Ontario launches second phase of life sciences strategy to bolster research and funding
The Government of Ontario launched the second phase of its life sciences strategy this week as the province looks to establish itself as a global biomanufacturing and life sciences hub. The new phase will see $146 million in provincial commitments towards boosting research capacity, increasing access to specialized lab space, speeding up health trials, launching […]
Information VP forgoes fourth fund in favour of SPV-style investing
After 10 years and three funds, Information Venture Partners (Information VP) has announced a shift to single-asset, special-purpose vehicle (SPV) investing. Since it was spun out of RBC 10 years ago, the Toronto-based venture capital (VC) firm has focused on early-stage North American business-to-business (B2B) FinTech and enterprise software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies across three funds. After […]
Montréal-based Trustii raises $2.8 million CAD to boost employee risk management software
Montréal-based startup Trustii has raised a $2.8-million CAD seed round to grow its risk management software, which combines automated background checks with personalized risk scoring. The all-primary, all-equity $2.8 million CAD seed round closed at the end of September, co-led by Montréal-based AQC Capital and Accelia Capital with backing from Boréal Ventures. Undisclosed investors also […]
SAAS NORTH puts AI’s impact under the microscope
Has artificial intelligence truly made software platforms smarter? What results is it driving for Canada’s SaaS companies? And, most importantly, can it be trusted? These are just some of the questions next month’s SAAS NORTH 2024 will tackle head-on. This year, SAAS NORTH will focus on how AI is working for businesses in real life, […]
Untether AI, Tenstorrent headline ventureLAB’s 2024 HardTech Summit
ventureLAB’s HardTech Summit returns on November 6 and 7 to explore Canada’s hardware and semiconductor ecosystem. Back for its fourth year, HardTech Summit will convene Canadian deep tech founders, investors, and innovators, with global industry stakeholders for two days at the Toronto Marriott Markham. Like in years past, BetaKit is a proud media partner of […]
Meet the BetaKit Town Hall: Vancouver speakers
Taking place on October 22, BetaKit Town Hall: Vancouver will feature a fireside chat and Q&A between BetaKit editor-in-chief Douglas Soltys and Jack Newton, CEO of Vancouver-based Clio, which recently raised the largest funding round in Canadian history. One week before the event, BetaKit is happy to announce the five additional BC leaders who will […]
Canada’s AI godfather takes a shot at Sam Altman
Reporters spend a lot of time thinking about questions. Actually, hold that thought and let’s take one step back: interviews with tech CEOs can sometimes be super awkward. There are a variety of reasons for this: first-time founders stumbling through their first interview; repeat founders expertly Matrix-dodging all unwelcome topics of conversation in an effort […]
Flinks co-founders trade open banking for open utility with new startup Deck
The founders behind FinTech-focused Flinks are back with another startup—but instead of financial data, they’re connecting businesses with utility data to track energy consumption. Repeat founders Yves-Gabriel Leboeuf and Frédérick Lavoie have raised $4.5 million USD ($6.2 million CAD) for Deck, a new application programming interface (API) that allows businesses to track their energy consumption […]
Can Canada successfully scale AI companies?
In our third and final conversation from Scale AI’s ALL IN conference this September, our focus is on… well, scale. “The development of AI is racing ahead from most large corporations’ ability to keep up with it. What does that mean? There’s a nice gap there. There’s a beautiful gap to create products and go […]
An 82-acre medtech campus emerges in Vaughan
In a city less than 30 minutes away from Toronto’s downtown core is an 82-acre parcel of land that is not earmarked for new condos, but instead, a full ecosystem driving healthtech innovation. The City of Vaughan has partnered with Mackenzie Health, York University, and ventureLAB to develop a destination for healthcare innovation called the […]