Year: 2024

One chart that will make you feel good about Canadian tech

The above chart lists a selection of Canadian tech companies that have secured financing rounds of $100 million or more since 2005. That time period represents approximately $48 billion invested across more than 3,000 deals. BetaKit deals in data daily, and it’s necessary to harden oneself lest you become buffeted by the highs and lows. […]

The state of Canadian software in 2024

A live recording of The BetaKit Podcast is starting to become an annual tradition at SAAS NORTH.  Recorded each year on The BetaKit Keynote Stage, the live pods are often about data: last year, it was about a BDC report on the decline in Canadian entrepreneurs; this year, it’s about the state of Canadian software. […]

University of Waterloo’s Velocity moves out of the Garage & into the Arena

Velocity has a new home at the University of Waterloo’s Innovation Arena in downtown Kitchener. The university-linked incubator will take half of the 90,000-square-foot Innovation Arena, which includes 20,000 square feet of purpose-built lab space for hardware and healthtech equipment.  The Innovation Arena was announced in November 2020 as part of a collaboration between the […]

UniUni secures additional $42.2 million CAD to strengthen US expansion

Richmond, BC-based last-mile logistics tech startup UniUni has closed $30 million USD ($42.2 million CAD) in Series C financing to deepen its push into the United States (US). The all-equity, all-primary round, classified as “Series C2,” was led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from LFX Venture Partners, Lanchi Ventures, Joy Capital, and Celtic House […]

Canadian-led Medeloop closes $15.5 million USD in Inovia-led Series A round

Silicon Valley-based Medeloop has closed $15.5 million USD ($21 million CAD) in Series A financing to support its platform aimed at speeding up clinical research with artificial intelligence (AI). The all-equity round, which closed in late October, was led by Canadian venture firm Inovia Capital, with participation from Icon Ventures, General Catalyst, Maven Ventures, Healthier […]

‘It’s life or death’: Québec ecosystem frustrated after government suspends early-stage program

Many community members were surprised to learn that one of Québec’s few government-run pre-seed and seed-stage investment programs had been paused, seemingly overnight.  As first reported by Les Affaires, the Investissement Québec (IQ) website displayed new messages as of Nov. 12 stating that Impulsion PME, an investment-matching program for early-stage companies, has been suspended until […]

Power marks up value of stake in Wealthsimple beyond 2021 peak

Montréal-based Power Corporation of Canada (Power) has marked up the valuation of its controlling stake in Toronto FinTech company Wealthsimple once again. Power now considers its stake in Wealthsimple more valuable than the $2.1 billion it was worth at its prior, 2021 peak. This represents Power’s fourth consecutive quarterly markup in the value of its […]

Manitoba launches new innovation and technology department amid cabinet refresh

The government of Manitoba has launched a new department focused on innovation and technology as part of a cabinet shuffle announced this week. According to a statement issued by the provincial government Nov. 13, the new division will focus on growing Manitoba’s tech industry, as well as supporting businesses and innovation in the province. The […]