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Ex-PathFactory CEO’s Sparrow BioAcoustics closes $10 million to turn smartphones into stethoscopes

St. John’s, NL-based healthtech and software startup Sparrow BioAcoustics has closed $10 million in seed financing following recent regulatory approvals for its heart monitoring software. According to a statement from Sparrow, the round was led by Atlantic Canada private equity firm Killick Capital, Klister Credit, and Newfoundland and Labrador-based venture firm Pelorus Ventures. “The team […]

Nunafab, SnapWrite, Aruna Revolution among startups to score prize money at Elevate

Elevate Festival 2024 closed out its third and final day in Toronto yesterday with seven Canadian tech startups earning a share of this year’s prize money. Since its launch in 2017, Elevate Festival has consistently spotlighted Canadian companies through various competitions, and the 2024 event was no exception. This year, startups had the opportunity to […]

Sagard-backed Audensiel acquires tech consultancy Maltem Canada

French business and technology consulting company Audensiel has acquired Montréal-based digital consultancy Maltem Canada for an undisclosed amount. The deal marks Audensiel’s first regional acquisition and comes roughly one year after it opened its Montréal office. It did so with the support of shareholder Sagard MidCap. In a statement, Audensiel said the acquisition gives it […]

Iris Booth appoints Shopify director Brandon Ghaeli as CEO

Halifax-based photography technology company Iris Booth is bringing on former Shopify leader Brandon Ghaeli to steer the business through its next phase of growth. Ghaeli is taking the reins from Iris Booth founder and CEO Sue Siri, who is stepping down after a decade at the helm. Going forward, Siri will remain involved at the […]

The greatest threat to startups today is playing it safe

Investor Deck is a six-article series presented by Sage, offering tips for SaaS startups from Canadian VCs. Read the previous installment here. ‘Cut costs. Conserve cash. Get lean.’  For the past two years, these mantras have echoed across boardrooms as investors urge startups to pull back on growth and double down on unit economics. “I […]

Fujitsu launches Cohere-powered Japanese LLM for enterprise use

Japanese IT services company Fujitsu has launched Takane, a Japanese-language large language model (LLM) powered by Toronto-based enterprise artificial intelligence (AI) startup Cohere.  Fujitsu claims Takane has achieved industry-leading performance in multiple Japanese-language benchmarks. The new LLM is a product of a partnership struck between the two companies earlier this year, in which the companies […]

Koho secures $190 million CAD in equity and debt to bolster banking licence efforts

Toronto-based Koho Financial has raised a $190 million CAD round of debt and equity funding as it continues its efforts to secure a Schedule 1 banking licence.  The $40 million equity financing was led by PROPELR Growth with participation from return investors Drive Capital, TTV Capital, and BDC Capital. New York-based Rockefeller Capital, founded by […]

PocketHealth kicks off breast cancer awareness month with AI-powered tool for early detection

Toronto-based PocketHealth has launched a new breast health tool that will provide personalized cancer risk assessments, eligibility alerts for mammograms, and mammogram booking support for its users.  Launched on the first day of breast cancer awareness month, the tool aims to help detect cancer early and address gaps in breast cancer screening.  A recent survey […]

Loss of DoorDash partnership prompts Payfare share price plummet and strategic review

Payfare is initiating a strategic review of the company after losing the business of its largest customer.   Payfare claims it is “well capitalized to fund ongoing operations and new strategic initiatives.”  The Toronto-based earned wage access (EWA) company announced last week that DoorDash had decided not to renew its agreement with Payfare, which was powering […]