quantum computer faster than any classical algorithm running on any classical computer. On the other hand, quantum utility, according to IBM, refers to when a quantum computer is able to perform reliable computations at a scale beyond brute-force classical computing methods that provide exact solutions to computational problems. 

Julien Camirand Lemyre, CEO of Nord Quantique, said that in order to achieve supremacy, utility, or advantage consistently, companies must have “high-performance quantum error correction” to scale. Building large-scale quantum systems creates more and more errors, so achieving error correction at the qubit level, which is Nord Quantique’s focus, is key to useful quantum computing. 

A qubit, or quantum bit, is the basic unit of information for quantum systems, like binary bits composed of ones and zeros in classical computing. Qubits can exist in two states at once—zero and one—allowing for alternative, and in some cases accelerated, approaches to problem solving. 

Founded in 2020 out of Université de Sherbrooke, Nord Quantique develops processors for quantum computing. Last year, the startup claimed it achieved a new milestone for quantum error correction by integrating it into each qubit. 

A shifting term

Error correction hasn’t traditionally been considered a requirement for quantum supremacy, but Laforest told BetaKit the term is “an ever-moving target, constantly challenged by advances in classical algorithms.” He added: “In my opinion, some level of supremacy or utility may be possible in niche areas without error correction, but true disruption requires it.”

Paul Terry, CEO of Vancouver-based Photonic, thinks that though D-Wave’s claim to quantum supremacy shows “continued progress to real value,” scalability is the industry’s biggest hurdle to overcome.

“The critical question now is whether a given quantum computing architecture has a clear path to scaling to hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of high-quality logical qubits,” Terry wrote in an email to BetaKit. 

Photonic recently claimed it achieved a breakthrough in quantum error correction that could mean up to 20 times fewer qubits are needed for computations. 

D-Wave says that its quantum annealing approach tackles both error correction and enterprise problems at scale. 

But as with many milestone claims in the quantum space, D-Wave’s latest innovation has been met with scrutiny from industry competitors and researchers on the breakthrough’s significance, claiming that classical computers have achieved similar results. Laforest echoed this sentiment.

“Personally, I wouldn’t say it’s an unequivocal demonstration of supremacy, but it is a damn nice experiment that once again shows the murky zone between traditional computing and early quantum advantage,” Laforest said.

Originally founded out of the University of British Columbia, D-Wave went public on the New York Stock Exchange just over two years ago through a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company in 2022. D-Wave became a Delaware-domiciled corporation as part of the deal.

Earlier this year, D-Wave’s stock price dropped after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang publicly stated that he estimated that useful quantum computers were more than 15 years away. D-Wave’s stock price, which had been struggling, has seen a considerable bump in recent months alongside a broader boost in the quantum market. The price popped after its most recent earnings, shared right after its quantum supremacy announcement. 

Image of D-Wave 2000Q Processors courtesy of D-Wave. 

The post How meaningful is D-Wave’s claim to quantum supremacy? first appeared on BetaKit.

Canada’s largest tech company Shopify is voluntarily transferring its United States (US) stock exchange listing from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) to the Nasdaq Global Select Market (Nasdaq).

Shopify expects its Class A Subordinate Voting Shares to cease trading on the NYSE at market close next Friday, March 28, and commence trading on the Nasdaq on Monday, March 31, the company said in a statement. Shopify will continue trading under the ticker symbol SHOP, and its Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) listing remains unaffected. 

Shopify’s TSX stock price jumped eight percent following the news, as of noon Wednesday. 

In response to questions from BetaKit, a Shopify spokesperson did not explain why the company transferred its listing or the benefits a Nasdaq listing has over the NYSE, but said that Shopify is “excited to join the Nasdaq community and be listed among the most innovative tech companies in the world.”

The Nasdaq is the much newer exchange (it was founded in 1971 to the NYSE’s 1792), and differentiates itself by holding listings for most major tech stocks, while the NYSE is known as a home for more traditional companies. Companies like Apple, Alphabet (the parent company of Google), Amazon, and Nvidia make up some of the Nasdaq’s top listings, while the NYSE features giants like Boeing, General Motors, and Walmart. 

RELATED: Shopify’s latest SEC filings show potential to become US-domiciled, TD analyst warns

The stock listing transfer appears to be another move that brings Shopify closer to its peers in American tech. In a 10-K filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last month, Shopify listed its office in New York City alongside its normally standalone Ottawa headquarters. A 10-K form is required from domestic issuers. Until a few weeks ago, Shopify had been filing the 40-F form used by foreign issuers. The company also modified how it reported its assets, reorienting its assets from majority Canadian to majority US-based. 

While TD Securities managing director Peter Haynes said the changes could accelerate Shopify’s potential to be a US-domiciled company, a Shopify spokesperson told BetaKit at the time that Shopify chose to voluntarily file the 10-K form “in order to align our disclosures more closely with other software peers we believe our investors are familiar with.”

Disclosure: BetaKit majority owner Good Future is the family office of two former Shopify leaders, Arati Sharma and Satish Kanwar.

Feature image courtesy Shopify.

The post Shopify to transfer US stock listing to Nasdaq, remain on TSX first appeared on BetaKit.

In 2005, a routine sales call changed the trajectory of John Solomos’ career. 

While working his first tech job at Dell, a representative from the non-profit OntarioMD reached out looking for recommendations on the best computers for doctors.

“Markham has done a fantastic job at showing people, ‘we’re building this for you.’”

John Solomos, BlueBird IT Solutions

“Upon speaking with him for a few minutes, I knew right away they were looking at making a push to get medical clinics digitized. I knew I wanted to be a part of that wave, so the next morning, I incorporated BlueBird,” Solomos recalled.

Starting as a one-man operation in his basement in Markham, Ont., BlueBird IT Solutions evolved into a trusted IT provider for medical professionals across Canada.

Just a few years after that sales call, BlueBird became the preferred vendor for OntarioMD. 

Today, from its headquarters in Markham, the company partners with physicians across Canada, helping them adopt and implement technology systems. Beyond setup, they serve as a trusted IT partner, supporting thousands of family doctors, specialists, and hospital practitioners in leveraging electronic medical records (EMR) and other technologies to enhance patient care nationwide.

Solomos said starting a business wasn’t completely out of the blue, but it wasn’t his original plan either. After graduating, he was accepted to Osgoode Hall Law School but ultimately chose to decline and take his first job in tech instead. While there, he approached the role as if he were running his own business, so when the time came to launch BlueBird, it felt like a natural next step.

When OntarioMD first introduced the initiative to digitize medical clinics, the necessary infrastructure simply didn’t exist. Solomos said BlueBird IT Solutions aimed to bridge that gap, partnering with all the approved and major EMR companies across Canada, which helped drive EMR adoption to over 90 percent across the country.

“That foundation is now enabling the next wave of medical innovation,” Solomos added. “Without the infrastructure we helped put in place—allowing doctors to run software and securely store and access patient records—none of the advancements we see today would be possible.”

According to Solomos, Markham’s tech ecosystem created the conditions for his company’s expansion. 

The City of Markham sits just 30 kilometres north of Toronto, but it’s playing an outsized role in Canada’s tech sector. More than 1,500 tech companies employ more than 35,000 sector workers in the city, backed by a strong education system and support from all levels of government, funders, and enterprise organizations.

​Markham’s emergence as a tech hub dates back to the 1980s, a period during which numerous high-tech companies established their presence in the city, such as IBM, Motorola, Toshiba, Honeywell, Apple, and ATI Technologies (now part of AMD). This influx spawned a number of other high-growth companies in the following decades, and earned Markham the moniker of “Canada’s high-tech capital.”

Alongside a strong network of accelerator resources like ventureLAB and YSpace, Markham welcomed York University’s highly anticipated campus last spring. The new campus offers innovative, work-integrated programs focused on technology and entrepreneurship.

As a way to give back to the city he loves, Solomos donated $75,000 to York University’s new Markham campus in 2022. In recognition of his contribution, the university named the “John Solomos Collaborative Study Room” in his honour.

“Seeing that York University decided to make their high-tech, entrepreneurial campus have a home in Markham, just shows that the university is also buying into the fact that Markham is really trying to become an entrepreneurial hotbed,” said Solomos. “When the opportunity came to invest in something that represents what I’m good at, the type of person I am, and in my hometown, it didn’t feel right not to.” 

BlueBird has grown to support 700 clients on monthly contracts, earning industry recognition and securing major partnerships along the way, including collaboration in a Canadian Space Agency-funded consortium to develop a prototype medical pod for space exploration, as well as WELLSTAR, a subsidiary of WELL Health Technologies. Today, BlueBird is Canada’s largest IT-managed services provider in healthcare.

“We’re gearing up to become a global leader,” Solomos added. “Our vision is not just to support Canadian healthcare but to help Canada become an exporter of health tech solutions worldwide, an effort that would put Markham on the map as a hub for cutting-edge health technology and innovation.”

Solomos believes Markham is the perfect place to grow a company thanks to its diverse talent pool and high quality of life. 

He said Markham has deliberately positioned itself as a destination for high-growth businesses, and believes that the city offers a hub for tech companies to scale without the cost pressures founders face in Toronto. He also sees recent investments in developing Markham’s downtown core and university partnerships making the city a stronger magnet for talent and companies. 

“Markham has done a fantastic job at showing people, ‘we’re building this for you.’”

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Markham is an enabler of tech startups with a growth mindset. Learn more about how we support local entrepreneurs.

All photos provided by John Solomos.

The post A tech founder’s love letter to Markham first appeared on BetaKit.

Toronto-based proptech startup Doormat has rebranded to Ownright and secured $4.5 million CAD in seed funding to help more Ontarians close residential real estate deals.

Ownright, which offers legal services for property closings, plans to use this capital to expand its team and invest in automation and product innovation as it looks to hone its process, capture more of the Ontario home sales market, and become “the go-to legal partner for real estate transactions.”

“Right now, we’re really focused on just delivering [an] exceptional experience doing one thing and doing it really well,” Ownright co-founder and CEO Robert Saunders told BetaKit in an interview.

“Our ambition is to become Canada’s real estate lawyer.”

Robert Saunders, Ownright

The startup’s all-equity, all-primary seed financing, which closed in late December, was co-led by existing Toronto backers Alate Partners and Relay Ventures, with support from undisclosed angel investors. Saunders declined to disclose Ownright’s valuation.

Founded in 2022 by Saunders, COO Joel Fox, and chief legal officer Benjamin Berry, Ownright provides tech and legal services to simplify the traditionally complex process of closing residential real estate transactions. The startup aims to make property closings, mortgage refinancing, and status certificate reviews more affordable, convenient, and transparent for home buyers and sellers, taking a fee from every purchase, sale, or refinancing.

Ownright competes largely against small, traditional real estate law firms, which Saunders said typically have limited tech capacity. Saunders views Ownright’s vertically-integrated approach—which involves both software and in-house lawyers who operate under a partner law firm—as a differentiator. Fellow Toronto startup Deeded is taking a similar approach.

This round brings Ownright’s total funding to $6.5 million. This figure also includes $1.25 million in convertible note pre-seed financing, in which Alate led and Relay participated, from when the startup launched in 2023. Saunders said that Ownright processed over $150 million in total transactions that year.

Ownright claims it has now facilitated more than 1,000 real estate transactions across Ontario, collectively worth more than $750 million. The company, which is processing hundreds of deals monthly, expects to cross the $1-billion volume mark by the end of this year.

While Ownright has been generating a lot of traction among first-time home buyers and sellers in particular, Saunders said that the company serves a wide variety of clients, including real estate investors and multi-property owners. The startup’s growth to date has largely been driven by referrals from real estate agents and mortgage brokers.

RELATED: Doormat raises $1.25 million to make real estate legal services easier

“We believe Ownright is solving a critical gap in the market by making real estate law more transparent and accessible to home buyers and sellers,” Alate partner Courtney Cooper, who is joining Ownright’s board, said in a statement. “Their approach combines technology with human expertise in a way that no traditional law firm has been able to achieve.”

Ownright initially intended to use its pre-seed capital to expand into British Columbia and Alberta. But Saunders said the startup “learned a lot about how to scale its operations” since then, ultimately deciding to postpone those plans and remain focused on Ontario for the time being, where it still has less than a one-percent market share and sees plenty of room to grow.

Saunders said Ownright wants to prove its model in Ontario before exporting it to other provinces—which remains part of the company’s longer-term gameplan. 

“Our ambition is to become Canada’s real estate lawyer,” Saunders said.

Ownright plans to invest in marketing and bolster its customer experience, back-office tooling, and internal operations to ensure it is ready to scale to service more transactions. To support these goals, Ownright plans to expand its 19-person team to 25 employees.

Feature image courtesy Ownright.

The post Doormat becomes Ownright, closes $4.5 million to help more Ontarians seal real estate deals first appeared on BetaKit.

Canadian telecommunications giant Telus has partnered with global semiconductor manufacturer Nvidia to upgrade the artificial intelligence (AI) compute power of its Rimouski, Que. data centre and turn it into a “Sovereign AI Factory.”

Announced today at Nvidia’s GTC conference for AI developers, Telus is using its newfound status as an official Nvidia Cloud Partner to deploy the latest generation of Nvidia’s graphics processing units (GPUs) at its Rimouski, Que. data centre by this summer. Supercomputers using Nvidia’s AI-focused Hopper and Blackwell chip architecture will power the data centre, enabling faster AI model training, fine-tuning, and advanced inference capabilities, according to the Canadian telecom giant.

Telus is beginning its rollout with up to 500 Hopper GPU units in one module at the Rimouski facility starting this summer, Telus spokesperson Athyu Eleti told BetaKit in an email statement. The data centre features a 10,000-square-foot server module which will be used for the first phase, but has capacity for six additional modules for future expansion, Eleti added, declining to disclose how much the project will cost.

“Canadians can build, train, scale and deploy AI in a secure environment compliant with Canada’s security standards and privacy regulations.”

The upgraded data centre is a “super-secure facility” that aims to help Canadian businesses and researchers develop AI products by providing the supercomputers and software needed to train AI while keeping data within Canada’s borders, Telus said in a statement.

While there’s no fixed date yet, Eleti said that Telus plans to expand the effort to its Kamloops, BC data centre after launching the initial cluster in Rimouski.

“With the Sovereign AI Factory, we’re now giving our customers the accelerated computing power needed to grow, compete globally and shape the future of AI — right here in Canada,” Telus chief information officer Hesham Fahmy said in a statement. “Collaborating with Nvidia gives us the advanced computing capabilities needed to drive Canadian AI innovation while strengthening Canadian digital independence.”

The data centre upgrade comes as Canada attempts to stay in the international race for AI computing power. In January, the United States announced a $500-billion partnership between OpenAI, Oracle, and Softbank to build out AI infrastructure, while the Canadian government launched the Canadian Sovereign AI Compute Strategy this past December.

RELATED: Canadian government opens $300-million AI Compute Access Fund in latest AI commitment

The strategy outlines how Canada will deploy $2 billion CAD for AI computing power and finance the expansion of commercial AI data centres in Canada. The feds committed an initial investment of up to $240 million CAD to Toronto-based AI startup Cohere to build a multibillion-dollar AI data centre in the country. Eleti told BetaKit that Telus has engaged in preliminary consultations and discussions for funding from the government’s Canadian Sovereign AI Compute Strategy, but is prepared to go forward without it.

The Province of Alberta is also trying to position itself as a leader in the space, publishing its own AI data centre strategy with hopes of attracting $100 billion in investment to the province.  

Data centres and AI consume a notorious amount of energy, with data centre power demand expected to grow 160 percent by 2030 due to increased AI use, according to a May 2024 report from Goldman Sachs. Such use could potentially cause data centres to account for up to four percent of overall power consumption worldwide by the end of the decade, and double their current carbon emissions. 

Telus claims that the upgraded data centre will use its fibre-optic network powered by 99 percent renewable energy sources, primarily receiving hydroelectric power, and that its data centres use less electricity to power AI computing workloads. Telus also claimed its facilities rely on “natural cooling,” relying on cold outside air with limited use of mechanical systems, cutting its water consumption by more than 75 percent compared to traditional data centres.

Telus is one of the companies that has signed on to the federal government’s voluntary AI code of conduct on the responsible development and management of advanced generative AI systems. Unveiled in September 2023, the code identifies measures that organizations are encouraged to apply to their operations when they are developing and managing general-purpose generative AI systems. The code outlines key measures organizations can adopt to mitigate the limitations of AI, and encourages principles such as transparency, fairness and equity, and accountability.

“By using this secure, high-performance AI Factory, Canadian businesses can develop local solutions to local challenges, ensuring Canadians can build, train, scale and deploy AI in a secure environment compliant with Canada’s security standards and privacy regulations,” Telus said in a statement. 

Another company with strong Canadian ties announced a Nvidia partnership at GTC. Mountain View, Calif.-based autonomous trucking startup Gatik, which has an office in Toronto and some Canadian investors, will develop and deploy Nvidia’s DRIVE AGX in-vehicle compute architecture across its fleet of driverless freight vehicles. Gatik said in a statement that the partnership will help in deploying its autonomous trucks at scale across new markets for customers such as Walmart, Kroger, and Tyson Foods.

UPDATE (03/18/2025): This story has been updated with information shared by a Telus spokesperson.

UPDATE (03/19/2025): This story has been updated to note Telus is in preliminary discussions for Canadian Sovereign AI Strategy funding.

Feature image courtesy Telus.

The post Telus partners with Nvidia to transform its data centre into a Canadian “Sovereign AI Factory” first appeared on BetaKit.

The Government of Canada is investing a total of $36.6 million in five Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) networks in hopes of fostering emerging technology sectors and attracting major investments.

This wave of SIF investments is targeted at categories with a high performance record and strong growth potential.

Unveiled last week by then Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry François-Philippe Champagne, who has since moved to finance and had his position filled by Anita Anand, the investments include $10 million for the Clean Resource Innovation Network to help reduce the oil and gas sector’s effect on the environment.

As part of the funding commitments, two agtech networks get further backing. The Canadian Agri-Food Automation and Intelligence Network is receiving another $8 million to bolster the value chain in the sector and improve productivity through automation and AI. The Canadian Food Innovation Network, in turn, will get $8.6 million to speed up food processing and production.

Natural Products Canada will have $5 million to accelerate life science innovations for humans, animals, and plants, while the Mining Innovation Commercialization Accelerator will receive a similar amount to spur industry “modernization,” bolster supply chains, and boost domestic output.

RELATED: Anita Anand named innovation minister, Champagne moved to finance in new Carney cabinet

This latest wave of SIF investments is targeted at categories with a “high performance record and with strong growth potential,” according to Champagne. He claimed the money would  secure “high-paying Canadian jobs” and allow industries to grow in a “rapidly evolving technology landscape.”

The investments amount to “investing in good jobs, economic growth, and a more competitive Canada,” said Marc Serré, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources.

The SIF was launched in 2017 and initially planned to allocate $1.26 billion over five years to fuel investments, support research and development, and scale promising companies. The government claims the fund has so far backed more than 750 small- to medium-sized businesses, adding more than 1,200 jobs and drawing investments worth over $1.7 billion.

Past SIF recipients have been involved in aerospace (the Initiative for Sustainable Aviation Technology), edge computing (Fabrication of Integrated Components for the Internet’s Edge), and telecommunications (the Centre of Excellence in Next Generation Networks).

The announcement comes as the Canadian government and numerous businesses are eager to reduce their dependence on American companies, given US President Donald Trump’s constantly changing tariff plans. That includes support for “buy Canadian” movements as well as product features that encourage local shopping.

Image courtesy of Aleksandr Galenko on Unsplash.

The post Canada invests $36.6 million in Strategic Innovation Fund technology networks first appeared on BetaKit.

Each year, TD Merchant Solutions surveys its business customers about top-of-mind challenges and priorities.  One recurring theme, particularly among small businesses, is the complexity of launching online sales.

“It starts with our customers,” said Patricia Yun, Head of Digital Commerce at TD Merchant Solutions. “Every year we do research and when we talk to our customers, we hear, especially from small businesses, how complicated it can be to start selling online.”

“If you’re a small business and you’re trying to digitally transform, we want to make that easy.”

Patricia Yun, TD

This feedback contributed to the bank’s decision to launch TD eCommerce Solutions in the fall of 2024.

Powered by BigCommerce, TD eCommerce Solutions, is available to new or existing TD Business Banking customers. It offers an easy to customize e-commerce platform with  a full suite of capabilities including store design, order management, hosting, fraud prevention tools and card payment processing with TD. 

Yun said that managing cash flow is also vitally important to small businesses, so the platform provides same-day deposits to those with TD accounts, which means customers have faster access to funds when they process credit and debit card payments. Without this service, deposits can sometimes take two to three business days to process.

Small businesses play a vital role in the Canadian economy, she said, creating jobs and boosting innovation and supporting communities. To help, TD is committed to providing small business customers with the tools they need to succeed. 

While e-commerce might have surged during the pandemic, demand hasn’t waned. According to recent data from Statistics Canada, online sales increased by seven percent in Canada in 2023, indicating a sustained shift toward digital platforms. Yun said TD saw an opportunity to continue to help small businesses navigate their digital transformation and reduced some of the barriers to do so.

“Often, when you’re a small business, you have to make so many choices,” Yun said. “You have to pick between a website provider, who would host it, and a payment provider. If you don’t have development or tech resources, that can be really challenging.”

TD’s internal research showed that 64 percent of its businesses didn’t want a patchwork of tools. They wanted a single, streamlined solution. To build that, TD needed an e-commerce provider, so the bank worked with BigCommerce to begin developing the bundled solution in 2023.

According to Yun, one of the major challenges associated with the launch was having a platform that could offer hands-on support for businesses unfamiliar with e-commerce.

“Servicing was a top priority, and that was one of the primary reasons we chose to work with BigCommerce,” she added.

BigCommerce serves a wide range of brands, retailers, manufacturers and distributors of all sizes to build, innovate and grow their businesses online, which Yun said allows TD to provide access to a platform that can scale as businesses grow. She also pointed to BigCommerce’s plug-and-play design and library of ready-to-use templates, which allow users to quickly launch a professional online store without the need for heavy customization or development skills.

Provider-agnostic, BigCommerce gives merchants the freedom to choose the tools that work best for them, without being locked into one system. “We really wanted to give businesses that flexibility of choice with respect to shipping providers, email providers, or CRM providers within the platform,” Yun added.

Yun said that a simple onboarding and billing experience was important. “Instead of getting bills from multiple vendors and having to manage that, we’ve streamlined that to one setup in one bill,” Yun said.

Helping merchants protect their businesses from fraud was another priority in the launch of TD’s e-commerce platform. “According to a recent report from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, 50 percent of Canadian small businesses have experienced either attempted or successful fraud in the past year,” Yun added. “About 81 percent of our customers tell us they want stronger fraud prevention tools.”

Yun said TD has enabled a number of fraud prevention tools including real-time fraud scoring and 3D Secure, which adds an extra layer of verification to online card transactions, to help merchants using its e-commerce platform protect their businesses from fraud. 

“If you’re a small business and you’re trying to digitally transform, we want to make that easy,” she said. “We do no-to-low-code solutions so you don’t need a tech department or development knowledge.”

Whether that’s enough to carve out a foothold in a crowded market remains to be seen, but for Yun, the focus is less on competing with tech giants, and more on removing the barriers for small businesses trying to go digital. TD’s entry brings something different to the table: a banking-first perspective on the challenges that entrepreneurs face online.

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For more information on TD eCommerce Solutions, please visit our website.

Ready to sell online? Join a free webinar with panelists from TD and BigCommerce to learn best practices and choose the right platform. Register here.

Feature image courtesy Unsplash. Headshot of Patricia Yun provided by TD.

The post Why a Canadian bank launched an e-commerce platform  first appeared on BetaKit.

Winnipeg-based advertising technology company Taiv has purchased the founding team and assets of Local Reach, a nascent Kingston, Ont. startup with a similar solution for business televisions.

“It just seemed like we were building two sides of the same coin.”

Noah Palansky,
Taiv

As part of this cash-and-stock transaction, Taiv will bring on Local Reach co-founders Evan Ferreira and Joseph Liao as well as some of the startup’s tech in what Taiv co-founder and CEO Noah Palansky described as “more of an acquihire in nature.” Both companies declined to disclose the purchase price or other financial terms of the deal, which closed in February and marks Taiv’s first acquisition to date.

Taiv and Local Reach, which were both started as the result of barroom banter while watching hockey games, have been independently developing artificial intelligence (AI) products designed to help bars, restaurants, and other small businesses boost profits by delivering more targeted ads and other content to their customers via their existing TV sets, from commercials to venue-specific specials and events, to trivia.

“It just seemed like we were building two sides of the same coin,” Palansky told BetaKit in an exclusive interview.

Taiv has built a presence in the United States (US), while Local Reach has sought to do the same in Canada over the past year. Palansky expects the deal to support Taiv’s coming expansion into the Canadian market.

Local Reach was founded in 2024 by Liao and Ferreira as an AI research project. Ferreira told BetaKit that he and Liao were watching a National Hockey League playoff game at a bar when an ad for a funeral home came on—which felt strange given the establishment’s patrons. “It really spoke to the fact that there is no way for these restaurants and bars to optimize what content is being played when, and to what customers, inside of their venues,” he added.

Ferreira and Liao decided to team up to try and address this. They developed proprietary AI models trained on classifying content in Canadian TV feeds and acquired customers in Kingston before expanding into Mississauga and Toronto, eventually growing to seven employees, funding its operations via revenue and government grants.

Ferreira initially contacted Palansky to explore partnership opportunities. “Evan reached out completely cold, actually, with just an email,” Palansky said. “I believe the subject was something along the lines of, ‘I like your business so much, I tried to build it.’” 

RELATED: Winnipeg tech hubs merge to revitalize Manitoba’s startup ecosystem

The Local Reach co-founder had seen what Taiv had been building south of the border and wanted to do the same in Canada. Ferreira said they quickly realized the two companies were aligned on everything from product vision to values and approach, and ultimately decided that it made the most sense to join forces.

“It felt like such a natural fit,” Palansky said. “Either we’re going to bump heads and go against each other as competitors, or we could bring these smart, capable guys and their tech that they built on board and do it together.”

Liao and Ferreira are relocating to Winnipeg, where they will join Taiv’s 39-person team in its product division and bolster the company’s AI expertise, work to integrate some of Local Reach’s tech, and support the company’s plans to move into the Canadian market. Local Reach’s other four active team members at the time of the deal—who were interns with work terms that were ending—are not joining Taiv.

Founded in 2018 by Palansky, CTO Jordan Davis, and chief business officer Avi Stoller, Taiv aims to make business TVs more valuable and entertaining. The startup offers a small box that connects to clients’ existing cable boxes and TVs and automatically switches between cable, streaming channels, digital signage, and trivia, aiming to show the best content and ads for any environment.

RELATED: Prosus to acquire SkipTheDishes parent company JustEat Takeaway in $6.2-billion deal

Taiv’s proprietary AI model analyzes the live video feed and switches sources during commercial breaks, show changes, or based on the time of day. The company offers its product for free to venues, making money by selling ads, and Taiv shares a portion of this revenue with these businesses. 

The startup has raised millions in venture capital funding to date from a group of investors that includes Kitchener-Waterloo’s Garage Capital, Silicon Valley accelerator Y Combinator (YC), FJ Labs, and others. Palansky declined to share the exact amount. 

Taiv launched in the southern US in 2021 due to Canada’s heightened COVID-19 restrictions at the time. Today, Taiv serves more than 1,000 bars and restaurants and more than 500 retail establishments, including convenience stores and gas stations, across 14 major US markets. 

Taiv plans to hire over 30 people in Manitoba in 2025 to support its Canadian expansion.

Palansky said Taiv saw 400-percent growth last year, and has been generating positive earnings before income, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) since mid-2024, but declined to disclose the startup’s current revenue or EBITDA.

Taiv plans to launch in Winnipeg this July as a test Canadian market ahead of a broader expansion across the country beginning in 2026. The startup intends to hire more than 30 people in Manitoba over the next nine months to support these efforts, Taiv’s continued growth in the US, and its product development plans.

The adtech company’s founders were born and raised in Winnipeg, and Palansky said that Taiv plans to stay in the city “forever.”

“We had a lot of pressure during YC to move to San Francisco, we’ve had lots of pressure from investors to move to Toronto, and we’ve kind of held firm that Winnipeg is a great market,” he added. “It’s got great, smart, hard-working, loyal people, and they just need a couple of big tech winners to really launch an ecosystem here, and it’s something we’re passionate about.”

Feature image courtesy Taiv.

The post Taiv acquihires fellow Canadian adtech startup Local Reach to aid expansion plans first appeared on BetaKit.

Led by two ex-sales development representatives (SDRs), Calgary-based Quack has closed $500,000 CAD in pre-seed funding to advance its efforts to build “the cold-calling platform.”

Quack co-founders, CEO Taylor Del Giudice and COO Jacob DiCarlo, previously worked as SDRs at Vancouver-based market intelligence software company Klue. During their time there, Del Giudice said the pair found cold calling to be an often fruitful, but also time-consuming and manual labour-intensive way of booking sales meetings and generating new business.

“We felt the problem personally, and we wanted to fix that.”

Taylor Del Giudice,
Quack

In an exclusive interview with BetaKit, Del Giudice said they went out looking for other platforms in the parallel dialling space to make things easier, but found they either cost too much, were not focused on the needs of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), or both, and after interviewing some other folks who felt the same way, decided to build an alternative.

“We felt the problem personally, and we wanted to fix that,” Del Giudice said.

Quack’s all-primary, all-equity round closed last month. It was led by Calgary’s Metiquity Ventures—which invested $400,000—with participation from undisclosed angels. It brings Quack’s total funding to $600,000, including past support from Montréal’s FounderFuel, ex-Lightspeed Commerce and Ssense chief technology and product officer Jim Texier, and Simon Wahl, former vice-president of marketing at Flinks. 

“At Metiquity, we invest in founders with deep industry experience who intimately understand customer workflows and use that insight to drive product development,” Metiquity co-founder and managing partner Bryan Slauko told BetaKit. “Taylor and Jacob, having worked as SDRs and made thousands of cold calls, know firsthand what their customers need and are building a solution to address those challenges. Early customer traction validates their approach.”

Del Giudice launched the startup in 2023 with DiCarlo, and Amin Safavi, an experienced software developer, joined as Quack’s co-founder and CTO last year.

According to Del Giudice, cold calling typically entails phoning up a large swath of potential customers, connecting with a small portion of them, and booking sales meetings with a fraction of that group. 

To put things in perspective, the CEO said that chatting with 10 prospects and booking a single meeting from 100 cold calls marks a “pretty solid” result.

“That means you’ve made 90 dials where you just sat there and waited and waited for it to go to voicemail,” Del Giudice said. He said each of those calls can take upwards of two minutes, plus more time updating customer relationship management (CRM) systems to track them.

RELATED: Forma.ai’s first acquisition nets fellow Toronto sales software startup SeaMonster

Enter Quack, which is developing software that allows customers to cold call multiple prospects simultaneously—up to four currently—using parallel dialling and automated voicemail detection. It also automates updates to CRM platforms like HubSpot, Outreach, and SalesLoft, all towards the goal of helping clients book more meetings in less time.

“If you take a normal SDR … let’s say they make 60 dials in a day—it’s going to take them a few hours to get that done,” Del Giudice said. “We come in and help you be able to call the same [number] of prospects, if not more, in minutes instead of hours.”

The startup’s ultimate ambition is to “be the cold calling platform for not just B2B (business-to-business) tech, but everyone who does cold calls in general,” Del Giudice said.

“Quack has a significant market opportunity, addressing the frustration SDR teams face with complex, expensive enterprise software that doesn’t meet their needs,” Slauko said. “By offering a simple, intuitive solution at an affordable price, Quack is solving a clear problem and making adoption easy for customers.”

RELATED: FinTech startup reach sells majority stake to US-based Primus Capital

Hundreds of SDRs are already using Quack’s platform, including employees at B2B software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies like Suzy, Moengage, Ontop, Ottimate, and Inky. According to Del Giudice, over one million dials have been made using Quack to date.

Quack plans to use this funding to expand and refine its product by implementing artificial intelligence, improving its dialling experience, and offering better analytics, among other things. The startup intends to add two people to its three-person team to support these plans.

The startup, which has generated some traction with SMBs, is beginning to see some interest from enterprises, and plans to allocate some of its capital towards becoming SOC 2 compliant to help it sell to larger companies.

As to where the company’s moniker comes from, Del Giudice credits DiCarlo. He said it was inspired by how annoying cold calling can be sometimes, and thought it was “a fun take” for a company catering to clients in the competitive and often cutthroat world of sales.

“I think cold calling can be fun, and in general, it’s nice to have a good time, especially in sales,” Del Giudice said. “You can’t take yourself too seriously.”

Feature image courtesy Quack.

The post Former Klue sales reps secure $500,000 to make cold calling easier with Quack first appeared on BetaKit.

Canada might once again play a more important role in Google’s augmented and virtual reality eyewear plans.

Google is in “final talks” to acquire AdHawk Microsystems, a Waterloo, Ont.-based startup that makes eye-tracking technology, for $115 million, Bloomberg reports. AdHawk staff would join the team developing Android XR, Google’s recently unveiled platform for mixed-reality headsets and smart glasses.

The deal could be completed as soon as this week, according to the insiders. If it moves forward, $15 million from the offer would depend on AdHawk meeting key performance goals.

AdHawk technology is built into smart glasses and “metaverse hardware” headsets, but is already selling its MindLink glasses to clinicians and researchers.

BetaKit reached out to Google and AdHawk for comment, but did not receive responses by press time.

AdHawk has developed a micro-electromechanical (MEMS) eye tracker and chip combination that the company says provides distinct advantages over conventional camera-based systems. The company claims the system requires 1,000 times less data, but generates sampling rates (that is, data collection rates) 10 times higher than alternatives. The technology is billed as more accurate and responsive with better battery life.

AdHawk technology is built into smart glasses and “metaverse hardware” headsets, but is already selling its MindLink glasses to clinicians and researchers. In 2024, it launched MindLink Air glasses that are marketed as everyday brain health trackers.

The firm already has investments from several major players in the wearable technology space. It raised $5 million from Intel Capital through a Series A round in 2017, with Brightspark Ventures also participating. Other backers include Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses co-creator EssilorLuxottica as well as Samsung, which developed the Project Moohan prototype headset that Google uses to showcase Android XR, its operating system for extended-reality devices. The Sony Innovation Fund, HP Tech Ventures, Canso, and Xchange have also invested in AdHawk.

Eye tracking is playing an increasingly important role in mixed-reality hardware. In both Project Moohan and Apple’s Vision Pro headset, wearers use their eyes to navigate the interface—they just have to look at items and make hand gestures (such as finger pinches) to interact.

Emma Bauer, senior vice president of integrations at Tobii, an eye-tracking company whose tech underlies Sony’s PlayStation VR2 headset, explained to BetaKit why advancements in eye-tracking technology will be important for the development of headsets and smart glasses. Eye tracking not only improves user interaction, but is more size-efficient than comparable technologies, and can boost performance by focusing computational power on where the user is looking, Bauer said.

RELATED: North acquired by Google

Smart glasses will one day “directly handle more tasks that are traditionally done with smartphones,” she added.

There are challenges in adding eye-tracking to smart glasses that brands like Google and Tobii will have to solve. It’s difficult to fit the hardware into the tight confines of eyewear, Bauer noted. She further pointed out that small batteries might also require a “balance” between capabilities and efficiency, and that the tracking has to be consistent across many faces and eyes even as the glasses jostle around from day-to-day movement.

Bauer claimed it can also take “years of refinement” to produce tiny, efficient components, and that companies might need to train their algorithms on “vast datasets” to account for differences in faces, eyes, and movement. 

If the acquisition goes through, it would be just the latest business move to suggest Google is investing heavily in eye tracking. In January, the tech giant acquired some of the engineering team behind HTC’s Vive VR products in a deal worth $250 million. Google previously entered the smart glasses space in 2013 with Google Glass, which failed to catch on commercially and was discontinued in 2023. 

AdHawk would also not be the only Kitchener-Waterloo-based smart glasses company Google has purchased. In 2020, parent company Alphabet acquired Kitchener smart glasses maker North, after the company’s failed rebrand and launch of the Focals 1.0 glasses.

Feature image: Samsung’s Project Moohan headset, used to demonstrate Google’s Android XR platform. Image courtesy Samsung.

The post Google reportedly close to buying Canada’s AdHawk for its eye-tracking smart glasses tech first appeared on BetaKit.

Engineering-focused university Polytechnique Montréal has received a $50-million donation from the family foundation of Québec businessman Pierre Lassonde to establish an institute dedicated to deep technology, or deep tech. 

A relatively new term, deep tech refers to technological innovation that requires surmounting scientific or engineering hurdles. Lassonde, who graduated from Polytechnique in 1971 and now chairs its board of directors, sees the development of new types of semiconductors and photonic devices as an opportunity to strengthen the socio-economic impacts of academic research, the Université de Montréal-associated school said in a statement. 

The donation is the largest single gift in the history of Polytechnique Montréal.

Lassonde is best known for co-founding the Franco-Nevada Corporation, an early publicly traded gold royalty company, in 1982 alongside his business partner Seymour Schulich.

“Québec and Canada have everything they need to make their mark on the global high-tech stage, and I hope this donation will act as a catalyst to help us do exactly that,” Lassonde said in a statement. 

The donation is the largest single gift in the history of Polytechnique Montréal, according to the university’s president, Maud Cohen, and will be used to assemble research teams with the aim of establishing the school as a complementary partner for major tech initiatives in Bromont, Québec City, and Ottawa. 

Bromont is home to Technum Québec, one of the province’s three government-designated innovation zones. Semiconductor players such as IBM, Teledyne, and Nord Quantique are stationed there.

RELATED: Clio donates $3 million to create new innovation hub at the University of British Columbia

The new institute’s initial efforts will go towards developing mid-infrared emission and detection devices to help autonomous vehicles see through fog and snow, as well as ultrasensitive imaging systems for the early diagnosis of cancers. The research teams also hope to develop quantum technologies that aim to reduce the energy footprint of digital tech. 

In 2011, Lassonde donated $25 million to York University to establish the Lassonde School of Engineering, which is also the largest single gift in York University’s history.

Lassonde’s donation towers above other academic donations from the business sector so far this year. Last month, the University of British Columbia and the University of Waterloo received much smaller donations to respectively support entrepreneur hubs and a new laboratory for artificial intelligence and blockchain research on their campuses.

Feature image by Thierry du Bois, courtesy Polytechnique Montréal via its website.

The post Mining magnate Pierre Lassonde donates $50 million to establish deep tech institute at Polytechnique Montréal first appeared on BetaKit.

Crypto publication CoinDesk has revealed the lineup of speakers for the first Toronto edition of its blockchain- and web3-oriented Consensus conference, which runs May 14-16, 2025.

CoinDesk touts Consensus as the longest-running crypto event in the world.

Some speakers are from Canada’s larger crypto firms or key leaders from global firms’ Canadian divisions. WonderFi CEO Dean Skurka is slated to present, as his Toronto-based company plans to expand beyond cryptocurrency. Lucas Matheson, the Canadian CEO of crypto giant Coinbase, is also due to speak.

Further major names include PayPal digital currencies Senior VP Jose Fernandez da Ponte, Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov, BitGo CEO Mike Belshe, and Kaiko chief Ambre Soubiran. VC speakers include Pantera Capital founder Dan Morehead, Delta Blockchain Fund founder Kavita Gupta, and Asymmetric General Partner and prolific X poster Dan Held.

RELATED: WonderFi plots expansion beyond crypto into multi-asset trading with Eightcap

CoinDesk founded the Consensus conference in 2015 and touts it as the longest-running crypto event in the world, with over 15,000 attendees and 550 speakers at the 2024 event. Conference chair Michael Casey announced the move to Toronto for 2025 due to major renovations planned for its previous home at an Austin, Texas convention centre.

Speaking at the 2024 gathering, Casey said Toronto had one of the “fastest-growing” tech ecosystems in North America, including established heavyweights, startups, and rich talent. Canada sent a large contingent to last year’s show, including leaders from Air Canada, RBCx, Kraken, Coinsquare, DMZ, and the MaRS Discovery District.

The Canadian stopover comes at a turning point for crypto. US President Donald Trump has pushed for greater cryptocurrency adoption. Securities and Exchange Commission chair nominee Paul Atkins is a cryptocurrency proponent who co-chaired the advocacy group Chamber of Digital Commerce. Trump has also championed the idea of a strategic reserve for cryptocurrencies, which he describes as a Fort Knox for virtual assets, but economists and other researchers characterize as “absurd” and “[serving] no purpose.”

Feature image courtesy Unsplash.

The post Consensus 2025 crypto conference will feature WonderFi’s Dean Skurka and Coinbase Canada’s CEO first appeared on BetaKit.

Canadian e-commerce giant Shopify has acquired San Jose, Calif.-based artificial intelligence (AI)-powered retailer search startup Vantage Discovery for an undisclosed amount. 

Vantage Discovery CEO Lance Riedel announced the acquisition in a LinkedIn post this past weekend. Riedel co-founded Vantage Discovery with fellow Pinterest engineering alumni Nigel Daley. The search platform aims to move beyond traditional keyword searches with semantic searches and search personalization for shoppers. Semantic search differs from traditional search, which is based on matching search terms with keywords and their variations; it attempts to also consider user intent and the contextual meaning of search terms. 

A Shopify spokesperson told BetaKit that Vantage Discovery’s search platform and team will play a key role in “supercharging” Shopify’s work for both merchants and buyers, but declined to disclose any other details of the transaction. 

RELATED: Shopify merchants can now prompt AI to design a store theme

However, Shopify CTO Mikhail Parakhin signalled that the acquisition could be used to help with advertising in a cryptic post on X. 

“[Vantage Discovery’s] incredible Search platform will level up the search experience for Shopify users,” Parakhin said. “Now, why Search is important is left as an exercise for the inquisitive reader :-)”

When a reply to Parakhin commented on the potential to help merchants advertise, Parakhin said it was a “very, very perceptive comment!”

The acquisition seems to be part of broader effort to bolster Shopify’s AI toolkit, which became apparent when Shopify tapped Parakhin as CTO in August 2024. In a release, the company called him “one of the finest machine learning crafters on the planet.” Before joining Shopify, Parakhin had served as Microsoft’s CEO of advertising and web services, worked on its Bing search engine, and helped build consumer-facing AI products such as Copilot.

Shopify CFO Jeff Hoffmeister revealed during its Q4 earnings call last month that Shopify had also done six “tuck-in” acquisitions in 2024 to bolster its AI expertise, according to Business Insider. Hoffmeister said the people acquired this way were an important source of talent, and that they were “very tactical, thoughtful AI hires.” 

Shopify launched a new AI feature earlier this month to help merchants set up and design their stores by describing their businesses with prompts to create custom digital storefront themes.

Disclosure: BetaKit majority owner Good Future is the family office of two former Shopify leaders, Arati Sharma and Satish Kanwar.

Feature image courtesy Burst.

The post Shopify acquires search startup Vantage Discovery for undisclosed amount first appeared on BetaKit.

Canada has a new prime minister, with immediate impacts on Canadian tech.

Mark Carney wasted no time, putting a bullet in his party’s controversial capital gains tax inclusion rate changes last Sunday during his acceptance speech as Liberal leader.

In his first day in office, Prime Minister Carney appointed two new ministers at key cabinet positions for Canadian tech. You can read Madison McLauchlan’s stories on both decisions below.

How long will he have the job? My DMs indicate a federal election could be called very soon, possibly before the next delivery of this very newsletter.

In a fit of civic duty, I sat down with CCI’s Ben Bergen on The BetaKit Podcast to discuss the policy planks Canadian innovators need in the next election. We also rate the likelihood the two leading parties will adopt them.

Our democratic process is important stuff, but do not let it overshadow all the good good Canadian tech news this week: two early-stage Canadian companies took home prizes at SXSW, beating out a horde of international competition; for the first time ever, Cohere holds pole position in the global LLM race; and autonomous vehicle startup Waabi invented a new metric to measure reality.

You can read all of it (and more!) below. While you do so, I’ll stay here at my keyboard, waiting for the writ to drop.

Douglas Soltys
Editor-in-chief

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TOP STORIES OF THE WEEK

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Anita Anand named innovation minister, Champagne moved to finance in new Carney cabinet 

Canada’s newest Prime Minister, Mark Carney, announced the makeup of his cabinet after being sworn in on Friday. Notable shakeups include former Transport Minister Anita Anand taking on the innovation portfolio from François-Philippe Champagne, who will take over as Minister of Finance. 

Earlier in the week, Carney replaced former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as leader of the Liberal Party, securing an overwhelming 85 percent of the party nomination vote. In his acceptance speech, Carney effectively put a nail in the coffin of the controversial capital gains tax rate changes his own party put forward in last year’s budget. 

“We will stop the hike in the capital gains tax because we think builders should be incentivized for taking risks and rewarded when they succeed,” Carney said on stage. 

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Cohere says Command A model edges out LLM competition in speed and energy efficiency

Is it Canada’s turn for a DeepSeek moment?

Canada’s leading large-language model developer Cohere has unveiled its new Command A model, which the company claims is faster and uses less computing power than other global competitors.

The company noted that Command A’s efficiency is especially key for its enterprise clients, some of whom may be looking to cut costs.

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Clio acquires UK-based ShareDo to move into serving large law firms, fuel global expansion

Burnaby, BC-based Clio has acquired fellow legaltech company ShareDo, of Manchester, United Kingdom, to accelerate its expansion upmarket and begin serving large law firms.

Clio co-founder and CEO Jack Newton claimed that the transaction is the biggest of Clio’s five acquisitions to date in terms of both the amount it paid and ShareDo’s employee count.

“We saw an opportunity through this acquisition to really unlock that enterprise opportunity for Clio” and cater to law firms of all sizes, Newton told BetaKit in an interview.

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Québec’s dismal seed-stage performance could spell trouble for province’s startup pipeline

A recent report led by Réseau Capital indicates that seed-stage venture deals in Québec dropped by more than half year-over-year, with dollars invested dropping by a sharp two-thirds. 

The early-stage slowdown reflects a national trend that Canadian Venture Capital Association CEO Kim Furlong said “presents concerns about the long-term pipeline of high-growth startups.”

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Xatoms and Knead take home top prizes amid strong Canadian showing at SXSW pitch competition

Toronto-based Xatoms and Calgary-based Knead Technologies have taken home top prizes in their respective categories at this year’s South by Southwest (SXSW) pitch competition in Austin, Texas.

Including the winners, only five Canadian companies participated in the competition amongst an international cohort of more than 70 finalists and alternates, leaving Canada with an impressive winner-to-participant ratio. 

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Waabi develops realism metric to gauge reliability of autonomous vehicle simulators

Toronto-based autonomous vehicle (AV) startup Waabi is calling for the industry to follow the road it has forged by developing a framework to measure the realism of AV simulators. 

Waabi founder and CEO Raquel Urtasun outlined in a blog post this week how the company’s newly developed realism metric works, saying that transparency and accountability are “absolutely paramount” for building public trust in AV technology. 

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Web Summit Vancouver 2025 speaker lineup includes CEOs of Bluesky and Clio

The organizers of Web Summit Vancouver 2025 have revealed the first 25 speakers for the major technology conference, including a mix of in-the-moment tech celebrities along with prominent business leaders, with a few key guests hailing from Canada.

A rebrand of tech mega-conference Collision under the parent company’s name, Web Summit Vancouver will take place at the Vancouver Convention Centre from May 27-30.

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Why Simon De Baene keeps killing his own products

At TechTO’s Toronto event this month at MaRS Discovery District, Workleap co-founder and CEO Simon De Baene described how his team spent two years in the late 2000s building a software product, but the product was too complicated. Customers struggled to use it, and instead of fixing that core issue, the team kept layering on more functionality.

So, they started over.

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Weekly Canadian Deals & Dollars

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• CAN – Canadian government opens $300M AI Compute Access Fund
• CAN – US-based FinTech Zolve planning Canadian expansion
• VIC – Redbrick acquires New York-based Paved
• RCH – General Fusion takes major step for Canadian fusion reactors
• VAN – Novarc Technologies raises Series B round
• VAN – Deloitte Canada acquires Pocketed for undisclosed amount
• TOR – Online pharmacy Phoenix closes $50M in equity and debt
• TOR – Augmenta secures additional $14.4M in seed funding
• TOR – Softchoice taken private by US firm for $1.4B
• TOR – Vertu Capital appoints Eric Kafka as partner
• GAT – Telesat to take on Starlink with new $25M campus
• STJ – Kraken Robotics to acquire 3D at Depth for $24.5M

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The BetaKit Podcast — An election primer on what Canadian innovators need

“One of the things that I think we’ve got to critically think about in our country for the future is that we’ve got to begin using those dollars effectively, like the $4 billion in SR&ED.”

CCI’s Ben Bergen joins to discuss items innovators hope will be on the agenda in the forthcoming federal election before ranking what programs (VCCI, SR&ED, etc.) and policies (AI regulation, open banking, etc.) the next government in power might adopt, drop, or move forward.

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The BetaKit Quiz — This week: Carney’s first cut, Cohere finds speed, and Severance’s real HQ

Think you’re on top of Canadian tech and innovation news? Time to prove it. Test your knowledge of Canadian tech news with The BetaKit Quiz for Mar. 14, 2025.​​

The post Did Cohere give Canada its DeepSeek moment? first appeared on BetaKit.

Canada has a new prime minister! 

Mark Carney had a busy first day in office, shuffling the Liberal cabinet (with new innovation and finance ministers), and axing the carbon tax.

“One of the things that I think we’ve got to critically think about in our country for the future is that we’ve got to begin using those dollars effectively, like the $4 billion in SR&ED.”

But how long will Carney remain prime minister? Things are moving quickly, and by the time you hear this podcast, an election might be called. If not now, one is required to happen by Oct. 20. Will Canada’s most prominent CD-burning mixtape maker remain in the job, or will PP become PM?

And will the nation’s next election focus on actually solving Canada’s innovation, procurement, and productivity problems? Or will it just be more counter-tariff rhetoric aimed at Donald Trump?

Ben Bergen, president of the Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI), isn’t waiting to find out. His organization has put together an election primer focused on what innovators need to scale. It’s a useful guide to walk through the current state of Canada’s innovation economy, including its many hurdles, which we do on the podcast. What’s the likelihood CCI’s eight policy points become planks in upcoming election platforms? We discuss that as well.

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RSS

But CCI’s WIN document, while useful, isn’t feature complete. When the Liberals prorogued parliament, it left 26 bills in limbo (like C-27), alongside a number of other policy commitments (like SR&ED reform and open banking). To close off the podcast, I forced Bergen to give a temperature check on which of each the party behind Canada’s next federal government might adopt, drop, or move forward.

Will Canada’s next election be an innovation election? Let’s dig in.

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Edited by Darian MacDonald. Feature image courtesy Prime Minister Mark Carney.

The post An election primer on what Canadian innovators need first appeared on BetaKit.

American cloud services giant World Wide Technology (WWT) has completed its acquisition of Softchoice, the Toronto-based cloud and software solutions provider for businesses.

The take-private deal was announced Dec. 31 last year. WWT said it would acquire all of Softchoice’s outstanding common shares for $24.50 per share, a three-dollar premium over what it was trading at the time, amounting to $1.48 billion. Shareholders approved the move at a March 4 meeting. Softchoice CEO Andrew Caprara will remain in his leadership position, and the company will continue to operate under its own name.

The purchase will “help accelerate AI adoption and the digital transformation journeys” of companies worldwide, according to WWT CEO Jim Kavanaugh. 

Softchoice was founded in 1989 and was initially focused on tracking down hard-to-find software for corporate clients. Since then, it has shifted much of its attention to cloud adoption, management, and migration. It claims to have over 685 managed services customers as well as major tech partners like Amazon Web Services, Google, and Microsoft.

RELATED: Carebook joins parade of public Canadian tech companies returning private

The brand has also influenced the Canadian startup scene. Former CEO Dave MacDonald joined the Leaders Fund as a venture partner in 2019, two years after he retired from his 16-year leadership role at Softchoice. MacDonald has also served on the boards of multiple companies, such as Densify and Turnstyle Analytics (which was acquired by Yelp), and has coached the CEOs of smaller companies.

World Wide Technology is based in St. Louis, Mo. It was founded in 1990 and also concentrates on cloud and software solutions. It now touts over $20 billion in annual revenue, over $6 billion of which comes from beyond the United States (US). It has over 10,000 employees and partners with prominent tech companies like Cisco and Nvidia.

The acquisition comes at a sensitive moment for Canada. US President Donald Trump’s constantly changing tariff threats have spurred an effort to reduce Canada’s dependence on American businesses, whether it’s by buying Canadian products or fostering entrepreneur-friendly policies. While Softchoice will maintain some of its independence, its customers are now relying on a US provider.

Feature image courtesy Unsplash. Photo by Jason Goodman.

The post Softchoice taken private, moved stateside by WWT after $1.48-billion acquisition closes first appeared on BetaKit.

The post Carney’s first cut, Cohere finds speed, and Severance’s real HQ first appeared on BetaKit.

Former Transport Minister Anita Anand is now Canada’s minister of innovation within new Prime Minister Mark Carney’s cabinet, while current innovation minister François-Philippe Champagne will take over as Minister of Finance.

Former finance minister Chrystia Freeland was named Minister of Transport and Internal Trade.

Carney announced the makeup of his cabinet after being sworn in as Canada’s new prime minister this morning. The former governor of the Bank of Canada won the Liberal leadership race this past Sunday, which was triggered by Trudeau announcing he would step down in January. 

Before being elected in her riding of Oakville, Ont., Anand taught law at the University of Toronto with a focus on corporate governance. She previously served as Minister of Transport and Internal Trade under Trudeau, in addition to her role as President of the Treasury Board. She was also the Minister of National Defence from 2021 to 2023, and Minister of Public Services and Procurement from 2019 to 2021. 

Champagne has served as Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry since 2021, replacing Navdeep Bains. The innovation minister presides over Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED), which manages several organizations that invest in technology and innovation, including the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), Pacific Economic Development Canada (PacifiCan), and Prairies Economic Development Canada (PrairiesCan). 

The Prime Minister’s Office confirmed to BetaKit that regional development agencies once again fall directly under Minister Anand’s portfolio. FedDev Ontario and PrairiesCan were briefly under the purview of MPs Ruby Sahota and Terry Duguid, respectively.

ISED also administers the Strategic Innovation Fund, and previously, the embattled cleantech agency Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) before it was moved under Natural Resources Canada. 

RELATED: A requiem for the feds’ (failed) innovation strategy

Champagne’s record as innovation minister was marked by large investments and unfulfilled promises to the tech sector, which included multiple iterations of an innovation agency that never materialized and an artificial intelligence (AI) policy that was never signed into law. During his tenure, the federal government made several significant investments into innovation projects, including $2.4 billion for sovereign AI compute infrastructure and nearly $2 billion toward Global Innovation superClusters. 

Champagne was considered a likely challenger to Trudeau, but announced in January that he would not run for Liberal leadership and endorsed Carney instead. 

In one of her first acts as innovation minister, Anand told reporters today that she instructed ISED to send a letter to government suppliers encouraging them to buy Canadian, “to ensure that they are utilizing Canadian steel and aluminum.” 

Benjamin Bergen, President of the Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI), said in a statement to BetaKit that Anand’s role requires “urgent action” as the country has failed to prioritize and scale domestic companies.

“To compete in today’s global economy, Canada requires a new economic orthodoxy that prioritizes economic security, access to capital, and the scaling of Canadian firms at home,” Bergen said. “The baton is now in Minister Anand’s hands—but there’s a lot of ground to make up.”

Former finance minister Chrystia Freeland was named Minister of Transport and Internal Trade, following an unsuccessful bid for Liberal leadership. In December, Freeland resigned from her post the morning she was slated to announce the Fall Economic Statement. Intergovernmental affairs minister Dominic Leblanc was immediately appointed as interim Finance Minister.

Now, Leblanc is resuming his previous role, with the added responsibilities of international trade and presidency of the Privy Council. 

Carney’s cabinet is smaller than that of his predecessor, featuring 24 members, including the Prime Minister, compared to Trudeau’s 37. Notably, Liberal leadership candidates Karina Gould, former House leader, and Frank Baylis, former Member of Parliament (MP), were not named to cabinet positions.

“Canada’s new government will be action-oriented, driven by a smaller but highly experienced team made to meet the moment,” Carney said at his swearing-in speech today.

RELATED: Prime Minister-designate Mark Carney says Liberals will kill their own capital gains tax changes

Carney is assuming the country’s leadership amid a trade war with the US and is now chairing the Council on Canada-US Relations. During a question-and-answer period today, Carney said he was “looking forward” to speaking with US President Donald Trump but has not set plans to travel to the US.  

Carney said the smaller cabinet will focus on two priorities: protecting Canadian workers in the face of US trade threats, and growing the country “by putting more money in Canadians’ pockets, ensuring that government spends less so Canada can invest more, by building millions of homes, by making Canada a superpower in both conventional and clean energy, by creating new trade corridors with reliable partners, and by forging one Canadian economy out of 13.”  

“Canadians know that negativity isn’t strength,” Carney said. “They know that negativity won’t pay the rent or the mortgage, that negativity won’t bring down the price of groceries. Negativity won’t win a trade war.”

In his acceptance speech Monday, Carney pledged to kill the controversial capital gains tax changes brought forward under the Trudeau government, as well as the consumer carbon tax.

Carney today did not indicate when he is planning to call an election, but sources told The Globe and Mail he is expected to call one this spring.

Feature image courtesy Mark Carney via X.

The post Anita Anand named innovation minister, Champagne moved to finance in new Carney cabinet first appeared on BetaKit.

General Fusion appears to be one step closer to making Canada a major player in fusion reactors.

Fusion power has been widely seen as a potential leap forward in zero-emissions energy.

The Richmond, BC-based experimental energy development company says its Lawson Machine 26 (LM26) demonstrator has created the first magnetized plasma contained in its target chamber. Fusion reactors use extreme heat and pressure to fuse atomic nuclei and release energy. These reactions take place within the fourth state of matter, called plasma, under immense heat and pressure. 

In other words, General Fusion claims to have made a vital ingredient it needs to move forward with fusion reactors.

The achievement comes 16 months after General Fusion built LM26. The machine is now creating plasmas “daily” while the team turns its attention to compression, according to the firm. Compressions have also produced fusion neutrons, the company claimed in a statement.

The firm hopes to make fusion reactors more practical. Other approaches rely on high-powered lasers (known as Inertial Confinement Fusion) or superconducting magnets, which are used in machines called Tokamak reactors, to create fusion conditions. General Fusion’s Magnetized Target Fusion instead uses mechanical compression to produce fusion in pulses at a lower cost. The invention creates its own fuel and has a built-in way to collect the resulting energy, the company says.

The aim is to commercialize magnetized target fusion within the next decade. The company hopes a single plant will generate 300 megawatts electrical (MWe), or enough energy to continuously power about 150,000 Canadian homes, while staying competitive with alternatives. General Fusion claims electricity providers can repurpose existing facilities, and that they can place reactors close to where they’re in demand.

The milestone helps in “de-risking LM26 and preparing [the company] for the new chapter” in its work, founder Michel Laberge said in a statement.

General Fusion has received several rounds of public and private funding since its inception in 2002. The company has raised $440 million to date, including $69 million from the federal government through the Strategic Innovation Fund. Natural resources minister Jonathan Wilkinson believes the company is backing Canada’s reputation as a “powerful innovator” in nuclear science thanks to its plasma breakthrough.

Fusion power has been widely seen as a potential leap forward in zero-emissions energy. In addition to providing power on a large scale, it doesn’t carry the radiation risks associated with nuclear fission reactors. The technology could help address rising electricity demands ranging from electric vehicles through to AI computing.

Fusion reactors have been in development for decades, however, and it’s not yet clear that they’ll be ready for real-world deployment in the near future. In 2024, South Korea’s KSTAR (Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research) team only maintained plasma in its device for 48 seconds, or well short of the five-minute target set for 2026—let alone the long durations needed for steady-state reactors based on that technology.

General Fusion’s reliance on burst operation helps it avoid that problem. However, it still has a number of progress markers ahead before it has production-ready tech. LM26 has yet to reach the three temperature levels that will be required to bring the technology online: 10 million degrees Celsius, 100 million degrees Celsius, and the “scientific breakeven equivalent” level where the energy released is equal to the heating power required. That also doesn’t include the transition from demonstrators like LM26 to full power plants.

Feature image courtesy of General Fusion.

The post General Fusion takes major step in quest for Canadian fusion reactors first appeared on BetaKit.

The organizers of Web Summit Vancouver 2025 have revealed the first 25 speakers for the major technology conference, including a mix of in-the-moment tech celebrities along with prominent business leaders, including key examples from Canada.

A rebrand of tech mega-conference Collision under the parent company’s name, Web Summit Vancouver will take place at the Vancouver Convention Centre from May 27-30.

Public and private organizations pledged $14.8 million to make the Vancouver event happen.

Jay Graber, CEO of Bluesky, the decentralized microblogging social media service that shot to prominence in the wake of the user exodus from Elon Musk’s Twitter (now X), is a marquee guest. Trevor Martin, the head of Mammoth Biosciences (the firm hoping to resurrect the woolly mammoth), is also slated to speak.

The Canadian contingent includes Clio chief Jack Newton, who headlined last year’s BetaKit Town Hall: Vancouver and will now present at Web Summit. Also presenting are leaders from Toronto self-driving tech startup Waabi (CEO Raquel Urtasun), authentication giant 1Password (co-CEO Jeff Shiner), business financial platform FreshBooks (COO Mara Reiff), and digital identity unicorn GeoComply (executive chairman Anna Sainsbury).

Other Canadian speakers include Grammarly co-founder Max Lytvyn as well as Telus data and trust chief Pamela Snively. Americans dominate the rest of the panel list and include Deep Space Initiative founder Sara Sabry, Cloudflare co-founder Michelle Zatlyn, and eBay global brand head Emily O’Hara.

RELATED: Everyone at Collision is talking about Web Summit Vancouver

American venture capitalists like Andy McLoughlin of Uncork Capital, Steve Jang of Kindred Ventures, and Edith Yeung of Race Capital also have significant places in this early list. More announcements are due in the “coming weeks,” according to the Web Summit team.

Web Summit is set for at least a three-year run in Vancouver. When the company announced the move in 2024, it pointed to Vancouver’s status as a technology hub for fast-growing startups like Dapper Labs and Trulioo. A combination of public and private organizations pledged $14.8 million in funding to make the Vancouver event happen.

The decision was a blow to 2019-2024 Collision host Toronto, which has now filled the gap with Toronto Tech Week. Cube Business Media also cited Web Summit as the reason for cancelling INNOVATEwest in 2025, warning that the rival Vancouver show would “draw substantial attention and resources” that would hurt the quality of its own production.

Feature image courtesy Web Summit via Flickr.

The post Web Summit Vancouver 2025 speaker lineup includes CEOs of Bluesky and Clio first appeared on BetaKit.

Toronto-based private equity firm Vertu Capital has promoted long-time principal Eric Kafka to partner, joining Kim Davis, Gil Nayot, and founding managing partner Lisa Melchoir. 

Kafka “has played a crucial role in shaping Vertu’s collaborative and high-performance culture.”

The firm announced Kafka’s appointment in a LinkedIn post this week, describing him as a “driving force” at Vertu since joining the firm as “employee number two” in 2018. Kafka brings experience as an operations program manager at Facebook (now Meta), and as vice-president of corporate development at Toronto-based data analytics company Sysomos (now Meltwater). 

He also previously worked on “numerous transactions” with Melchoir when they were both with Ontario pension giant OMERS Private Equity, according to his profile on Vertu’s website. 

Kafka “has consistently demonstrated an exceptional ability to source and execute high-impact investments, while also working closely with our portfolio companies to improve performance and create lasting value,” Vertu Capital said in the post. “He is a mentor to many within the firm and has played a crucial role in shaping Vertu’s collaborative and high-performance culture.”

Bringing in another partner strengthens Vertu’s ability to source and execute on new investments, as well as manage its growing portfolio, Melchoir told BetaKit in an email statement.

RELATED: EdTech startup LumiQ receives strategic investment from Vertu Capital

Founded by OMERS veteran Melchoir in 2017, Vertu closed its inaugural fund with more than $300 million in 2023. The firm invests in Canadian software and software-enabled companies focused on enterprise customers with more than $15 million CAD in company revenue that are profitable or are on track to be. 

Vertu Capital previously told BetaKit its fund aims to put in $25 million to $75 million per deal in companies worth up to $500 million, and then double or triple the size of its business before selling. In September 2024, Vertu completed a strategic investment into LumiQ, which makes an education platform for aspiring accounting professionals. The edtech startup was Vertu’s fourth investment since closing its inaugural fund. 

Feature image courtesy Vertu Capital.

The post Vertu Capital promotes principal and “employee number two” Eric Kafka to partner first appeared on BetaKit.

St. John’s, Nfld.-based marine technology company Kraken Robotics has signed an agreement to acquire Longmont, Colo.-based subsea technology company 3D at Depth for $17 million USD ($24.5 million CAD). 

3D at Depth, which has offshore service operations in Houston, Texas and satellite offices in the United Kingdom, provides underwater light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology and services for subsea assets and infrastructure, such as detecting leaks on oil rigs. 

“Kraken and 3D at Depth now offer customers a ‘best-of-breed’ toolbox for subsea optical metrology and asset integrity measurement.”

Kraken Robotics

The final closing price is subject to adjustment for any debt assumed or paid out, and other working capital adjustments, Kraken said in a statement. The transaction is expected to close on April 1, subject to certain closing conditions, such as consent from Kraken’s primary lender. 

The acquisition builds on Kraken’s expertise in subsea optical systems and “immediately strengthens” its presence in the United States (US) Gulf region, which complements Kraken’s work in Northern Europe, Kraken president and CEO Greg Reid said in a statement. 

“Following completion of the acquisition, Kraken will be able to offer a more comprehensive suite of world-class subsea acoustic and optical imaging technologies and services,” Reid said. “Additionally, establishing our first US-based facilities enhances our ability to scale manufacturing operations in the US as demand continues to grow.”

According to Kraken, 3D at Depth has seen its average project value grow by more than 45 percent over the last three years, thanks to its client roster of fossil-fuel giants like Exxon, Shell, and BP. The company, which currently has 56 employees, has completed more than 450 marine surveying projects in 18 countries, Kraken says. 

RELATED: Kraken Robotics emerges from the deep to take top spot on 2025 TSX Venture 50 list

3D at Depth’s underwater LiDAR technology provides extended range at challenging water depths compared to Kraken’s similar SeaVision offering, Kraken said in a statement, as well as unique non-contact vibration sensors and temperature-measurement capabilities.

“With this combined capability, Kraken and 3D at Depth now offer customers a “best-of-breed” toolbox for subsea optical metrology and asset integrity measurement,” Kraken Robotics said in a statement. 

Last month, Kraken took the top spot on the 2025 TSX Venture 50, sporting a 323-percent share price appreciation and adding more than $587 million to its market capitalization last year. The achievement shortly followed the passing of Kraken’s retired founder and former CEO, Karl Kenny, at the age of 64. 

Feature image courtesy Kraken Robotics.

The post Kraken Robotics looks to peer further under the sea with $24.5-million acquisition of 3D at Depth first appeared on BetaKit.

Is it Canada’s turn for a DeepSeek moment?

Canada’s leading large-language model (LLM) developer Cohere has unveiled its new Command A model, which the company claims is faster and uses less computing power than other global competitors.

“Command A was in development long before the DeepSeek release, but it certainly validated our approach.”

Nick Frosst
Cohere

Cohere pitches Command A as a “max performance, minimal compute” solution for its enterprise clients. Last month, tech stocks momentarily crashed over Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company DeepSeek’s model capabilities, which it claimed to achieve with only a fraction of the funds and compute resources compared to US tech giants. 

At the time, Cohere co-founder Nick Frosst told BetaKit that DeepSeek’s model proved their point that “innovation and efficiency, not excessive compute,” is key to AI development. 

“Command A was in development long before the DeepSeek release, but it certainly validated our approach,” Frosst said as part of today’s announcement. “We’ve never believed in things like AGI or the bigger is better mentality to building models. We’re instead focused on running a capital-efficient business and building products that solve real-world problems for our customers.”

The company says its new LLM is faster than DeepSeek’s v3 model and OpenAI’s GPT-4o model released in November. It also runs with twice the context length of leading models, allowing it to sift through larger documents. Context length is the amount of information, broken down as tokens, that an LLM can process at the same time. 

For comparison, DeepSeek v3 requires at least eight graphics processing units (GPUs) to run with 128k context length. Command A needs only two GPUs with 256k context length. 

RELATED: Cohere leaders think DeepSeek proves their point about AI innovation

According to Cohere, Command A also outperforms GPT-4o and DeepSeek v3 on metrics such as inference efficiency (the resource-to-output ratio of generating a response) and certain retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) tasks, which involve a model’s ability to retrieve information from the right sources. 

The Toronto-based company has also joined some of its competitors as the subject of legal action by major media companies. Last month, a group of publishers including Forbes and the Toronto Star sued Cohere for alleged copyright and trademark infringement. A group of Canadian news organizations brought a similar suit against OpenAI last year, while Meta has been the subject of legal claims led by North American and French authors.

Cohere has never been at the top of the model performance rankings for speed, especially compared to leading LLMs. According to the independent AI model index Artificial Analysis, Cohere’s previous models are not among the top 50 by AI intelligence index. OpenAI models are in the top three, followed by DeepSeek v3 and Anthropic’s Claude 3.7 Sonnet Thinking. However, these rankings are subject to constant change as companies release new models and optimizations.

Though Cohere is one of the most well-capitalized Canadian AI companies, its compute spend also pales in comparison to global competitors. Cohere secured $500 million USD in financing at a $5.5-billion valuation last year ($687 million at $7.6 billion CAD), not to mention the $240 million CAD committed by the federal government towards a Cohere data centre. In comparison, Meta said it would spend up to $65 billion USD on AI infrastructure this year. OpenAI raised $6.6 billion USD in October—more than Cohere’s valuation.

In a blog post, the company noted that Command A’s efficiency is especially key for its enterprise clients, some of whom may be looking to cut costs.

“With these efficiency gains, any business can run AI to increase productivity for employees with agents that can automate work,” Frosst said.

Command A will be “seamlessly integrated” into North, a customizable workplace AI platform the company launched in January. The platform integrates with a company’s in-house applications and allows users to automate complex tasks with AI agents. It also launched a finance-specific edition, North for Banking, in collaboration with the Royal Bank of Canada. 

Cohere’s model is also available in 23 languages. The company says it outperforms DeepSeek v3 and GPT-4o in accurately responding to English prompts in Arabic, following the release of its Command R7B Arabic model serving businesses in the Middle East and Northern Africa.

Feature image courtesy Cohere. 

The post Cohere says Command A model edges out LLM competition in speed and energy efficiency first appeared on BetaKit.

Burnaby, BC-based Clio has acquired fellow legaltech company ShareDo, of Manchester, United Kingdom (UK), to accelerate its expansion upmarket and begin serving large law firms.

The strategic deal, which Clio funded using a combination of cash, stock, and debt, closed this month. Clio co-founder and CEO Jack Newton declined to disclose the purchase price, or any other financial details, beyond claiming that the transaction is the biggest of Clio’s five acquisitions to date in terms of both the amount it paid and ShareDo’s employee count.

Clio confirmed to BetaKit that the company’s previous largest acquisition was Lawyaw, which it purchased in 2021 for an undisclosed sum in the mid-eight-figure range.

ShareDo enables Clio’s expansion into the enterprise legal market ahead of schedule.

For Clio, which has established a presence selling legal practice management software to solo lawyers as well as small and mid-market law firms, ShareDo hastens its entry into the enterprise legal market, which Newton defined as law firms with 1,000 or more staff and a global presence.

“We saw an opportunity through this acquisition to really unlock that enterprise opportunity for Clio” and cater to law firms of all sizes, Newton told BetaKit in an interview.

ShareDo’s entire 70-person team is joining Clio, and ShareDo founder and CEO Ben Nicholson is transitioning to general manager of ShareDo, where he will continue to guide the company and help oversee the gradual integration of ShareDo and Clio’s business and technology.

This deal comes nearly eight months after Clio raised the largest software funding round in Canadian tech history. In July 2024, Clio closed a $900-million USD (then $1.24-billion CAD) Series F at a more than $4-billion CAD valuation, making it one of Canada’s highest-valued tech startups and, according to Clio, the world’s most valuable cloud-based legaltech company. 

That financing, which was “substantially secondary,” followed Clio surpassing $200 million USD in annual recurring revenue (ARR) after doubling its sales in just two years, since hitting $100 million in ARR in 2022. Today, Clio confirmed that the company is generating more than $250 million USD in ARR from over 150,000 individual users. Clio and ShareDo are both profitable, Clio claims.

RELATED: Clio’s record-breaking funding round explains 2024’s public market exodus

ShareDo sells legal case management software to over 40 large law firms, which collectively employ approximately 13,000 legal professionals. Newton said this group includes dozens of the UK’s largest law firms, as well as clients across six other countries.

ShareDo was initially bootstrapped before taking on “a small amount” of venture capital funding in 2018 from Sussex Place Ventures, which is associated with the London Business School. The company was in the process of fundraising to support its expansion into North America when conversations with Clio began.

Newton said Clio has long hoped to expand to large law firms, “a very significant and important segment of the legal market.” The CEO noted that enterprise clients have discrete needs relative to the small and medium-sized legal businesses Clio has largely focused on to date. 

“This is a brand new segment for us,” Newton said. 

RELATED: Clio tops $4-billion CAD valuation with largest software funding round in Canadian tech history

Clio’s merger and acquisition (M&A) strategy is closely tied to the company’s product roadmap. As Newton has previously told BetaKit, the legaltech business continually evaluates whether it makes the most sense to build, buy, or partner to deliver various components of the plan.

With the acquisition of ShareDo, Newton said he saw a chance for Clio to “leapfrog” ahead dramatically and expand into the enterprise market “five years or more” ahead of schedule.

Nicholson told BetaKit that ShareDo was attracted to Clio’s “investment and growth mindset,” adding that “joining Clio felt like unlocking the cheat code to fast-track our impact.”

Newton thinks Clio could be “the acquirer of choice in legaltech.”

“With their extensive resources, expertise, and global reach, we have the opportunity to level up rapidly, bringing our solutions to a wider audience and delivering even greater value to the legal industry,” Nicholson said.

Newton said that ShareDo has “a good overlap” with the countries where Clio has been seeing success. “It helps really buttress our international expansion efforts,” he said.

At the moment, ShareDo has no presence in the United States—the world’s largest legal market—which Newton sees as “a major expansion opportunity.” 

Newton anticipates that Clio will remain active in the M&A space going forward. He thinks the current scale of Clio’s platform puts the company in a good position to be “the acquirer of choice in legaltech,” and sees more opportunity given the “explosion of innovation” happening right now across the sector.

Feature image courtesy Clio.

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Artificial intelligence has quietly moved from behind the scenes to the front lines of hiring.

Companies are now relying on AI to sift through résumés, rank candidates, and forecast job performance, sometimes before humans even get involved. Speed and automation now help dictate who gets a foot in the door.

Now, two Canadian AI tools are flipping the script by arming job seekers with the same data-driven insights and support.

“Using AI to combat the potential ramifications or negative impacts that AI could have is really interesting.”

Drew Lindsay, GuruLink

GuruLink’s Path Pilot and OpportuNext are designed to help workers compete in an AI-driven job market instead.

Both tools were created in collaboration with the Future Skills Centre (FSC), which has invested more than $280 million since 2019 in research and innovation initiatives to ensure both workers and employers can adapt to the shifting tides of the job market.

Tricia Williams, FSC Director of Research, Evaluation, and Knowledge Mobilization, said she believes AI tools can dramatically improve skills matching, targeted career guidance, and recruitment results. She noted that FSC has focused on “ensuring that AI tools addressing these challenges identify and mitigate any bias and discrimination embedded in their design.”

“The world of data is transforming dramatically, and we need AI-enabled tools that respond to Canadians’ critical information needs: to understand opportunities such as job vacancies, skill demands, and salaries and to understand potential pathways such as career guidance and skills training,” Williams added.

Here’s how these AI platforms are helping job seekers stay competitive.

Path Pilot

Path Pilot is an AI-driven career assistant developed by Toronto-based GuruLink, designed to support individuals in navigating their career journeys with personalized guidance and resources.

The tool is ideal for professionals aiming to advance their careers at any stage, and those entering the workforce or transitioning into new roles.

Path Pilot acts as a career assistant by analyzing a user’s experience, goals, and skill gaps to provide personalized job matches, résumé support, and interview preparation. Through an interactive chatbot, it assesses job fit and suggests next steps, whether it’s refining a résumé, identifying missing skills, or recommending courses to stay competitive.

The platform’s multilingual support makes it accessible to a diverse audience, allowing users to perfect their résumés, refine their applications, and prepare for interviews in their preferred language.

According to GuruLink Co-Founder Drew Lindsay, Path Pilot was designed with responsible AI at its core.

“I believe the net effect of AI will be positive but it could create some rough waters in the interim,” Lindsay said. “Using AI to combat the potential ramifications or negative impacts that AI could have is really interesting.”

GuruLink was the first company in Canada to earn ISO 42,001 certification for responsible AI development. This certification requires monthly automated audits to identify risks, such as bias, inclusiveness, and repetitiveness.

Path Pilot is set to launch publicly by the end of March. For now, it’s in a private beta, available to youth and underrepresented communities. If you’re part of these groups, you can request access and get 12 months of free use.

OpportuNext

Career changes can feel like a leap into the unknown, but OpportuNext aims to turn uncertainty into strategy. Designed for Canadians looking to switch careers or explore new opportunities, the AI-powered tool analyzes billions of data points to match users with jobs that fit their skills, education, and experience.

“The goal is for people to know how they compare to the rest of the labour market,” said Fabien Forge, Senior Data Scientist at the Conference Board of Canada. “OpportuNext brings facts to feelings.”

Using 13 billion data points and AI-powered insights, OpportuNext analyzes over 30,000 career profiles to provide personalized career recommendations. Users enter their current job title or education, and the system generates insights on salary expectations, long-term job growth, and in-demand skills based on real-time labor market data.

From there, it ranks career options using a scoring system that highlights roles requiring similar education and skills, helping users see where they already qualify and where they may need to upskill.

According to Forge, the idea for OpportuNext took shape during the COVID-19 pandemic, when entire industries were thrown into chaos. Some jobs disappeared overnight, while others exploded in demand, leaving many workers questioning their next move.

“At that time, people were saying, ‘I feel like I could do this job,’ but they needed data to back that up,” Forge explained.

To stay up to date, OpportuNext partners with Vicinity Jobs, an AI-powered system that scrapes hundreds of thousands of job postings each month. The platform analyzes real employer demands, including skills and certifications, to continuously refine its recommendations.

“It’s big, big data work,” said Forge. “We’re talking about hundreds of thousands of unique job postings and a moving window over the last three to four years, so that’s a lot of information to compute. We go from a lot of data points into something that users can digest.”

With AI doing the heavy lifting, OpportuNext aims to help Canadians take control of their careers, whether making a small pivot or a complete leap into something new.

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Discover how the Future Skills Centre is making sense of AI’s impact on skills development—helping job seekers and employers connect faster. Access the report to learn more.

All photos provided by Drew Lindsay, GuruLink.

The post Two new AI tools to help you land a job first appeared on BetaKit.

Phoenix has closed $50 million CAD in equity and debt to help more men suffering from erectile dysfunction (ED) and other common but stigmatized health conditions “rise again.”

The Toronto-based healthtech startup—which offers a service for men across Canada to access treatment for ED, weight management, and hair loss virtually through its digital health platform—plans to use this capital to expand its team, increase the visibility of its brand, and scale its operations.

“I think Canadians really wanted to get care in this fashion, and it’s just been hockey-stick growth ever since.”

Gavin Thompson,
Phoenix

“I think we’ve really built a brand that resonates with men,” Phoenix co-founder and co-CEO Kevin Bache told BetaKit in an interview.

Phoenix’s Series A round closed in January. Boston’s Valspring Capital—a growth equity firm founded by the former healthcare investment team of Bain Capital Ventures—led the all-primary equity portion, which also saw participation from existing backer Y Combinator (YC), while CIBC Innovation Banking provided the venture debt component. 

Bache claimed that the round was “mostly equity,” but declined to disclose the exact breakdown or Phoenix’s valuation. This capital brings Phoenix’s total funding to $55 million. Valspring managing partner Yumin Choi and senior principal Amanda Zajac are joining Phoenix’s board as part of the round.

Phoenix customers seeking access to treatments for ED, weight management, and hair loss complete detailed, asynchronous questionnaires, upload government identification, and pay $40 per online visit. That information is then sent to an independent licensed physician in their province, who ultimately decides whether or not to write them a prescription based on those intake forms and follow-up questions in written chats.

If approved, Phoenix sends that prescription to a licensed partner pharmacy and fulfills home delivery of the associated drugs as early as the next day, compensating doctors for their time whether or not they write prescriptions, and generating revenue from medication sales. Today, Phoenix is available across Canada, except in Québec and the territories.

Bache founded Phoenix in 2019 with co-CEO Gavin Thompson. They claim the startup acquired its first customers within two hours of launching. 

“I think Canadians really wanted to get care in this fashion, and it’s just been hockey-stick growth ever since,” Thompson told BetaKit. 

RELATED: MedEssist offer pharmacists medication delivery via new Uber Direct partnership

The co-CEOs argued that the discretion and convenience Phoenix offers compared to the typical doctor’s office or pharmacy visit has aided the startup’s growth to date, but declined to disclose Phoenix’s current revenue or the size of its customer base.

“Out of the gate, the demand for their solution was clear,” Choi told BetaKit. “The team was able to address the incredible demand while keeping operating costs down, building and iterating quickly as needed.”

CIBC Innovation Banking executive director Niramay noted that Phoenix has achieved “impressive year-over-year growth, with revenues increasing multiple folds annually.”

“This growth trajectory reflects Phoenix’s effective operational strategies and targeted marketing efforts,” Niramay told BetaKit. “What’s even more impressive is that Kevin, Gavin, and their team have achieved this remarkable scale with disciplined execution and capital efficiency, proving the strength of their model.”

RELATED: Felix expands into more complex categories of care after $18-million Series B

Choi said that Valspring views Phoenix as a compelling investment opportunity given the size of Canada’s pharmaceutical market, its ongoing primary care physician shortages, and its cost advantages compared to the US in terms of operations and drug pricing. He sees Phoenix’s approach to marketing and operational discipline as a differentiator amid a competitive virtual pharmacy and delivery space that lacks a “dominant incumbent.”

Telehealth companies have been boosting advertising spending lately while also taking on more complex medicines. Meanwhile, online providers that help patients access GLP-1 receptor agonist drugs such as Ozempic, which have demonstrated efficacy for weight loss, have reportedly contributed towards a long-term shortage of them in Canada that has only recently eased. That is a concern for folks leaning on those drugs for their on-label use for treating diabetes.

Bache and Thompson said they were aware of these supply challenges and claimed they deliberately delayed the startup’s weight loss program until those shortages were resolved in early 2024. The company began fielding patient interest in weight loss treatments in April 2024. The co-CEOs added that they “closely monitor and maintain the recommendations and guidance outlined by Health Canada.”

On the advertising front, Phoenix went to television early to reach its customers and ran its second Super Bowl ad last month. Cable TV has proven to be an effective marketing medium as the company’s customer base skews older, the co-CEOs said.

According to Thompson and Bache, Phoenix’s specialization in certain conditions has been a key factor in its growth to date. They declined to say whether Phoenix intended to move into any new segments, noting that the company is “mostly focusing on doubling down” on what it is doing in existing markets with its Series A capital, as it looks to reach more men across Canada.

Thompson said the now 35-person company intends to “at least double, maybe triple” the size of its team this year to support its growth. Phoenix’s website also indicates that the startup is planning to move into servicing premature ejaculation.

Feature image courtesy Phoenix.

The post Phoenix secures equity funding from Valspring, venture debt from CIBC for prescription drug service geared to men first appeared on BetaKit.

Vancouver-based Novarc Technologies has raised a Series B round as it gears up to commercially launch its artificial intelligence (AI)-powered vision system for autonomous welding robots.

The $50-million USD ($71.6-million CAD) round had a $20-million USD debt component, a Novarc spokesperson told BetaKit in an email statement, and declined to disclose if there was a secondary capital component.

Federal agency Export Development Canada (EDC) led the round, with participation from private investment firm Graham Partners, shipbuilding company Seaspan, and British Columbia’s provincial strategic investment fund InBC Investment Corp (InBC). EDC partner Erik Brien-Wright joined Novarc’s board as a result of the round. 

“We believe Novarc’s technology will be a catalyst for significant advancements in the industrial manufacturing sector.”

Guillermo Freire

The funding will be used towards Novarc’s research and development efforts and expanding its market presence, the company said in a statement. This includes developing AI products like its NovAI adaptive welding vision system, which aims to automate robotic welding without the need for manual adjustments.

Novarc said that the system will be commercially available this summer.

The company also plans to use the funding to hire personnel for its sales and marketing team and expand its innovation and product development teams, the Novarc spokesperson told BetaKit.

EDC senior vice-president Guillermo Freire said in a statement that EDC is excited to support Novarc as it explores expanding its international market presence beyond North America. 

“We believe Novarc’s technology will be a catalyst for significant advancements in the industrial manufacturing sector, addressing the critical need for automation,” Freire said.

Round investor Seaspan was an early adopter of Novarc’s technology, the company said, having installed its Spool Welding Robot (SWR) at its Vancouver Drydock and recently at Victoria Shipyards. Victoria Shipyards vice-president and general manager Tony Winter said in a statement that it has seen “significant productivity and quality improvements” in its pipe shop since adopting Novarc’s SWR. 

RELATED: Sanctuary AI, Nexera, and Novarc make deals and developments in busy week for Vancouver robotics companies

The SWR is a collaborative robot designed for welding tasks involving pipes and small-pressure vessels like air tanks, and other types of “roll welding,” in which two types of metal are fused together under high pressure.

EDC and Graham Partners are following their support of Novarc’s $20-million USD (then $27-million CAD) Series A round in 2023, which had an additional $4-million USD secondary capital component. At the time, Novarc said it had SWRs operating in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Saudi Arabia and China, and had recently expanded into Australia.

Last month, Novarc struck a partnership with Appleton, Wis.-based arc welding manufacturer Miller Electric. As part of the partnership, Miller and Novarc will develop adaptive welding solutions powered by AI for Miller’s Copilot collaborative welding line.

UPDATE (03/19/2025): This article has been updated with information provided by a Novarc spokesperson.

Feature image courtesy Novarc.

The post Novarc Technologies raises Series B round led by Export Development Canada first appeared on BetaKit.

American FinTech company Zolve is reportedly planning to bring its credit services for newcomers to the Canadian market as soon as July of this year, according to TechCrunch.

Zolve offers financial services to people who move abroad and face barriers to access due to limited credit history.

Zolve offers financial services, such as credit cards and chequing accounts, to people who move abroad and face barriers to access due to limited credit history. The FinTech company claims it allows customers to access financial products more quickly by leveraging credit history from their previous countries of residence.

The neobank just closed a $251-million USD ($361-million CAD) Series B round, consisting of $200 million USD in debt and $51 million in equity. The round was led by India-based Creaegis, with support from HSBC, State Bank of India, GMO, DG Daiwa, and Community Investment Management, as well as returning investors Accel, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Sparta Group, and DST Global Partners. The Houston-based company is now valued at around $800 million USD ($1.1 billion CAD), according to Reuters. 

Zolve told TechCrunch it aims to bring its services to Canada by July or August of this year. It also plans to launch loans for automobile purchases, followed by personal and education loans. 

RELATED: British neobank Revolut reportedly recruiting talent for a return to Canada

Founded in 2021, Zolve primarily served newcomers from India to the United States (US). Its expansion into Canada is part of a planned foray into new markets, including the United Kingdom and Australia. The FinTech company told TechCrunch it has served 750,000 customers and generated $25 million USD in revenue last year. 

“Many migrants are well-paid, in professional roles, and have excellent credit histories, but struggle to access basic services,” Zolve CEO Raghu Gangappa told Forbes. 

Similarly, in Canada, newcomers who have been in the country for under two years often face challenges accessing financial services such as credit cards and loans, a 2019 Statistics Canada report found. The disparity was largely due to insufficient credit history, rendering these newcomers “credit-invisible.” To solve this problem, Zolve uses credit data from customers’ previous countries to offer financial products.

Zolve is not the only FinTech company interested in the Canadian market. British neobank Revolut is reportedly recruiting talent for a potential return to the country, after retreating in 2021 following a limited launch.

Zolve faces competition from Canadian startups looking to cater to newcomers who are “credit-invisible,” such as Beacon and Karla, as well as bigger players like Borrowell. Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont. based Vambora, which focused on financial inclusion for immigrants, shut down last year. 

Feature image courtesy Zolve.

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Toronto-based autonomous vehicle (AV) startup Waabi is calling for the industry to follow the road it has forged by developing a framework to measure the realism of AV simulators. 

Waabi founder and CEO Raquel Urtasun outlined in a blog post this week how the company’s newly developed realism metric works, which is meant to evaluate how an AV simulator represents the physical world to an autonomous system. 

Urtasun explained how the most safety-critical events are also the rarest, making it essentially impossible for an AV to be exposed to every potential real-world situation, and that recreating dangerous scenarios for testing purposes are also practically impossible and come with ethical problems. 

“Advanced simulators can be used to understand how the system will perform and in which specific situations it will fail, helping to understand the deficiencies of the system,” Urtasun said. “But relying on simulation for these high stakes tests introduces a new, critical hurdle: ensuring the realism of the simulator.” 

Waabi’s realism metric compares how AVs drive in simulated scenarios to how they drive in identical real-world scenarios. They do this by recreating a set of real-world scenarios within the simulator as a digital twin, and then measuring the difference between the AV’s trajectory in both. The closer a simulation is to an AV’s real-life reaction, like triggering a hand brake or detecting an encroaching vehicle, the more realistic and reliable a simulator can be considered. Waabi says its platform has a 99.7 percent realism score, by its own metric. 

RELATED: Waabi inks partnership with investor Volvo to develop and deploy self-driving trucks

After unveiling Waabi’s new measurement, Urtasun called on the AV industry to prioritize simulator realism, saying that transparency and accountability are “absolutely paramount” for building public trust in AV technology.

“Going forward, all AV developers using simulation need to be able to publicly demonstrate the quantified realism of their simulators,” Urtasun said. “Just as we have safety standards for vehicles themselves, we must establish clear and measurable standards for the simulators on which their safety depends.” 

Earlier this year, Waabi teamed up with one of its investors, Swedish automaker Volvo, to build and commercialize self-driving trucks. Urtasun told BetaKit at the time that the deal was “a massive step forward” and the last piece the startup needed in order to have a solution that can scale. The partnership follows Waabi’ $275-million CAD ($200-million USD) Series B round last June, when the company announced it planned to deliver fully driverless, generative AI-enabled trucks in 2025.

Feature image courtesy Waabi.

The post Waabi develops realism metric to gauge reliability of autonomous vehicle simulators first appeared on BetaKit.

Experts are worried that Quebec’s faltering seed-stage funding performance in 2024 could have long-term impacts on the province’s tech sector.

Seed-stage venture deals in Québec dropped by more than half year-over-year, with dollars invested dropping by a sharp two-thirds.

A recent report led by Réseau Capital indicates that seed-stage venture deals in the province dropped by more than half year-over-year, with dollars invested dropping by a sharp two-thirds. The report, which uses data from the Canadian Venture Capital Association (CVCA), recorded only 39 seed deals totalling $112 million. The early-stage slowdown reflects a national trend that CVCA CEO Kim Furlong said “presents concerns about the long-term pipeline of high-growth startups.”

Despite the dramatic downturn, ecosystem players BetaKit spoke with are not aligned on what the seed-stage performance indicates for the future of the province’s funding landscape. 

“Admittedly, the low number of seed-stage transactions is concerning,” Olivier Quenneville, CEO of Réseau Capital, told BetaKit. “This could signal a weakening pipeline of companies that would otherwise progress to the early stage and beyond.”

Montréal-based VC David Dufresne, who recently halted fundraising for his shuttered early-stage fund, CMD Capital, said the numbers are “disappointing but not surprising” and did not indicate a healthy ecosystem. 

“It’s a burden on future deal flow,” Dufresne told BetaKit. “If you don’t have a healthy number of pre-seed and seed rounds, it’s going to be hard to get a healthy number of later-stage rounds.”

RELATED: CMD Capital halts fundraising amid “tough” VC market

There were also zero growth-stage VC transactions in Québec last year, according to the report, with nearly the entirety of Québec later-stage investment in Q4 represented by Blockstream’s $289-million convertible financing round.

Part of the problem, Dufresne said, is a dearth of capital available at the earliest stages. Réseau Capital has tracked a weakening pre-seed and seed-stage landscape for entrepreneurs in Québec since Q1 2023. In November, the Québec government quietly shuttered an investment-matching program for startups raising their first rounds, which some entrepreneurs said directly affected their fundraising efforts. 

The ecosystem doesn’t just need more money, it needs more private money—particularly at the seed stage, both Dufresne and Quenneville said. Québec tech has long been reliant on public and quasi-public funds for venture funding. That trend continued in this latest report, which listed government-backed institutional funds as the top four most active investors. 

Though Quenneville said he began the year with “cautious optimism,” the ongoing trade war between Canada and the US has quashed it. “It is still too early to draw conclusions, but the current uncertainty is never good for business,” he told BetaKit.

While some say the numbers reflect a crisis requiring action, other VCs see a blip that will right itself. Hugues Lalancette, partner at Inovia Capital, said he thinks the “health of the ecosystem is strong” and that a tough 2024 represents a temporary dip due to overlapping global and economic factors, including the trade war. 

RELATED: Megadeals kept Canadian VC funding afloat in 2024: report

But Lalancette did acknowledge that capital is scarce on the deployment side. He attributed it to a slowdown in the liquidity path in 2024, such as through exits and other levers like secondary issuances. 

Lalancette said that he expects more US acquisitions of Canadian companies over the coming year, which would create an influx of cash in the market that will flow up to limited partners (LPs) and, he said, be reinvested in early-stage companies.  

Inovia was one of the most active private investors in Québec in 2024 besides Anges Québec, a network of angel investors. Despite the ecosystem-wide decline in deals and low seed-stage activity, Lalancette said Inovia hasn’t seen a slowdown in its venture funds. 

“What we’re seeing in our portfolio is actually reacceleration, especially at the venture stage, and more capital-efficient businesses, because entrepreneurs know that capital is not unlimited like it was in 2021,” Lalancette said.

Artificial intelligence (AI) integration, coupled with low capital availability, is allowing Canadian startups to do more with less, Lalancette said. 

In Québec, AI adoption drove investor interest in 2024, according to Inovia’s recent State of software-as-a-service (SaaS) 2024 report. The report ranks Québec first among Canadian provinces for VC investments in AI. The province accounted for 24 percent of AI-related deals, and 23 percent of AI companies with VC backing between 2019 and 2024, the report says. 

But despite an encouraging push from the emerging technology, Inovia’s report also noted a key factor impacting seed-stage funding opportunities: dwindling funds for emerging managers. VCs and LPs BetaKit spoke with last summer noted that emerging managers were struggling, and cited economic headwinds and rising caution from LPs.

“No one right now is taking responsibility for rebuilding the early-stage ecosystem.”

Dufresne’s firm, CMD Capital, stopped raising its early-stage fund last month and paused operations. The firm, comprised of experienced early-stage investors, cited “little to no appetite” to invest in first-time funds from institutional LPs, due to factors including low LP liquidity and existing portfolio VC funds returning for re-ups.

Emerging managers tend to invest more at the pre-seed and seed stages compared to more established VCs, according to the Inovia report. But those newer players are struggling to close funds from LPs: fundraising for emerging managers dropped from $1.2 billion across 28 funds in 2022 to $172 million across eight funds in 2024, accounting for only seven percent of VC fundraising overall. 

Some support levers, such as Inovia’s Discovery Fund I, are targeted at emerging managers investing at the earliest stages. But in Dufresne’s view, the 2024 funding numbers reflect an early-stage ecosystem in need of significantly more support. 

“No one right now is taking responsibility for rebuilding the early-stage ecosystem, in Québec specifically and in Canada,” Dufresne said. “I would love to see more people that have gained from this ecosystem take responsibility [for] building the next generation.” 

Feature image courtesy Snap Shoot via Unsplash.

The post Québec’s dismal seed-stage performance could spell trouble for province’s startup pipeline first appeared on BetaKit.

Toronto-based construction technology startup Augmenta has secured an additional $10 million USD ($14.4 million CAD) in seed funding to refine and expand its building design software.

Raised via a simple agreement for future equity, Augmenta’s latest financing closed earlier this month and was led by Prelude Ventures with support from fellow new Silicon Valley-based investor Montage Ventures.

This round brings Augmenta’s total funding to nearly $37 million CAD, a figure that includes a $5.3-million CAD seed round in 2022 and a $15.6-million CAD seed extension from 2023.

Augmenta’s tech is being used to help design systems for hospitals, schools, labs, and maintenance facilities.

Augmenta was founded in 2018 by former Autodesk employees who built the San Francisco-based construction tech giant’s generative design tool. The Toronto startup is developing a platform designed to help contractors and engineers produce detailed, compliant building plans much faster and more cheaply with artificial intelligence (AI).

The company is approaching this problem “from the inside out,” co-founder and CEO Francesco Iorio told BetaKit in an exclusive interview. To date, Augmenta’s efforts have focused largely on figuring out how to automate electrical system design. 

Augmenta claims that its AI platform helps eliminate the risk of errors, reduces rework, and optimizes designs for sustainability and cost-effectiveness, helping contractors, engineers, and real estate developers save time and money. The company claims its software can generate electrical designs “in hours instead of weeks” using advanced machine learning and rule-based computational methods, with humans involved to ensure quality control, code compliance, and make final decisions.

“Construction is one of the largest industries in the world and has been slow to adopt new technology,” Prelude managing director Matt Eggers told BetaKit. “We believe Augmenta’s generative AI solution can fit directly into the current building design workflow [and] toolset and reduce time, cost, and waste.”

Eggers said that Prelude was excited by the productivity gains that Augmenta’s customers have already been realizing.

RELATED: Ontraccr secures $1.2 million for construction management software

The first building built using Augmenta’s tech was a public school in Lansing, Mich., Iorio said. The company recently began making its software available to a broader set of customers and partners. Today, the CEO said the startup’s tech is being used to help design systems for a range of buildings, including hospitals, universities, labs, and maintenance facilities.

“We are finding our footing in the market,” Iorio said. “We started actually having projects fully realized in the world.”

Per Iorio, the largest barrier to adoption right now is spare time to trial new tech, which he said many of the folks Augmenta pitches do not possess. To overcome this hurdle, Augmenta has been working closely with clients on initial projects to operate its software and demonstrate the results it can produce.

Iorio said Augmenta aims to use this funding to “reach the next stage of product-market fit” and help propel the company towards a larger Series A round. 

RELATED: Mave reveals $2 million CAD in pre-seed funding following beta launch of its real estate AI assistant

To get there, it intends to improve the efficiency of its electrical agent and develop “at least an initial proof point” that its software can handle design for other types of building systems beyond just electrical.

Augmenta plans to use this latest capital to refine its electrical agent and begin developing comparable capabilities for mechanical and plumbing—“stepping stones” on its path to eventually automating the design of entire buildings, Iorio said.

The startup intends to expand its engineering team, build out its support and sales functions, and add another 10 to 15 employees to its 40-person workforce by the end of 2025 to support these goals.

Feature image courtesy Unsplash. Photo by C. Dustin.

The post Augmenta closes $14.4 million CAD to advance quest towards AI-driven building design first appeared on BetaKit.

Victoria, BC-based software rollup company Redbrick has added Paved, a New York City-based newsletter advertising platform, to its portfolio for an undisclosed amount. 

According to Redbrick, Paved marks its fourth major acquisition in the past five years. Through its platform, Paved connects newsletter creators with advertisers, matching businesses like Uber, DoorDash, and Salesforce with 253 million newsletter subscribers across more than 3,000 publishers like Paved clients The New York Times, NBC, Bloomberg, and TechCrunch. 

Redbrick acquired Paved because email is here to stay, as an intimate way to connect with an audience, Redbrick CMO Marco Pimentel told BetaKit in an interview. 

“What gets us really excited is that there is still some technical unlocking in this space to make it easier to buy ads on email, to be a bit more performance driven, and be that [much] more technically advanced,” Pimentel said. “[Paved currently has] a lot of subscribers that they’re able to email into, and they have advertisers, but we see a really great opportunity to grow it.”

Paved and its team will continue operating under their own brand within Redbrick, Paved founder and CEO John McLaughlin said in a blog post, adding that the company now expects to grow its team from 15 employees to 50 by the end of the year. 

Redbrick’s recent major purchases show it has a penchant for acquiring American companies. Rebrick bought its Minneapolis, Minn.-based website builder Leadpages in 2020, its Indianapolis, Ind.-based automated email marketing solution Delivra in 2022, and its New York City-based video-creation platform Animoto in 2023.

Pimentel said that Redbrick’s American acquisition spree is a coincidence, adding that it has attempted Canadian acquisitions that didn’t get over the finish line, and that Redbrick heavily considers cultural and logistical considerations, such as time zones, when making deals. 

RELATED: FinTech startup Reach sells majority stake to US-based Primus Capital

However, Canadian companies scooping up American ones is something Pimentel said he likes to “see once in a while.” 

“I think that doesn’t happen as often as most of the US companies buying up Canadian companies,” he said.

That trend has indeed been evident so far this year: Toronto-based companies Payfare, Carbon6 Technologies, and Street Context have all been acquired by American companies. American private equity firm Primus Capital also recently acquired a majority stake in Calgary FinTech startup Reach.

Redbrick founder and CEO Tobyn Sowden was one of the regional winners of the Ernst & Young (EY) Entrepreneur Of The Year awards last year, representing the Pacific region. While software portfolio companies aren’t a novel concept in Canada, Redbrick positions itself as focused on acquiring digital solutions that help entrepreneurs, a strategy that led to $100 million in annualized revenues in 2023, according to EY.

Feature image courtesy John Schnobrich via Unsplash.

The post Redbrick acquires New York-based newsletter advertising platform Paved first appeared on BetaKit.

Toronto-based Xatoms and Calgary-based Knead Technologies have taken home top prizes in their respective categories at this year’s South by Southwest (SXSW) pitch competition in Austin, Texas.

Knead, which sells customizable software that matches non-profit food redistribution organizations like food banks with local food donors, took home the top prize in the AgTech & Food category. Xatoms, which looks to use artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum chemistry to make water safe to drink, won out in the Innovative World Tech category, which recognizes any creative and innovative application, product, or service that does not fit in another SXSW Pitch category.

“Incredibly grateful to showcase our technology in Texas—made and built in Canada.” 

Diana Virgovicova
Xatoms

Both pitch winners posed with oversized cheques and took home $4,000 and even larger bragging rights, as they beat out the more than 70 other finalists and alternates amongst all nine pitch categories. The only other Canadian companies in the running were nervous-system imaging technology startup NerView Surgical, smart sleep mask startup Bia Sleep, and security video analysis company Sigen AI, leaving Canada with an impressive winner-to-participant ratio. 

“As the solo company from Alberta and one of just five Canadian companies in the competition, we’re incredibly proud to represent our home on one of the biggest stages in tech,” Knead founder and CEO Lourdes Juan said in a LinkedIn post. 

Knead, which closed an $800,000 pre-seed round earlier this year, helped redistribute 100,000 pounds of food from vendors at the 2024 NFL Draft in Detroit last spring. The company claims it has facilitated the redistribution of over 2 million pounds of surplus food—which it says is about equivalent to 1.67 million meals and 236 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide in emissions savings.

RELATED: How Calgary-based startup Knead tackled the NFL draft’s food waste with software

Meanwhile, Xatoms is no stranger to recognition. The emergent startup won three prizes at last year’s Startupfest, including the Best of the Fest prize, the Women in Tech investment prize, and the Front Row Ventures student entrepreneur prize. Born in Slovakia, Xatoms co-founder and CEO Diana Virgovicova recounted on The BetaKit Podcast how she has been all over the world receiving encouragement for her company’s water cleaning tech, including from Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian’s 776 fellowship and meeting Water.org co-founder, actor Matt Damon. 

“Incredibly grateful to showcase our technology in Texas—made and built in Canada—we had a chance to compete with top innovative companies from the US, Israel, and Australia, and we are bringing home the winning place,” Virgovicova said in a LinkedIn post. “Competing in this category was incredibly challenging; we demonstrated the scalability of our technology as well as its incredible impact.”

Feature image courtesy Diana Virgovicova via LinkedIn. 

The post Xatoms and Knead take home top prizes amid strong Canadian showing at SXSW pitch competition first appeared on BetaKit.

Electric vehicle (EV) companies in Canada are receiving major financial commitments from the federal government to help build charging infrastructure.

The Canada Growth Fund (CGF), an arm’s-length funding unit for climate-friendly energy solutions, led a $55-million USD ($79.3 million CAD) funding round in Dcbel to help it commercialize in North America and Europe. The Montréal-based smart home company has a unique bidirectional EV charging system, Ara, that integrates with home energy management.

Ara can not only generate and store energy through solar power, but uses vehicle-to-home (V2H) charging with compatible EVs to minimize the effect of power outages. The concept of V2H isn’t new and is available for vehicles like Ford’s F-150 Lightning, but Dcbel is counting on what it calls “advanced home intelligence” that uses AI to help reduce home energy costs and spur renewable energy use.

Ara can not only generate and store energy through solar power, but uses V2H charging with compatible EVs to minimize the effect of power outages.

The CGF is investing $40 million USD ($57.6 million CAD) directly, with the Idealist Climate Impact Fund (a past CGF recipient) and other investors contributing “up to” $15 million USD ($21.6 million CAD), CGF said in a statement.

The move will help Canada “improve its competitiveness on the world stage” by scaling companies and guarding their intellectual property, Canada Growth Fund Investment Management CEO Yannick Beaudoin said in a statement.

The move comes days after the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) reached a $194-million loan agreement with Australian charging-startion provider Jolt to help expand its EV charging network into Canada. The arrangement will pay for up to 1,500 curbside chargers in urban areas, the government claims.

Jolt’s offering provides seven kilowatts of free charging per car per day. That’s adequate for a short car commute and is meant to “make EV ownership more accessible,” CIB and Jolt said in a statement.

The CIB says it has invested a total of $650 million to date for about 5,500 public charging ports in Canada. This underscores a “commitment” to innovative technology that will “remove a potential barrier to EV adoption,” according to CIB chief Ehren Cory.

Both the CGF and CIB investments come as foreign companies continue to dominate Canada’s EV charging infrastructure. Elon Musk-owned Tesla is the best-known provider, with over 234 high-speed Supercharger stations and over 50 new locations expected to open in 2025, the company claims. It’s not the largest, however, as ChargePoint had 247 DC Fast Charger stations as of March 2024. In comparison, Volkswagen’s Electrify Canada had 34 similarly quick stations by last March.

Some of the effort is going toward charging at home, including in apartment complexes and other multi-tenant buildings where powering EVs has been historically difficult. Toronto-based EV charging company SWTCH recently introduced a solution meant to help multifamily building owners install chargers without the need for electricity and networking upgrades. The company claims this can save costs while letting building operators install as many chargers as they need.

Feature image courtesy Dcbel.

The post Federal government revs up funding for EV charging first appeared on BetaKit.

Deloitte Canada has acquired Vancouver-based Pocketed for an undisclosed amount to integrate the startup’s grant- and tax-credit matching program into the professional-services giant’s suite of products. 

Pocketed’s matching program and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities will expand Deloitte’s offerings relating to grants and the Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) tax incentive program, Deloitte said in a statement. The acquisition will also allow Pocketed to plug into Deloitte’s innovation ecosystem to reach new clients and geographies, Deloitte added. 

“We’re still the same Pocketed…now with the backing of a multi-billion-dollar firm and an incredible team across Canada.”

Brianna Blaney 
Pocketed

“By joining forces, Deloitte will be able to offer a broader range of services, helping our clients stay competitive and accelerate growth in today’s disruptive landscape,” Deloitte Canada CEO Anthony Viel said in a statement. 

Launched in 2020, Pocketed’s platform aims to help eliminate financial barriers for entrepreneurs by connecting businesses to eligible grants and tax credits and helping users with the application process. 

The FinTech startup previously raised a $1-million CAD seed round in 2021 to fuel its expansion into the United States. Pocketed’s co-founders, CEO Brianna Blaney and CTO Aria Hahn, also won $25,000 in prize money at the Odlum Brown Forum Pitch Finale in 2022. Pocketed claims it has helped more than 17,000 businesses access over $200 million in grants, tax credits, and incentives to date. 

RELATED: Check your SR&ED history: Canadian tech companies could be in for post-holiday windfall

Pocketed’s entire team, including Blaney and Hahn, will be joining Deloitte Canada as an independent brand integrated into Deloitte’s Gi3 practice with the name “Pocketed, a Deloitte business.” Deloitte’s Gi3 team advises businesses on research and development and sustainability incentives. 

“When Deloitte approached us, we saw a great, mission-aligned partner to build and grow with,” Blaney told BetaKit in an email statement. “We’re still the same Pocketed—still leading, still building, still committed to helping entrepreneurs access funding…now with the backing of a multi-billion-dollar firm and an incredible team across Canada.”

According to Pocketed’s FAQ, customers can continue using its platform and services as usual, and that there are no major feature or functionality changes planned at this time.

Feature image courtesy Brianna Blaney. 

The post Deloitte Canada acquires grant matchmaker Pocketed for undisclosed amount first appeared on BetaKit.

For years, Canada has positioned itself as a cost-effective gateway to the North American market, offering entrepreneurs tariff-free access to many markets, chiefly the United States. 

That strategy is now being tested.

With a trade war now causing growing economic uncertainty, Vikram Khurana, Board Chair at the Toronto Business Development Centre (TBDC), believes Canada has to learn to stand on its own.

“Our role at TBDC is to ensure that these founders don’t just launch, but also scale from here.”

It’s a shift TBDC understands well.

The organization was originally built to deliver government-backed small business programs. But TBDC now focuses on listening intently to the market, and specializes in providing targeted support to specific founders and high-potential businesses.

In this conversation, Khurana lays out how Canada can capitalize on its unique strengths, why immigrant entrepreneurs are key to the next wave of innovation, and how TBDC wants to pave the way for global founders to establish and expand their businesses in Canada.

The following transcribed Q&A has been edited for brevity and clarity.

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For those that may be unfamiliar, how would you sum up TBDC’s mission?

TBDC was established to help small businesses and self-employed individuals scale their businesses. Over the years, we’ve evolved from a broad small-business support agency into a highly specialized launchpad for international entrepreneurs. 

Our mission is to attract and empower founders with intellectual property and innovations, by connecting them with the resources, capital, and networks to scale successfully in Canada and internationally, helping them to successfully fulfill their entrepreneurial ambitions. 

We specialize in creating the right conditions for immigrant entrepreneurs that have the potential to create wealth in Canada, and we take great pride in telling their stories to inspire founders everywhere. 

You’ve mentioned TBDC has evolved over the years. What has that evolution looked like?

Over the years, our programming has pivoted to helping startups study the viability of their business in new markets, identifying gaps, and helping them mitigate market expansion risk.

We’ve moved beyond broad business education to personalized and meaningful one-on-one mentorship, helping entrepreneurs refine their go-to-market strategy, achieve product-market fit faster, and unlock funding and partnerships, ensuring real, scalable growth.

What does this look like in practice with your programming?

The big shift has been to proactively develop targeted initiatives that draw founders from global innovation hotspots and help them scale. 

Many founders that are expanding need help in understanding and mitigating as many risks as possible. So, we work closely with these founders, ensuring they receive personalized mentorship and guidance to mitigate product and market risks and scale confidently. 

Given the current trade war between our closest neighbour, do you think Canada’s pitch to businesses needs to change?

Yes, and it already has. Canada can no longer rely on being the “nearshore” alternative to the US. Instead, we must lean into our intrinsic strengths—our world-class education system, research institutions and financing, deep AI and ML tech prowess, innovation, and access to diverse talent pools.

Consider this: some of the world’s leading AI researchers and engineers are in Canada, not Silicon Valley. Geoffrey Hinton, the 2024 Nobel Prize winner for physics, who pioneered machine learning, is based in Canada, not the US. 

Our universities are also leading the way in scientific research: McGill and University Toronto and University of Waterloo are key players in the burgeoning field of Quantum Computing; and University of Alberta and UBC are leaders in environmental and climate sciences. 

Some of the world’s most promising startups are emerging from Canada’s ecosystem, not simply passing through it.

Where are you seeing opportunities for Canadian founders amidst all of this?

Founders everywhere are cautious in expanding to unfamiliar markets, regardless of their potential. Canadian founders are no different. The lucrativeness and proximity of the US market has kept many Canadian founders from expanding into, say, Europe or the Middle East as an example. 

Currently the US market is unstable due to politics, and Canadian founders pivoting to expand internationally should be encouraged and supported to look beyond the US. Meaningful support can help them with viability studies, introductions within local markets, and facilitation of potential customer interactions in other markets.  

Newcomer entrepreneurs that set up in Canada face the same challenges as regulatory hurdles, market unfamiliarity, and access to capital. Canada was one of the first countries in the world to announce the Startup Visa Program that helps international entrepreneurs come to Canada. 

TBDC supports such founders with industry connections, mentorship by experts, and shared knowledge with seasoned Canadian founders who’ve navigated these same challenges.

Do you see Canada shifting away from the US as its default market?

While the US remains a key market, Canada’s startup landscape is becoming increasingly global. Newcomer entrepreneurs bring built-in connections to emerging markets – from India to Africa to the Middle East. This creates an opportunity to use its immigrant population as an asset for Canada to position itself as an exporter to many markets, not just the US

Canada has been a source country for talent to American companies, either through employment or acquisition. We should be asking: How do we ensure the next Shopify, the next BlackBerry, or the next world-changing AI company can be founded and scaled here.

Have you noticed that international entrepreneurs are more hesitant to expand into Canada?

Fear of making fatal mistakes while scaling their companies is a reality for most founders. Canada has many shining examples of immigrants who have built global businesses (and we’ve helped a few of them through TBDC). Founders look for three things: economic stability, a strong runway for growth, and a regulatory environment that encourages entrepreneurship. Canada delivers on all three.

Even as market dynamics shift in the US, Canada offers unparalleled access to global markets through trade agreements like CETA (with the EU) and the CPTPP (with Japan and the Pacific region). The US will always be an important market, but entrepreneurs today see Canada as more than a launching pad—it’s a market worth investing and scaling in.

Given TBDC’s evolution, where do you see its role in shaping Canada’s startup ecosystem?

Immigrant entrepreneurs hold great potential to help Canada’s economy. Their businesses create jobs; they bring new perspectives and innovative ideas; they strengthen our global economic ties while supporting our country’s economic growth. Our role at TBDC is to ensure that these founders don’t just launch, but also scale from here.

That’s why we are working on amplifying these success stories—we’re documenting 50 case studies of global founders who have built impactful businesses in Canada and using them to inform what’s needed to create a more competitive, entrepreneur-friendly environment for tech companies.

We also need to change the conversation around immigration. Not every immigrant is a job seeker. As mentioned, many are job creators. If we provide the right infrastructure—access to capital, streamlined regulations, and talent connections—these entrepreneurs can drive the next wave of economic growth for Canada through innovation-centric companies.

What excites you the most about Canada’s tech sector right now?

Canada is at an inflection point. By nature, founders thrive in, and often create disruption as a way of establishing businesses. Can Canada use this politically tumultuous time in the US to its advantage? Can we use our entrepreneurial spirit to be recognized as global leaders in innovating? 

The next decade will be influenced by how we use the current instability in our chief market to diversify and grow in other markets. TBDC’s winning aspiration is to be a part of Canada’s entrepreneurial spirit. This makes our job so exciting.

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For further entrepreneurial insights, sector-specific information, or to learn more about our programs and entrepreneur success stories, visit TBDC’s website.

All photos provided by TBDC.

The post TBDC pitches a new narrative for Canadian startups first appeared on BetaKit.

The federal government has opened a web portal for the $300-million artificial intelligence (AI) Compute Access Fund, meant to help small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) access financial support for AI compute infrastructure.

The fund is looking for Canadian-incorporated companies with fewer than 500 employees that are generating revenue or have raised Series A financing. Applicants must be developing AI products or services, and have a commercialization plan with an existing AI compute service agreement in place. The web portal prompts businesses to submit their interest for applications, which are set to open this spring.

The feds’ AI file has been quite active in recent weeks.

The fund is the latest component of the Canadian Sovereign AI Compute Strategy, unveiled in December, which outlines how the federal government is deploying Budget 2024’s $2-billion CAD commitment to AI computing power. 

The federal government also unveiled more details on the $705-million component of the strategy last month. The AI Sovereign Compute Infrastructure Program is seeking proposals from organizations and consortiums that demonstrate in-depth knowledge of Canada’s public computing infrastructure and ability to support Canada’s research ecosystem. The Government of Canada will accept proposals until April 14, 2025.

AI compute, which is typically provided by chips and data centres, refers to computational resources required for AI systems to perform tasks like processing data, running algorithms, and training machine learning models, as well as the immense energy needed to cool and power them.The first investment from the program went to Toronto-based AI startup Cohere, which received $240 million to support its plan to build a multi-billion dollar AI data centre in Canada. 

The federal government’s AI file has been quite active in recent weeks, having recently refreshed the members of its AI Advisory Council and releasing the first-ever AI strategy for the federal public service. CIBC, Clir, Cofomo, Intel Corporation, Jolera, and PaymentEvolution also signed on to the feds’ voluntary AI code of conduct.

RELATED: Canada looks to strike balance between AI innovation and regulation at Paris AI Summit

Among the changes to the AI advisory council is the addition of Mila scientific director Yoshua Bengio as chair of the Safe and Secure AI Advisory Group. Bengio takes the lead in providing advice on risks emerging from the development and deployment of AI systems across the economy. 

The AI strategy for the federal public service is meant to help the government implement AI by removing barriers to adoption that exist in departmental processes and legacy systems. It outlines four priority areas, including establishing an AI Centre of Expertise, ensuring AI systems are secure and used responsibly, training and talent development pathways, and building trust in AI use through transparency. The strategy also highlighted some AI “no-go areas” found through public consultations, including decisions on criminal justice cases, hiring, social service eligibility, mass data collection, and policy decisions without human input. 

Outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also reaffirmed Canada’s commitment to responsible AI development at the AI Action Summit in Paris last month. While there, Canada signed a binding international treaty and a statement that prioritized human rights, accessibility, and transparency in AI development. Alongside Trudeau’s public remarks, the signing indicates an alignment with the EU’s pro-regulatory approach to AI. 

Feature image courtesy Minister Champagne via LinkedIn.

The post Canadian government opens $300-million AI Compute Access Fund in latest AI commitment first appeared on BetaKit.

New Liberal leader and Prime Minister-designate Mark Carney has effectively put a nail in the coffin of the controversial capital gains tax rate changes, following nearly a year of backlash from business and tech leaders.

Last night, the Liberal Party of Canada (LPC) elected Carney as its new leader with over 85 percent of the vote. In his acceptance speech, the former Bank of Canada governor pledged to scrap the party’s capital gains tax rate changes announced in last year’s budget. He also said he would immediately eliminate the consumer carbon tax.

The leaders of Canada’s governing and official opposition political parties have now both pledged to scrap the capital gains tax changes.

“I am a pragmatist above all,” Carney said. “So, when I see that something’s not working, I will change it … We will stop the hike in the capital gains tax because we think builders should be incentivized for taking risks and rewarded when they succeed.”

Carney handily beat former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, who won only eight percent of the Liberal leadership vote. Former House Leader Karina Gould trailed at 3.2 percent, followed by former member of parliament and Montréal-area businessman Frank Baylis, at three percent. 

Last month, Freeland indicated she would reverse course on the capital gains tax rate changes if elected, despite having brought forth the proposal as finance minister. Gould also said she would revise the program and didn’t believe it had been implemented in the right way.

RELATED: Liberal leadership candidates signal party pivot on capital gains tax rate changes

The leaders of Canada’s governing and official opposition political parties have now both pledged to scrap the capital gains tax changes—effectively ensuring it will never see the light of day. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, a vocal critic of the proposal, said in January he would reverse it if elected.

When the policy was announced as part of Budget 2024, it struck a nerve with many Canadian tech leaders, who argued it would discourage entrepreneurship and stifle innovation. Over 1,400 members of the tech ecosystem signed an open letter from the Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI) calling on the feds to scrap the proposal.

CCI President Benjamin Bergen welcomed Carney’s pledge to scrap the tax changes, but cautioned that it should serve as a “teachable moment” for the federal government.

“We can’t have government shooting our innovators in the foot,” Bergen said. “I hope what they take away from all of this is that we figure out how to collaborate much more collectively between industry leaders and government leaders so that we’re putting in place the right policies to help these companies scale and grow.”

The federal government proposed raising the inclusion rate on capital gains from 50 percent to 66 percent last April. It also outlined plans to increase the lifetime capital gains exemption from just over $1 million to $1.25 million and launch a new Canadian Entrepreneurs’ Incentive, which would have reduced the inclusion rate to 33.3 percent on up to $2 million in capital gains.

RELATED: A requiem for the feds’ (failed) innovation strategy

The changes were originally set to take effect in June 2024, but were curiously absent from the Liberals’ motion to introduce the budget to the House of Commons. 

The government never made the policy into law. In January, the federal government delayed the implementation of the capital gains inclusion rate increase to the beginning of 2026.

With Parliament prorogued, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) had been moving forward under the assumption that the changes would come into effect and already collecting revenue from the increased tax rate. Tax law firm Thorsteinssons LLP and the Canadian Taxpayers Federation filed separate legal challenges against the CRA’s decision to enforce the policy despite the lack of legislation.

Carney is now set to take over from Justin Trudeau as Prime Minister this week, following Trudeau’s pledge to step down once a new Liberal was selected. The Globe and Mail reported that the new leader is expected to call a spring election. 

Feature image courtesy Mark Carney via LinkedIn. 

The post Prime Minister-designate Mark Carney says Liberals will kill their own capital gains tax changes first appeared on BetaKit.

Satellite communications giant Telesat received a further boost as part of its mission to take on Elon Musk’s Starlink and reduce Canada’s dependence on American technology.

The federal government has revealed that Telesat is constructing a new $25-million campus in Gatineau, Que. The facility, across the river from Telesat’s Ottawa headquarters, will serve as an operations centre for the company’s cybersecurity, network, and satellite control. It will also double as an engineering development space to help deploy and run the Telestat Lightspeed low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite network.

The campus is expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2025. The government claims the new location will create 300 jobs in the area.

The campus is expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2025.

The campus will make the city a “strategic hub for the space industry, driving innovation, attracting highly skilled talent and strengthening our expertise in this cutting-edge field,” according to Gatineau Member of Parliament and labour minister Steven MacKinnon.

Telesat Lightspeed is often cast as a direct competitor to Starlink. Both companies make LEO satellites, which have much lower latency (the lag time it takes to send data between the satellites and Earth) compared to higher-orbiting satellites. This allows for both faster internet connections and time-sensitive applications in situations where cellular or conventional broadband service aren’t guaranteed.

In a statement, Telesat CEO Dan Goldberg said Lightspeed would help get rid of “digital deserts” in Canada and abroad, as well as improving connectivity for the Canadian military and allies. He previously told Reuters that he expected Lightspeed to cost half as much as Starlink or Amazon’s Project Kuiper.

The first 198 satellites are slated to launch in 2026 aboard rockets made by Musk-owned company SpaceX. This is a step toward the Government of Canada’s goal of enabling access to fast internet service for 98 percent of Canadians by 2026, and 100 percent by 2030.

The campus launch comes just as Ontario Premier Doug Ford has cancelled the province’s $100-million internet contract with Starlink in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs on Canadian goods. Those tariffs have prompted Canadian governments at multiple levels to reduce their dependencies on American companies and minimize internal trade barriers.

The federal government has long been keen on funding Telesat Lightspeed as a domestic alternative to Starlink and Project Kuiper. Canada initially made a $1.44-billion commitment in August 2021 to help build the LEO network, and in September of last year, the government increased that amount to a $2.14-billion loan. The funding for the new Telesat campus will be supported by this loan agreement.

Provinces have also been involved. Ontario pledged $109 million in 2021, while Québec promised $400 million then and offered a similarly large loan in September 2024.

Feature image courtesy Justin Trudeau via LinkedIn.

Update (03/14/25): An earlier version of this story failed to indicate that the original $1.44-billion federal commitment to Telesat was replaced by the later $2.14-billion loan agreement. BetaKit regrets the error.

The post Federal investment to help Telesat take on Starlink with new Québec campus  first appeared on BetaKit.

Simon De Baene has no problem deleting years of work.

At TechTO’s Toronto event this month at MaRS Discovery District, the Workleap co-founder and CEO described how his team spent two years in the late 2000s building a software product, only to scrap it entirely. 

“We just built features, features after features after features,” he said. “There were so many buttons in the product, but most of them were half-baked.”

“Before you’re creating something, there’s going to be some sort of destruction happening.”

Simon De Baene

Workleap began as a service company called GSoft in 2006, building IT solutions for clients. They decided that developing their own product was the next logical step. Instead of selling hours, they would build something scalable.

“The problem with running a service company is that you get used to being paid,” De Baene said.

By 2008, the startup had fully committed to product development and started building ShareGate, a tool to help companies migrate to the cloud through Microsoft SharePoint. For two years, the team kept adding features, refining the platform, and waiting for traction that never came.

The product was too complicated. Customers struggled to use it, and instead of fixing that core issue, the team kept layering on more functionality.

So, they started over.

Burn it down

Instead of salvaging parts of ShareGate, the team erased it completely.

There was one rule during the rebuild, De Baene said: “no copy-paste.” Developers could retype the old code, but they could not port it. 

It forced a fresh approach and ensured the teams didn’t recreate the same problems. The new version focused on solving one problem well; it took three months to build. Within a month of relaunching, the startup sold more licences than in the previous two years combined.

DeBaene focused his efforts on marketing, sales, and support: “everything not dev.”

It worked. Instead of waiting for customers to come to them, the team reached out directly, sold the product, and refined it based on real feedback.

Old habits die hard

In 2013, the team launched another product: Officevibe, an HR tool for employee engagement. But the lessons from ShareGate had not stuck.

“We repeated the exact mistake,” De Baene said. “Again, too many features. Customers were too tired using the product. It’s the same pattern that is happening all the time, and I see it in so many software companies out there.”

De Baene admitted that the instinct to keep adding never goes away. There’s always a feeling that the product isn’t quite enough, that another feature or enhancement will make it stronger. But over time, he’s learned that restraint is often the better approach.

“Sometimes you’ve got to build something simple, cut it in half and cut it in half again, and it’s probably not simple enough,” he added.

Scrapping as a strategy

Workleap now operates HR software for workplace management and employee engagement.  The startup has destroyed and rebuilt products multiple times and now De Baene now sees it as core to how the startup approaches product development.

He said the human resistance to change is often what holds other teams back. People get attached to what they’ve built, even when it’s not working, which is why he pushes his team to challenge that instinct.

“Before you’re creating something, there’s going to be some sort of destruction happening,” De Baene said. “It’s always that cycle happening all the time, and it’s been like that since 2006.”

Watch Simon De Baene’s full conversation at TechTO Together here.

Images courtesy Sean Pollock for TechTO. Check out the full calendar of TechTO events here.

The post Why Simon De Baene keeps killing his own products first appeared on BetaKit.

The above graph comes via Bram Sugarman and tracks the Canadian headquartered companies in Silicon Valley accelerator Y Combinator by batch.

Numbers can lie in many ways and this graph is no different. For a brief window during the COVID-19 pandemic, YC went fully remote, which likely aided Canadian enrollment at its peak. The graph doesn’t also track YC cohort companies with Canadian founders. When adding startups with Canadian roots, the Winter ‘24 cohort triples in size to 12.

It’s a caveat reinforced by Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan, who told Bram “The Canadians stay in the USA and raise more money. The ones that stay in SF after demo day become unicorns at 2.5X the rate.” 

Tan also noted a recent YC dinner packed with a row of founders who turned out to be Canadians looking to base their startups in San Francisco after graduation.

So is YC stealing our startups? During a trade war, no less? How dare they!

Sugarman’s data and Tan’s comments led to some understandable handwringing online, with many marking the entrepreneurial drain as a troubling sign for Canadian tech. 

But investor and TechTO co-founder Alexander Norman told me the comparison is a “red herring.” Canadian founders pulled to the best accelerator in the world’s largest startup ecosystem to raise and scale quickly is not a sign that “Canada’s ecosystem is broken,” but thinking that way might prevent Canada from focusing on its own compelling features.

“It’s like saying ‘we’re losing Canadians to Florida,’” he said. “We don’t need to build our own Florida. We don’t need to build our own YC.”

Norman expects many of these YC founders to return to the motherland one day with their wealth and experience, ultimately to the benefit of Canada. “Canadians only want to visit Florida,” he added.

It sounded great until I saw this one smart take online: “If we all did this, there won’t be anything left to come back home to.”

Douglas Soltys
Editor-in-chief

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Cyber Challenge: Leading Cybersecurity Solutions, Made in Ontario

Are you a startup ready to make an impact? The Cyber Challenge, a free program from Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst and Canadian Cyber Threat Exchange, helps Ontario-based startups tackle real-world cybersecurity challenges in six key industries:

• Automotive 
• Life Sciences 
• Smart Infrastructure 
• Advanced Manufacturing
• Law Enforcement 
• Mining

The Cyber Challenge connects startups with industry leaders, providing direct access to new markets, product testing, and high-value exposure — building trust and accelerating adoption. Participants gain hands-on experience with seasoned organizations, refining their solutions and driving cybersecurity innovation across Ontario.

Participation is free, and no equity is taken. Select companies will receive $20,000 of non-dilutive funds. Don’t miss this opportunity to grow, collaborate, and lead the future of cybersecurity.

Apply now.

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TOP STORIES OF THE WEEK

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Trade war: week one

On Tuesday, the United States ended its 30-day détente with Canada, triggering a trade war through 25-percent tariffs on many imported Canadian goods, and 10-percent tariffs on energy imports. As promised, Canada responded with in-kind tariffs on $30 billion of US goods. It was the start of a busy week: 

• The Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses called for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to immediately recall Parliament “to ensure…that every dollar Canada collects in tariffs is returned to affected businesses as quickly as possible.”
• Premier Doug Ford permanently cancelled Ontario’s $100-million contract with Elon Musk-owned satellite internet company Starlink as part of a ban on all US-based companies in provincial procurement.
• On Thursday, US President Donald Trump paused tariffs on some Canadian goods (again), halting Canada’s planned second retaliatory tariff wave. The back-and-forth nature of the economic battle sparked new frustration for the business leaders caught in the middle: “My god, this is exhausting,” Maverix Private Equity founder John Ruffolo told BetaKit. 
• On Friday, the Government of Canada announced a $6-billion package of new measures to support Canadian businesses affected by the trade war through Export Development Canada (EDC) and the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC). 

One silver lining to the existential threat from Canada’s largest ally has been the concerted push to buy Canadian products. Meat subscription service truLOCAL and grocery delivery startup Tre’Dish both noted to BetaKit a rise in use.

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SDTC funding flowing again with applications for projects under NRC IRAP to open “early” fiscal 2025–2026

Funding for existing cleantech projects through Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) is flowing once more, while new applications under its National Research Council Canada (NRC) replacement program will open “early” in fiscal 2025–2026, an NRC spokesperson told BetaKit.

At the moment, SDTC is working to complete the transition of its programming to the NRC. The shift follows multiple investigations finding evidence of conflict-of-interest and governance issues at the agency. BetaKit has confirmed that SDTC and the NRC are still not accepting new funding applications.

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New Turing Award winner Richard Sutton calls doomers “out of line,” talks path to human-like AI

The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) has named Canadian AI leader Richard Sutton and his American colleague Andrew Barto as the recipients of the 2024 ACM A.M. Turing Award for their work developing the foundations of reinforcement learning.

Sutton is a professor of computer science at the University of Alberta and a fellow, chief scientific advisor, and Canada CIFAR AI chair at the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute. In an interview with BetaKit, Sutton described his Turing Award victory as “gratifying and humbling,” as well as “totally unexpected,” and shared his perspective on AI safety discourse and the path to human-like AI.

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British neobank Revolut reportedly recruiting talent for a return to Canada

A Global Fintech Insider report indicates that London, UK-based neobank Revolut is actively recruiting for a CEO to lead the FinTech company’s re-entry into the Canadian market approximately four years after its initial departure.

Revolut launched a limited, beta version of its offering in Canada in 2019, only to retreat in early 2021, claiming that it was not able to offer the full range of services the firm had hoped to in Canada. The company promised to return to Canada when it could.

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Toast wants women to take a radical step this International Women’s Day: rest

This International Women’s Day (IWD), April Hicke wants women in tech to take a break.

Hicke’s company, Toast, is encouraging women to take a step back from corporate IWD activities and instead let men do the planning this year. Hicke says it’s necessary in an environment where women are often tasked with the unpaid labour of advocating for themselves.

Don’t forget to check out BetaKit’s list of ten things worth reading on International Women’s Day.

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Leaders discuss the right speed for innovation and regulation at Remarkable AI conference

A common thread during the Vector Institute’s Remarkable AI conference was the concern that AI regulation and adoption can be harmful if implemented badly.

CAN Health Network founder and chair Dante Morra noted that not moving quickly enough carries its own risk. Morra argued that Canada’s healthcare system is moving “way too slow” when it comes to AI adoption, and thinks it is possible for it to move faster while still doing so safely.

“Every single day, our access goes down,” he added. “Every single day, our chance to win in the new healthcare economy is less.

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Weekly Canadian Deals & Dollars

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• BC – PacifiCan doles out $18.3M to seven BC-based companies
• VAN – Thinkific reports positive cash flow in 2024
• CGY – The51 appoints Laruen Robinson as managing partner
• WPG – Tech hubs merge to launch new early-stage funding program
• TOR – Women Innovation Summit commits $535,000 to 4 companies
• TOR – WonderFi plots expansion beyond crypto
• TOR/KW – FACIT & OBIO reveal first WeSEED program cohort
• TOR/OTT – FedDev dispenses $32M across 24 businesses
• OTT – Shopify merchants can now prompt AI to design a store theme

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The BetaKit Podcast — What is Build Canada trying to construct?

“I don’t know what Canadian DOGE is. You know what I know? That everyone is projecting both their hopes and fears onto this thing.”

Ex-Shopify VP Daniel Debow joins to discuss his Build Canada initiative, what it’s attempting to achieve, what it isn’t, and his frustration regarding associations with ‘Canadian DOGE’.

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The BetaKit Quiz — This week: Richard Sutton passes Turing test, Doug Ford is done with Starlink, and #CDNtech on the moon

Think you’re on top of Canadian tech and innovation news? Time to prove it. Test your knowledge of Canadian tech news with The BetaKit Quiz for Mar. 7, 2025.

Feature image courtesy Bram Sugarman via X.

The post Y Combinator is stealing Canadian startups first appeared on BetaKit.

In early February, a bunch of tech workers teamed up to launch Build Canada, which bills itself as a “platform of bold ideas for growth, innovation, and prosperity.”

The launch saw the support of a number of Canadian tech entrepreneurs, including Globalive’s Anthony Lacavera, Koho’s Daniel Eberhard, SRTX’s Katherine Homuth, Wealthsimple’s Michael Katchen, Shopify’s Tobi Lütke and Harley Finkelstein, and BetaKit chair Satish Kanwar—all people that have appeared on this podcast!

“I don’t know what Canadian DOGE is. You know what I know? That everyone is projecting both their hopes and fears onto this thing.”

But what are they supporting?

That is a question of some interest amongst Canadian media. Check out these recent headlines: Major tech figures get into politics with launch of Build Canada, The tech CEOs who want a DOGE for Canada, Canada’s tech broligarchs are getting organized too. I was even on the Canadaland podcast this week to help answer this question: should we be worried about a Canadian DOGE?

Some people are definitely worried. Over 1,000 tech workers recently signed an open letter stating they will “not allow business leaders, many of whom are unelected, unknown, and unaccountable, to dictate the future of this country.”

Helpful context for those not following international news: the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency is currently responsible for cutting programs and firing tens of thousands of government workers with the unverified claim of saving taxpayers $105 billion USD. DOGE has also been forced to reverse cutting nuclear weapons workers and restore cuts to Ebola prevention programs. Documents obtained by The Washington Post detail plans DOGE developed to purge federal agencies of DEI workers and offices. So there’s an international pallor to all of this.

Now, that open letter specifically mentions Shopify and its rollback of DEI support, stating, “This is the wrong direction for Canada.” What does any of this have to do with Build Canada?

Another great question, and one for our guest: Daniel Debow, an ex-Shopify VP and the genesis behind Build Canada.

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RSS

I wanted to ask him on the podcast to give him an opportunity to explain what Build Canada is, what it hopes to achieve, and some of the interesting ways it’s using AI to leverage that work.

I also wanted to give him an opportunity to respond to the associations being made between Build Canada, the actions and statements of some of its supporters, and the chaos being caused by Elon Musk down south.

I think it’s fair to say that Debow was frustrated by many of these questions, and maybe by how often he’s been asked them. He’s also frustrated by the speed at which our governments adopt and implement good ideas, and the time we spend on things he deems unimportant or unserious. 

I’m not here to make judgments on what is important or unimportant. Only to help answer this question: what exactly is Build Canada trying to construct?

Let’s dig in.

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Disclosure: BetaKit majority owner Good Future is the family office of two former Shopify leaders, Arati Sharma and Satish Kanwar.

The post What is Build Canada trying to construct? first appeared on BetaKit.

Each International Women’s Day, BetaKit seeks to highlight and amplify conversations, resources, and individuals in the Canadian tech ecosystem supporting women’s initiatives.

In 2021, BetaKit turned its focus towards the numerous events, programs, and organizations seeking to provide that support across the country. Each year since then, we have updated the list to create an evolving resource of programs and organizations for women entrepreneurs.

As indicated in the title, this list by its very nature is an incomplete one, and should not be considered definitive. We ask that gaps on this list be taken as an opportunity to add to it, in our efforts to amplify the hard work of those who seek to create a more diverse and equitable ecosystem (not just for one day, but year-round).

Please read, share, and tell us what we’ve missed.

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PROGRAM

Project JumpSTART

Project JumpSTART is a joint program designed and managed by York University’s innovation hub, YSpace, the Schulich School of Business’s Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the Treefrog Accelerator. The program will give women and international entrepreneurs access to workshops and mentorship opportunities as well as the potential for specialized training through the Schulich Venture Academy.

JumpSTART also runs ELLA, an incubator program focused on supporting women entrepreneurs with a support system of mentors.

Women in Health Initiative

The Ontario Bioscience Innovation Organization’s (OBIO) Women in Health Initiative is designed to train women and promote their participation in the health sciences sector. The OBIO is offering women-led companies up to $20,000 CAD in grant funding through the initiative.

MaRS Women in Cleantech Network

The MaRS Women in Cleantech Network is a new initiative launched by the Toronto innovation hub aimed to support women entrepreneurs driving sustainable solutions. The network will offer a platform for connection, resource sharing and business support, as well as support groups, roundtable discussions, and showcase events.

Women+ Entrepreneur Incubator

The Women+ Entrepreneur Incubator, designed by Elevate and launched in partnership with The Firehood, gives early-stage woman or gender-diverse entrepreneurs a chance to build investment readiness skills, meet directly with investors, and pitch for a $100,000 cash investment prize.

Innovation Governance Program

In March 2024, the Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI) announced a partnership with The Firehood to give all Firehood portfolio companies access to board governance training through CCI’s Innovation Governance Program. The program partnership is aimed at giving women tech leaders new skills and knowledge about the intangible economy and board governance.

She’s Next Grant

Offered by Visa Canada, She’s Next aims to uplift women-owned small businesses with a $10,000 grant and access to accelerated mentorship through York University’s YSpace. Last week, Visa Canada announced the 10 latest grant recipients, and has supported 60 women-owned businesses to date.

Canada-India Acceleration Program

Offered through Carleton University, the Canada-India Acceleration Program helps women-led businesses in Canada scale up their companies in India.

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RELATED: Lessons learned attending eight days of tech events for International Women’s Day

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Women in Innovation Lab

North Forge’s Women in Innovation Lab (WiLab) provides women entrepreneurs with resources and mentorship, as well as programming focused on topics like financial literacy, fundraising, leadership, marketing, and more.

WE-CAN

WE-CAN is a project led by Queen’s University that aims to empower current and aspiring women-identifying entrepreneurs by providing tools, resources, mentorship, and networking opportunities in the Kingston and Quinte region.

Women in Tech Sales Bootcamp

Offered by TalentMinded, the Women in Tech Sales Bootcamp is a five-day training program that aims to help match women who want to pursue a career in tech sales with organizations looking to tap into a diverse, sales-ready talent pool.

LIFT Circle

LIFT Circle is an initiative created by Indigenous LIFT Collective that has supported Indigenous Women Entrepreneurs in Canada since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Communitech Fierce Founders Program

Communitech offers a fast-paced business and personal growth program designed for female entrepreneurs who have launched their minimum viable product or are close to doing so. The program recently also offers Fierce Founders Uplift, which gives access to capital and coaching to support minority female and non-binary founders.

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RELATED: The horrifying truth about being a Black woman founder in Canada

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Digital Skills for Women+

For Nova Scotians, Digital Skills for Women+ is a program geared towards underrepresented gender identities in the tech sector (including women, transgender, non-binary, Two-Spirit individuals, etc.) who do not have previous experience in the tech industry and want to learn more about the ecosystem, and career opportunities.

Women in Communications and Technology (WCT) programs

Non-profit organization WCT offers three levels of leadership programs geared toward women: Opening Doors, a development track for early-career women; Change Agent, an accelerator track for middle managers to progress; and Pinnacle Project, which prepares women for a move to the C-suite.

Toast Champions Program

Toast’s Champions Program calls on men in tech to take on mentorship work and sponsor early-career women, by offering support, advice, and connections.

HERoes program

The HERoes program, launched by Mindbridge Analytics and the University of Ottawa, provides programs to support the advancement of womxn and youth leaders in STEM.

Indigenous Women’s Entrepreneurship Program

Offered by the National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association and delivered in partnership with Indigenous Services Canada, the program seeks to reduce barriers that Indigenous women face when starting or growing their businesses, and ensure that they have access to the training, resources, and capital they need to prosper and thrive.

SheBoot

SheBoot is an Ottawa-based six-week boot camp that prepares founders to pitch their businesses and secure investment.

The Propeller Experience

Tellent’s Propeller Experience is a program and community that aims to equip women with the mindset, skillset, and network to succeed. The program is offered at no cost, in partnership with Lighthouse Labs as part of ICT Boost.

DMZ’s Women Innovation Programs

In addition to its standard programming, the DMZ offers women-identifying entrepreneurs additional opportunities and boosted support to propel their growth, including its Launchpad for Women Entrepreneurs, Pre-Incubator, and Incubator.

Fireweed Fellowship

The Fireweed Fellowship calls itself “the first national accelerator program for Indigenous entrepreneurship in Canada.” Its first cohort aims to welcome 15 to 20 Indigenous womxn (cis or trans), non-binary folx, Two-Spirit, and IndigiQueer entrepreneurs. It is supported by Raven Indigenous Capital Partners and based out of Simon Fraser University.

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RELATED: Ten things worth reading on International Women’s Day

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Women Founder’s Project

Offered by Front Row Ventures, the Women Founders Project is an accelerator for women students in Canada who want to take their businesses from ideation to execution.

Women Funding Women Inc. (WFW)

WFW is a collective aimed at addressing the persistent funding gap faced by women entrepreneurs in North America. The collective facilitates funding opportunities between women-led ventures with women investors, and fosters partnerships and knowledge sharing to empower women with realistic funding strategies.

W Venture

W Venture offers personalized programs for women entrepreneurs in British Columbia, either for a year-long track, a 12-week intensive, or a two-day session.

FoundHers

FoundHers is a three-month venture studio program delivered in-person and online for Black women founders in Canada. It provides education, resources, and connections to position participants for VC funding and success.

Rhyze Project

Led by Boundless Accelerator based in Guelph, Ont., the Rhyze Project aims to cultivate women entrepreneurs, strengthen their businesses, and move the needle for women-founded businesses. The program provides education, mentorship, and project work as well as leadership skills and networks to get women-identifying entrepreneurs to the next stage of their growth.

RBC Women in Cleantech Accelerator

In 2021, MaRS and the Royal Bank of Canada launched an accelerator aimed to connect and support women-led clean technology ventures.

This past fall, the accelerator revealed its first cohort of women-led startups looking to commercialize their cleantech innovations, including Xatoms and Permalution.

Founder’s Lab

Launched by The51 sister organization Movement51 in 2023, Founder’s Lab is a new “investment readiness” program focused on preparing women and gender-diverse entrepreneurs from across the country to raise capital.

Kickstart Program

Run by the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii), the Kickstart Program aims to guide women and gender-diverse individuals as they pursue careers in artificial intelligence.

Firestarter

BDC Capital’s Thrive Venture Fund has partnered with angel investment network The Firehood to create Firestarter, which offers founders networking, resources, and mentorship to support their ventures’ success as they scale. The national virtual program will be launching a new cohort in early 2025.

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ORGANIZATIONS

The Firehood

The Firehood is an angel network that focuses on supporting women in the technology sector. The Firehood runs investment events at several Canadian tech conferences, including SAAS NORTH, and the upcoming INNOVATEwest conference. 

Femtech Canada

Launched in early 2024, Femtech Canada is a network focused on supporting technology companies addressing women’s health. The organization provides networking, training, mentorship, and business advisory support for fundraising to tech companies.

Grow Now

Grow Now is a virtual incubator specifically designed for women-led technology companies based in Canada. The program offers essential training, mentoring, one-on-one coaching and business advisory support to enhance the business acumen of tech female founders and startups

The Forum

The Forum is a Canadian charity that has supported over 14,000 women entrepreneurs to date. In 2023, the organization launched an index to increase access to business capital for women and gender-diverse entrepreneurs, especially BIPOC and 2SLGBTQ+ individuals.

Women in Communications and Technology

Women in Communications and Technology is a women-led organization that runs career accelerators, and offers virtual learning, mentorship, and an online community aimed at supporting women advancing in their careers.

The Finance Cafe

The Finance Cafe is a financial literacy platform that provides education initiatives aimed at helping women reach their potential as entrepreneurs. The organization offers self-directed and cohort-based programs on business finance, as well as programming to those who advise and mentor women entrepreneurs.

StandUp Ventures

StandUp Ventures is a Toronto-based seed-stage venture fund focused on investing in ventures with at least one female founder in a key leadership role.

TechGirls Canada

TechGirls Canada is a not-for-profit organization that conducts research and helps create solutions that address barriers to diversity and equity in science and technology sectors.

YWCA Hamilton

YWCA Hamilton is a women-led organization that offers health and wellness programs for women, families, seniors, and people with special needs. Its Milli Gould Entrepreneurial Centre supports women-led businesses with coaching, business plan training, mentoring, and digital support services.

Coralus

Coralus, formerly known as SheEO, is a Toronto-based organization supporting women-led businesses in Canada and globally. It brings together women to pool together money, which is loaned with no interest to women-led ventures.

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RELATED: Women at venture capital firms still vastly underrepresented according to new report

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Disruption Ventures

Disruption Ventures is a Toronto-based venture capital firm focused on investing in women-owned and led companies.

The51

The51 is a Calgary-based investment platform that funds innovative early-stage women-led startups based primarily in Canada.

Women in Science and Engineering (WISE)

Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) is a University of Toronto organization that looks to promote the education of women in science and engineering.

Canada Learning Code

Canada Learning Code, formerly Ladies Learning Code, aims to provide digital skills to all Canadians, particularly women-identifying, transgender, non-binary, and racialized individuals.

hEr VOLUTION

hEr VOLUTION is a Toronto-based charitable organization that focuses on young women from underserved communities who are interested in STEM, and connects them with industry leaders for support.

Parkdale Centre for Innovation

The Parkdale Centre for Innovation is a Toronto-based hub for women founders and early-stage startups.

Women’s Enterprise Organization of Canada

Women’s Enterprise Organizations of Canada is a national network of entrepreneur support organizations that provide resources for women entrepreneurs.

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RELATED: Report finds stereotypes associated with entrepreneurs perpetuating gender bias, barriers for women

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BDC Capital’s Women in Technology Venture Fund

BDC Capital’s Women in Technology Venture Fund is one of the world’s largest VC funds dedicated to investing in women-led tech companies.

Forum for Women Entrepreneurs

FWE educates, mentors and connects women entrepreneurs to be wildly successful, promoting strong economies and thriving communities.

Scale Without Borders

Scale Without Borders is a social venture that aims to support newcomers in tech & entrepreneurship. Through its programs and community, Scale Without Borders aims to help newcomers grow their businesses or break into and thrive in tech.

Sandpiper Ventures

Launched in May 2020, women-led Sandpiper Ventures invests in early-stage women tech entrepreneurs. Sandpiper is the $20 million CAD first fund of the Atlantic Women’s Venture Fund. Although the venture capital firm focuses mainly on women-led initiatives, it also supports other projects that drive growth and innovation in Atlantic Canada.

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RELATED: 80 women and non-binary people in Canadian tech worth following

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theBoardlist

theBoardlist is an online talent marketplace that connects CEOs searching for board director candidates with highly qualified women and men of colour.

Tech Spark

Tech Spark is a tech and design school that serves children of colour, girls, women, and teachers.

The Canadian Women’s Network

The Canadian Women’s Network connects Canadian female founders with women leaders globally. It delivers educational programs to women leading high-growth businesses under $5 million who want to access Silicon Valley’s connections, expertise, and capital.

Women in Tech World

Women in Tech World is a Vancouver-based grassroots, volunteer-run organization dedicated to supporting women in tech that delivers educational programming.

Accelia Capital

Accelia Capital is a Québec-based venture capital firm focused on supporting female-led technology startups.

Cross-Border Impact Ventures

Cross-Border Impact Ventures is an impact fund that invests in women and children’s health-focused technology.

Women’s Equity Lab

Women’s Equity Lab is an angel investment group that was launched in 2017 in Victoria, British Columbia by 23 founding partners and the support of the National Angel Capital Organization, the Capital Investment Network (CIN), and Osler, Hoskin and Harcourt, LLP.

Phoenix Fire

Phoenix Fire is a women-led angel fund and networking community focused on investing in and supporting women building early-stage Canadian tech startups.

Thrive Platform for Women

Launched in 2022, BDC Capital’s Thrive Venture Fund and Lab for Women is a $500 million CAD initiative focused on supporting women entrepreneurs and investors across Canada that succeeds BDC’s previous Women in Technology Venture Fund. BDC has allocated $300 million to back early-stage, women-led tech startups through the Thrive Venture Fund, $100 million towards the Lab for Women, and $100 million to support women-led investment funds.

Canadian Women’s Chamber of Commerce

The Canadian Women’s Chamber of Commerce advocates to the government on behalf of women-identified and non-binary business owners across Canada.

Toast

Toast is a women’s tech collective and talent organization jointly based in Toronto and Calgary. It offers an AI-powered job matching tool and a recruitment platform that removes age, gender, race, and other identifying information from employers to promote skills-based hiring.

This article was originally published on March 5, 2021, and updated March 7, 2025.

Feature image courtesy Flickr.

The post An incomplete list of Canadian tech programs and organizations supporting women’s initiatives first appeared on BetaKit.

While International Women’s Day marks a moment to celebrate women’s progress, it also serves to highlight the challenges they continue to face. For women in business and tech, these obstacles can range from a lack of capital, to inadequate networking opportunities, to overt misogyny and abuse. 

BetaKit has collected a variety of articles that we hope women and their allies can use to raise awareness and take action. The following list is a collection of talking points, educational tools, and support resources. Originally compiled in 2020, BetaKit has updated it each year since then with additional resources.

We encourage you to read and share, to amplify the conversation.

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Pay gap between men and women in tech tripled over five-year period

The pay gap between men and women working in tech nearly tripled between 2016 and 2021, underlining the growing inequality in the sector, according to a report by The Dais at Toronto Metropolitan University. The report, “Canada’s Got Tech Talent,” found that men made $20,000 more on average than women in 2021. The gap has widened since 2016, when men made $7,200 more than their female counterparts. In 2021, men earned $91,000 on average, while women earned $71,400.

Wages for women at the senior level (from the 60th to 80th percentiles) remained flat over the five years, even when controlling for job-switching or having a new child. In the higher percentiles, men saw hourly wage increases of $15 more than women. The report’s authors said stagnant wages for higher-earning women are “primarily responsible” for the widening pay gap.

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Women VCs are now earning more at the highest levels (if they can reach them)

For the first time, women’s average salary in senior investment roles was higher than that of men, according to the 2024 Canadian Venture Compensation Report. The average minimum compensation for four roles—senior associate, vice-president, principal, and partner—now sits above $100,000.

However, the farther you look up the leadership ladder at venture capital (VC) firms, the fewer women are present, according to a Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) report. Thirty-one percent of firms have no women in firm or investment leadership, and 50 percent do not count a woman among senior investors.

Just a 10-percent increase in the share of women partners is associated with higher annual returns and more profitable exits, according to a 2019 Harvard study. More homogeneous venture firms are less successful in general, a Toronto Metropolitan University study found.

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Lack of inclusion, unclear parental leave still hampering retention of Canadian women in VC

In a recent conversation with BetaKit, Roxanne Leduc, a Canadian Women in VC (CWVC) board member and founder and CEO of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) consultancy Cap Inclusive, said LPs and the VCs they back have focused less of their efforts on inclusion—and this is likely why some Canadian VC funds are struggling to retain the women and visible minorities they hire.

According to BDC Capital’s first national D&I reporting survey from 2022, women make up at least 50 percent of fresh hires and promotions at venture firms, indicating that Canadian VCs are taking strides on the gender diversity front from a hiring and advancement standpoint.

But despite this progress, data collected indicates that Canadian investors were struggling to retain women even then. This finding could further support the argument that many VC firms have yet to create truly inclusive environments for women.

And while the number of women in venture capital is growing, there is still room for improvement when it comes to compensation and the amount of money that goes into women-led funds. The data shows a continued trend from years past, as the 2022 report from the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (CVCA), conducted alongside Diversio, pointed to the age-old story of some progress but not enough.

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Women entrepreneurs make a mark on Canadian small business growth 

Forty-three percent of small businesses with under 10 employees in Canada are run by women, according to Venture Forward, an international research initiative by GoDaddy. And nearly half of these businesses were founded in the past five years. 

Female small business founders are also embracing artificial intelligence (AI). Nearly half say that AI will allow them to compete with larger companies over the next year. 

Amid economic uncertainty created by inflation, a trade war, and a labour shortage, only 35 percent of female founders said they were optimistic about the Canadian economy. Less than 30 percent of founders said they planned to hire new staff in the next year. However, 70 percent of women founders expressed optimism about the growth of their company.

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Women entrepreneurs are Canada’s biggest missed business opportunity: report

Despite a promising increase in women-founded companies over the past 20 years, there is still a significant gap in the number of women who could be starting businesses in Canada.

That’s according to a new report from Business Data Lab at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. It estimates a gap of approximately 150,000 women-led firms remains to meet the federal government’s goal as set out in its Women Entrepreneurship Strategy.

The report also notes a key statistic compiled by an OECD report in 2023: Canada’s 710,000 “missing” entrepreneurs, who could be starting businesses but are not. It puts the lost economic value of these potential contributions at up to $180 billion.

Nearly 60 percent of majority women-owned businesses are in sectors such as healthcare, professional services, and retail, compared to men-owned businesses, which are more diversely distributed. Women-owned businesses are least represented in construction, mining, oil and gas, and transportation.

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Diversity gap persists in senior ranks of Canadian VC firms

Despite year-over-year gains in the representation of women and visible minorities at Canadian venture firms, senior-level diversity in the industry is still lagging, according to a 2023 report from BDC Capital.

BDC Capital’s report found that overall, diversity at the senior levels of the private asset industry remains low—almost half of venture firms are entirely male-owned, while eight percent are entirely visible minority-owned and two percent are entirely woman or Indigenous-owned. Only 31 percent of venture firms reported having gender parity.

These findings should come as no surprise given that reports indicate that women-founded startups still only receive a very small slice of overall venture capital (VC) investment. According to PitchBook data, women only received 1.9 percent of all VC investment in 2022. Even worse, this already small share appears to have been dropping each of the past few years.

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Lack of inclusion, unclear parental leave still hampering retention of Canadian women in VC

Roxanne Leduc, a Canadian Women in VC (CWVC) board member and founder and CEO of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) consultancy Cap Inclusive, said limited partners (LPs) and the VCs they back have focused less of their efforts on inclusion—and this is likely why some Canadian VC funds are struggling to retain the women and visible minorities they hire.

According to BDC Capital’s first national diversity and inclusion reporting survey from 2022, women make up at least 50 percent of fresh hires and promotions at venture firms, indicating that Canadian VCs are taking strides on the gender-diversity front from a hiring and advancement standpoint.

But despite this progress, data collected indicates that Canadian investors are struggling to retain women. This finding could further support the argument that many VC firms have yet to create truly inclusive environments for women.

And while the number of women in venture capital is growing, there is still room for improvement when it comes to compensation and the amount of money that goes into women-led funds. The data shows a continued trend from years past, as the 2022 report from the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (CVCA), conducted alongside Diversio, pointed to the age-old story of some progress but not enough.

The majority of respondents to a CWVC survey also expressed that they were unsure how their parental leave policy worked, highlighting a need for greater transparency if the VC industry hopes to retain women. 

Leduc noted that most VC funds have not made parental leave a priority, and if women do not understand the benefits available to them and the impact of taking such leave, that can lead to doubt and turnover.

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Women, Indigenous peoples, and people with disabilities remain significantly underrepresented in Canada’s tech sector

The 2023 Diversity in Tech Dashboard by TAP Network revealed persistent gender pay disparities across all job levels, with men consistently outearning women. The discrepancy varies by role, ranging from seven percent to 18 percent, with the largest gap of 18 percent identified at the Management level. At the executive level, where women make up only 28 percent of positions, the pay gap stands at seven percent.

Women represent 36.9 percent of the workforce in Canada’s tech sector, a slight increase from last year’s 35.8 percent. However, this figure still significantly trails the 50.83 percent of the population identified as women according to the 2021 Canadian census. Men constitute 62.5 percent of the sector, while non-binary and other genders account for a marginal 0.6 percent.

These findings followed a 2020 report that pulled together public disclosure documents of 594 companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, which found that although the presence of women on the boards of some Canadian companies has been slowly increasing, there is still a notable lack of visible minorities, Indigenous people, and people with disabilities. These reports resonate with data going back to 2017, when a #MoveTheDial report explored a wide range of gender inequity issues in the tech world, noting that women comprise just 13 percent of the average tech company’s executive team.

The under-representation of women in tech is particularly true in British Columbia. A 2019 report from Minerva BC found that just 26 percent of board members in the companies surveyed were women. Women also accounted for just 23 percent of available executive positions among those companies surveyed.

#MoveTheDial partnered with Feminuity to release a “playbook” of strategies to increase women’s retention rates at startups in 2019. It found that startups can be more competitive workplaces for women by offering flexibility, autonomy, and mentorship opportunities. Another part of tackling the representation problem is understanding how to effectively measure it. In 2017, Hubba released an open-source community resource and reporting framework for measuring diversity within companies—while ensuring that respondents feel safe and supported.

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A survey of the challenges women founders face when fundraising (and how to overcome them)

In 2023, PwC Canada conducted interviews with 40 successful women founders from 25 different countries to explore their first-hand experiences and perceptions of fundraising, from seed rounds through to Series D and beyond, and what advice they would give to other women entrepreneurs following a similar path.

The study’s authors made five key recommendations for overcoming the barriers facing women founders seeking capital.

Women in Canada’s tech sector often face unique barriers to raising capital. A study from the Conference Board of Canada found that women have a harder time raising capital due in part to the investor biases they face. 

The study found that, compared to men, women reported it took longer to raise Series A financing, requiring more pitches to do so. The survey also reported differences in the way people of different genders pitch to investors, how those pitches are received, access to networks, and pools of capital.

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Mental health struggles for women entrepreneurs tied to financial burden, access to capital 

Only eight percent of women entrepreneurs surveyed by the PARO Centre for Women’s Enterprise said that they were always satisfied with their overall mental health, according to a report released last year. The vast majority (86 percent) identified financial factors as their primary source of stress and anxiety—while 73 percent said they faced barriers to accessing capital or financing for their business.

More than half of women entrepreneurs surveyed for a study in 2021 reported that they had struggled with mental health issues. The same study also noted that of the 130 female founders surveyed globally, 95.2 percent said they’d suffered from anxiety during rounds of seed funding.

Fifty-two percent of the women and non-binary respondents to the study reported dealing with mental health issues. The report found a generally unsustainable lifestyle of anxiety and burnout for female founders as they grapple with issues ranging from the stresses of raising a family while trying simultaneously to raise millions in seed money, to finding time for their health and social life.

 
This article was originally published on March 6, 2020, and updated March 7, 2025.

Feature image courtesy Unsplash. Photo by WOCinTech.

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The Government of Canada has unveiled a $6-billion package of new measures aimed at supporting Canadian businesses affected by the growing trade war with the United States (US). 

Minister of Labour Steve MacKinnon, Minister of International Trade Mary Ng, and Minister of Small Business Rechie Valdez announced the relief measures one day after US President Donald Trump paused tariffs on some Canadian goods for a second time.

“We may not know what our American neighbors will do, nor what new tale they will tell, but we are ready,” MacKinnon said.  

The package includes the new Trade Impact Program for Export Development Canada (EDC), which comes with an additional $5-billion facility deployed over two years to help Canadian businesses tackle challenges imposed by the tariffs and the uncertainty they create. 

“We’re standing firm with Canadian businesses, because their success is Canada’s success.”

As part of this, Ng said EDC will be providing working capital solutions to help companies manage existing contracts and address potential decreases in US sales, as well as credit insurance to protect companies from losses in the event of non-payment from a foreign buyer when shipping goods or providing services internationally. 

EDC will also provide a foreign exchange facility guarantee to help businesses stabilize costs and protect profit margins from adverse currency movements, as well as financing to help businesses increase capacity for trade in different markets or acquire foreign companies. 

“This investment ensures our exporters can continue to drive our economy, create jobs, and compete on the world stage,” Ng said in a statement. “We’re standing firm with Canadian businesses, because their success is Canada’s success.”

RELATED: “My god, this is exhausting”: US delays some tariffs against Canada until April

Ng also announced $1 billion in new financing through Farm Credit Canada’s Trade Disruption Customer Support Program. The program will provide the agricultural industry with access to an additional credit line of up to $500,000, new term loans, and the option to defer principal payments on current loans for up to 12 months. 

Meanwhile, the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) will be providing $500 million in new loans to help tariff-affected businesses adapt to the new reality, strengthen operations, and diversify markets. Valdez said BDC would be granting favourable loans between $100,000 and $2 million at a preferred rate (BDC’s base rate minus two percent) with flexible repayment terms and up to 12 months of deferred principal payments. Valdez added that BDC is expanding its expert advisory services to help businesses strengthen their financial and operational strategies. 

The monetary support measures come alongside the return of tweaks to the Employment Insurance (EI) Work-Sharing program, which allows businesses to reduce employee hours, allowing them to collect partial benefits, during slower periods without resorting to layoffs. While a Work-Sharing Program is usually restricted to a maximum of 38 weeks, MacKinnon announced that the government is extending the permissibility of these programs up to 76 weeks, a change the government is bringing back from the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Feature image courtesy Rechie Valdez via LinkedIn.

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The third annual DMZ Women Innovation Summit saw four women-led startups emerge from the pitch competition with $535,000 in new investments and ten new recipients earn the Women of the Year award. 

Of the 200 applicants, 10 founders were selected to pitch their businesses to representatives of angel network The Firehood and DMZ Ventures, who joined the event as an investment partner for the first time. Artificial intelligence (AI) market research solution Cashew took home the most backing, securing $190,000, with $150,000 of that coming from DMZ Ventures and the remaining from The Firehood.

“We’re putting capital behind the founders who are actually moving the needle.”

The remaining recipients were AI-powered healthcare operations platform Migranium, which received $125,000, urban commercial rooftop greenhouse Edie Farming with $120,000, and AI home intelligence platform Metronome with $100,000. 

According to DMZ executive director Abdullah Snobar, this marks the most DMZ Ventures has ever committed to a single pitch competition. 

“Year after year, the data proves what we already know: women-led startups deliver stronger returns, drive innovation and build businesses that last,” Snobar said in a statement. “So, while some so-called tech leaders debate diversity like it’s optional, we’re putting capital behind the founders who are actually moving the needle.”

Snobar was referring to the widescale rollback of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives across the tech and corporate industries which, in many cases, are tied to the actions of US President Donald Trump and his informal second-in-command, tech mogul Elon Musk. 

RELATED: DEI rollback is the “wrong direction for Canada,” open letter says

A recent open letter advocating DEI values garnered nearly 1,000 signatures from leaders in Canada’s tech ecosystem. The letter directly called out Canadian e-commerce giant Shopify, which has been actively dismantling its DEI initiatives this year, including its Build Native and Build Black programs. 

The event also revealed the recipients of DMZ’s 2025 Women of the Year recipients, which honour women in Canada’s tech and business community “for their outstanding accomplishments and impact.”

On the list was BDC principal Snita Balsara, Femtech Canada founder Rachel Bartholomew, Front Row Ventures managing director Emmanuelle Coppinger, Nobellum founder Melisa Ellis, Startup Canada CEO Kayla Isabelle, Evolve Advisory Services founder Serena Nguyen, Virtual Gurus founder Bobbie Racette, Mejuri co-founder Noura Sakkijha, Growclass founder Sarah Stockdale, and Elevate co-founder Lisa Zarzeczny. 

Feature image courtesy DMZ.

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The post Richard Sutton passes Turing test, Doug Ford is done with Starlink, and #CDNtech on the moon first appeared on BetaKit.

Toronto-based artificial intelligence (AI) hub Vector Institute held its latest annual AI conference, Remarkable, earlier this week.

BetaKit is here to break down a few of the most interesting points that panellists made regarding reinforcement learning, Canada’s AI compute capacity, and striking the right balance between caution and innovation.

Getting it wrong can hurt—but so can not moving fast enough

A common thread during the conference’s second day was the concern that AI regulation and adoption can be harmful if implemented badly, but that there is also some risk associated with moving too cautiously.

Laura Gilbert, head of AI for government at the Ellison Institute of Technology Oxford, said AI regulation is a “very difficult area to get right” given the rapid pace of AI development.

“Any regulation that looks to protect us against something in the future in any sort of specificity, means that we will set up regulation that is not flexible enough, that’s not future-proof and could actually put us at risk,” Gilbert argued during a fireside chat, noting that “drawing back and not rushing into [AI regulation] has been important.”

RELATED: An AI report to distract you from tariffs

Foteini Agrafioti, RBC senior vice-president and data and AI and chief science officer, said during one panel that the same is true when it comes to corporate adoption of AI. She warned other companies against jumping into AI investments “all in” without adequate research and consideration. “Test up front, validate your hypothesis,” Agrafioti said. “We learned that in a hard way, many, many times.”

In a separate discussion, CAN Health Network founder and chair Dante Morra noted that not moving quickly enough carries its own risk. Morra argued that Canada’s healthcare system is moving “way too slow” when it comes to AI adoption, and thinks it is possible for it to move faster while still doing so safely. 

“The paradigm of where the risk is, is completely wrong,” Morra said.

“Every single day, our access goes down,” he added. “Every single day, our chance to win in the new healthcare economy is less. There’s an existential challenge of adoption, but when you’re running a big organization, you’re more worried about the reputational risk of something going wrong with an AI company, so I think we actually have to completely tilt the table here.”

Reinforcement learning will be big

While generative AI is all the rage right now, Deloitte chief science officer Ian Scott believes that reinforcement learning (RL) also has an important role to play in terms of enterprise AI adoption, and thinks businesses ought to prepare accordingly.

RL is a technique for training agents through trial and error, with rewards for success. In RL, “rewards” are calculated mathematically, numbers are assigned to desirable outcomes, and algorithms run until they maximize the reward—eventually determining how to complete computing tasks in the most desirable and efficient manner.

RELATED: New Turing Award winner Richard Sutton calls doomers “out of line,” talks path to human-like AI

This week, University of Alberta and Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute’s Richard Sutton won the Turing Award for his pioneering work in RL. RL has played a role in the training of ChatGPT, OpenAI’s popular large-language model, through a technique called RL from human feedback.

Scott said in a panel that, given the limitations of generative AI, Deloitte and other players are using a lot of RL right now. “[RL] is going to be big, and I think we need to build an enterprise capability around it,” he added.

Our compute does not compute

The Deloitte executive also said more domestic computing capacity—which Vector president and CEO Tony Gaffney and others have called for—is at the top of his wishlist. Scott lamented the time it takes to get access to graphics processing units (GPUs), the chips that frequently power the expensive and energy-intensive computers needed for AI.

Maksims Volkovs, TD Bank senior vice-president and head of AI (and co-founder of TD-owned Layer 6), echoed Scott’s assertion. “If I had 100,000 GPUs, I would be so much faster,” Volkovs said during the panel discussion.

At the moment, computing capacity remains a key limiting factor in AI. OpenAI co-founder and CEO Sam Altman has said a lack of compute is delaying its products, noting last month that the company had run out of GPUs. Experts have argued Canada’s underinvestment in computing power threatens the country’s AI advantage.

RELATED: In 2024, Canada struggled to find its place in the global AI race

Speaking in reference to current geopolitical tensions and the ongoing trade war, Scott argued that, “as a nation, we have to solve access to compute fast—sooner rather than later.”

The federal government committed $2 billion to expand Canada’s computing capacity last spring via the Canadian Sovereign AI Compute Strategy. But that figure represents a drop in the bucket compared to the sums of money being poured into the space by tech giants and Canada’s peers.

Feature image courtesy of the Vector Institute. Photo by Jennifer Jenkins.

The post Leaders discuss the right speed for innovation and regulation at Remarkable AI conference first appeared on BetaKit.

Canadian small business owners must take rapid action to protect their own interests, as new data from Xero reveals a widening gap between small business sales in the US and Canada, and a major disconnect in overall mood.

Small business sales in Canada dropped more than two percent during the September quarter 2024, while south of the border, small business sales were up nearly one percent, according to the latest Xero Small Business Insights (XSBI) report.

“Navigating turbulent times requires more than just focusing on your own business; it requires becoming an agent of change.”

The state of national economies is also reflected in general sentiment.

The National Federation of Independent Businesses’ Small Business Optimism Index in the US reached its highest point since 2018, while the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses’ (CFIB) Business Barometer shows a decline in confidence.

The Canadian economy is facing a unique set of challenges and it’s hitting small businesses especially hard. Amid growing economic uncertainty, I’ve outlined some practical steps Canadian small business owners can take—focusing on what they can actually control to stay resilient.

Create a detailed cash flow forecast

To start, Canadian small businesses must work to project their income and expenses and identify potential shortfalls so they can effectively weather a prolonged period of uncertainty.

In today’s challenging economic climate, strong cash flow is essential for small business survival. To combat rising costs and payment delays, automating invoice collection is no longer a luxury, but a necessity. Technology can handle the bulk of this process, freeing owners to focus on what truly matters: growing their business and nurturing customer relationships.

Nearly five years after the pandemic’s initial shock, small businesses face a distinctly different, yet equally challenging, economic uncertainty. While the pandemic brought immediate disruptions, the current struggle is marked by the lingering effects of those disruptions, paired with shifting financial pressures. 

This reality is echoed by Xero customers like Duco Media.

“While many industries suffered immediate consequences in 2020, digital businesses like ours saw strong growth during the early pandemic years. The real downturn hit us in late 2022, when government support ended, loans needed to be repaid, and businesses were forced to cut back,” shared Emrah Eren, Founder of Duco Media. 

Duco Media tackled the economic slowdown through fundamental strategies: optimizing cash flow, flexible payments, and lean hiring.

Invest in technology

Studies consistently highlight lagging technology adoption as a key barrier to productivity gains for Canadian businesses. Xero’s 2021 research identified this reluctance as a significant challenge, but also a major opportunity for small business growth.

Technology adoption has played a huge role in how small businesses navigated the last 18 months. Some used their tech to stay connected to their team and customers, while others found digital solutions to be the difference between closing their doors and maintaining a regular income. 

For example, during lockdowns, cloud-based solutions and other digital channels were critical in helping many businesses stay operational even when physical access was restricted. To put this into perspective, in the US alone, e-commerce adoption in the first half of 2020 was equal to that of the previous decade.

To capitalize on these opportunities, businesses should focus on technology adoption in critical areas such as marketing, sales, finance, workforce management, compliance, supply chain, and HR, as outlined in a 2020 Xero and Forrester report.

Stay informed to become a force of change

Navigating turbulent times requires more than just focusing on your own business; it requires becoming an agent of change. Small business owners have a unique opportunity to shape their communities.

At Xero, we believe the key to business success is empowerment—that requires keeping up-to-date on economic trends and government policies. Stay informed and channel your energy into advocating for policies that support small business growth. Work with your local Chamber of Commerce, industry associations, or small business groups to amplify your impact.

By focusing on these fundamentals and actively participating in shaping a better business environment, small businesses can play an outsized role in creating a more vibrant and supportive business ecosystem.

Ben Richmond is Managing Director, North America at Xero.

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Stay ahead of the curve and gain valuable insights to navigate the challenges and opportunities facing your business. Explore Xero’s Small Business Insights page today.

Feature image courtesy of Xero / BetaKit.

The post Three things Canadian small businesses can do instead of spiralling first appeared on BetaKit.

Toronto-based WonderFi is looking to diversify its business beyond cryptocurrency and expand into multi-asset trading with the help of Australian FinTech firm Eightcap.

WonderFi has signed a letter of intent (LOI) to form a new partnership with Eightcap, a regulated foreign exchange and contracts for difference (CFD) broker.

Through Eightcap, WonderFi aims to give users of its regulated crypto exchanges, Bitbuy and Coinsquare, access to derivatives across a range of financial markets, including foreign exchange, major indices, oil, metals, and select individual stocks in Canada and Australia.

This expansion remains subject to WonderFi securing definitive agreements and regulatory approval.

WonderFi intends to offer these products as CFDs with the help of Embedded, Eightcap’s trading-as-a-service solution. CFDs are regulated over-the-counter derivatives that allow users to speculate on asset price movements without owning the underlying assets. The company hopes to begin rolling out these capabilities in the second half of 2025. 

According to WonderFi, Eightcap will act as the trading technology and liquidity provider for Bitbuy and Coinsquare in both countries.

This expansion remains subject to WonderFi entering definitive agreements with Eightcap and securing regulatory approval in both Canada and Australia.

WonderFi senior vice-president of communications, Charlie Aikenhead, told BetaKit that this is part of a push to position WonderFi as a leader in not just crypto, but digital asset trading overall. 

“Our users trust us with billions in assets, and we’re leveraging that trust to build a next-generation FinTech platform that competes not just with crypto exchanges, but with Canada’s largest trading platforms,” Aikenhead argued.

In a statement, Eightcap’s chief commercial officer Patrick Murphy described this collaboration as “another major step forward in bridging decentralized finance … and traditional finance.”

WonderFi, which trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol WNDR, owns two of Canada’s most popular crypto exchanges in Bitbuy and Coinsquare, as well as crypto payments platform SmartPay and a stake in crypto custodian Tetra Trust. 

RELATED: WonderFi and Kraken Canada each break $2-billion CAD mark for assets under custody

Today, WonderFi has 1.7 million total registered users and $2.4 billion in client assets under custody, after crossing the $2-billion mark last year.

To date, WonderFi’s focus has been on crypto spot trading and staking. WonderFi initially explored stock trading in 2022, as a hedge against crypto market volatility, rolling out the capability for Bitbuy users that year.

But Aikenhead told BetaKit that the company encountered regulatory challenges related to fractional share settlements in Canada. By working with Eightcap, the firm hopes to overcome those roadblocks, at a time when Aikenhead said “demand for diversified trading options has never been higher.”

“The reality is that market conditions shift, and by offering equities, ETFs, and other assets alongside crypto, we create a more stable revenue stream that isn’t dependent on one asset class,” Aikenhead said. “This isn’t just about hedging volatility; it’s about scaling into a multi-billion-dollar opportunity by expanding our total addressable market.”

Aikenhead said WonderFi decided to work with Eightcap versus building these capabilities in-house given the time to market and cost efficiency associated with doing so. “Eightcap’s technology allows us to launch a high-performance, scalable solution quickly without diverting resources from our core crypto business,” he said.

RELATED: WonderFi CEO Dean Skurka kidnapped, released after reportedly paying $1-million ransom

WonderFi expanded to Australia last year after acquiring a local crypto trading licence.

This LOI with Eightcap comes months after WonderFi president and CEO Dean Skurka was kidnapped in Toronto in November 2024. He was released, unharmed, after reportedly paying a $1-million ransom electronically. 

At the time, WonderFi confirmed to BetaKit that Skurka was safe, that the company was co-operating with the Toronto Police Service on their active investigation into the incident, and that its client funds and data were unaffected.

Aikenhead said that Skurka is doing well now, and noted that WonderFi has made a number of changes since then, including hiring security personnel, but had no other updates it could share at this time regarding the incident.

UPDATE (03/07/25): This story has been updated to include additional information and commentary from WonderFi.

Feature image courtesy of WonderFi.

The post WonderFi plots expansion beyond crypto into multi-asset trading with Eightcap first appeared on BetaKit.

This International Women’s Day (IWD), April Hicke wants women in tech to take a break.

Hicke’s company, Toast, is encouraging women to take a step back from corporate IWD activities and instead let men do the planning this year. Hicke says it’s necessary in an environment where women are often tasked with the unpaid labour of advocating for themselves. 

“Mothers don’t plan their own Mother’s Day,” Hicke said in an interview with BetaKit. “So why the fuck are we planning all of the International Women’s Day things?”

Through its #WithoutHer social media campaign, Toast is calling on Canadian tech to alleviate this burden: by providing fair compensation for women’s speaking engagements and having men take on more responsibility for observing IWD. It’s also encouraging companies to give women the day off. 

“We need someone to raise our hand for us in a room that we’re not in.”

April Hicke

Nora Jenkins Townson, founder of human resources consultancy Bright + Early, echoed the sentiment in a LinkedIn post.

“Being voluntold to plan an event, be on a panel or make a deck about why women at work should be appreciated” are all things women do not want on their plates, Jenkins Townson wrote.

Launched in 2023, Toast is a talent organization for women in tech, jointly based in Calgary and Toronto. It operates a professional development platform that serves more than 1,500 women in the tech sector. Its offerings include coaching opportunities and an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered job-matching tool for members.

Celebrated since the suffrage movement in the early 20th century, IWD is a global day to promote women’s rights and gender equality, from tackling wage gaps to ending gender-based violence. The United Nations theme for 2025 is “For ALL Women and Girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment.” Hicke said Toast sees IWD as an opportunity to zero in on the barriers women face to success in the tech world. 

When Hicke and co-founder Marissa McNeelands did a slew of IWD speaking engagements during March last year, she said it ate up half of Toast’s travel budget and led to the co-founders experiencing burnout and illness. 

RELATED: Women VCs are now earning more at the highest levels (if they can reach them)

This led them to a realization: the return on investment of unpaid speaking engagements meant to empower women did not feel adequate. So this year, Toast decided to forgo speaking events and focus on encouraging men to improve their allyship. 

Male allies need to speak up for women in tech spaces where, so often, there are no women to be found, Hicke argued. “We need someone to raise our hand for us in a room that we’re not in,” she said. “If the people in the system are not helping pull us into the system, we’re never going to see any of that change.”

Toast wants men to join its Champions Program, which puts male mentors through training sessions and connects them with women looking to advance their professional development. Hicke said the goal is to use men as mentors to take the burden off of women to dedicate additional effort to coaching. 

Women in the Canadian tech ecosystem are not on equal footing, in terms of representation or wages. A 2024 report from the Dais at Toronto Metropolitan University found that men working in tech made $20,000 more on average than women in 2021. The numbers indicated a step backwards from 2016, when men made $7,200 more than their female counterparts. For women in venture capital (VC), some are earning more than their male counterparts—but only at the executive levels, which fewer women reach, according to a 2024 Canadian Venture Compensation Report. 

RELATED: DEI rollback is the “wrong direction for Canada,” open letter says

Racialized workers were also paid nearly $15,000 lower annually on average, with Black, Indigenous, and Filipino workers earning the least. The report does not provide data on racialized women specifically. 

This year’s IWD comes amid a broader backlash against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the corporate and tech world. This month, three Canadian women founders penned an open letter calling the DEI rollback “the wrong direction for Canada.” It referenced e-commerce giant Shopify’s recent dismantling of its equitable commerce division.

Hicke was one of nearly 1,000 signatories to the open letter. Despite the national conversation, however, she said that Toast hasn’t seen a slowdown in signups for its initiatives. Toast’s recruitment tool, which hides name, gender, and other identifying information from prospective employers, now has over 20,000 women in its candidate pool.

“If you are not leaning into diversity, you’re not going to get innovation,” Hicke said. “You need different backgrounds, you need different voices, you need ways to solve problems differently to drive innovation.”

Feature image courtesy Toast. 

The post Toast wants women to take a radical step this International Women’s Day: rest first appeared on BetaKit.

United States (US) President Donald Trump has paused tariffs on some Canadian goods once again, sparking new frustration in the ongoing trade war between the two countries. 

Canadian Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc announced on X that the tariff pause until April 2 is only delayed on goods covered under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) free trade treaty. According to CNN, CUSMA goods cover around 36 percent of Canadian imports into the US. Trump had previously announced a one-month reprieve on tariffs affecting autos, which are also covered under the CUSMA agreement. 

As a result of the delay, Canada will not proceed with its second retaliatory tariff wave, LeBlanc said. Currently, the country is imposing tariffs on $30 billion worth of US goods, with plans to increase that to $155 billion if the Americans offer no reprieves within 21 days. 

“My god, this is exhausting,” Maverix Private Equity founder John Ruffolo told BetaKit. 

“The constant back and forth makes it impossible to plan!”

Kyle Feigenbaum
Healthybud

The walkbacks continue a back-and-forth pattern of policy changes surrounding the tariffs, which were originally slated to kick off in early February. As the threat approached, the Canadian government first responded by imposing 25-percent tariffs on $155 billion of American goods, before the countries struck a 30-day détente.

When that pause came to an end just two days ago Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reimplemented Canada’s retaliatory measures. Ontario Premier Doug Ford went forward with his own measures as well, cancelling the province’s $100-million contract with Starlink, the internet company owned by Trump associate Elon Musk, banning all US-based companies from taking part in provincial procurement, and adding a 25-percent surcharge on electricity sent to the US commencing March 10. 

Following a call with the US President this week, Trudeau told reporters that Canada will continue to be in a trade war with the US for the foreseeable future, and that Canada’s goal is to get all tariffs removed. A spokesperson for Premier Ford told CTV News that Ontario is keeping US alcohol off LCBO shelves and going ahead with the electricity export tax until tariffs are removed entirely. Ford also told Global News this week that the cancellation of the Starlink contract is permanent, even if the US removes all tariffs. 

The provincial premiers also addressed easing inter-provincal trade barriers earlier this week as they looked to strengthen internal trade across Canada and reduce reliance on the US. The premiers promised to review exemptions to inter-provincial free trade by June 1, as well as amend rules that would allow professionals with credentials in one region to work anywhere in Canada.

That action against Canada has galvanized leaders across the domestic tech industry, who denounced the US decision earlier this week. Some Canadian hardware startups faced increased costs, and big decisions about how they will be incurred, as a result of the tariffs.

Today’s news of a pause has not lessened the frustration felt by entrepreneurs across the country, however. Kyle Feigenbaum, CEO of Montreal-based dog food startup Healthybud, said his company’s product was included in the list of reciprocal tariffs that are now on pause, but told BetaKit: “The constant back and forth makes it impossible to plan!” 

“With this looming threat that may last for the foreseeable future, we simply can’t plan,” Feigenbaum said “It makes it nearly impossible to plan for [the] future and properly manage our business.”

RELATED: The trade war has begun. Here’s what Canadian tech is saying

For startups currently navigating the back-and-forth between nations, Ruffolo offered these words of advice: “Focus in on what you can control. You can control building your business, especially in Canada. Do not get distracted with the confusion in the White House.”

The trade war has led to a concerted push to buy Canadian products. Meat and seafood subscription box service truLOCAL, which exclusively uses Canadian suppliers, saw its best month for new subscriptions in nearly five years. SRTX CEO Katherine Homuth told BetaKit that Costco Canada “stepped up” and placed large orders from her garment company, taking stock that would have been sold in the US and subject to tariffs.

StandUp Ventures managing director Michelle McBane told BetaKit this was a reminder that the Canadian tech ecosystem thrives on collaboration, not division.

“Now more than ever, we need to come together as a community and support each other through uncertain times,” McBane said. “It’s been great to see so many new initiatives coming out of this crisis.”

With files from Josh Scott and Madison McLauchlan.

UPDATE (03/07/2025): This story has been updated to note Canada’s premiers discussion on interprovincial trade barriers.

Feature image courtesy CPAC. 

The post “My god, this is exhausting”: US delays some tariffs against Canada until April first appeared on BetaKit.

Thinkific, the creator of a cloud platform for making and selling digital learning courses, made significant strides towards profitability in the past year, revealing in its fourth-quarter (Q4) earnings that it posted a net loss of just $200,000 in 2024, compared to $9.8 million the year before.

The Vancouver-based company generated a positive cash flow from operations last year, and its overall cash flow grew to $7 million, compared to a $5.4-million loss in 2023. The firm held $49.5 million in cash and equivalents as of the end of 2024. 

Thinkific also launched multiple AI-driven features in the last three months of 2024.

CEO Greg Smith claimed the success came as the company transitioned away from cost-saving measures to growth investment, calling 2024 a “pivotal year.” Thinkific’s commerce revenue jumped 73 percent year-over-year in the fourth quarter of 2024, to $3.1 million, while the Thinkific Plus customer education service grew 27 percent to $4.3 million.

The company warned that it still faced trouble ahead. CFO Corinne Hua said Thinkific was “experiencing headwinds” trying to grow its gross merchandise value (GMV), or total sales in a given quarter. The company’s fourth-quarter GMV was $114.7 million, which is flat year-over-year.

The company posted a net loss of $700,000 in Q4 2024, versus a profit of $300,000 a year earlier. Some of Thinkific’s Q4 initiatives, however, could bear fruit in the future. Thinkific also launched multiple AI-driven features in the last three months of 2024, including onboarding for new customers, a course landing page generator, and an email marketing tool.

The positive cash flow represents an important turnaround for Thinkific. The company grew rapidly during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, as customers turned to online courses to sustain their businesses. It went public in April 2021 with a gross $184 million raised through its initial stock offering. Steep losses that year nonetheless prompted it to lay off 20 percent of its staff in March 2022, and cut another 19 percent in January 2023.

At the time, Smith vowed a “return to profitability” by the end of 2023, and Thinkific achieved the feat in the last quarter of that year. It recorded revenue growth in the first quarter of 2024, and made key executive appointments in June that included former leaders from Hootsuite, Mailchimp, NBC, and Shopify.

The brand has numerous high-profile competitors, such as Absorb and Coursera. Thinkific touts over 50,000 customers, including high-profile clients like social-media monitoring giant Hootsuite and Stanford University.

Feature image courtesy Thinkific.

The post Thinkific created positive cash flow in 2024, but found GMV “headwinds” first appeared on BetaKit.

Oncology innovation accelerator FACIT and the Ontario Bioscience Innovation Organization (OBIO) have revealed the first group of startups to benefit from the Women’s Synergistic Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (WeSEED) program. 

The program was born from a partnership struck by the two Ontario life science innovation hubs last year to help women STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) leaders access business training, advisory resources, networks, and venture funding. 

WeSEED provides resources around commercialization, fundraising, and technical and IP viability. 

The inaugural WeSEED cohort includes endoscopy workflow software A.I. VALI and clinical trial patient management platform Genetics Adviser, which are each receiving investments from FACIT’s Compass Rose Oncology Fund. Other cohort members, including portable brain imaging tech startup AiimSense, genetic cancer testing company Asima Health, and immunotherapy platform Cura Therapeutics, are receiving entrepreneurship training and development resources.

Kitchener, Ont.-based Asima Health received $10,000 as part of a Women+ Entrepreneur Incubator program cohort last May. 

RELATED: Ontario launches second phase of life sciences strategy to bolster research and funding

WeSEED looks to support women-led companies with Ontario-based intellectual property (IP) or headquarters that are working on innovations with life science or cancer-related applications, FACIT senior director Dr. Connie Chen told BetaKit in an email statement. Cohort members can access skills development resources around commercialization, fundraising, and technical and IP viability. 

“Helping position and propel women-founded startups and healthcare innovation in Ontario to advance homegrown IP and secure financing was the driver for FACIT and OBIO to partner on the WeSEED program,” Chen said in a statement. “It is very rewarding to see our organizations elevate the equity, representation, and positioning of women STEM leaders.”   

WeSEED members may also access capital from one of FACIT or OBIO’s funds, depending on their requirements, Chen said. She added that access to capital is not guaranteed and may include grants, equity-based investment, and convertible debt. Chen said FACIT and OBIO do not disclose investment amounts, but that they can range from $10,000 to $1.5 million. 

Chen said that future cohorts will be opportunity- and eligibility-based, and that they envision one to two cohorts per year with three to five members each. 

Feature image courtesy OBIO. 

The post Facit and OBIO reveal first cohort of women founders working on health and cancer innovation with WeSEED first appeared on BetaKit.

The Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada (PacifiCan) has announced $18.3 million in funding to help seven British Columbia (BC)-based companies grow. 

Life sciences firm HealthTech Connex, one of the largest recipients, will get more than $3.7 million. The company makes a brain imaging device, the NeuroCatch Platform, which it claims can evaluate cognitive function in about six minutes by measuring the brain’s responses to auditory stimuli. PacifiCan says this funding will help HealthTech Connex bring the hardware to market in North America as well as Australia, Europe, and New Zealand.

The NeuroCatch Platform claims to evaluate cognitive function in about six minutes by measuring the brain’s responses to auditory stimuli.

This investment will “greatly help” the NeuroCatch rollout, according to HealthTech Connex co-founder Ryan D’Arcy. It comes from PacifiCan’s Business Scale-up and Productivity (BSP) program as well as the Jobs and Growth Fund.

Other investments aren’t technology-related. The largest recipient, Abbotsford-based EggSolution Vanderpol’s, is receiving $5 million to grow its egg processing business. 

Harjit Sajjan, the Minister responsible for PacifiCan, characterized the investments as important for BC’s future.

“British Columbians are known around the world for innovation,” Sajjan said. “Business leaders across the province are transforming industries like agriculture and digital technology. PacifiCan is here to support these businesses. The investments announced today will strengthen BC companies’ competitiveness and help to ensure long-term prosperity for all British Columbians.”

Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke also claimed the Healthtech Connex funding will “improve healthcare access” and dovetails with the city’s goal of “fostering a vibrant economy.” 

The federal government maintains that the overall funding will create more than 270 jobs while growing the BC economy and extending its reach. PacifiCan, the Canadian government’s economic development agency for the province, doles out repayable funding to “high-growth” companies it believes have innovative products and services.

In March 2023, the organization provided $25.7 million in funding to 10 companies and organizations in Vancouver. PacifiCan claimed this would create more than 500 jobs at a time when startups were dealing with funding crunches that led to mass layoffs.

Other PacifiCan contributions have included more technology companies. A March 2024 round poured almost $14 million into seven tech companies and organizations, including Clarius Mobile Health, CarboNet, and the BC Tech Association. More recently, an October 2024 collaboration with PrairiesCan gave $17.7 million to 10 technology businesses split between Richmond, BC and Calgary.

This latest funding also comes as Canadian healthtech is receiving more attention and funding. Last November, Pender Ventures closed a partially healthtech-focused VC fund at $100 million. A month later, BC innovation organizations invested $9.2 million in projects that included life science work.

Most recently, health hardware has received a significant boost. Calgary’s RetinaLogik closed a $1.1-million financing round at roughly the same time as it received Health Canada approval for its portable eye testing solution. Eli Health also won a CES 2025 award for its home-based hormone measuring device.

The post Healthtech Connex snags $3.7 million from PacifiCan to help measure brain health   first appeared on BetaKit.

A Canada-US trade war has officially begun, and Canadian tech companies are increasingly looking to new markets to stay competitive and lead globally.

While the US has long been a key partner, shifting dynamics are encouraging Canadian businesses to rethink their strategies and broaden their horizons.

“The door to a more favourable market has never been wider.”

Senior Canadian business leaders and government advisors are increasingly emphasizing the importance of diversifying beyond the US to build greater resilience. And with zero trade barriers, why not look to Europe as a promising opportunity for growth?

Europe offers Canadian companies a wealth of opportunities: a large, affluent consumer base, a skilled workforce, cutting-edge research hubs, and attractive incentives. With the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement eliminating tariffs on most goods and services, the door to a more favourable market has never been wider.

Canadian startups are typically hyper-focused on the US market, but maybe to their detriment. The latest European Expansion Report by Frontline Growth found that top-performing US companies generate up to 40 percent of their global revenue from Europe when they go public. Canadian companies can do the same. 

However, we all know that Europe is a complex market with different languages, cultures, and legal systems that can make it daunting for many. So, how can Canadian companies navigate the European market in a way that optimizes their chances of success? 

Ireland has long been a popular gateway to Europe for North American companies. Many household names have EMEA hubs in Ireland, including Google, Meta, Microsoft, Intel, LinkedIn, OpenText, TELUS Digital, and Salesforce to name just a few.  

With a business-friendly environment, a highly skilled workforce, and a strong cost structure, it’s an attractive choice. As one of the few English-speaking, common law countries in both the EU and the Eurozone, Ireland also benefits from a free trade agreement with the United Kingdom. This unique combination makes it an ideal location for Canadian tech companies seeking access to both the EU and UK markets.

To understand how expansion into Europe can be successful, companies only need to look at what’s helped other Canadian companies grow and succeed in Ireland.

A talent pool built for tech

Globally, three in four employers are currently experiencing difficulties filling roles. Finding talent with high-demand skills in areas like AI, cybersecurity, and general computer science can be incredibly challenging.

Ireland has a particular focus on creating a pipeline of talent with the skills to future-proof supply in high-growth industries. The world’s first Immersive Software Engineering program was created at the University of Limerick, with a new integrated undergrad and Masters degree developed in partnership with leading tech companies, including the founders of Stripe, AWS, and Shopify.

Students spend 50 percent of the four-year program in residencies at these tech companies.

Waterloo-headquartered cybersecurity leader eSentire has also leveraged Ireland’s skilled talent base. In 2015, eSentire set up a global security operations centre (SOC) in Cork, tapping into high-quality cyber talent amid a global shortage of cybersecurity professionals, and helping drive the company’s growth. 

Working with Munster Technological University in Cork, for example, eSentire runs an internship program to train students to become SOC analysts.

Shopify also chose Ireland as their European gateway in 2016, and now employs hundreds across the country. At the time, the company said, “Ireland has become a major tech hub and the level of talent is what really drew us to the region.”

In Ireland, decades of government investment has established the country as a top spot for foreign direct investment, and supported robust industry clusters in technology, financial services, biopharma, medtech, and engineering. There is also a well-developed ecosystem of service providers, advisors, recruiters, educational institutes, and suppliers that are well-versed in working with international companies that are making it easier for organizations to focus on their own business.

Selling in Europe starts with showing up

For North American companies, having a presence in Europe shows a commitment to the market, and builds confidence and relationships with end customers. 

Clio, one of Canada’s top tech success stories, recently celebrated 10 years in Ireland, and its team has grown beyond initial support and sales to include legal, finance, HR and product development for Europe. 

Clio’s Vancouver neighbour, Trulioo, a leader in identity verification, also bolstered its presence in Europe through a Dublin outpost.  In announcing its office opening, Trulioo named Dublin as a growing centre of regtech and boasted that 80 percent of global tech firms maintain a presence in the city.

Ireland means business

When expanding into Europe, companies need to consider pro-business policies and attractive incentives to grow and innovate. 

Ireland is consistently voted one of the best locations in the world for doing business. With a low corporate tax rate of 12.5 percent (15 percent for companies with global revenue under $750 million), a recently improved R&D Tax Credit of 30 percent and access to innovation funds such as the €500 million Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund, there are many advantages to locating in Ireland. 

In 2018, Mississauga headquartered SOTI established an R&D centre in Galway, on the west coast of Ireland. An industry leader in mobile and IoT device management solution, SOTI’s R&D team works on groundbreaking mobility-focused research to develop innovative mobile device solutions for enterprise customers around the world. 

At the time, SOTI CEO and President Carl Rodrigues said that Ireland “has developed an excellent reputation for being a technology-based economy, home to a vast array of tech companies—from giant multinationals to new startups. Galway is already home to many Fortune 500 companies, making it a particularly attractive destination to source experienced development and sales talent.”

Canada’s top tech firms aren’t waiting around. They’re proving that winning globally starts with a foothold in Ireland.

Deirdre Moran is the Senior Vice President of Technology and Country Manager of Canada at IDA Ireland.

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Canadian tech companies should connect with IDA Ireland to explore the opportunities Ireland offers as a gateway to the European market as well as a stable, tariff-free business environment.

If you have questions about getting started, don’t hesitate to reach out [email protected] or find us on LinkedIn.

Feature image courtesy of Unsplash. Photo by Aboodi Vesakaran.

The post Ireland is where Canadian tech lands in Europe first appeared on BetaKit.

A Global Fintech Insider report indicates that London, UK-based neobank Revolut is actively recruiting for a CEO to lead the FinTech company’s reentry into the Canadian market approximately four years after its initial departure.

Global Fintech Insider reports that it obtained a recruitment LinkedIn message sent to multiple Canadian FinTech executives indicating that Revolut is looking for a leader in Canada interested in building something “from the ground up.”

Revolut did not return BetaKit’s request for comment.

This CEO will be tasked with “scaling the business from 0 to 1, and beyond, within Canada,” ensuring the “smooth acquisition of all required regulatory licenses in a timely manner,” and working “with internal and external stakeholders to manage expectations.”

Revolut did not return BetaKit’s request for comment by press time.

Revolut launched a limited, beta version of its offering in Canada in 2019, only to retreat in early 2021, claiming that it was not able to offer the full range of services the firm had hoped to in Canada. The company promised to return to Canada when it could.

Speaking at Collision Conference later in 2021, Revolut co-founder and CEO Nikolay Storonsky told audience members that the company planned to come back to Canada in 2022. A Revolut spokesperson later tried to walk back those comments, telling BetaKit that the company “does not have any timeline for its re-entry to disclose at this time.”

At the time, Storonsky said that Revolut ultimately aimed to roll out the full version of its app in Canada, including wealth, trading, and business accounts.

RELATED: Vault rebrands to Venn following $21.5-million Series A round

Global Fintech Insider’s report indicates that Revolut is looking to return to Canada for real this time.

This news comes shortly after Venn (formerly Vault) closed $21.5-million CAD in Series A funding to build an all-in-one financial platform for Canadian businesses. Prior to launching the Toronto-based FinTech startup, Venn co-founders Saud Aziz and Ahmed Shafik worked at Revolut, Aziz as the company’s head of strategy and operations for North America and Shafik as a product manager. 

Aziz joined The BetaKit Podcast last year to discuss what he learned during his time at Revolut, including his perspective that focusing on Canada as an additional or secondary market is not a winning strategy for FinTech firms.

RELATED: What Vault’s co-founder learned at Revolut

Most recently valued at $45 billion in a secondary sale, Revolut is Europe’s most valuable privately held tech company. The neobank offers banking services including prepaid debit cards, currency exchanges, stock trading, peer-to-peer payments, and cryptocurrency trading. 

Revolut claims to serve over 50 million individual and 500,000 business customers across more than 160 countries and regions, including the United Kingdom (UK), France, Germany, the United States (US), Japan, and Australia. In 2023, Revolut reported revenues of $2.2 billion and a profit before tax of $545 million.

Last year, Revolut obtained a UK banking licence, and Storonsky has hinted that the company may pursue a banking licence in the US, but FinTech industry sources BetaKit spoke with expressed skepticism that the firm would pursue one in Canada—something that Toronto’s Koho Financial is trying to become the first Canadian FinTech startup to do.

Feature image courtesy Revolut.

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When truLOCAL saw tariffs coming down the pipeline, it spotted an opportunity, not a threat. 

“There’s been a meaningful and long-term sentiment shift. I don’t think Canadians are doing this because it’s the flavour of the month.”

Ghassan Halazon

The meat and seafood subscription box service, owned by Toronto-based EMERGE Commerce, exclusively uses Canadian suppliers. It has been insulated from United States (US) tariff threats as other companies, dependent on cross-border trade, have floundered in uncertainty.

Instead, truLOCAL saw its best month for new subscriptions in nearly five years. And it’s betting on a lasting shift nationwide towards a preference for local products.

In early February, when US President Donald Trump’s tariff threats were joined by annexation threats, the movement to eschew American products in favour of Canadian ones picked up. Ghassan Halazon, EMERGE CEO and president of TruLOCAL, spied an opportunity and implemented an ad campaign with a 25-percent-off promotion on its meat products.

“We called it the ‘truLOCAL retaliates’ campaign,” he told BetaKit. 

Now, the trade war has begun, and truLOCAL is a beneficiary, Halazon said. The company saw 193-percent growth in new subscribers year-over-year in February 2025, a level it hasn’t seen since May 2020, during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Cost per customer acquisition also dropped by nearly 20 percent, according to truLOCAL.

Founded in 2016 by Marc Lafleur, truLOCAL got its start with a $100,000 cheque from investors Michelle Romano and Joe Mimran on the CBC business-pitching reality show Dragon’s Den, and was acquired by TSXV-listed EMERGE in 2021. The brand delivers locally sourced meats, poultry, and seafood directly to consumers through customizable subscription plans. Though it ships nationally, Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia (BC) are its biggest markets and where the majority of its suppliers reside. 

RELATED: The trade war has begun. Here’s what Canadian tech is saying

Part of its unique offering, Halazon said, is connecting local farmers with a “digital-savvy” customer base. Regional suppliers include Organic Ocean in Vancouver, Beverly Creek Farms in Millgrove, Ont., and Afishionado in Bedford, NS.  

The movement to ‘buy local’ has taken Canada and its tech ecosystem by storm. Eighty-four percent of Canadians surveyed say they considered buying more Canadian-made products in February, according to a poll by research firm Abacus Data. And Canadian tech players have been helping them do it, through searchable databases of Canadian alternatives, “buy local” shopping features, and crowd-sourced grocery-scanning apps.

Other Canadian startups in the food tech space have seen similar upticks in interest from the ‘buy local’ furor. Tre’Dish, a Toronto-based online grocery platform, told BetaKit it has seen a rise in Canadian companies signing up to sell their products on its marketplace. Now, more than 70 percent of the food products on Tre’Dish’s platform are made in Canada. 

Despite the fluid nature of the US-Canada trade war, Halazon thinks that the swell of consumer patriotism is here to stay. Compared to the pandemic, when most people made online grocery orders to avoid in-person stores, this moment is fuelled by consumer choice, informed by government and media messaging.

“There’s been a meaningful and long-term sentiment shift,” Halazon said. “I don’t think Canadians are doing this because it’s the flavour of the month. I think they’ve genuinely permanently shifted their alignment and their behaviour towards supporting local businesses and brands.”

RELATED: Canadian tech looks to support its own against US tariff threat

However, the subscription box model has also experienced a downturn since the pandemic. Consumer “subscription fatigue” has led to a broad decrease in the number of subscriptions consumers are willing to pay for at a time, from grocery items to cosmetics to news outlets.

In Canada, subscription-based consumer packaged goods startup Sampler lost product-market fit after a successful run. Montréal-based Oatbox, which once sold monthly subscriptions for oat-based products, pivoted entirely to a wholesale model for oat beverages, according to Sophie Roy, the former chief operating officer.

But truLOCAL is confident that this consumer sentiment shift will translate into sustainable growth. The startup aims to double down on its commitment to buying local through partnerships, potentially outside of meat and seafood. 

“In a time like this…we think we serve a bigger purpose,” Halazon said. “Our customers and our community trust us to continue to be transparent and to connect them with top local choices. That’s an ambition of ours.” 

Feature image courtesy EMERGE Commerce.

The post The ‘buy Canadian’ movement is fuelling growth for TruLOCAL’s food subscription first appeared on BetaKit.

The Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) has dispensed $32 million CAD across 24 artificial intelligence (AI) and tech businesses in the regions of Toronto, Hamilton, Ont. and Ottawa. 

Earlier this week, FedDev Ontario announced an investment of $7 million in six Ottawa-area tech companies that are scaling up and commercializing products. The next day, Ruby Sahota, the minister responsible for FedDev Ontario, visited fleet management company GoFleet to announce another $25 million going to 18 companies around Toronto and Hamilton. 

“FedDev Ontario funding will enable us to go from lab to revenue in less than 18 months.”

The supported Ottawa companies included drone company AVSS, communications tech company CCAI, space software company Mission Control, mobile command communications company Nortac Defence, and caregiver support platform Trualta Care Network. 

The largest commitment of the Ottawa companies went to InPho, which received $3 million to support the commercialization of its new high-speed fiber optic chips, which FedDev said would ensure quicker uploads, downloads, and AI requests.

The speed of InPho’s chips would not have been possible without Canada investing in its research and development work, Inpho CEO Joe Costello said in a statement. 

“FedDev Ontario funding will enable us to go from lab to revenue in less than 18 months which would not have happened without FedDev Ontario,” Costello said. 

Mission Control got the smallest amount of funding of the Ottawa batch, receiving $150,000 to expand its Spacefarer platform and launch its Spacefarer AI platform, which looks to implement AI onboard spacecraft. In October 2024, Mission Control signed an international partnership to build and operate a satellite using its AI algorithms with American satellite company Spire. 

RELATED: Toronto and Waterloo Region orgs get $34 million in FedDev funding

Among the 18 supported Toronto and Hamilton area companies is ACTO Technologies, GoFleet, Ada, and Loop Financial. 

ACTO received $3 million to commercialize its generative AI-powered sales and marketing software for the life sciences sector, while GoFleet received $2.7 million to develop and commercialize its fleet management platform. GoFleet’s telematics software provides fleet managers with GPS, dash camera, and other data in a dashboard to monitor the status of vehicles and drivers. 

Meanwhile, AI-powered customer support platform Ada received $1.75 million to help commercialize its phone-based generative AI customer assistance platform. Ada became one of Canada’s unicorn startups when it raised a $130-million USD (then about $157 million CAD) Series C round at a reported valuation of $1.2 billion in May 2021. The company went on to make staff cuts in 2022 and 2023, citing a tightened economy.  

FinTech startup Loop Financial also received $750,000 to support its banking services platform. After pivoting from peer-to-peer lending to international financial management, Loop announced a $6.4-million CAD seed extension round this past September to expand its product offerings.

Last month, FedDev Ontario doled out $34 million in federal funding to help create new tech and life sciences hubs and help scale startups, across Waterloo Region and Toronto.

Feature image courtesy Minister of Families, Children and Social Development Jenna Sudds. 

The post Toronto and Ottawa area companies receive $32 million in AI-focused FedDev funding first appeared on BetaKit.

Two Winnipeg-based tech hubs are merging to launch a new non-profit and a new funding program for early-stage startups. 

Both organizations will continue to offer their current programs to fulfill existing funding agreements.

The new organization, Manitoba Innovates, aims to energize the province’s tech ecosystem and is the joint product of local accelerators Tech Manitoba and Manitoba Technology Accelerator (MTA). The tech hub aims to streamline the missions of both organizations through three pillars: access to funding, networking opportunities, and mentorship. The new hub was announced at a kickoff event for MbTech Week.

“We want to create a holistic organization that meets the broad needs of startups,” Tech Manitoba CEO Kelly Fournel said in a statement. 

Manitoba Innovates is also launching Manitoba Invests, a funding program designed to help early-stage startups access capital. Startups will receive cheques from $25,000 to $250,000 for projects to help prime young companies for venture capital (VC) or angel investment.

Fournel told BetaKit that both organizations will continue to offer their current programs to fulfill existing funding agreements. The merger will help streamline operations, Fournel said. 

Founded in 2004, Tech Manitoba is the province’s main tech industry association and is backed by both the provincial and federal governments. With over 130 corporate members, it provides ecosystem reports, networking opportunities, and various forms of support to the province’s tech industry.

MTA is a Winnipeg-based non-profit that helps local startups and scale-ups commercialize. Its alumni include bill-splitting service Fastab and medical imaging startup Cubresa. 

Manitoba Innovates’s funding comes from “existing and new initiatives” from both organizations and may receive government funding for future activities, Fournel said.

RELATED: Manitoba launches new innovation and technology department amid cabinet refresh

The new hub is currently run by a transitional team of directors from both MTA and Tech Manitoba, with the CEOs of both organizations acting as co-leads. Fournel said the leadership team will be announced soon. 

Local non-profit organization North Forge, which acts as an incubator-accelerator and fabrication lab, is also backing the initiative. 

“The launch of Manitoba Innovates unites the strengths of MTA and Tech Manitoba, streamlining support for our tech ecosystem,” Joelle Foster, president and CEO of North Forge, said in a statement. “North Forge is proud to collaborate with Manitoba Innovates in fostering a more connected and thriving innovation community.”

The government of Manitoba created a new innovation-focused department this past fall to spur economic activity in the province.

A recent Tech Manitoba report found that the province’s information technology sector contributed roughly $2.2 billion in gross domestic product to the provincial economy in 2022. The report estimates that the sector will create an additional 2,000 jobs between 2023 and 2027. The launch of Manitoba Innovates comes after a challenging fundraising year for the province’s tech sector.

Despite the promise of future growth, Manitoba had a poor showing for VC investment in 2024, according to a year-end report from the Canadian Venture Capital Association. The province saw only $2 million in investment, a steep 96-percent drop year-over-year.

Still, some of Winnipeg’s exports represent key Canadian tech players, such as challenger bank Neo Financial, which launched an innovation hub in the city in 2021. Neo was founded by the creators of food delivery app SkipTheDishes, which was acquired by Just Eat in 2016 for $110 million.

Feature image courtesy Red Photo Co. 

The post Winnipeg tech hubs merge to revitalize Manitoba’s startup ecosystem first appeared on BetaKit.

Canadian e-commerce giant Shopify has launched a new feature to help merchants set up and design their store using artificial intelligence (AI).

The company announced the feature launch in a post on X, coinciding with another post from Shopify president Harley Finkelstein explaining how it works. In a video, Finkelstein explained that merchants can describe their businesses with prompts on their stores’ backend theme pages, and the AI store setup tool will create custom themes based on that description. 

“At Shopify, we’ve already made the build process pretty seamless with our preset themes that allow merchants to easily choose the design, but we know that customizations can still take time,” Finkelstein said. “I really love this new store setup, because it makes the barrier to launch a business even lower.” 

According to the Shopify Help Center, a single theme description will generate up to 3 free personalized themes. Shopify warns merchants that they are responsible for the accuracy of all the content they publish to their Shopify-powered store, even when automatic text generation is used to create it.

BetaKit reached out to Shopify for more details on the feature but did not hear back by press time. 

Shopify, Canada’s largest tech company, recently took some steps that could accelerate its potential to become domiciled in the United States (US). 

RELATED: Shopify’s latest SEC filings show potential to become US-domiciled, TD analyst warns

First noted by TD Securities managing director Peter Haynes last month, Shopify listed its New York City office alongside its normally-standalone Ottawa headquarters in a 10-K filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its latest fourth-quarter earnings. A 10-K form is required from domestic issuers while, up until now, Shopify had only filed  the 40-F form used by foreign issuers.

A Shopify spokesperson told BetaKit the filing was voluntary “in order to align our disclosures more closely with other software peers,” but did not respond to questions from BetaKit regarding whether its SEC reporting changes are part of a plan to redomicile as a US company.

Feature image courtesy Burst.

Disclosure: BetaKit majority owner Good Future is the family office of two former Shopify leaders, Arati Sharma and Satish Kanwar.

The post Shopify merchants can now prompt AI to design a store theme first appeared on BetaKit.

The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) has named Canadian artificial intelligence (AI) leader Richard Sutton and his American colleague Andrew Barto as the recipients of the 2024 ACM AM Turing Award for their work developing the foundations of reinforcement learning (RL).

Sutton is a professor of computer science at the University of Alberta and a fellow, chief scientific advisor, and Canada CIFAR AI chair at the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute. In an interview with BetaKit, Sutton described his Turing Award victory as “gratifying and humbling,” as well as “totally unexpected,” and shared his perspective on AI safety discourse and the path to human-like AI.

Sutton puts the chances of someone being able to create human-like intelligence by 2030 at one in four, and by 2040 at 50/50.

Barto and Sutton are pioneers of RL, a branch of machine learning that the ACM described as a “cornerstone AI technology.” The pair introduced the main ideas, constructed the mathematical foundations, and developed important algorithms for RL. They also produced the standard reference text in the field, “Reinforcement Learning: An Introduction,” a self-study book that has been cited over 75,000 times and helped thousands of researchers.

RL refers to the process of training agents to behave more successfully through trial and error with reward, a term borrowed from psychology and neuroscience that denotes a signal provided to an agent regarding the quality of its behaviour. “My wife likes to say … ‘reinforcement learning is, if it feels good, do it, remember it, and do it again next time,’” Sutton said.

In RL, these “rewards” are calculated mathematically. Numbers are assigned to desirable outcomes, and algorithms run until they maximize the reward—eventually determining how to complete computing tasks in the most desirable and efficient manner.

Often referred to as the “Nobel Prize of computing,” the Turing Award is named after Alan M. Turing, the British mathematician who articulated the mathematical foundations of computing and was a key contributor to the Allied cryptanalysis of the Enigma cipher during the Second World War. It marks the field’s highest honour and comes with a $1-million USD ($1.45-million CAD) prize supported by Google.

RL “has laid the foundations for some of the most important advances in AI and has given us greater insight into how the brain works,” ACM president Yannis Ioannidis said in a statement. “Barto and Sutton’s work is not a stepping stone that we have now moved on from. Reinforcement learning continues to grow and offers great potential for further advances in computing and many other disciplines.”

Past Turing Award recipients include fellow Canadian AI leaders Yoshua Bengio of Mila and Geoffrey Hinton of the Vector Institute, who shared the honour in 2018 for their work on deep neural networks. When asked what it felt like to join his peers, Sutton said, “Those are great guys and well deserved. And I don’t have to feel jealous.”

RELATED: AI godfather Geoffrey Hinton co-wins 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics

Sutton, who also works as a research scientist at John Carmack’s Keen Technologies, previously led Alphabet’s DeepMind lab in Edmonton until Google’s parent company shuttered the site as part of broader layoffs in 2023.

Sutton’s perspective on AI safety differs from many of his peers in the research community, including Bengio and Hinton, who have both signed various letters over the past few years warning about the dangers of AI.

Sutton dislikes the term AI safety, and believes that “the doomers are out of line and the concerns are overblown.” What Sutton fears most is that AI will become the scapegoat for the problems of the world. “I’m disappointed that my fellow researchers are playing into the way their field is possibly going to be demonized inappropriately,” he said.

He does believe that we should be afraid of people taking the information provided by tools like ChatGPT and believing it, given that large language models (LLMs) are prone to errors and hallucinations. However, he argued, “That’s not really a problem with the technology—it’s a problem with people being gullible.”

RELATED: Former DeepMind researchers secure $17 million CAD to bring generative AI to video games with Artificial Agency

Sutton expects that AI will make some jobs obsolete and create new ones, and believes that governments could do a better job of training people for the roles of the future. He also said that he wouldn’t work on military development of AI, and argued that “We shouldn’t be eager to make force-projecting AI.”

While RL has become a big area of AI, generative AI remains the buzzier field. “We’re feeling pretty good to be maybe number two,” Sutton said.

For his part, Sutton is glad that RL is not directly in the limelight, given the expectations that follow. “So many fields become super exciting, and then they [are] followed by disappointment, because they can’t live up to the hype … I like to think that in reinforcement learning, we have just slowly gained in importance without over-claiming.”

“The doomers are out of line and the concerns are overblown.”

Richard Sutton

Sutton dislikes the term artificial general intelligence (AGI), which refers to a type of AI that matches or surpasses human cognitive abilities across a wide range of tasks, but is “positive on the idea that we can have strong AI that lives up to the idea of fully understanding and interacting with its environment.”

As to the path towards attaining this, Sutton noted that LLMs are often the centrepiece of AGI debates, but expressed skepticism that the LLM route will prove fruitful. “I don’t think that’s the direction that’s going to lead to full intelligence,” he said.

Sutton laid out a plan to work toward what he calls “full intelligence” with The Alberta Plan, a 12-stage outline that he co-wrote with fellow University of Alberta professors and AI researchers Michael Bowling and Patrick Pilarski. “We think we have a plan, a working plan,” he said.

Sutton puts the chances of someone being able to create something resembling AGI by 2030 at one in four, and by 2040 at 50/50, as computing power becomes cheaper and cheaper.

Feature image courtesy Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute. Photo by Chris Onciul.

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Women-led investment firm The51 has appointed Lauren Robinson as managing partner, joining general partners Shelley Kuipers and Judy Fairburn as the firm prepares to scale. 

The appointment allows Kuipers and Fairburn to focus on their roles as general partners (GPs) on The51’s Fund I and Fund II, Kuipers told BetaKit in an interview. Robinson will help expand The51’s venture funds, manage their capital deployment, engage with limited partners (LPs), and drive their financial returns.

“We appreciate Lauren’s disciplined fund management approach that will propel our current funds and founders as well as position The51 very well in its next stage of growth.” Fairburn said in a statement. 

“I’ve seen the additional value creation that comes with more women in decision-making roles as founders.” 

Robinson is notably a co-founder and general partner of Toronto-based venture studio Highline Beta and its pre-seed fund, which has recently invested in startups such as Parachute, Moselle, and Flora Fertility. Robinson told BetaKit that she is still a GP at Highline Beta, but is not involved in the day-to-day operations.

Robinson has also previously chaired the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) committee at the Canadian Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (CVCA), and served on the National Angel Capital Organization (NACO) board of directors. 

Robinson has been a venture partner with The51 since January 2024, and began transitioning into the new managing partner role this past January before her official appointment this week, Kuipers said.

“Over the last two decades, I’ve worked in both the private and public markets, always with the belief that capital is one of the most powerful levers for change,” Robinson said in a LinkedIn post. “I’ve seen the additional value creation that comes with more women in decision-making roles as founders, fund managers, and LPs.”

RELATED: The51 holds $51-million final close for Food and AgTech Fund amid challenging venture market

Robinson is based out of British Columbia, and Kuipers said that The51 is looking to bring on GPs from Ontario, Québec, and Atlantic Canada to scale its presence across the country. Kuipers also noted that The51 is looking to begin raising its third fund this year. 

Earlier this year, The51 held the final close for its $51-million CAD Food and AgTech Fund after actively raising for nearly four years. The Food and AgTech Fund invests in diverse founders who are transforming food and agriculture with advanced technology between the pre-seed and Series A stages.

Feature image courtesy The51.

The post The51 appoints Highline Beta founder Lauren Robinson as managing partner first appeared on BetaKit.

The looming tariff threat has become a reality.

Today, the United States (US) shattered its 30-day trade war détente with Canada and imposed 25-percent tariffs on virtually all imported Canadian goods, and 10-percent tariffs on energy imports. As promised, Canada responded with in-kind tariffs on $30 billion of US goods to start, which could be upped to $155 billion after a 21-day consultation period.

One Canadian CEO told BetaKit he paid triple the usual shipping cost to get product over the border before tariffs kicked in.

Leaders across the Canadian tech industry have swiftly denounced the US decision.  

The Technology Councils of North America (TECNA), which represents nearly 60 tech groups in the US and Canada, reiterated that tariffs will “penalize American business and workers, increase operating costs, and reduce profitability across multiple sectors.” Canadian tech hubs Communitech, BC Tech Association, and Québec Technology Association are all TECNA members. 

Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI) President Benjamin Bergen, whose organization represents tech scale-ups, called for Canada to take this opportunity to reduce the country’s reliance on US trade. 

“For decades, Canada’s trade strategy has assumed stability in our relationship with the US. That assumption is no longer valid,” Bergen said in a statement. “It is time to take bold action to secure our economic future—by backing Canadian firms, ensuring they have access to growth capital, and positioning them as leaders in global supply chains.”

The Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses called for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to immediately recall Parliament “to ensure…that every dollar Canada collects in tariffs is returned to affected businesses as quickly as possible.” A group of Canadian tech leaders penned a letter to Trudeau demanding the end to prorogation last month.

RELATED: How is Canadian tech responding to the trade war?

According to a survey of 195 founders by non-profit organization Startup Canada, 42 percent of entrepreneurs are requesting financial support—such as through grants, subsidies, or tax breaks—to help their businesses navigate tariffs. Thirty-two percent want “clear and timely information” on tariffs, and nearly a quarter want support to diversify their supply chain.

In a press conference today, Trudeau said that the government is exploring short-term support measures, but its priority is to get the tariffs lifted. 

Arlene Dickinson, an investor and member of the government-appointed Council on Canada-US Relations, wrote in a LinkedIn post that support programs will be announced to help affected businesses.

“You are not in this alone. Entrepreneurs and [business] builders will do what we’ve always done—find a way to turn this challenge into opportunity and into strength,” Dickinson said.

Increased costs

Some Canadian hardware startups are facing increased costs and big decisions about how they will be incurred. 

In some cases, Canadian small businesses felt immediate impacts: Last night, Montréal-based gourmet dog food startup Healthybud waited with bated breath to see if its shipment of goods across the border from BC to California would get through before 9 p.m. PST.

“We just made it,” Healthybud CEO Kyle Feigenbaum told BetaKit. But due to the flurry of shipments trying to cross the border before the deadline, he said he paid three times the standard amount for that shipping route.

Now, Healthybud has to decide whether to pass along increased shipment costs to consumers. Last month, Feigenbaum told BetaKit that Canada’s decision to impose retaliatory tariffs would hurt their US sales. Matt Bertulli, CEO of Vancouver-based phone case manufacturer Pela Case, said “retaliatory tariffs would punish us twice.”

According to Dax Dasilva, founder and CEO of point-of-sale and commerce giant Lightspeed, retailers will be hit particularly hard after a turbulent few years of sales since the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“Tariffs are another roadblock to growth at a time when retailers were starting to feel relief from these pressures,” Dasilva wrote in an email to BetaKit.

Limited reprieve

SRTX, the Montréal-based manufacturer of Sheertex tights, temporarily laid off roughly 40 percent of its staff last month in anticipation of US tariffs. Due to its products’ classification under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, CEO Katherine Homuth said the company had to pivot to importing materials from the US instead of overseas to avoid a nearly 41-percent duty. 

Some SRTX direct-to-consumer shipments into the US would have been subject to an additive 16-percent plus 25-percent tariff if the US scrapped the de minimis exemption. This loophole allows shipments into the US under $800 to cross the border duty-free. 

RELATED: Canadian tech looks to support its own against US tariff threat

However, it appears that SRTX and other retailers depending on the de minimis loophole have gotten a lucky break—for now. The White House amended its executive order on Sunday to keep it in place until the US implements a system to collect tariff revenue for items that fall under the exemption.

In addition to this small relief, the widespread push to buy Canadian products has created a silver lining for some Canadian startups. Since the US first threatened tariffs, the Canadian tech ecosystem has produced a bounty of searchable databases and grocery scanning apps to help consumers identify and purchase Canadian-made goods.

Homuth told BetaKit that Canadian retailers such as Costco Canada have “stepped up” and placed large orders, taking stock that would have been sold in the US and subject to tariffs. 

Tre’Dish, a Toronto-based online grocery platform, has seen a surge of Canadian companies signing up to sell their products on its marketplace. Now, CEO Peter Hwang says more than 70 percent of products sold on the platform are made domestically.

With files from Alex Riehl. Feature image courtesy Harry Spink via Unsplash.

The post The trade war has begun. Here’s what Canadian tech is saying first appeared on BetaKit.

Ontario has cancelled its $100-million contract with Elon Musk-owned satellite internet company Starlink and will ban all United States (US)-based companies from taking part in provincial procurement as part of retaliatory measures in the North American trade war, Premier Doug Ford announced this morning.

Ford is following through on his threats from last month, before a 30-day détente was struck between Canada and the US. Starlink, a subsidiary of Musk’s SpaceX, inked a contract with the province this past November to provide high-speed internet to 15,000 homes and businesses in rural, remote, northern communities by June 2025.

“It’s done, It’s gone,” Ford said, referencing the Starlink contract, in a press conference this morning. “We won’t award contracts to people who enable and encourage economic attacks on our province and our country.” 

“No matter if it’s services through the tech sector … we need to stop immediately and if they come to sue us, so be it.”

Musk has become an integral part of President Donald Trump’s White House, heading the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” that has gutted American agencies and has met with foreign leaders, like Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in Washington, DC. Musk’s proximity to the White House has made his businesses, like Tesla, X (formerly Twitter), and Starlink, a target in the trade war between Canada and the US.

When asked what it would cost to break the contract with Starlink, Ford didn’t appear to know, saying he would work on getting that information. He added that it’s “principle” to cancel the contract of President Trump’s “right-hand-man,” and that it’s ironic Musk is attacking the country and the province that gave him the opportunity to go to Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont. Musk enrolled in Queen’s University in 1990. 

“He should be embarrassed to attack the people that took care of him for a number of years,” Ford said. 

Ford also told Global News this week that the cancellation of the Starlink contract is permanent, even if all tariffs are removed.

The Starlink contract cancellation is part of a larger procurement freeze by the province, which will no longer sign deals with US companies. The province spends an annual $30 billion on procurement, Ford said. He indicated this move could affect more American companies currently doing business with the province, and that he has asked the provincial public service, as well as his ministers, to go through contracts “with a fine tooth comb.” 

RELATED: Deputy Chief Trade Commissioner on tariffs: Canada “not out of the woods yet”

“No matter if it’s services through the tech sector, or any other products, we need to stop immediately, and if they come to sue us, so be it,” Ford said. “We’re standing up for Ontario, we’re standing up for Canada, and we’re willing to fight in court.” 

The Province of Ontario will be joining a national buy-Canadian sentiment, which has inspired apps like Buy Beaver that encourage users to buy locally. Ford noted that he “loved” the apps, but threatened to also legislate a policy that would require retailers to clearly mark Canadian and American-made goods on shelves if they did not do it independently. 

Ford said he would be writing to the government officials of New York State, Michigan, and Minnesota to warn them that the province will immediately apply a 25 percent surcharge on the electricity it exports, and implied the province will not hesitate to shut off the power entirely if Trump escalates tariffs further. 

Ford added that he would be working with the federal government to control Ontario’s exports of high-grade nickel. Ford claimed that 50 percent of the critical mineral in the US, which is used in manufacturing, comes from Ontario. 

“If we have to stockpile it, if we have to ship it around the world, that’s what we’ll do,” Ford said.

UPDATE (03/07/2025): This story has been to note that Premier Doug Ford told Global News the Starlink contract is cancelled permanently, even if tariffs are removed.

Feature image courtesy Premier of Ontario via YouTube.

The post “It’s done, it’s gone”: Ontario Premier Doug Ford cancels $100-million Starlink contract in tariff response first appeared on BetaKit.

When Geoff Canady started out in tech in the early 2010s, the sector treated design and development as largely separate worlds.

Back then, as a San Diego, California-based graphic and web designer, Canady created the visuals, layouts, typography, and images, while developers handled the underlying code that made the pages function. But Canady soon realized he wanted more control over how his designs actually worked.

“One of the things that is common among all design technologists is that they have both the designer and developer mindset.”

Sam Anderson, Intuit

Teaching himself to code allowed him to blur the lines between design and development in his work. Instead of handing off static visuals to someone else, he could shape the entire experience—both how it looked and how it functioned. That hands-on approach not only expanded his skill set but also changed how he approached problem-solving.

“I saw an opportunity in bringing the design to life and putting it in a place where it could live and people could interact with it,” he added.

Canady’s fluency in both design and engineering unlocked new opportunities, and eventually led him to Intuit, where he now works as a Senior Design Technologist. 

Intuit, the global financial technology platform behind products like TurboTax, Credit Karma, QuickBooks and Mailchimp, sees an emerging need for people like Canady who can sit at the intersection of product design, front-end development, and artificial intelligence (AI) experimentation. 

The company is intentionally investing in design technologists, a developing category of work that Intuit believes will become essential with the evolution of AI.

According to Sam Anderson, Director of Intuit’s Design System, design technologists are the key to pushing AI-powered experiences beyond simple automation and into truly transformational benefits across the platform.

Anderson said Intuit is looking for developers with a strong design sensibility and designers with a keen interest in code. “There’s no perfect blend between designer and developer. But one of the things that is common among all design technologists is that they have both the designer and developer mindset.”

The role isn’t new—variations of design technologists have existed under titles like UX engineer, design engineer, or front-end specialist. The difference now is how essential the role has become in AI-driven product development.

The demand for UX professionals has seen significant growth in Canada. One 2023 study identified UX designers and researchers among the top 10 in-demand digital occupations in Canada, with an estimated 10,000 job openings in UX design across the country that year. There are currently close to 1,000 unique job postings for design technologists, and a further 1,000 for UX engineers on LinkedIn.

When hiring for this role, Intuit looks for a strong grasp of design principles and deep expertise in frontend development, but it also prioritizes candidates who understand the technology behind AI. According to Anderson, designing AI-powered experiences requires more than just great visuals or efficient code; these fluid, dynamic experiences are data-dependent, which means designers and developers can’t work in silos. 

“Ten years ago, we were in this mode where new JavaScript frameworks were coming out every year,” Anderson explained. “There was all this innovation on JavaScript frameworks, and we really relied on design technologists to help define which frameworks we should even be on. We are facing the same challenge today with AI, and design technologists play a key role in helping us keep up with the rapidly changing landscape.” 

Anderson added that AI is going through an explosive growth phase, and the only way for organizations like Intuit to lead through this transition is through constant experimentation.

“Unless you’re constantly tinkering and trying things, you’ll get left behind in this massive moment of disruption,” he added.

To enable that experimentation, Intuit built its own internal proprietary operating system for developing and implementing generative AI-powered solutions called GenOS. Within this framework, teams can experiment with different AI models. Instead of using just one AI tool, GenOS provides a single framework that connects to multiple large language models (LLMs), so Intuit can choose the best AI for the job.

“GenOS is a unique Intuit framework that we’ve built to provide a normalized API to our developers and designers,” Anderson explained. “It provides them with easy access to a selection of pre-approved best-in-class models, so they can iterate rapidly and with confidence.”

On top of GenOS sits GenUX, a system that helps teams design AI-powered user experiences, such as verifying AI-generated data and guiding automated workflows.

For design technologists like Canady, GenOS lets them prototype AI features, refine interactions, and ensure products like TurboTax and QuickBooks integrate AI in a way that’s helpful and useful for employees and customers. Canady describes that role as a “mix of hands-on technical work, creative problem-solving, and continuous iteration.”

Design technologists are critical as Intuit delivers AI-driven experiences across its expert platform. Anderson said Intuit employees in this role already play a crucial role in the product development cycle.

A common problem in software development is the handoff: designers create something ambitious, only for engineers to later push back when it’s too difficult to build. 

AI makes this problem even trickier. A design might look great on paper, but when engineers start building, they run into problems: the AI model doesn’t behave as expected, the interaction feels clunky, or the feature isn’t feasible within existing systems. 

That’s why Intuit relies on design technologists to close the gap. 

One example is Canady’s work on Intuit’s Virtual Expert Platform (VEP), which uses AI to connect customers with financial experts. To make the experience more personal, VEP displays headshots of these experts, so customers know who they’re speaking with.

Getting those headshots used to be a manual and time-consuming part of Intuit’s onboarding process.

To solve this, the team integrated AI-powered face tracking into onboarding, providing real-time guidance to help experts centre their faces. Overcoming challenges like lighting variations and device differences, they refined the UX through iterative testing, ensuring seamless AI feedback on facial alignment.

By optimizing for speed and accuracy, the team eliminated the need for manual review, enabling Intuit to efficiently onboard experts at scale while maintaining high quality standards.

“Starting from the early prototypes, I was involved in every step, from the initial tech explorations and user testing phases to the actual platform integration,” Canady said.

Anderson sees this as a unique part of Intuit’s approach to working with design technologists: bringing them in early and giving them a hands-on role throughout development.

“When we incorporate design technologists further upstream, they’re looking at feasibility from the beginning,” Anderson said. “They can lay some of the groundwork so that the development team can look at the work and say, ‘We can totally nail this.’ And that results in a faster delivery.”

AI proves its value by solving actual problems, and Anderson said financial tools need to be precise, adaptable, and easy to use, particularly for consumers and businesses that rely on them to manage their money.

“By thinking strategically about where design technologists fit in, Intuit is leveraging AI to transform the lives of people and businesses that depend on them,” Anderson said.

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Explore career opportunities like the design technologist role and more on Intuit’s career site.

Photos, including the featured image of Geoff Canady (pictured right), provided by Intuit.

The post The in-demand job that blends AI, engineering, and design first appeared on BetaKit.

The venture arm of the crown corporation Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) has appointed Jason Baibokas as the managing director of its $100-million Black Entrepreneurs Fund. 

BDC Capital announced the appointment in a LinkedIn post last week, saying Baibokas brings more than 25 years of experience in capital markets, business advisory, and entrepreneurial growth. BDC Capital added that he will lead the development and execution of a strategic investment strategy to deploy $100 million in equity capital into Black-led businesses across Canada. 

The appointment is the realization of a commitment BDC Capital made last June, when it announced two $100-million CAD platforms designed to support Indigenous and Black-led businesses.

Now, eight months later, BDC Capital said Baibokas will use the coming months to build out the Black Entrepreneurs Fund investment team and meet with stakeholders to define the fund’s investment thesis and criteria. 

According to Baibokas’s LinkedIn profile, he brings experience as a principal at investment and advisory firm KASCorp and chief financial officer at Toronto-based digital mortgage platform 8Twelve Financial Technologies. 

BetaKit reached out to BDC for more information on the Black Entrepreneurs Fund, Baibokas, and for updates on the coinciding $100-million Indigenous fund, but did not hear back by press time. 

RELATED: BDC earmarks $250 million CAD to support underserved entrepreneurs

When they were announced last June, the funding platforms for underserved entrepreneurs were meant to complement BDC’s existing $500-million Thrive platform for women entrepreneurs. At the time, Geneviève Bouthillier, BDC’s senior vice-president of growth and impact investments, told BetaKit that the platforms were in very early stages of development, and each platform will be tailored to the needs of each community, rather than taking a “cut-and-paste approach.”

Last month, in an effort to counter low investment activity in Canada, BDC Capital made nearly $1 billion in new commitments to its Growth Venture Fund and Growth Equity Partners (GEP) program. The bank positioned the new funding as a way to increase access to capital for entrepreneurs navigating economic uncertainty amid inflation, higher borrowing costs, labour shortages, and a looming trade war between the United States and Canada.

Feature image by Upper Left Photography, courtesy of BDC.

The post BDC Capital taps Jason Baibokas to lead $100-million Black Entrepreneurs Fund first appeared on BetaKit.

Funding for existing cleantech projects through Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) is flowing once more, while new applications under its National Research Council Canada (NRC) replacement program will open “early” in fiscal 2025–2026, an NRC spokesperson told BetaKit.

Cleantech entrepreneurs and investors told BetaKit that prior SDTC funding delays have been resolved for their companies, but expressed uncertainty as to whether any new grants were being processed by the embattled federal cleantech funding agency or its new overseer.

SDTC “has resumed funding eligible startups” as it preps for “a final wind-up.”

At the moment, SDTC is working to complete the transition of its programming to the NRC. This after multiple investigations found evidence of conflict-of-interest and governance issues at the agency. BetaKit has confirmed that SDTC and the NRC are still not accepting new funding applications.

A notice on SDTC’s website now indicates that its programming has transitioned to NRC and directs applicants to contact the NRC’s Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP), which has established a successor program to SDTC called NRC IRAP Clean Technology.

An SDTC spokesperson confirmed to BetaKit that the agency “has resumed funding eligible startups and is working to complete a smooth transition of this programming to [NRC].” In the meantime, the spokesperson said that SDTC is preparing for “a final wind-up of all operations.”

An NRC spokesperson told BetaKit that on Feb. 4, the federal research and development agency established NRC IRAP Clean Technology with a core mandate “to support innovative companies in Canada that are developing, demonstrating, and commercializing clean technologies.” 

RELATED: Champagne, Conservatives point fingers as Canadian cleantech startups suffer continued SDTC funding delays

NRC IRAP Clean Technology “is expected to begin accepting new applications early in the 2025-2026 fiscal year,” the spokesperson said. The federal fiscal year begins April 1. Until applications open again, the NRC is directing interested Canadian companies to call 1-877-994-4727 toll-free to learn more about how to access the program, which the NRC has onboarded SDTC employees to deliver.

The NRC is still transitioning active, eligible projects under SDTC to the NRC with new agreements under the NRC IRAP Clean Technology program, in a process it expects to complete this spring, the spokesperson said.

After a third-party investigation commissioned by the Government of Canada uncovered evidence of conflict-of-interest and governance issues at SDTC, in October 2023, the feds suspended SDTC from funding new projects until the agency implemented a series of corrective steps. 

In June 2024, following the release of an Auditor General of Canada report outlining similar findings and a series of changes, the feds restored SDTC’s funding with enhanced oversight and detailed plans to integrate the cleantech agency into the NRC.

RELATED: Federal government punts NRC IRAP’s merger into the Canada Innovation Corporation to 2026–2027

But as BetaKit reported last year, as of October 2024, some startups that had met their project milestones were still waiting for those funds to arrive, as the organization underwent an audit of existing projects to ensure they met its requirements. The SDTC spokesperson claims it has since resumed funding eligible startups.

The Government of Canada has outlined plans to merge both SDTC and NRC IRAP into the Canada Innovation Corporation (CIC), the launch of which has since been delayed until 2026–2027.

Meanwhile, the political outcry in response to this scandal has threatened the program’s future. With a federal election scheduled to take place before the CIC is implemented, it remains to be seen whether these plans will come to fruition. 

Some prominent Canadian tech leaders soured on the governing Liberals, who are currently in the process of choosing their next leader, while the Conservatives—who have taken to calling SDTC Canada’s “green slush fund”—have outlined their intent to scrap subsidies and use the tax code to spur innovation, should they take power.

Feature image courtesy of the National Research Council Canada.

The post SDTC funding flowing again with applications for projects under NRC IRAP to open “early” fiscal 2025–2026 first appeared on BetaKit.

It’s easy to feel stretched in a thousand different directions right now.

A lot is happening all at once as old battle lines get redrawn: socially, economically, and … geographically? Look, a White House official reportedly wants to renegotiate the Canada-US border, so no line left unexamined, I guess.

As for tech? You can read several stories below detailing how tech intersects with these battle lines and who is lining up on either side. Beyond what I wrote in November of last year and January of this year, I’ll save you my opining (please check out my conversation with AccessNow’s Maayan Ziv, however. You won’t regret listening to what she has to say).

I do want to highlight one battlefront that is easy to overlook. In February, to little fanfare, the feds rolled out a new national cybersecurity strategy. In doing some background research, I stumbled upon this quote in a separate report from the Canadian Cybersecurity Network:

“In a landscape where state-sponsored actors, cybercriminals, and opportunistic threat actors operate with increasing efficiency, the urgency to develop robust cybersecurity strategies has never been greater.”

Ever read something so nakedly true that it just slaps you in the face?

The federal strategy acknowledges a persistent threat to Canada’s economic prosperity and national security. The strategy notes Canada has been targeted because of its NATO membership and support of Ukraine.

The strategy comes with some new funding, partially to train cybersecurity specialists with AI tools, but the document is predicated on finding a way to get governments, industry, law enforcement, academia, and international allies working together.

According to the strategy, securing Canada’s digital future requires forging whole-of-society partnerships. I’ve been looking at my laptop screen all week hoping we have it in us.

Douglas Soltys
Editor-in-chief

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TOP STORIES OF THE WEEK

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DEI rollback is the “wrong direction for Canada,” open letter says

Nearly 1,000 Canadian tech leaders, investors, and workers have signed an open letter advocating for the industry to uphold the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) values some companies in the space have abandoned.

The letter notes Shopify as among the “influential tech companies” in Canada that have recently rolled back “protections and support” for underrepresented groups in tech.

“This is the wrong direction for Canada,” the letter reads.

This week, Montréal tech conference Startupfest announced it’s doubling down on DEI efforts for its 14th showing this summer, selling twice the number of Inclusion Initiative passes—which offer a 90-percent discount to founders from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds in tech—than it sold last year.

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Shopify’s latest SEC filings show potential to become US-domiciled, TD analyst warns

Shopify has listed its New York City office alongside its normally-standalone Ottawa headquarters in a 10-K filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this month, taking steps that could accelerate its potential to become domiciled in the United States (US).

First noted by TD Securities managing director Peter Haynes in a series of index bulletins, it’s the first time Shopify filed a 10-K form with the SEC. A 10-K form is required from domestic issuers while, up until now, Shopify had been filing the 40-F form used by foreign issuers.

Haynes said the changes to Shopify filings could accelerate its potential to be a US domiciled company, but also noted that it now meets the criteria to gain membership into US indices, namely the Russell 1000. 

“If an issuer thinks it can gain significant incremental index demand from US domestic indexers by switching headquarters to the US, then such a move appears to be a no brainer,” Haynes said.

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CMD Capital halts fundraising amid “tough” VC market

Toronto and Montréal-based CMD Capital has halted fundraising and paused its operations indefinitely after failing to secure anchor institutional investors for its first fund, BetaKit has learned.

“It’s a very tough market right now for the whole ecosystem,” CMD Capital co-founder and general partner David Dufresne told BetaKit in an interview. He said CMD Capital saw “little to no appetite” to invest in first-time funds from institutional backers, due to factors including low limited partners liquidity and existing portfolio VC funds returning for re-ups.

This week, Montréal’s Holt Xchange made a rare move for a venture capital firm, announcing that it decided to raise money for its FinTech seed fund through the equity crowdfunding platform FrontFundr.

When asked whether Holt Xchange’s decision to raise capital in this way was informed by today’s challenging VC fundraising market conditions, founding general partner Jan Christopher Arp said “not exactly.”

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Temu opens marketplace to Canadian vendors as ‘buy Canadian’ push picks up

Chinese online marketplace Temu is now allowing Canadian vendors to sell their wares on its platform, just as the political climate is pushing more Canadian consumers to buy domestically.

This marks the first time Canadian businesses will be able to sell Canadian-made products through Temu’s online marketplace. Previously, Canadian consumers could purchase discount goods from Temu, which were primarily manufactured in China.

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Avitia launches AI-powered cancer diagnostics platform with assets from defunct Imagia Canexia

Montréal-based healthtech startup Avitia has launched its cancer diagnostics platform and closed a $5-million seed round, almost two years after purchasing assets from Imagia Canexia Health, which went bankrupt in 2023.

The seed round was entirely backed by Imagia Canexia’s former creditor and investor, PacBridge Capital Partners. The two startups share a CEO in James Lumsdaine, who is also a partner at the Hong Kong and Vancouver-based PacBridge.

Like its predecessor, Avitia is hoping to make cancer diagnostics more accessible and faster to access. It offers genetic screening for cancer mutations on-site, eliminating the need for cancer centres to send out lab tests to third parties, which can be costly and time-consuming.

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Sanctuary AI, Nexera, and Novarc make deals and developments in busy week for Vancouver robotics companies

It’s been a busy week for Vancouver-based robotics companies, as Nexera Robotics, Sanctuary AI, and Novarc Technologies raised funding, made developments to their tech, and struck new partnerships.

Nexera Robotics, which develops robotic grasping technology, secured $4.5 million from BDC Capital’s Industrial Innovation Venture Fund, Defined, and RiSC Capital. 

Meanwhile Sanctuary AI has integrated new tactile sensor technology into its Phoenix line of robots. Sanctuary said the integration helps pilots teleoperate the robots with more precision and accuracy.

Finally, Novarc Technologies has struck a partnership with Appleton, Wis.-based arc welding manufacturer Miller Electric to develop artificial intelligence-powered adaptive welding solutions powered for Miller’s Copilot collaborative welding line.

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Using AI, University of Toronto team claims development of strongest nanomaterial yet

University of Toronto researchers have developed an “unparalleled” nanomaterial lattice they say combines the strength of carbon steel with the density of styrofoam, making it both the lightest and strongest material of its kind to date. The team claims the material can support over a million times its mass, but is still delicate enough to sit on top of a soap bubble.

The study’s authors see a wide range of potential uses. Nanomaterials have already been used for lightweight aircraft, solar energy systems, and other technologies where they can improve durability and performance. It’s estimated the nanolattices could save 80 to 100 litres of fuel per year in addition to reducing material use. 

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CANADIAN DEALS & DOLLARS

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• CAN –  Feds disperse $39.2M across 22 orgs for CanCode
• VAN/TOR – MerchKit closes $2M pre-seed round
• VAN – Opal secures $1.5M USD in pre-seed funding
• WPG – SkipTheDishes parent to be acquired in $6.2B deal
• TOR – Promise Robotics opens new factory to boost housing supply
• TOR – Vault rebrands to Venn following $21.5M Series A round
• OTT – Rewind inks partnership with software giant Monday
• LAV – Cleantech startup Dispersa secures $5.8M in seed funding
• MTL – TandemLaunch closes $37M Fund IV for deep tech startups
• MTL – Paperplane Therapeutics raises $1.5M

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The BetaKit Podcast — Rejecting the rejection of DEIA with AccessNow’s Maayan Ziv

“It feels like my inclusion was optional, and that is a scary message to be told. ‘We were doing you a favour by letting you in the room.’”

AccessNow founder and CEO Maayan Ziv has been working in the accessibility space for over a decade—long enough to know that progress is slow and takes a fight. With DEIA currently being blamed for “everything from bad business decisions to plane crashes,” Ziv joins to explain why she feels the fight is “slipping through our fingers.”

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Feature image courtesy Tom Carnegie via Unsplash.

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We first talked to Maayan Ziv on The BetaKit Podcast almost five years ago about the perils of bad design.

It was right after her company, AccessNow, had won a Governor General’s Innovation Award. Not much of the tech we use every day is well designed, and Ziv noted that accessibility can be an inclusive design tool: a concept that allows people to be included and ensure their needs are met.

Think of it all as DEIA, or diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. It’s a bit of a loaded term and Ziv unpacks it this week on the podcast, claiming that accessibility is not often included in conversations about inclusion.

“It feels like my inclusion was optional, and that is a scary message to be told. ‘We were doing you a favour by letting you in the room.’”

We are also in a time when the concept of DEI is under attack. Or as Ziv put it in a recent LinkedIn post, “DEIA is being blamed for everything from bad business decisions to plane crashes.” The scapegoatting has been particularly loud from our neighbours to the south, with documents obtained by The Washington Post detailing plans the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) developed to purge federal agencies of DEI workers and offices.

And Canada? Canada doesn’t have a DOGE (yet), but some tech leaders are calling for it. That development, alongside Canada’s largest tech company dismantling its Equitable Commerce team and DEI-focused programs, has prompted others in Canadian tech to draft and sign an open letter explicitly stating that a DEI rollback is the “wrong direction for Canada.”

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Back to Ziv, who has been working in the accessibility space for more than a decade. As she says, “long enough to know that even the smallest progress takes a fight.” I asked her back on the podcast to discuss why she feels that fight is “slipping through our fingers,” and her response to governments, corporations, and fellow tech leaders currently sending the message that inclusion is optional.

Let’s dig in.

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Edited by Darian MacDonald. Feature image courtesy Maayan Ziv via LinkedIn.

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Montréal tech conference Startupfest is doubling down on its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts and bringing back two sub-festivals as it gears up for its 14th showing this summer. 

Startupfest’s 2025 edition will take place from July 9 to 11 at Montréal’s Grand Quay.

The festival is selling 200 Inclusion Initiative passes, twice the number it sold last year, which offer a 90-percent discount to founders from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds in tech, including women and racialized people. Founders must apply before March 27 to be eligible for the discounted passes. 

Sponsors are also invited to contribute to the Inclusion Initiative through funding tickets, offering mentorship opportunities, or designing programming.

Startupfest’s 2025 edition will take place from July 9 to 11 at Montréal’s Grand Quay. Headlining speakers have yet to be officially unveiled, but BetaKit can exclusively report that they will include Elizabeth Yin, co-founder and general partner at San Francisco-based Hustle Fund;  Shingai Manjengwa, senior director of education and development, talent and ecosystem at Mila Québec; and Ravi Belani, CEO of Alchemist Accelerator in Menlo Park, Calif.

Rebecca Croll, director of content at Startupfest, told BetaKit that more than half of its confirmed speakers are women and 33 percent are LGBTQIA+ and/or non-white.

Croll said that diverse programming and the Inclusion Initiative “makes sure the playing field is levelled.”

“It’s been important to us since well before it was the cool thing to do,” Croll said.  “It’s always been part of our DNA.”

Startupfest introduced the Inclusion Initiative in 2011, well before a spate of companies debuted corporate DEI initiatives in 2020, Croll said. 

RELATED: DEI rollback is the “wrong direction for Canada,” open letter says

In 2018, Startupfest began a conscious initiative to increase diversity across its programming at FWD50, its Ottawa-based annual public-sector tech conference. Since programming at FWD50 is largely determined by sponsors, the organizing team introduced a requirement for half of speakers put forward by sponsors to be women. The proportion of women speakers improved from 19 percent to 48 percent the following year.  

In a LinkedIn post announcing the expansion of its Inclusion Initiative, Startupfest CEO Philippe Telio called the abandonment of DEI initiatives “astounding.”

“I’ve come to expect American ‘oligarch’ tech bros quietly rolling back their commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion. But Canadian organizations? I thought we were better than that,” Telio wrote. 

What In the Tech, a community resource organization for Canada’s tech industry, published an open letter this week calling for Canadian tech to uphold its values of diversity and inclusion. It has now been signed by nearly 1,000 members of the tech ecosystem at all levels.

The letter made reference to e-commerce giant Shopify winding down its DEI efforts. In recent weeks, Shopify has dismantled its Equitable Commerce team, which was responsible for social impact initiatives. Coinciding with the layoffs, Shopify quietly shuttered its Build Native program for Indigenous entrepreneurs in January and locked a Slack channel for Black business owners on Feb. 1, the start of Black History Month.

Two sub-festivals are returning this year. HardtechFest, organized by Montréal-based incubator Garage&co, is hosting its second edition on July 9. The event is geared towards hardware looking to showcase their products and connect with financing opportunities.

OceanFest, presented by Canada’s Ocean Startup Project and Canada’s Ocean Supercluster, is running for its third edition on July 10. Last year, the Ocean Startup Project announced $8 million in funding for the Canadian marine technology industry. 

Startupfest will also run its Women in Tech Bootcamp, a half-day event for women founders and tech executives to build and connect with resources to scale their companies. Black, female, and 2SLGBTQIA+ entrepreneurs will also have the chance to pitch for $100,000 in investment prizes.

Disclosure: BetaKit majority owner Good Future is the family office of two former Shopify leaders, Arati Sharma and Satish Kanwar.

Feature image courtesy Startupfest.

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In a rare move for a venture capital (VC) firm, Montréal’s Holt Xchange has decided to raise money for its FinTech seed fund through the equity crowdfunding platform FrontFundr.

Holt Xchange’s FrontFundr page indicates that the early-stage investor is raising capital for the final $2.5 million USD towards its $10-million target for its existing fund. The firm plans to use any capital raised to provide follow-on support to its top portfolio companies.

Holt Xchange plans to use the money raised to double down on its winners.

According to the FrontFundr page, Holt Xchange has secured nearly $7.5 million to date from 86 limited partners (LPs) for Holt Xchange Inaugural Fund I, with 80 days left in the campaign as of press time. Holt Xchange’s FrontFundr does not specify how much of this amount the firm has raised through FrontFundr.

“We have many breakout portfolio companies raising their next larger rounds of financing and we want to capitalize on advantageous terms (i.e. follow-on rights, options, warrants, etc.),” Holt Xchange founding general partner Jan Christopher Arp told BetaKit over email. “Additionally, we’ve proven that obtaining investors in this manner leads to more value for the fund and associated portfolio companies, given the [approximately] 200 deals we’ve now closed with our network.”

Arp declined to disclose how much Holt Xchange had raised for the fund prior to this campaign, how much of the fund’s existing capital had been deployed to date, or how much the firm has raised through FrontFundr relative to other sources.

The move, which was first reported by Global Fintech Insider, comes amid challenging VC fundraising market conditions for the firms that invest directly in Canada’s technology startups.

Arp claimed that the campaign is “not technically a crowdfunding round” because the firm is raising exclusively from accredited investors, with a $20,000 minimum investment required for partnership units. He noted FrontFundr is a licensed exempt market dealer (EMD) and claimed it is “pretty common” for funds to raise capital through licensed dealers.

EMDs can be a helpful means of targeting high-net-worth individuals who are not traditional institutional LPs. Multiple Canadian VCs told BetaKit it is common for VC funds to use EMDs to raise capital, but noted they are often more private about it.

Arp said that approximately half of the fund’s LPs are professional investors like family offices, institutional funds, wealth managers, and power angels. A quarter consists of established entrepreneurs with exits under their belt, and the final quarter is made up of executive-level professionals.

RELATED: CMD Capital halts fundraising amid “tough” VC market

After heavy investment in Canadian VC while the market was hot, LPs have become more cautious and selective. This has led to smaller funds, longer fundraising timelines, and turnover among Canadian VC firms. Earlier this week, fellow early-stage Canadian VC CMD Capital halted fundraising for its first fund and paused its operations indefinitely in light of the ongoing downturn.

Industry leaders BetaKit spoke with last summer predicted more challenges across Canadian VC, especially for emerging managers, as LPs have focused their dollars on established VCs and slowed down or paused commitments to newer firms. That left first-time managers, who tend to concentrate on pre-seed and seed stages, “at the back of the line,” Isaac Souweine, partner with Vancouver’s Pender Ventures, said at the time. 

Asked whether Holt Xchange’s decision to raise capital in this way was informed by today’s challenging VC fundraising market conditions, Arp said “not exactly.”

“This particular fund is not appropriate for institutional investors given its size, so retail investors are considered a better fit,” Arp said.

RELATED: GPs and LPs at Startupfest expect gradual recovery with 2024 on pace for worst year for Canadian VC in a decade

He did indicate, however, that Canada’s lack of risk capital from institutional LPs was a factor. If the country had more, Arp said, the firm might have considered other fundraising strategies.

Asked whether Holt Xchange previously explored fundraising privately from family offices or existing investors before going this route, Arp said, “We believe in diversifying investor acquisition strategies, thus this method is one of several we are pursuing simultaneously.”

Holt Xchange was founded back in 2018 as a FinTech-focused VC fund named after Québec industrialist Sir Herbert Holt, who helped build the Canadian Pacific Railway and create Hydro-Québec. Launched that year, the Holt Xchange Inaugural Fund I had an initial focus on FinTech startups globally at the pre-seed and seed stages, with an eye towards Canada. Today, the fund has five years remaining in its lifespan. 

In 2022, Holt Xchange launched its second fund, the IntersXion Fund, which targets companies in Web3, sports media, and entertainment.

Holt Xchange’s FrontFundr page indicates the firm has invested in 30 companies to date across 10 countries, and has $14 million in assets under management (AUM). Holt Xchange’s portfolio currently includes Vancouver-based insurance claims monitoring company Owl.co, which it claims is now valued at $250 million, and Toronto Islamic finance startup Manzil, which Holt Xchange claims has $100 million in AUM. 

Arp shared some more insight into the firm’s operations in a LinkedIn post last month, including how it generates additional revenue through corporate partnerships, manages special purpose vehicles on behalf of some portfolio companies, and works with EMDs to obtain assets like warrants for successful efforts raising capital for startups in its portfolio.

Feature image courtesy Holt Xchange via FrontFundr.

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Canada’s largest tech company has recently made steps that could accelerate its potential to become domiciled in the United States (US).

Timed to its fourth-quarter earnings report earlier this month, Shopify listed its New York City office alongside its normally-standalone Ottawa headquarters in a 10-K filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 

“It is officially defcon-1 for Canada’s capital markets.”

Peter Haynes

First noted by TD Securities managing director Peter Haynes in a series of index bulletins, it’s the first time Shopify filed a 10-K form with the SEC. A 10-K form is required from domestic issuers while, up until now, Shopify had been filing the 40-F form used by foreign issuers. 

Shopify spokesperson Alex Lyons told BetaKit in an email statement that Shopify is a global company, and chose to voluntarily file the 10-K form “in order to align our disclosures more closely with other software peers we believe our investors are familiar with.”

Haynes also noted that Shopify added a US Employer Identification Number to its filing, and changed how it reports its segmented assets. According to Haynes, Shopify chose to include its current assets as part of its asset calculation in this year’s filing, while last year it only included long-term assets. The change flipped the company’s geographic breakdown from approximately 86 percent Canadian to approximately 78 percent US-based.

Haynes said the Shopify filings could accelerate its potential to be a US domiciled company, but also noted that it now meets the criteria to gain membership into US indices, namely the Russell 1000. Haynes added the index would result in approximately 52.2 million shares, or $6 billion, of demand from Russell indexers and would likely increase the percentage of Shopify stock traded in the US by 5 percent in the long term. 

Haynes noted that Shopify’s moves are part of an “existential crisis for Canada,” as other Canadian companies like Barrick Gold and TFI International follow Brookfield Asset Management in explicitly becoming US companies. 

“With three of Canada’s largest companies now indicating—either vocally or quietly— intentions to be viewed as a US company, it is officially defcon-1 for Canada’s capital markets,” Haynes said. 

Shopify did not respond to questions from BetaKit regarding whether its SEC reporting changes are part of a plan to redomicile as a US company. 

Such a decision by the country’s largest tech company would be shocking to many in Canadian tech. After US President Donald Trump kicked off a trade war with Canada, Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke criticized the implementation of tariffs, writing that he loves Canada and wants it to thrive. 

“I built Canada’s biggest tech company here because I know it’s a special place,” Lütke wrote.

Key Shopify leaders like Lütke and president Harley Finkelstein also recently joined 28 Canadian tech entrepreneurs supporting Build Canada, a new platform for entrepreneurs to share policy recommendations for boosting Canadian exports, increasing productivity, and tax reforms. Build Canada was created by recently departed Shopify VP Daniel Debow.  

However, according to Haynes, such corporate decisions are not about heart strings.

“If an issuer thinks it can gain significant incremental index demand from US domestic indexers by switching headquarters to the US, then such a move appears to be a no brainer,” Haynes said. 

RELATED: Black merchants disheartened after Shopify guts another Equitable Commerce program

At the same time Shopify’s leadership is claiming a love for Canada, the company has displayed behaviours some would consider anti-Canadian. Shopify’s strong fourth-quarter earnings call earlier this month was overshadowed by reaction to Kanye West selling a Nazi t-shirt via his Shopify-powered storefront Yeezy.com, which was taken down after nearly two days without public comment on the matter. Reporting from The Logic indicates Shopify took the store down due to the risk of fraud, rather than the Nazi swastika t-shirt being sold. 

Shopify has also been actively dismantling its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the new year, quietly shutting down its Build Native program for Indigenous entrepreneurs in January and its Build Black program earlier this month. 

Businesswoman and investor Arlene Dickinson recently denounced Shopify’s rollback of DEI initiatives. In a LinkedIn post, Dickinson said the shift is disappointing because Shopify “built its company in Canada on the idea that anyone, anywhere, could start and grow a business.”

The changes coincide with US President Donald Trump’s executive order against DEI, calling the efforts “immense public waste and shameful discrimination,” which inspired large American tech companies like Google, Meta, and Amazon to scale back DEI programs and language, according to TIME. 

Shopify was specifically named in an open letter signed by over 350 Canadian tech leaders stating that such DEI rollbacks are the “wrong direction for Canada.”

Disclosure: BetaKit majority owner Good Future is the family office of two former Shopify leaders, Arati Sharma and Satish Kanwar.

Feature image courtesy Shopify.

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It’s been a busy week for Vancouver-based robotics companies as Nexera Robotics, Sanctuary AI, and Novarc Technologies raised funding, made developments to their tech, and struck new partnerships. 

Nexera Robotics, which develops robotic grasping technology, secured $4.5 million from BDC Capital’s Industrial Innovation Venture Fund, Defined, and RiSC Capital. Nexera did not disclose who led the round, and indicated there were more undisclosed backers in a LinkedIn post. BetaKit has reached out to Nexera for more details but did not hear back by press time. 

Nexera says its proprietary solution, NeuraGrasp, tackles an elusive problem in automation: the ability to grasp a wide variety of objects in dynamic environments. The company claims NeuraGrasp can “accommodate an unparalleled range of weights, sizes and materials.” Nexera will use the funding on research and development, as well as market expansion, the company said in a statement. 

RELATED: Promise Robotics opens second factory to help increase Canadian housing supply

“[Nexera’s] technology aligns perfectly with the future of pick & place robots, and we believe it has the potential to transform how many industries will approach robotic handling challenges,” BDC Capital Industrial Innovation Venture Fund managing partner Aditya Aggarwal said in a statement.

While Nexera’s robotics get a grip, Sanctuary AI’s robots are getting touchy. The startup, which focuses on creating general-purpose, human-like robots, has integrated new tactile sensor technology into its Phoenix line of robots. Sanctuary said the integration helps pilots teleoperate the robots with more precision and accuracy. Rather than relying on the visual feedback of an object moving on a video feed, the sensors can detect pressure on the robot’s fingertips, making it easier to perform delicate tasks. 

RELATED: Forcen closes $8.35 million in funding to develop its touch-tech for robots

Founded in 2018, Sanctuary AI closed a $75.5-million CAD Series A round in 2022, after which it received $30 million from Canada’s Strategic Innovation Fund and a strategic investment from BDC Capital’s Thrive Venture Fund and InBC, bringing its total funding to over $140 million. This past November, BNN Bloomberg reported that Sanctuary AI made layoffs after the departure of founding CEO Geordie Rose, who was replaced by chief commercial officer James Wells. 

Finally, Novarc Technologies, which specializes in automated welding equipment using artificial intelligence (AI), has struck a partnership with Appleton, Wis.-based arc welding manufacturer Miller Electric. As part of the partnership, Miller and Novarc will develop adaptive welding solutions powered by AI for Miller’s Copilot collaborative welding line. 

Novarc raised a $20-million USD Series A round in July 2023 to expand its spool-welding collaborative robot, or “cobot,” offering, and launch its robotic vision system for automated welding. In September 2024, Novarc launched the second generation of its NovEye Autonomy vision processing system, which it claims can fully automate the pipe welding process. 

Feature image courtesy Sanctuary AI.

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Montréal-based venture studio TandemLaunch has closed its fourth fund for early-stage deep technology startups at more than $37 million CAD.

The Government of Canada’s Venture Capital Catalyst Initiative (VCCI) committed $6.5 million to TandemLaunch through its inclusive growth stream as part of its final close, joining existing Fund IV limited partners (LPs) that include leads BDC Capital and Fonds de solidarité FTQ, as well as over 30 undisclosed family offices and angels from across Canada and abroad.

Founded in 2010, TandemLaunch builds and backs startups in artificial intelligence (AI), computer vision, internet of things, sustainability, and advanced sensors. 

To date, TandemLaunch has invested in cleantech startup Agapyo and AI company Waveshaper via Fund IV.

Through its fourth fund, TandemLaunch aims to fuel the launch of 15 new Montréal tech companies. The company creation and venture capital (VC) firm has invested in two businesses to date via Fund IV: cleantech startup Agapyo, which is developing a compostable plastic replacement, and AI audio processing company Waveshaper.

TandemLaunch announced its first close of Fund IV in July 2024 at $27 million. At the time, founder, managing partner and CEO Helge Seetzen told BetaKit that TandemLaunch hoped to raise up to $40 million for Fund IV by September. 

Like many other Canadian VC firms, TandemLaunch took longer than expected to close its fund, holding its final close in December.  TandemLaunch associate Marko Gojgic told BetaKit over email that once the firm’s existing LPs heard about VCCI, they wanted to add more capital, which took some time. According to Gojgic, in addition to VCCI, some existing backers ultimately increased their position, and a few new, undisclosed smaller LPs joined Fund IV as part of its final close.

While TandemLaunch ultimately fell slightly short of $40 million, Gojgic claimed its goal was to raise between $30 million and $40 million for Fund IV. “We landed where we wanted,” he said.

Amid today’s challenging VC market, LPs have become more cautious and selective, which has led to smaller funds and longer fundraising timelines for the firms that invest directly in Canada’s tech startups. Just this week, fellow early-stage Canadian VC firm CMD Capital halted fundraising and paused its operations indefinitely, citing market conditions.

In a statement, Canada’s minister of small business Rechie Valdez cited TandemLaunch’s “proven track record of transforming breakthrough university technologies into high-potential startups” as one of the factors that drew the federal government to invest in the firm via VCCI, which is managed by BDC Capital.

To date, TandemLaunch claims it has created more than 30 successful ventures collectively valued at over $700 million and currently employing close to 700 tech workers in Québec. This is down from the over 800 TandemLaunch reported last year, a discrepancy Gojgic attributed to the prior number including core TandemLaunch employees, whereas its latest announcement accounts only for portfolio company staff.

RELATED: TandemLaunch secures $27-million first close of Fund IV to build more Montréal deep-tech startups

TandemLaunch’s portfolio includes Sportlogiq, Wrnch, Soundskrit, Mirametrix, and HaiLa Technologies, among others.

TandemLaunch specializes in university tech transfers, scouting for interesting intellectual property (IP) at universities, acquiring that IP, building a team, and then creating and incubating a startup to commercialize it, taking an equity stake in the company. 

Seetzen currently leads the firm alongside longtime managing partner Émilie Boutros. 

As the venture studio model—where organizations create, build, and provide early capital to startups in-house—has become more common in recent years, Seetzen has argued TandemLaunch’s real differentiator has become its international approach to intake and talent.

Speaking to TandemLaunch’s revised 15-startup target for Fund IV—a slight increase from the more than a dozen that the firm said it planned to launch last summer—Gojgic said, “We think we can be more ambitious … we have a lot of great opportunities in the pipeline.”

UPDATE (02/28/25): This story has been updated to include additional information and commentary from TandemLaunch.

Feature image courtesy TandemLaunch.

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Ottawa-based Rewind has struck a partnership agreement to provide its data backup and recovery service to users of workflow software giant Monday.com. 

Rewind said in a statement that it worked with Monday.com to develop an integrated backup solution to help enterprise teams securely back up and recover business data in the event of accidental deletions, cyber incidents, or data corruption, while meeting security compliance standards such as SOC 2 and ISO 27001. The company says the integrated backup solution will be available on the Monday.com marketplace in the second quarter of 2025 with a fee for customers who choose to install it. 

Rewind CEO Mike Potter said he had been “waiting for this day for 10 years.”

Monday.com is a cloud platform that provides users with no-code tools to create applications and project management software. The Tel Aviv, Israel-based company claims it has more than 225,000 customers, including Universal Pictures, Coca-Cola, and makeup brand Glossier.

Monday.com debuted on the NASDAQ stock exchange in 2021 at a $7.6 billion USD valuation, which has since grown to a $15.3 billion USD valuation. 

Rewind CEO Mike Potter said in a LinkedIn post that he had been “waiting for this day for 10 years,” and that when Monday.com tech partnerships lead Amir Cohen reached out, Rewind jumped at the opportunity. In an email statement to BetaKit, Potter said that, unlike a simple app integration, this partnership involves the joint development of a tailored backup solution, which sets a precedent for future exclusive collaborations with software-as-a-service (SaaS) platforms. 

The partnership could mark a turning point for the data protection company, which raised more than $100-million CAD during the pandemic-fuelled rise of Shopify and other e-commerce platforms, but in turn experienced a slowdown that forced the company to revise its fundraising plans and lay off more than a quarter of its staff in 2023. 

RELATED: Rewind cuts 27 percent of staff as its growth slows in parallel to Shopify

Potter told BetaKit that the company’s headcount has not materially changed since the layoffs, but it has seen “notable traction” with new customers and partners as it moves up-market. 

“This Monday.com partnership proves that our focus on SaaS backups is resonating and offers a clear indication for what’s next for Rewind and our growth,” Potter said. 

He added that there are no immediate plans to raise external funding, but that Rewind is always open to discussing potential partnerships to fuel its growth. 

Founded in 2015 by Potter and CTO James Ciesielski, Rewind began as a  backup app for the Shopify App Store, but went on to support a number of platforms, including GitHub, Jira, Confluence, Trello, Big Commerce, and QuickBooks. Rewind enables customers to follow the “3-2-1 backup rule,” which dictates making three copies of user data on two different clouds, with one of those backups held outside of the software provider.

UPDATE (02/27/2025): This story has been updated with information and commentary from Rewind CEO Mike Potter.

CORRECTION (02/28/2025): A previous story inaccurately stated that Rewind stores user data following the “3-2-1 backup rule.” This story has been corrected to note that Rewind enables its customers to follow the 3-2-1 backup rule. BetaKit regrets the error.

Feature image courtesy Rewind via LinkedIn. 

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Former leaders from technology companies like EventMobi and Voiceflow have closed $2 million CAD ($1.4 million USD) in pre-seed funding to help retailers manage product listings more efficiently.

Vancouver and Toronto-based Merchkit aims to tackle manual retail merchandising and product catalogue management with the help of artificial intelligence (AI). 

The startup is building an AI-powered software platform designed to help retailers, marketplaces, and brands onboard, launch, and optimize product listings at scale through automation.

“Our history and ability to execute in this is unmatched.”

Bijan Vaez, Merchkit

Raised via simple agreement for future equity in Q4 2024, Merchkit’s pre-seed round marks the startup’s first financing to date. It was led by San Francisco’s Afore Capital and Antler Canada, with support from undisclosed strategic angels from the retail and tech sectors.

CEO Bijan Vaez, who founded Merchkit in 2022, is the co-founder and former CTO of Toronto event management software company EventMobi and former CTO of Toronto e-commerce startup Browze. He currently works as a venture partner with Antler.

Vaez told BetaKit that he launched Merchkit after experiencing the challenges of manually managing over 300,000 stock keeping units at Browze. 

“I saw how our merchandising processes were not only inefficient but also stifling innovation, so I set out to harness AI to automate these time-consuming tasks,” he said. “This shift allows teams to focus on strategic growth rather than being bogged down by routine grunt work.”

Through its software, Merchkit aims to eliminate manual bottlenecks in merchandising and automate product data entry, content creation, and catalogue management, so as to help retailers reduce product launch timelines and operational costs.

Vaez said Merchkit’s main competition is traditional product information platforms that serve as “static data repositories.” He views the startup’s use of AI to automate and optimize product catalogue management as a differentiator.

RELATED: Ecomtent closes $1.15-million pre-seed round for AI-powered content generator

According to Vaez, Merchkit’s platform allows customers to review “the confidence levels and rationale” behind AI-driven decisions, and the company continuously monitors and fine-tunes its algorithms based on customer feedback to ensure that its systems are effective, reliable, and secure.

Merchkit’s founding team is rounded out by two other people who previously held leadership roles at AI startups with close ties to Toronto, including Rob Hayes—formerly head of product for Voiceflow and Ada—and ex-ContentFly CTO Vasil Damyanov.

Vaez noted that this trio brings experience delivering AI solutions for Fortune 500 organizations and working for marketplace and retail firms. “Our history and ability to execute in this is unmatched,” he said.

Merchkit, which counts Lowe’s among its customers, has landed a handful of enterprise contracts to date and begun establishing a presence with furniture, appliance, and apparel retailers.

The startup says it plans to use this capital to accelerate product development and add five more employees in AI development, data engineering, and customer success roles to its three-person team.

Feature image courtesy Merchkit.

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Montréal-based healthtech startup Avitia has launched its cancer diagnostics platform and closed a $5-million seed round, almost two years after purchasing assets from Imagia Canexia Health, which went bankrupt in 2023. 

“Avitia believes that all patients deserve access to advanced, cost-effective testing, regardless of geographic or economic constraints.”

James Lumsdaine

The seed round was entirely backed by Imagia Canexia’s former creditor and investor, PacBridge Capital Partners. The two startups share a CEO in James Lumsdaine, who is also a partner at the Hong Kong and Vancouver-based PacBridge. 

Avitia aims to bring its virtual cancer diagnostic platform powered by machine learning to more patients, building on the technology developed by Imagia Canexia. The artificial intelligence (AI) integration was developed in collaboration with Mila, Montréal’s foremost AI institute. 

Like its predecessor, Avitia is hoping to make cancer diagnostics more accessible and faster to access. It offers genetic screening for cancer mutations on-site, eliminating the need for cancer centres to send out lab tests to third parties, which can be costly and time-consuming.

“Avitia believes that all patients deserve access to advanced, cost-effective testing, regardless of geographic or economic constraints,” Lumsdaine said. 

Canexia (formerly Contextual Genomics) was founded in 2012 to develop genetic screening assays for cancer treatment selection and disease monitoring. Canexia merged with Imagia, a digital medical solutions provider focused on data privacy, in 2022. 

RELATED: Reverb Therapeutics closes $17-million seed round led by Amplitude Ventures

Lumsdaine took over as CEO of Imagia Canexia in November 2022, according to his LinkedIn, after PacBridge was already an investor. Imagia Canexia filed for bankruptcy in August 2023. According to bankruptcy documents, Imagia Canexia owed PacBridge $3.1 million when it filed for insolvency.

Canadian VCs BetaKit spoke with indicated Avitia’s investor structure is uncommon, and pointed to conflict of interest concerns as Lumsdaine is both a partner at the firm investing and Avitia’s CEO.

In an interview with BetaKit, Lumsdaine claimed that this arrangement does not represent a conflict of interest because PacBridge is currently Avitia’s sole investor, and said that PacBridge is “fully supportive of the arrangement.” However, he said that the issue will have to be revisited as Avitia looks to bring on more investors. That could mean making changes to the board or recusing himself from certain decisions.

According to Lumsdaine, the Avitia platform efficiently sifts through and analyzes genetic screening data, alleviating the burden on oncologists to pinpoint the “signal from the noise.” The platform then uses machine learning to match patients to a list of potential treatments, taking the patient’s profile and location into account. The oncologist can use this to inform treatment options. 

Avitia uses next-generation sequencing (NGS) to detect cancer-causing mutations in a patient’s genome. The popularity of NGS in the cancer diagnostic space has grown over the past decade, as the technique has become more affordable and efficient.

The healthtech company plans to use the capital to expand beyond North American and Asian markets and add new capabilities to its virtual platform. Avitia claims that its technology has been used in over 40,000 cancer diagnostic tests, performed by its partners. 

In addition to Mila, Avitia has partnered with the Gynecologic Cancer Initiative, Calgary-based diagnostic platform OncoHelix, and the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute. 

Lumsdaine said that broader economic headwinds, including a “horrible financing environment,” led to the bankruptcy. He added that Imagia Canexia was on track to profitability at the time. According to a trustee report, the company struggled to achieve profitability and was unable to raise sufficient capital. However, interest from partners already using the platform led Lumsdaine to consider continuing the mission, the CEO said. 

RELATED: Federal government launches $175.1 million Canadian Genomics Strategy to advance sector commercialization

This time around, the CEO said that Avitia is operating with a leaner team of seven employees and taking advantage of partnerships within Québec to grow the business, including with non-profit organization Genome Québec. 

Avitia’s diagnostic technology has shown promising results for identifying recurrences in certain types of cancers, according to Dr. Jessica McAlpine, an oncologist at the University of British Columbia who has collaborated with the company. In a recent study of 44 patients, Avitia’s NGS and tech platform allowed researchers to identify the recurrence of endometrial and ovarian cancers earlier than traditional methods. Three of the study’s authors previously worked for Imagia Canexia Health.

Avitia is hoping to establish a new national program to roll out diagnostic tests, similar to Canexia Health’s Project ACTT, which was supported by the BC government’s Digital Technology Supercluster.

With files from Josh Scott. Feature image courtesy Avitia.

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Montréal-based Paperplane Therapeutics has closed $1.5 million CAD in seed funding to manage pain and anxiety at the medical and dental offices with therapeutic virtual reality (VR) games. 

The all-equity round, which took the form of a simple agreement for future equity (SAFE), was led by Montréal-based healthtech investor Glen Ventures, with participation from  the Province of Québec’s investment vehicle Investissement Québec, the Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation (CABHI), Cedars-Sinai Intellectual Property Company, Anges Québec, and Aventure Capital. Glen Ventures gained a board seat as a result of the round.

Paperplane’s VR games distract patients with virtual monsters that aren’t as scary as getting their teeth cleaned.

Founded in 2019, Paperplane provides commercially-available VR headsets and a controller loaded with its gaming software to treat patients experiencing pain or anxiety in healthcare settings, such as the doctor’s office or the dentist. Paperplane positions its offering as a drug-free alternative to sedatives like nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas.

Prior to this latest funding round, which closed in November, Paperplane had secured $1 million CAD in non-dilutive grants and subsidies.

Designed for patients of all ages, with a particular emphasis on pediatric care, Paperplane’s VR gaming software aims to improve patient comfort by essentially distracting them with virtual monsters that aren’t as scary as getting their teeth cleaned or getting a needle. The company says its Headstill technology helps patients stay fully engaged with VR games while keeping their heads completely still, ensuring stability during procedures.

“As an emergency physician, I have seen firsthand the lack of options available for managing pain and anxiety,” Paperplane co-founder and CEO Dr. Jean-Simon Fortin said in a statement. “Today, I’m proud to see our VR technology filling that gap, providing healthcare professionals with a more effective way to support their patients.” 

The funding will allow the company to expand its reach across North America and Europe through a strategic partnership with French company HypnoVR, Paperplane said in a statement. Fortin told BetaKit in an email statement that the part of the strategic partnership involves distributing Paperplane’s products in Europe as a complement to HypnoVR’s similar offering.

Fortin said that Paperplane currently has 30 dental clinics and 20 hospitals in North America as clients or research partners, including Cedars-Sinai and Mayo Clinic in the United States, and CHEO and SickKids in Canada.

Paperplane’s lead investor, Glen Ventures, landed $5 million CAD from Investissement Québec’s Eurêka investment fund this past December. Glen Ventures targets pre-seed and seed-stage healthtech companies, writing cheques ranging from $250,000 to $1 million with reserved capital for extensions.

UPDATE (02/27/2025): This story has been updated with information and commentary from Paperplane Therapeutics CEO Dr. Jean-Simon Fortin.

Feature image courtesy Paperplane Therapeutics.

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Toronto-based manufacturing startup Promise Robotics, which makes home builder robots and hopes to help increase Canada’s scarce housing supply, has unveiled plans to open its second factory, a 60,000 sq. ft. facility, at an existing warehouse in Calgary.

The plant is expected to start production in the summer, and the company hopes to make up to 1 million sq. ft. of housing per year. Promise’s current factory is based in Edmonton. In both cases, the company claims to support the local economy by drawing on regional labour, materials, and supply chains.

Promise claims that a single-family unit can be built in about six hours with the help of its robots.

Promise Robotics’ strategy revolves around a factory-as-a-service offsite construction model. Builders can turn blueprints into manufacturing instructions for robots, which produce homes that are ready to assemble onsite. The production platforms can roll out at existing sites or temporary offsite locations, and make both single-family and multiplex homes.

The robots theoretically help companies build houses more quickly and efficiently, but without the cost and technical knowledge hurdles that tend to prevent adoption of automation. Promise claims that, with the help of its robots, a single-family unit can be built in about six hours. That’s about 70 percent faster than the time it takes using conventional methods.

The second factory represents a significant expansion for Promise. In an interview with BetaKit last year, CEO Ramtin Attar said he and CTO Reza Nasseri founded the company in 2021 to address the homebuilding challenges they saw even before the housing crisis began dominating the news cycle. In October 2023, the startup secured $15 million USD in Series A funding to accelerate its efforts. Attar noted at the time that the second factory was likely to be ready “early,” and that Promise was securing more projects.

Since the company’s inception, the housing shortage has become acute. Statistics Canada reported a record high of 650,000 home construction workers in 2023, but the output of 240,267 new homes was “below” the potential 400,000 for the year, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

The federal government has since outlined a housing plan meant to construct 3.87 million new homes by 2031, or 2 million more than the CMHC’s forecast. If fully implemented, the strategy would offer loans for building efforts (including apartments), funding for affordable housing, improved renters’ protections, and better use of public and “under-utilized” lands.

Promise believes its robots can complement this housing crisis solution. In a statement last summer, it claimed that its factory service would “rapidly increase supply, productivity, and capacity” in the industry, helping the country keep up with demand.

With files from Josh Scott.

Feature image courtesy Promise Robotics.

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Toronto-based FinTech startup Vault has received a new deposit of $21.5 million CAD in Series A and locked down a new name: Venn. 

The all-equity Series A round was led by New York City-based Left Lane Capital, with participation from XYZ Venture Capital, Intact Ventures, and return investor Gradient Ventures. Left Lane Capital managing partner Dan Ahrens is joining Venn’s board as a result of the round.  

Venn claims it has onboarded over 4,000 businesses to date.

According to a blog post by co-founders Ahmed Shafik and Saud Aziz, the funding will help the company expand its team and product offerings to create an all-in-one financial platform for Canadian businesses.

According to Axios, Venn plans to support credit card payments for accounts receivables and potentially offer lending services this year. Aziz told BetaKit in an email statement that Venn intends to hire across the board to triple its current headcount of 12 employees. In an X post, Aziz indicated that the sales department is at “the top of the list.”

Like many Canadian FinTech startups, Venn was created in 2021 (as Vault) to address the pain points of traditional banking for small businesses. The company launched with multi-currency bank accounts, but grew to include global accounts, spend management, transfers, and accounting automation on its platform. Aziz said that the rebrand reflects its broadened mission. 

Vault didn’t officially launch until 2023, built on $5 million in funding from Gradient, as well as a number of undisclosed founders and executives of financial-service companies like Paypal, Google Pay, Affirm, Airbnb, BNY Mellon, Coinbase, Revolut, and Robinhood. 

RELATED: What Vault’s co-founder learned at Revolut

Now, as Venn, the startup claims it has onboarded more than 4,000 businesses to date, including partnerships with companies like Sherpa, MedEssist, and Alan. 

“We launched 2 years ago and it’s been non-stop since then,” Aziz said in the X post. “We grew revenue [more than 400 percent] last year but that’s only a by-product of this time spent truly understanding our customers and building solutions to their problems.” 

Venn isn’t the only FinTech company building out in Canada, and it’s in competition with some big players. Fellow Toronto-based company Float, which offers corporate card and expense management solutions, secured a $70-million CAD Series B round earlier this year to increase its footprint in Canada. Another Toronto-based finTech platform, Loop, announced a $6.4-million CAD seed extension round this past September after making a similar pivot from peer-to-peer lending to international financial management.

As a company that supports the international finance operations of Canadian business, Venn has a front row seat to the effects of Canada’s strained economic ties to the United States under the threat of tariffs, and the weakened Canadian dollar. Aziz said that it’s unique how Canadian businesses across all industries and sizes require support, and that they’re seeing more Canadian companies become global rather than focusing on North America.

“We need to continue focusing on creating solutions that help businesses navigate financial complexity, reduce costs, and operate with confidence,” Aziz said. “Things change fast, finances are critical, and businesses need a partner they can rely on.” 

Aziz and Shafik are both former employees of British neobank Revolut, and witnessed its failed Canadian expansion firsthand. Aziz joined The BetaKit Podcast last August to discuss what he learned there and what it takes to build a locally-grown business banking platform in Canada.

Feature image courtesy Venn.

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Vancouver-based Opal has announced $1.5 million USD in pre-seed funding to develop its expense management technology for advertising agencies.

The FinTech startup is developing an all-in-one software-as-a-service platform called Opal Spend that is designed to replace the fragmented, horizontal tools typically used by ad agencies and automate their back-office operations. 

“We built Opal to be a modern financial backbone for agencies.”

Alex Steele, Opal

Opal founder and CEO Alex Steele launched the company last year to address billing headaches at his media buying agency, Easy Agency. During Steele’s years leading Easy Agency, the CEO juggled lots of back-office tools that didn’t integrate or communicate, which he said led to lots of time spent copying the same data into different products. 

This experience spurred him to launch Opal, which helps ad agencies manage ad spending, accounting, invoicing, and contract management in one place through its Opal Spend software and associated credit card, which it launched yesterday.

“We built Opal to be a modern financial backbone for agencies—one that reduces friction from contract creation all the way through invoicing and payment,” Steele said in a statement.

Opal’s pre-seed round, which was raised via simple agreement for future equity, closed during the fourth quarter of 2024 and marks the startup’s first financing to date. It was led by Seattle’s Founders Co-op with support from Exit North Ventures, a Toronto FinTech fund launched last year by Canadian Fintech newsletter’s Tal Schwartz and his father, Canadian Lenders Association founder Gary Schwartz. 

The company also counts Ian Crosby, co-founder and former CEO of Vancouver FinTech startups Bench and Teal—both recently acquired—among its investors.

“I’ve seen firsthand how Alex’s determination and technical talent have shaped Opal into a game-changing financial platform,” Crosby said in a statement. “It’s not just streamlining day-to-day finances—it’s redefining how agencies and brands manage ad spending, and I’m excited to support Opal’s growth.”

RELATED: Bench had a crazier holiday break than your startup

Since its launch in February 2024 following a conversation with Crosby, Opal has grown to four employees, including Steele, two former X (previously Twitter) engineers, and a newly hired designer.

Steele told BetaKit that ad agencies have unique financial workflows that are not well-served by existing solutions, noting that general-purpose tools like DocuSign and QuickBooks often lead agencies to overpay for features they do not require, while general expense management platforms like Brex, Ramp, and Airbase also fail to meet agencies’ needs.

“Agencies manage client ad spend, meaning they either have to put expenses on their own cards and take on financial risk or ask clients to pay directly and lose cash-back benefits,” Steele said. “Opal is the first to solve this with a dedicated ad spend card that links client payments directly, eliminating credit risk while allowing agencies to retain cash-back rewards.”

Opal got its start with contract signing software and automated invoicing before seeing an opportunity to move into cards. Today, the startup makes most of its money from processing invoice payments, and a lesser amount from SaaS subscriptions, but going forward, Opal expects to generate revenue from the interchange as its credit card business grows.

RELATED: Father-son Schwartz duo team up with FinTech founders to launch Exit North Ventures

Ad agencies can issue new cards for each client to keep expenses segregated, and they can be programmed to limit spending to certain vendors and offer real-time visibility into expenses. Agencies that pay for expenses upfront and recoup costs later get more liquidity. Opal offers these credit lines through Capital OS. 

Steele said the real innovation here is that Opal connects agencies with their client bank account so agency clients can pay off its ad-spend cards directly, not agencies themselves.

The startup plans to use this funding to bring Opal Spend to market, expand its capabilities, deepen its platform integrations, and hire across engineering, product, and customer success.

Opal ultimately aims to build all of the tools that agencies need, from ad attribution to full-stack banking and accounting as it works towards its long-term vision of becoming “the premier financial partner for media and creative agencies.”

UPDATE (02/25/25): This story has been updated to include additional information and commentary from Opal.

Feature image courtesy Opal.

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Prosus Group is set to acquire Amsterdam-based food delivery conglomerate JustEat Takeaway, the parent company of Winnipeg-based SkipTheDishes, in a deal valued at approximately 4.1 billion euros ($6.2 billion CAD). 

Prosus will pay 20.30 euros ($30.50 CAD) in cash for all issued and outstanding shares of JustEat Takeaway, which is publicly traded on the Euronext Amsterdam (AMS) stock exchange, and take the company private upon completion. The price represents a 63-percent premium on JustEat Takeaway’s closing price of 12.43 euros per share before the deal was announced. The deal is expected to close by the end of 2025. 

A joint statement by the companies said the transaction provides an opportunity to couple Prosus’ investment expertise, tech and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities with Just Eat Takeaway’s brand strength and solid fundamentals.

JustEat Takeaway delisted its shares from the London Stock Exchange and sold its GrubHub subsidiary at a loss in recent months.

The acquisition appears to be part of an overall Europe strategy for Prosus. Prosus CEO Fabricio Bloisi said in a statement the merger is an “opportunity to create a European tech champion,” and will combine Prosus’s technical and investment capabilities with Just Eat Takeaway’s leading brand position in key European markets. Prosus said that opportunities exist to use AI to improve the customer and driver experience, boost service reliability, and optimize logistics at JustEat. 

While neither SkipTheDishes nor the Canadian market is acknowledged in the joint statement, Prosus has agreed to comply with a set of non-financial covenants for at least two years after the transaction has settled. As part of these commitments, Prosus does not intend to implement a break-up strategy or make material reductions in the total workforce, and will maintain Just Eat Takeaway’s key brands. 

SkipTheDishes was founded in 2012 in Saskatoon, but has long had its headquarters in Winnipeg. The company was acquired by United Kingdom-based Just Eat in 2016 for $110 million, before being merged into Dutch food delivery company Takeaway.com in 2020. According to Forbes, Prosus had attempted to hijack the JustEat and Takeaway.com merger in 2019 with a failed $6.4 billion bid for JustEat.

The acquisition agreement follows a wave of layoffs that affected approximately 100 SkipTheDishes employees and 700 Canada-based employees of JustEat Takeaway in August 2024 after the latter performed a “comprehensive review.” SkipThe Dishes had previously reduced its workforce by 350 employees due to a similar “comprehensive review” at JustEat Takeaway in 2022. 

RELATED: JustEat, SkipTheDishes lay off 800 Canada-based employees following “comprehensive review”

SkipTheDishes also had a tumultuous 2023 under JustEat Takeaway’s leadership, starting with the replacement of CEO Howard Midgal in March 2023, who departed to lead JustEat’s Grubhub subsidiary after just five months as the head of SkipTheDishes. Midgal’s successor, Steve Puchala, retired after just nine months on the job, leading to the external hire of former Twitter Canada managing director Paul Burns in December 2023.

In the past few months, JustEat Takeaway delisted its shares from the London Stock Exchange to save administrative burden and cut costs, and completed the sale of its American subsidiary, GrubHub, to New York-based delivery chain Wonder for $650 million USD. JustEat Takeaway acquired GrubHub in 2021 for $7.3 billion USD. 

After pandemic-fuelled growth, food delivery giants Deliveroo, JustEat Takeaway, Delivery Hero and DoorDash took more than $20 billion USD in combined operating losses since they publicly listed, the Financial Times reported in early 2024. 

Feature image courtesy SkipTheDishes via LinkedIn. 

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The Government of Canada has announced the 22 organizations receiving a collective $39.2 million through the fourth iteration of the national digital skills training program CanCode. 

Through the supported non-profit organizations, CanCode aims to offer digital learning opportunities to 1.5 million students, as well as train 100,000 teachers to incorporate new digital skills and technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), into the classroom. 

The CanCode program “is essential for us to continue making a positive impact on Black youth and fostering a more diverse and inclusive tech sector.” 

Bryan Johnson
Black Boys Code

An overwhelming majority of the recipients have benefitted from previous phases of the program, including organizations like Actua, Black Boys Code, Hackergal, MindFuel, and First Robotics. 

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) said that CanCode’s current focus on AI helps Canadian youth gain the knowledge and training they need to stay competitive in a rapidly changing workforce, and equip them and their teachers with the skills to build the strong and diverse digital economy of tomorrow.

“Thanks to this investment, thousands of students and teachers across the country will have the tools they need to thrive in a world that’s getting more digital by the minute,” Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne said in a statement. 

CanCode merit criteria includes a focus on reaching traditionally underrepresented groups, including, girls, Indigenous youth, Black youth, youth with disabilities, and youth living in rural/remote locations including Northern locations. When the federal government opened applications for CanCode’s fourth phase in August 2024, it said that a “special emphasis” would be given to applicants who plan to teach AI, receiving extra weight in the evaluation process.

An ISED spokesperson told BetaKit in an email statement at the time that CanCode phase four aims to demystify AI and empower learners to engage with the “critical” technology confidently, and that teaching AI literacy will involve equipping participants with the knowledge and skills to comprehend what AI is, how it works, and its applications in everyday life.

RELATED: Uvaro acquires coding school Lighthouse Labs to take on AI-augmented job market

CanCode was launched in 2017 under previous Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains. It began with $50 million as part of the Innovation and Skills Plan to promote digital skills such as coding, data analytics, and content creation to youth. The two-year program was renewed in 2019 with $60 million and again under Champagne in 2021 with $80 million. 

The fourth phase, which is the smallest investment of federal funds dedicated to CanCode at one time, includes just one call for proposals and is slated to end on March 31, 2026, barring further renewal. 

The federal government says it has invested $229.2 million in the CanCode program to date.

According to Black Boys Code CEO Bryan Johnson, who told BetaKit his organization was “eager to apply” for more CanCode funding back in August, the program has been instrumental in allowing Black Boys Code to deliver high-quality technology education programs to Black youth across Canada. He claimed that Black youth who participate in their programs have increased self-confidence and motivation, improved academic performance, and better career prospects. 

“We believe that by providing access to technology education, we are helping to bridge the digital divide and create a brighter future for our students,” Johnson said. “The Government of Canada’s continued support, under the CanCode program, is essential for us to continue making a positive impact on Black youth and fostering a more diverse and inclusive tech sector.” 

Feature image courtesy Black Boys Code via LinkedIn.

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Chinese online marketplace Temu is now allowing Canadian vendors to sell their wares on its platform, just as the political climate is pushing more Canadian consumers to buy domestically. 

This marks the first time Canadian businesses will be able to sell Canadian-made products through Temu’s online marketplace. Previously, Canadian consumers could purchase discount goods from Temu, which were primarily manufactured in China.

Thirty-nine percent of Canadian online shoppers have made a purchase on Temu in the past year.

The new program is open exclusively to businesses registered in Canada with local inventory and certain fulfillment capabilities, which Temu did not specify in the press release. According to Temu, the feature will result in faster order fulfillment and a broader range of product options for consumers, particularly for larger products that are trickier to ship.

BetaKit has reached out to Temu for more details on the program.

The new feature comes amid a push to buy Canadian products, driven by the threat of a United States (US)-Canada trade war that experts and businesses warn could severely impact the Canadian economy. Canadian tech companies have debuted open databases and grocery-scanning apps to encourage consumers to support domestic businesses. 

Canadian e-commerce company Shopify also rolled out a “buy local” filter on its Shop app in early February. The feature is now available in “all countries supported by Shopify Payments,” which includes Canada and the US but not Mexico.

RELATED: How is Canadian tech responding to the trade war?

Temu itself is not immune to the economic fallout of US tariff threats. The largely Chinese marketplace, along with rival discount retailer Shein, relies on the “de minimis” exemption that US President Donald Trump has threatened to revoke. This exemption allows up to $800 worth of goods per person per day to be transported into the US duty-free—parameters that apply to much of Temu’s US sales.

Temu’s marketplace opened to Canadian consumers in February 2023. According to market research by Omnisend, 39 percent of Canadian online shoppers have made a purchase through Temu in the past year.

The discount marketplace entered the US market in 2022 and opened its online marketplace to American sellers in November 2024. Temu is owned by PDD Holdings, which also owns the agricultural online marketplace Pinduoduo. 

Local vendors can now sell on Temu in the US, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, and several European countries.

Feature image courtesy BetaKit Illustrations. Image asset courtesy Temu.

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University of Toronto researchers have developed an “unparalleled” nanomaterial lattice they say combines the strength of carbon steel with the density of styrofoam, making it both the lightest and strongest material of its kind to date. The team claims the material can support over a million times its mass, but is still delicate enough to sit on top of a soap bubble.

Research lead Tobin Filleter, a professor of mechanical engineering, and his team made the discovery after creating an algorithm that could identify nano-sized structures that are extremely light without compromising on strength. While nanomaterials—measured in nanometers, or one-billionth of a metre—have achieved a mix of lightness and strength before, they tend to break as they don’t handle stress evenly. Researchers say the new approach is much more consistent and resilient.

The scientists see this as a key advancement for generative AI modelling in mechanics.

The nanolattices are created through a process called pyrolysis, which burns away everything except carbon. The materials can be 3D-printed more quickly than those produced using current techniques: about 1000 times faster than usual, researcher Peter Serles told BetaKit. That, in turn, makes it easier to scale up to larger sizes and production volumes.

The study’s authors see a wide range of potential uses. Nanomaterials have already been used for lightweight aircraft, solar energy systems, and other technologies where they can improve durability and performance. Serles estimates that nanolattices could save 80 to 100 litres of fuel per year in addition to reducing material use. Filleter’s team also describes uses for armour, optics, and “many other” designs in the study.

The scientists also see this as a key advancement for generative AI modelling in mechanics. Among other improvements, the algorithm’s lattice manages specific strength that’s over an “order of magnitude” higher than previous super-light materials, approaching a theoretical limit set by diamond, one of the hardest natural materials. Effectively, the AI can design structures that would be “non-intuitive” for humans, according to Serles.

Canada remains an important centre for basic and applied AI research in the world; about 10 percent of top-tier AI researchers reside here, according to the federal government. Just last week, Vancouver-based Variational AI completed a $5.5 million USD ($7.8 million CAD) seed extension round to back its use of generative AI for small molecule drug discovery. Pharmaceutical companies can theoretically create novel medicines more efficiently than they would through the usual design-and-test process.

The nanomaterial breakthrough might not lead to real-world products for a few years. Serles noted that the technology is still “really early.” While “several companies” have demonstrated interest, the production just isn’t there yet. Provided 3D printing and other technologies scale as they have in previous years, practical parts like super-light nuts and bolts should be ready before 2030.

Mass production and sales have historically been difficult for nanotechnology inventors. South Korean scientists who created tough, graphene-based flexible OLED displays in 2017 said it could take five years to commercialize their work, for instance, and it’s still not truly ready. Research is underway on practical graphene OLED screens as of January 2025.

The U of T group has outlined some of these challenges in its study, noting that more accurate simulations of the nanomaterials would require “excessive computation times.” The team is pursuing “further optimization” of the pyrolysis, 3D printing, and overall throughput to make production more realistic.

Serles added that this discovery could push Canadian nanomaterial development forward. The scientists are “excited” to lead the way in 3D-printed nano substances, he said. He hoped Canada would “continue to capitalize” on its nanomaterials research and global collaborations to become a leader in the field.

Feature image courtesy Filleter, Series et. al., University of Toronto.

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Laval, QC-based cleantech startup Dispersa, which has developed a process for turning food waste into affordable and sustainable chemicals for everyday products, has secured $5.8 million CAD in seed funding from Canadian investors to commercialize its flagship ingredient.

Dispersa claims its PuraSurf biosurfactant can be used to replace conventional fossil-fuel and palm-derived surfactants in all-purpose cleaners, detergents, and hand soaps. 

Dispersa plans to use its seed capital to boost production of PuraSurf to commercial volumes and fulfill its growing pipeline of customer purchase orders as it looks to sell the ingredient to manufacturers in the North American cleaning products market. The company intends to more than double its 12-person team and hire at least 14 people across manufacturing, sales, and operations. 

Dispersa’s fermentation process is “similar to brewing beer in stainless steel reactors.”

“As Dispersa is our nation’s sole biosurfactant manufacturer, we are grateful to be backed by an all-Canadian group of investors who believe in our mission, especially at a time when local manufacturing and creating resiliency in supply chain has become more critical than ever,” Dispersa founder and CEO Nivatha Balendra told BetaKit.

Dispersa’s all-equity, all-primary seed round, which closed this month, was financed entirely by Canadian investors. Halifax-based Nàdarra Ventures led, with support from fellow new investors the Business Development Bank of Canada’s Thrive Lab, Montréal’s Cycle Momentum, Calgary-based The51’s Food and AgTech Fund and Québec government-backed Fonds d’investissement Eurêka (via Hidden Layers Capital).

Existing backers like Toronto-based Good & Well and Dragonfly Ventures, and Montréal’s BoxOne Ventures and Front Row Ventures also participated in the startup’s seed financing, which brings Dispersa’s total funding to over $13 million CAD. Balendra declined to disclose the company’s valuation.

The CEO’s interest in biosurfactants dates back to a school science fair project, when she learned how some microbes could produce a natural alternative to one of the most widely used ingredients in the chemical industry. Balendra was further motivated to make sustainable and safe ingredients more accessible given her experience as a cancer survivor.

Surfactants are the active ingredients in many everyday products, including surface cleaners, laundry detergents, shampoos, and cosmetics. Over 90 percent of surfactants are derived from palm or petroleum, according to chemical industry trade publication CHEManager.

Founded in 2019, Dispersa’s innovation is its proprietary fermentation process for converting food waste into biosurfactants, which Balendra said is “similar to brewing beer in stainless steel reactors, but more complex.” 

RELATED: The51 holds $51-million final close for Food and AgTech Fund amid challenging VC market

The startup feeds its microbes in reactors with food waste—specifically waste oils and sugars—and then those microbes digest that waste and naturally produce and expel the biosurfactants in the reactor, “forming a mixture similar to soupy broth.” Dispersa separates those biosurfactants from this broth to create its final, microbe-free ingredients, which it claims are affordable, sustainable, and high-performing.

Dispersa currently operates from two locations: its headquarters in Laval, Québec, where the startup recently moved into a new 5,000 sq. ft facility to support research and product development, and Nova Scotia, where it partners with the Verschuren Centre to produce its biosurfactants and plans to move into large-scale commercial manufacturing.

Balendra noted that product manufacturers globally are facing pressure today to shift away from conventional surfactants in light of increased regulatory and consumer demands.

She argued that the looming threat of tariffs has also highlighted the need to strengthen local supply chains and manufacturing within Canada. “In our case, this means boosting biomanufacturing capacity and investing in infrastructure to ensure that we have the instruments to not only innovate but also to scale production within our nation,” she added, noting that this funding will help Dispersa do that.

RELATED: Canadian tech looks to support its own against US tariff threat

The company has moved from lab scale to commercial production in just two years, an evolution that Good & Well president and managing director Alexandra Baillie described as “remarkable” in a statement. Baillie is joining Dispersa’s newly formed board alongside Nàdarra Ventures general partner Mary Dimou.

“Circularity is central to Nàdarra’s thesis—revolutionizing the way we produce and use materials derived from nature,” Dimou said in a statement. “Dispersa’s advanced technology is a prime example of this, offering a breakthrough in surfactants at a time when regulatory shifts are demanding more sustainable solutions.”

Dispersa’s vision is to develop a selection of waste-derived biosurfactants for the industrial cleaning products industry as well as adjacent markets like home care and personal care.

“PuraSurf is the first of many biosurfactants to come and we look forward to scaling our library of novel biosurfactants tuned for diverse applications,” Balendra said.

Feature image courtesy Dispersa.

The post Dispersa closes $5.8 million to turn food waste into chemicals for everyday products first appeared on BetaKit.

More than 350 Canadian tech leaders, investors, and workers have signed an open letter advocating for the industry to uphold the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) values some companies in the space have abandoned.

The signatory list includes businesswoman and investor Arlene Dickinson, Resiin CEO Helen Kontozopoulos, Willful CEO (and former BetaKit managing editor) Erin Bury, Toast CEO Marissa McNeelands, and Startup Canada CEO Kayla Isabelle. 

“A small, insular group is pushing dangerous ideas. But they don’t speak for the entire industry.”

Avery Swartz
Camp Tech

What In the Tech, a community resource organization for Canada’s tech industry, published the open letter this morning. Former BetaKit director of operations and What In the Tech founder Laura Gabor penned the letter, alongside Growclass founder Sarah Stockdale and Camp Tech CEO Avery Swartz.

The letter notes Shopify as among the “influential tech companies” in Canada that have recently rolled back “protections and support” for underrepresented groups in tech. 

“This is the wrong direction for Canada,” the letter reads.

The letter opens by referencing the Kanye West-owned online store powered by Shopify, which, for a brief period earlier this month, sold a T-shirt emblazoned with a swastika before being shut down. 

In recent weeks, Shopify has dismantled its Equitable Commerce team, which was responsible for social impact initiatives at the e-commerce company. Coinciding with the layoffs, Shopify quietly shuttered its Build Native program for Indigenous entrepreneurs in January and locked a Slack program support channel for Black business owners on Feb. 1, the start of Black History Month. 

A growing rift

Support for the letter indicates a broader ideological rift in Canadian tech, according to one of its authors. 

“Headlines say that Canada’s tech industry is ‘going right,’” Swartz wrote in a LinkedIn post. “To be crystal clear: we are not. A small, insular group is pushing dangerous ideas. But they don’t speak for the entire industry. They certainly don’t speak for me.”

BetaKit has reached out to What In the Tech and the letter’s authors for comment.

The letter also references “powerful forces” in Canadian tech who seek to “reshape Canada in the image of those who see inclusion as an obstacle, not an advantage.”

“They lobby politicians, control media platforms, and influence policies that move us closer to the divisive politics of our southern neighbour,” the letter reads. 

In the United States, there has been a widescale rollback of DEI initiatives across the tech and corporate industries—in many cases, tied to tech mogul Elon Musk’s direct hand in the US President  Trump administration. Documents obtained by The Washington Post detail plans the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) developed to purge federal agencies of DEI workers and offices. Some tech leaders, including Shopify’s CEO Tobi Lütke and Maverix Private Equity managing partner John Ruffolo, have called for the Canadian government to implement its own DOGE akin to Musk’s.

That ideological rift noted by Swartz has grown since US President Donald Trump’s first term in office. Lütke and Shopify president Harley Finkelstein were among the 3,500 individuals who signed the open letter against the Trump travel ban in 2017. Published on BetaKit, the open letter noted that the Canadian tech community comprises many different nationalities, religions, sexual orientations, gender identities, mental and physical abilities, and perspectives. “We believe that this diversity is a source of strength and opportunity,” the letter reads.

The 2025 letter goes on to say that its signatories will not allow “unelected” business leaders to have undue influence on the government. “The government should not be beholden to business interests that prioritize profit over people,” it reads.

RELATED: Canadian tech leaders launch Build Canada for AI-refined policy ideas from entrepreneurs

The letter, when taken with recent social media posts from the authors, appears to reference the newly established Build Canada, an online policy platform for business executives to share policy ideas. Created by ex-Shopify vice president Daniel Debow, the Build Canada website originally listed 28 supporters, including Wealthsimple’s Michael Katchen, Shopify’s Lütke, SRTX’s Katherine Homuth, and Jet Cooper co-founder and BetaKit chair Satish Kanwar; those names have since been removed. Build Canada says it is not a lobby group and bills itself as a non-partisan platform.

In response to tariff threats and economic uncertainty, more than 100 business leaders also recently sent a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, asking him to immediately recall Parliament.

Signatory Saadia Muzaffar, founder of TechGirls Canada, said there is a “clear distinction” between the public interest of government and the profit-driven interest of businesses. 

“Businesses can serve as vendors with accountability to our public institutions, and comply with due process, transparency, and checks on monetary influence they can exert on often cash-strapped regional governments,” Muzaffar told BetaKit. 

“We need to maintain the integrity of this distinction in Canada, so that our policies and processes reflect that the well-being of Canada’s residents remains our collective north star.”

Return on values

Mandy Potter, managing partner at Misfit Ventures, said she signed the open letter “because innovation thrives on diversity, full stop.” Misfit Ventures is Canada’s first LGBTQ+-focused venture capital (VC) fund. 

“When investors actively support diverse founders, we see stronger, more resilient businesses and better returns,” Potter wrote in an email to BetaKit. “The industry needs to move beyond performative allyship and into tangible action. Diversity is not a side initiative, it’s a competitive advantage.”

Sylvain Carle, the co-founder and director of Canadian Impact / Venture Investment Coalition (CIVIC), said he joined the What In the Tech initiative to ensure it was delivered in both French and English. 

“As a Quebecker, [multiculturalism] is one of the most important values that connects me to Canada,” Carle said in French. “I know that sometimes, this ideological position can be perceived as opposed to French-Canadian identity, but I believe we should defend the rights of all minority groups, in all circumstances.” 

Author and media personality Amber Mac, who signed the letter, said in an email to BetaKit that many successful tech companies in Canada built their businesses based on these values, so abandoning them could impact recruiting and retention.

“Turning our backs on Canadian values, such as fairness, diversity, and inclusion, will only hurt the economic success of entrepreneurs and companies in our tech community,” Mac said.

Disclosure: BetaKit majority owner Good Future is the family office of two former Shopify leaders, Arati Sharma and Satish Kanwar.

With files from Douglas Soltys. Feature image courtesy Unsplash.

The post DEI rollback is the “wrong direction for Canada,” open letter says first appeared on BetaKit.

Toronto and Montréal-based CMD Capital has halted fundraising and paused its operations indefinitely after failing to secure anchor institutional investors for its first fund, BetaKit has learned.

CMD Capital co-founder and general partner (GP) David Dufresne confirmed the news in an interview with BetaKit. The move was announced by Dufresne and fellow CMD Capital co-founder and GP Matt Roberts in an email sent to the early-stage venture capital (VC) firm’s friends, advisors, and investors earlier today. 

“It’s a very tough market right now for the whole ecosystem.”

David Dufresne, CMD Capital

“We have made the decision to stop fundraising and to indefinitely postpone setting up the firm,” the email states. It goes on to say that going forward, Roberts and Dufresne plan to explore “different roles and mandates in the tech and VC ecosystem” and “perhaps outside.”

“It’s a very tough market right now for the whole ecosystem,” Dufresne told BetaKit in an interview. He said CMD Capital saw “little to no appetite” to invest in first-time funds from institutional backers, due to factors including low limited partner (LP) liquidity and existing portfolio VC funds returning for re-ups.

As BetaKit reported, Roberts and Dufresne—former partners at ScaleUp Ventures and Panache Ventures, respectively—officially launched CMD Capital in May 2023. Their vision was for the VC firm to help fill Canada’s early-stage funding gap by leading and pricing rounds for pre-seed and seed-stage startups using artificial intelligence (AI) to solve problems for other businesses.

CMD Capital had been fundraising for its first fund since then, aiming to raise between $50 million and $70 million CAD from LPs, with the initial hope of securing a first close by the end of 2023 amid what has become a tough VC fundraising environment. The VC firm did “a lot of going around in circles” over the past two years trying to secure one or two anchor LPs to help give the firm more credibility to other investors, Dufresne said.

After many invested heavily in Canadian VC when the market was hot, LPs have become more cautious and selective amid the downturn, which has led to smaller funds and longer fundraising timelines for the firms that invest directly in the country’s technology startups. 

RELATED: Ex-Panache, ScaleUp partners team up to launch new early-stage VC fund CMD Capital

Industry leaders BetaKit spoke with last year forecast more turnover and challenges across Canada’s VC industry, especially for emerging managers as LPs have focused their dollars on established VCs and slowed down or paused commitments to newer firms, leaving first-time managers, which tend to concentrate on pre-seed and seed stages, “at the back of the line.”

Last July, BetaKit reported that at the halfway point, 2024 was on pace to be the worst fundraising year for Canadian VC in a decade in terms both of dollars allocated and volume of first and second fund raises, per research from RBCx, though things picked up a bit since then with Radical Ventures’ $800-million USD AI growth fund and other more recent VC fundraises.

Roberts and Dufresne wrote in today’s email that CMD Capital tried to secure the anchor investors necessary to plan a first close of the fund during the fourth quarter of 2024, but none of their lead LP conversations came to fruition, and as of today, they have been unable to secure anchor institutional investors. 

Following some reflection, the GPs said that they have “come to realize that the timing and context are wrong for us to raise a first-time fund, one of a size that would allow us to be proper lead investors in pre-seed and seed rounds.” 

RELATED: GPs and LPs at Startupfest expect gradual recovery with 2024 on pace for worst year for Canadian VC in a decade

Before pulling the plug, Roberts and Dufresne wrote that they considered closing a smaller fund leveraging their existing commitments, but noted that this approach “would not enable us to execute on our strategy, and act as the lead and hands-on VC investors we want to be,” hence their decision to halt fundraising and operations.

CMD Capital had soft commitments for between $10 million and $15 million CAD from high-net-worth individuals, family offices, and the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation, but this alone was too small for a first close, Dufresne said. The VC firm had not made any investments yet. Dufresne said CMD Capital might have been able to raise a $15-million to $20-million fund, but this would not have allowed them to execute their strategy.

“It’s a tough decision, especially considering the fantastic pipeline of opportunities we’ve identified in the Canadian vertical AI ecosystem, and all the efforts we’ve put into the project,” the pair noted in the email.

Roberts and Dufresne thanked investors who committed to backing CMD Capital’s first fund, colleague Gabrielle Paris, and advisors including Christian Grunt.

The pair are not closing the door on CMD Capital for good: they are not yet deleting its data room and fund model and Dufresne did not rule out the possibility of CMD Capital returning at a later date should there be more LP appetite for its thesis.

Dufresne said that he and Roberts are currently considering their next steps, but noted that they both hope to stay involved in the Canadian tech and VC space.

With files from Douglas Soltys.

Feature image courtesy CMD Capital.

The post CMD Capital halts fundraising amid “tough” VC market first appeared on BetaKit.

Toronto is getting a new tech event this year. You can read about the details here or below. 

BetaKit is a proud media partner, and it is great to see local leaders come together to fill the Collision-sized hole in the city’s summer dance card, but there’s bigger news afoot regarding Toronto Tech Week.

That news being the inaugural issue of BetaKit’s Most Ambitious, to be released in digital and print formats, highlighting inspiring tech efforts from across the country. Because BetaKit is filled with ambitious people, we’re also hosting a Most Ambitious evening event and a BetaKit Town Hall during Tech Week.

We’re keeping details pretty close to the vest for now, but I can tell you we’re aiming for a collection that is both credible and distinct. Ambition has long been Canada’s 600-pound beaver in the room, and we’re hoping to forward the conversation in a meaningful way.

Could BetaKit set a positive example for ambition in Canadian tech? Time will tell.

For now, I’m most excited by the prospect of discovering ambitious individuals or organizations across this country I hadn’t known about before.

To aid in that endeavour, I’m deputizing you. Canadian tech’s most ambitious: tell me who and (most importantly) why.

Douglas Soltys
Editor-in-chief

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Join the University of Toronto entrepreneurship community on March 6 at 4:00 p.m. ET as Geoffrey Hinton takes the stage. The U of T University Professor Emeritus and 2024 Nobel laureate in Physics will discuss his groundbreaking work in AI and offer invaluable guidance to startups. RSVP for the global livestream or join the waitlist for Toronto’s in-person event.

Register today.

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TOP STORIES OF THE WEEK

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BDC Capital targets late-stage tech companies with nearly $1 billion in new fund commitments

In an effort to counter low investment activity in Canada, the venture arm of the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) will inject nearly $1 billion across its Growth Venture Fund and its Growth Equity Partners program.

Victoria-based background-check technology startup Certn and Toronto-based software rollup company Quadshift immediately benefitted from the agency’s topped-up investment vehicles, securing a combined $53 million in funding. 

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Megadeals kept Canadian VC funding afloat in 2024: report

A new report shows venture capital investments in Canadian tech last year grew slightly compared to 2023, buoyed by later-stage megadeals, while seed-stage funding continued to struggle.

In its year-end market overview, the Canadian Venture Capital Association tracked $7.86 billion CAD invested across 592 deals in 2024, a roughly 10-percent increase in dollar value over the previous year. But without Vancouver-based legaltech firm Clio’s $1.24-billion Series F round, the total amount invested nationwide would have dropped by six percent year-over-year.

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Local leaders launch Toronto Tech Week to accelerate city’s ambitions

A new annual Toronto event initiative led by local tech leaders has launched to fill the gap left by Collision’s departure to Vancouver.

Toronto Tech Week will take place from June 23-27 and feature a variety of partner-hosted and community events designed to cement the city’s reputation as a global tech powerhouse.

Led by a new volunteer-run, non-profit organization, Toronto Tech Week has received financial backing from presenting sponsors Shopify, Google Cloud, and the City of Toronto to feature a variety of community-run events, as well as anchor events and experiences.

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Kraken Robotics emerges from the deep to take top spot on 2025 TSX Venture 50 list

The TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV) has released the Kraken alongside the 2025 TSX Venture 50, the list highlighting the 50 best-performing companies on the stock exchange last year.

St. John’s, Nfld.-based Kraken Robotics took the top spot this year, sporting a 323-percent share price appreciation and added more than $587 million to its market capitalization last year. The announcement comes alongside the passing​ of Kraken Robotics founder and former CEO, Karl Kenny, on Feb. 11 at age 64.

Some other technology companies that made the list include Vancouver-based Neptune Digital Assets and Kingston, Ont.’s SPARQ Systems.

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FinTech startup Reach sells majority stake to US-based Primus Capital

American private equity firm Primus Capital has acquired a majority stake in Calgary’s Reach, which helps e-commerce and software-as-a-service companies sell globally.

Reach founder and CEO Sam Ranieri confirmed to BetaKit that the transaction was a majority recapitalization, but declined to share how much Primus invested in the FinTech startup or at what valuation.

“It’s just not your kind of standard majority recap in that the buyer was very, very, very much invested in the management team and the crew and where we’re going and where we’re delivering,” Ranieri told BetaKit in an interview.

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Black merchants disheartened after Shopify guts another Equitable Commerce program

Black entrepreneurs say they have lost a “lifeline” after Shopify abruptly cut off their access to a support program as part of the company’s dismantling of its Equitable Commerce team.

On Feb. 1, at the start of Black History Month, Shopify locked the official Build Black Slack channel for participating merchants. The change coincides with broad layoffs across Shopify’s Equitable Commerce team, which was responsible for the company’s social impact initiatives.

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Former Toronto Raptor Pascal Siakam teams up with DMZ to launch EdTech accelerator

Former Toronto Raptors power forward Pascal Siakam has joined forces with Toronto Metropolitan University’s technology incubator DMZ to jump-start a new accelerator for early-stage EdTech startups.

Founded by PS43 (Siakam’s not-for-profit foundation) and DMZ, the Siakam EdTech Engine is a 12-week virtual accelerator for companies across Canada and the United States that are developing products designed to transform K-12 education.

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FEATURED STORIES FROM OUR PARTNERS

• The C100’s Geoff Baum says many startups stumble when expanding into a new market—often by under-resourcing and over-generalizing. The result? Wasted time, burned resources, and not enough traction. Read expert advice on how to expand internationally.
• What happens when Canada’s top tech minds take on real challenges in education? Last week, 250 innovators celebrated Koru’s 5th anniversary and celebrated the finale of a 10-day #hackathon, which tackled pressing issues faced by Ontario schools. Read more about how they put their skills to the test.

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Weekly Canadian Deals & Dollars

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• VAN – Biotech startup Reverb Therapeutics closes $17M seed round
• TOR – Glassbox emerges from stealth with $1.65M pre-seed round
• OTT – Hyperlume raises $17.8M seed round for data center tech
• OTT – Shopify brings Affirm BNPL partnership to Canada
• SHB – Quantum sector gets $8.1M boost from feds
• HFX – Tribe Network among second round of federal 2SLGBTQI+ Ecosystem Fund recipients
• CTN- New government-backed hub The Foundry launches in PEI

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The BetaKit Podcast — How is Canadian tech responding to the trade war?

“Once you’ve cornered that beaver, look out. We are a vicious beast.”

Rob and Douglas review the latest dispatches in Canada’s impending trade war with the United States, specifically how Canadian tech is responding. Did someone poke the beaver and unleash Canada’s quiet patriotism? A 3-2 overtime hockey win points to yes.

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Take The BetaKit Quiz – This week: GameStop shorts Canada, Microsoft’s eureka moment, a Raptor returns to Toronto

Think you’re on top of Canadian tech and innovation news? Time to prove it. Test your knowledge of Canadian tech news with The BetaKit Quiz for Feb. 21, 2025.

Feature image courtesy Mauricio J Calero for BetaKit.

The post Who are Canadian tech’s most ambitious? first appeared on BetaKit.

Canada’s impending trade war with the United States hasn’t come up much on The BetaKit Podcast.

Intentionally so, as I consider the podcast my last vestige of mental stability. But like chocolate and peanut butter, some flavours are destined to mix, and there’s so much to discuss that we can’t not discuss it. So this week is a ‘ripped from the headlines’ episode focused on dispatches from the trade war.

“Once you’ve cornered that beaver, look out. We are a vicious beast.”

Before we dug into the news too deep, my cohost Rob Kenedi and I did a brief patriotism check. Over the years, this podcast has deftly tracked the malaise felt by Canadian tech over productivity woes, declining entrepreneurship, and a host of other concerns. But I think Rob correctly notes in this episode the quiet patriotism ever-burbling underneath—like a beaver below the surface, waiting to strike. Call it the Older Sibling Paradox: we reserve the right to rag on our country any time we want, but if you start something, be prepared for a 3-2 overtime loss.

I wasn’t entirely accurate up top. We have discussed tariffs at least on this podcast, with SRTX’s Katherine Homuth. SRTX recently furloughed 40 percent of its staff in anticipation of a 41 percent duty on the company’s shipments to the United States. It seems as though some Canadian founders would rather incur the pain themselves than play wait-and-see.

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RSS

But it’s not just ecommerce companies being proactive. There’s also Canada’s largest tech company, Shopify (which, yes, supports ecommerce companies around the world). Shopify’s response has been a bit of a mixed bag, but to understand why, you’ll have to join us on the podcast.

Let’s dig in.

Stories discussed:

• Canadian tech looks to support its own against US tariff threat
• What stopped The Canadian Shield from supplying the PPE and rapid tests Canada needs?
• Reliant on US materials and production, Canadian consumer goods startups could be caught in trade war crossfire
• SRTX temporarily lays off 40 percent of staff ahead of US tariff “worst-case scenario”
• Shopify CEO commits to ‘buy local’ features for Shop app after criticizing Canada’s tariff response

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The BetaKit Podcast is presented by University of Toronto Entrepreneurship Week: returning March 3-7 in downtown Toronto.

Explore 15+ events, including the Desjardins Startup Prize pitch competition with over $100,000 in rewards.

Don’t miss AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton, 2024 Nobel laureate, live as he shares insights for startups.

View the schedule and register for free.

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Feature image courtesy the Buy Beaver app.

The post How is Canadian tech responding to the trade war? first appeared on BetaKit.

Black entrepreneurs say they have lost a “lifeline” after Shopify abruptly cut off their access to a support program as part of the company’s dismantling of its Equitable Commerce team. 

In mid-January, Shopify quietly shuttered Build Native, an Equitable Commerce support program for Indigenous entrepreneurs. The removal of the program from Shopify’s website, alongside the Empowered by Shopify and Social Impact webpages, coincided with the company departures of Build Native program lead, Kyle Brennan Shàwinipinesì, and head of Equitable Commerce, Brandon Davenport. 

At the time, the status of Equitable Commerce program Build Black was unclear, with the program’s webpage—alongside the One Million Black Businesses initiative (1MBB)—still live on Shopify’s website. Shortly after the publication of BetaKit’s Build Native story, Shopify’s 1MBB page was removed, with additional Equitable Commerce leads publicly posting about their departure from the company. On Feb. 1, at the start of Black History Month, Shopify locked the official Build Black Slack channel for participating merchants.

These changes coincide with broad layoffs across Shopify’s Equitable Commerce team, which was responsible for the company’s social impact initiatives, including research and support programs. Multiple sources told BetaKit that the employees responsible for Shopify’s Build Black, Build Native, and other social impact programs were all laid off. The Logic reported that roughly 12 people were let go. 

End of lifeline

For Black entrepreneurs who were part of the Build Black program, the Slack channel shutdown removed the main conduit for access to resources and opportunities, three participants told BetaKit.

One Black entrepreneur BetaKit spoke with said that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives like the Build Black program can act as “lifelines.” The entrepreneur noted that a grant provided through a Shopify Build Black partnership with Pinterest helped them fund their business through a challenging stretch.

For participating Build Black merchants, the Slack channel was a source of communication and community. Through it, Shopify employees provided information about events and resources for Black founders. Entrepreneurs were connected with financing opportunities, online skills courses, and mentorship sessions. 

“I have been a strong advocate for Shopify, encouraging other entrepreneurs to use the platform, but the lack of transparency in dissolving this program is disheartening.”

At the end of January, some Shopify employees indicated on the channel that they were leaving their roles but did not explain why. After more goodbyes trickled in, “everyone had a sense that…this program was about to get eliminated,” Jamie Batiste, a jewellery brand founder and program participant, told BetaKit. 

On Feb. 1, the Slack channel was abruptly locked, leaving members unable to access old messages. Shopify did not send any official notice that access to the program would be removed, according to participants. 

RELATED: Shopify quietly kills Indigenous entrepreneurship program Build Native

“I have been a strong advocate for Shopify, encouraging other entrepreneurs to use the platform, but the lack of transparency in dissolving this program is disheartening,” another founder said. “It speaks volumes about their positioning toward Black merchants.”

The timing of the abrupt closure had not gone unnoticed among the Black entrepreneurs BetaKit spoke with. BetaKit obtained a screenshot from a Build Black newsletter email sent on Jan. 23, soliciting applications to be featured on Shopify’s Instagram for Black History Month.

The email was sent to Build Black participants, saying that four businesses would be selected and featured on the Instagram account. As of Feb. 23, none of Shopify’s permanent Instagram posts in February mention Black History Month or feature Black-led businesses. 

Shopify has also disabled a Shop app feature allowing users to search for Black-owned businesses, despite recently adding a similar ‘buy local’ filter for Canadian and US businesses.

Two of the Black entrepreneurs BetaKit spoke with asked not to be named for this story. One said they feared being identified might “jeopardize their business.” 

HOPE and disappointment

Like Build Native, Build Black was announced in 2020, joining a litany of corporate DEI initiatives following the police murder of George Floyd and the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement in the US. 

Build Black launched alongside the One Million Black Businesses (1MBB) initiative, a partnership with US non-profit Operation HOPE that pledged to create one million new Black businesses in the US and Canada by 2030. Shopify announced the partnership alongside a $130-million commitment to the initiative, which offers access to workshops, mentorship, capital, and partnerships. 

“At Shopify, we believe more independent voices make commerce better for everyone. That’s why we work to break down the barriers to entrepreneurship every day,” Shopify president Harley Finkelstein said at the time. “By collaborating with Operation HOPE and working together on our shared passion for helping underserved communities succeed, we believe we can help unlock even more economic opportunities for Black business owners across the country, leading to greater choices for shoppers everywhere.”

As of Feb. 20, Shopify has updated its website footer to direct the “Build Black” link to the Operation HOPE 1MBB webpage. The link briefly redirected to Shopify’s homepage after the company removed its own 1MBB webpage in late January.

However, Shopify’s commitment to 1MBB remains intact according to the initiative’s co-organizer. Lance Triggs, the chairperson of the 1MBB initiative at Operation HOPE, said that Shopify is still 1MBB’s largest partner and recently increased both its in-kind and financial support. 

Fewer than one percent of venture dollars have gone to Black-led companies in Canada since 2020.

“They are very much committed to support 1MBB through the year 2030,” Triggs said over email.

Triggs also noted a recent Shopify offer for 1MBB entrepreneurs that provides six months of access to run an e-commerce store on the company’s platform for $1 per month. That offer is still live on a separate Build Black webpage on Shopify’s website.

Kevin Boucher, Operation HOPE’s chief strategy and communications officer, declined to comment further and directed BetaKit to Shopify for further inquiries.
 
Despite the promotional offer, the dismantling of Shopify’s Equitable Commerce team alongside the community support and visibility it provided, comes as Black entrepreneurs continue to face barriers to funding opportunities in Canada. Fewer than one percent of venture dollars have gone to Black-led companies in Canada since 2020, according to a joint RepMatters and BKR Capital report. 

RELATED: Shopify’s strong Q4 earnings complicated by Kanye West Nazi T-shirt controversy

The report estimates that $312 million in additional funding was needed in 2024 to match Black founders’ proportional representation of the Canadian population. A separate report from the Business Development Bank of Canada notes that 1.3 percent of Black Canadian adults are entrepreneurs, compared to 2.3 percent of the general population. That percentage drops to 0.7 percent among Black women.

In a recent LinkedIn post, businesswoman and investor Arlene Dickinson denounced Shopify’s rollback of DEI initiatives, calling it a “huge step backwards.” 

“Shopify has always stood for entrepreneurs,” Dickinson wrote. “It built its company in Canada on the idea that anyone, anywhere, could start and grow a business. That’s why its sudden shift is so very disappointing.”

Batiste told BetaKit that she hopes Shopify decides to bring the program back. “It motivates individuals who are running and growing a business and trying to scale with Shopify, which in turn impacts the world and helps everyone out,” she said.

Batiste noted that she applied for a retail partnership with Build Black shortly before the channel closed. Now, she’s been left in the dark as to whether that partnership will materialize. 

Shopify did not respond to requests for comment from BetaKit regarding the status of its Equitable Commerce team, 1MBB partnership, and Build Native and Build Black programs.

Disclosure: BetaKit majority owner Good Future is the family office of two former Shopify leaders, Arati Sharma and Satish Kanwar.

With files from Douglas Soltys. Feature image courtesy Shopify.

The post Black merchants disheartened after Shopify guts another Equitable Commerce program first appeared on BetaKit.

Ottawa-based Hyperlume has raised $12.5 million USD ($17.8 million CAD) in seed funding to commercialize its data-centre interconnection technology. 

The round was led by BDC’s Deep Tech Venture Fund and ArcTern Ventures, with participation from MUUS Climate Partners, SOSV, and Intel Capital, the investment arm of American semiconductor giant Intel, with a strategic investment from LG Technology Ventures. BetaKit asked Hyperlume about the strategic nature of LG’s investment, but did not hear back by press time. 

Hyperlume will use the capital to expand its product, engineering, and R&D teams.

Founded in 2022 by CEO Mohsen Asad and president and CTO Hossein Fariborzi, Hyperlume says it seeks to address connectivity bottlenecks in accelerated computing and artificial intelligence (AI) data centres with its specialized microLEDs (a type of emerging flat-panel display technology), and power circuitry.

Hyperlume claims its interconnects have 10-times the computing performance, five-times the power savings, and four times lower cost relative to traditional copper interconnects.

As their name suggests, data centre interconnects connect two or more data centres together to share and transfer data over short, medium or long distances. With the advent of AI, data centre use, and thus energy consumption, has shot up dramatically. 

RELATED: Climate tech VC ArcTern Ventures closes $450-million CAD Fund III from large institutions

“As the demand for AI grows, so do its energy requirements, placing a significant burden on traditional copper interconnects,” Intel Capital managing director Srini Ananth said in a statement. “Hyperlume’s technology effectively tackles the bottlenecks hindering optimal performance in AI and data centres, representing a significant step forward for the semiconductor industry as it supports the demands of an AI-driven future.”

According to a May 2024 report from Goldman Sachs, data centre power demand is expected to grow 160 percent by 2030 due to AI use, potentially causing data centres to account for up to four percent of overall power consumption worldwide and double their current carbon emissions. Those figures underscore an urgent need to invest in technologies like Hyperlume’s, which reduce energy consumption, Murray McCaig, managing partner at round leader ArcTern Ventures, said in a statement. 

Hyperlume plans to use the proceeds of its oversubscribed seed round to accelerate the development of its tech, as well as expand its product, engineering, and research and development teams. The startup is also looking to strengthen strategic partnerships with leading cloud service providers, chip manufacturers, and AI infrastructure providers. 

Feature image courtesy Hyperlume. 

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The federal government has revealed 12 more non-profit organizations selected to receive a total of $2.8 million through Canada’s 2SLGBTQI+ Entrepreneurship Program Ecosystem Fund.

The $8-million ecosystem fund is part of a $25-million federal program that was first revealed in June 2023 with the aim of offering dedicated support to Canadian entrepreneurs who identify as 2SLGBTQI+. The fund, administered by Canada’s 2SLGBTQI+ Chamber of Commerce (CGLCC), is designed to help recipient organizations offer programs and resources to support 2SLGBTQI+ entrepreneurs, while raising awareness of the challenges they face.

CGLCC CEO says funding addresses the gaps identified in the fund’s initial round. 

Some of the latest supported provincial organizations include the LGBT Chambers of Commerce in Québec, Manitoba, and Ontario, as well as British Columbia’s LOUD Business, Pride PEI, Quadrangle Newfoundland and Labrador, and Halifax’s Tribe Network. 

Tribe Network, launched in 2020, aims to create an entrepreneurship and innovation hub for entrepreneurs identifying as Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC). In June 2023, Tribe Network launched Tribe Ventures, a $20-million venture capital fund to invest in pre-seed and seed-stage businesses led by racialized founders.

Organizations in the territories also received support, including the Northern Mosaic Network in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut’s Small Economy Works, and the Tourism Industry Association of the Yukon. 

RELATED: QueerTech among 17 organizations selected by feds to deliver $8-million 2SLGBTQI+ Ecosystem Fund

QueerTech, a national nonprofit that supports 2SLGBTQ+ tech workers and entrepreneurs, was among the 17 organizations supported by the 2SLGBTQI+ Entrepreneurship Program Ecosystem Fund’s initial $5.1-million round in August 2024. 

According to the CGLCC, this second round of funding strengthened support in Northern and Atlantic regions and enhanced support for projects benefiting 2SLGBTQI+ Black and racialized communities. 

“This funding will address gaps identified during the first round, providing essential support to organizations across the country, including those in every province and territory,” CGLCC co-founder and CEO Darrell Schuurman said in a statement. “It strengthens the capacity of the 2SLGBTQI+ entrepreneurial ecosystem and ensures a more inclusive environment for entrepreneurs from all backgrounds.”

Feature image courtesy of the Ministry of Small Business. 

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What happens when Canadian tech minds receive an assignment to solve problems for teachers?

A snowstorm may have dumped over 25 cm of snow on Toronto last week, but it didn’t stop more than 250 people from making their way to Koru’s fifth anniversary and hackathon, which was focused on solving challenges identified by some of Ontario’s school boards. Braving the weather, they came together to celebrate the venture studio’s impact in the Toronto ecosystem and connect with leaders across tech and education.

“If you continuously hear the same friction brought up over and over again, that’s a reinforcing function, saying there’s something here to be solved.”

Bryan Marcovici, Koru

The celebration kicked off two weeks prior, when Koru, a venture studio created by Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (Ontario Teachers), invited the tech community to participate in a hackathon focused on three problem areas: facilitating teacher transitions, streamlining student observations, and improving digital learning. 

Koru also offered teams office hours with school district representatives to help them fine tune their solutions. All ideas will be shared with school districts and the broader community.

“Anyone can throw a cocktail party—which we are doing later tonight —but we wanted to showcase our skills in building,” said Leah Carr, Venture General Manager at Koru. 

Since launching in 2019, Koru has built and launched 11 new ventures across a variety of industries, including child care, financial services, and climate tech. Carr said when the team started brainstorming the theme for the hackathon, it was obvious that the solutions should focus on teachers. 

“Ontario Teachers’ exists to help secure the future of teachers, and it’s an area that we care about as well,” said Carr. “So, we started working our networks and talking to school boards and we found out there’s a need for people to help come up with innovative solutions that can be implemented to address pain points for school boards and teachers.”

After 10 days of coding and creating, 23 teams gathered at the Ontario Teachers’ offices to showcase their solutions across two rounds of judging. 

The full-day event kicked off with a panel discussion featuring Carr, as well as Charlotte Nurse, Director of Programs at Canada Learning Code; Alex Norman, Co-Founder of TechTO; Daniel Nieto, Associate Principal at BDC’s Seed Venture Fund; and BetaKit CEO Siri Agrell.

The conversation, which tackled the tension between growth and responsibility, and how to scale a company while staying rooted in community, also offered some key lessons on problem-solving for the hackathon participants.

For Nurse, the key in building tech solutions that solve important problems lies in recognizing who needs support.

“It’s really about looking around for the gaps within your community, and for the ways you can serve your community,” said Nurse, pointing to educators as a prime example.

“Not only do they need your support in the community, they’re also teaching the future,” she added. “My advice would be to look for where you can build within your own community and what direct impact you can make to the people around you.”

That same local-first mindset extends to where solutions are built in the first place.

Norman avoids using the word “impact,” but he’s firm on one thing: tech talent should consider staying and building in Canada, where they can make a bigger difference while enjoying a high quality of life.

After the panel, the first round of judging cut the field from 23 teams to just three finalists. With only four minutes to pitch, teams faced a high-stakes test, not just of their ideas, but of their ability to distill them under pressure.

That evening, more than 250 guests celebrated Koru’s fifth birthday and watched as the hackathon champions were named. 

The third place prize went to Relay, an app designed to streamline the transfer of information to substitute teachers, while second place was awarded to Teacher’s Diary, an AI-powered diary for educators.

In the end, Team DHACK took home the top prize for their app, Obi. The team, which comprised Damian Matheson, Krishiv Thakuria, Henry Fu, Alec Ngai, and Cynthia Lam, won $7,500 in Air Canada gift cards.

DHACK didn’t have to look far for inspiration. After speaking with educators, the team developed an app that lets teachers take notes on students throughout the year, easily review them, and generate report cards using AI at the end of the semester. The team said several teachers they talked to are already eager to use it.

Bryan Marcovici, Co-Founder, CEO, and Managing Partner of Koru, said the event validated the need for builders to work hand in hand with industries and communities to identify needed solutions.

“If you continuously hear the same friction brought up over and over again, that’s a reinforcing function, saying there’s something here to be solved,” Marcovici said.

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Koru works with Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan portfolio companies to create ventures that shape tomorrow. Learn more about how Koru fuels bold ideas.

All photos provided by Koru.

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