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How Silicon Valley Bank shutdown might impact Canadian tech (BETAKIT)

The run on Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) has ended almost as quickly as it started, with news breaking Friday that the bank has been closed by regulators, which have taken control of its deposits.

This dramatic and quick downfall for one of tech’s most prominent financial institutions is likely to have cascading effects across not only Silicon Valley but Canadian tech.

SCOOP: Stripe Is Raising $6 Billion to Resolve Taxes & Expiring Employee Shares, Delaying Public Listing (NEWCOMER)

Stripe is raising $6 billion at a $50 billion valuation, sources tell Newcomer.

Venture capital firms Thrive Capital, General Catalyst, Andreessen Horowitz, and Founders Fund are participating in the round, sources say. Goldman Sachs is helping to fill out the round by raising money from private wealth clients.

Synctera secures National Bank funding, partnership to bring banking-as-a-service platform to Canada (BETAKIT)

Synctera is making its BaaS platform available to Canadian companies in partnership with the National Bank. The startup said it expects to launch its first FinTech customers in the market in a “couple of quarters” and be fully operational by the end of the year.

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AI-Driven lender Abound scores $601M to drive open banking forward (CRUNCHBASE)

The platform, like other open banking startups, uses banking data siphoned from big banks’ APIs and builds new avenues for credit lending. Abound underwrites personal loans without the use of credit scores. Instead, it sifts through bank transactions and uses artificial intelligence to create risk profiles of each customer.

Toronto venture funding saw a “return to sanity” in 2022 (BETAKIT)

Toronto’s venture funding in 2022 may have dipped from a record-breaking 2021, but still far surpassed 2020 and 2019, signalling a “return to sanity” for the city’s tech sector. Meanwhile, the Waterloo Region saw a continued decline in venture funding activity throughout 2022, culminating in a four-year low in deal volume.

FinTech Wave Financial lays off 50 employees (THE LOGIC)

Toronto-based FinTech company Wave Financial, which was acquired by H&R Block in 2019, reduced its headcount by 50 employees.

Intuit, Highline unveil 2023 cohort of joint FinTech accelerator (BETAKIT)

Carbonhound, NetNow, Requity Homes, Spruce, Chexy, goPeer, LenderBidding and Parachute were chosen for the fourth edition of the Prosperity Accelerator.

The four-month program is focused on startups with products that are designed to improve the financial prosperity of consumers.

Railsr, the UK embedded fintech once valued at nearly $1B, goes into bankruptcy protection under new consortium owner (TECHCRUNCH)

This sale and bankruptcy state caps off a difficult period of uncertainty at Railsr. Previously, sources have told TechCrunch that Railsr was in talks to be acquired by Flutterwave, the pan-African financial services company that was valued at more than $3 billion in a fundraise last year, although a deal never materialized.

Ten things worth reading on International Women’s Day (BETAKIT)

For International Women’s Day, BetaKit has updated the following list with new talking points, educational tools, and support resources. BetaKit has also updated its list of programs and organizations that support Canadian women in tech.

Toronto proptech Pineapple Financial files for US$17M IPO on Nasdaq’s early-stage market (THE LOGIC)

Toronto-based proptech company Pineapple Financial has filed for a US$17.25-million initial public offering on the Nasdaq, making it one of few Canadian innovation economy firms to venture into the public markets despite the current economic headwinds.

Six months after petition launch, federal minister calls market benefits plan “essential” to Global Talent Stream visa (BETAKIT)

The Plan requires participating companies in the Global Talent Stream to demonstrate how their hiring of international talent is having “positive impacts” on the local labour market.

It’s an aspect of the program that some in the Canadian startup community see as a time-consuming barrier built into a program meant to streamline hiring talent from abroad.

Dapper removes ACH withdrawal option, citing circle (COINDESK)

Non-fungible token (NFT) studio Dapper Labs says it can no longer process with Automated Clearing House (ACH) as Circle, its payments partner, has removed the functionality.

Dapper says it will continue to support withdrawals via wire transfer, reducing its fee to $9, and USDC.

The post F|T: The FinTech Times – Stripe looks to raise another $6 billion first appeared on BetaKit.