Archives

Aramis Biotechnologies secures $80 million CAD for vaccine development do-over

Québec City-based Aramis Biotechnologies, founded by former employees of failed vaccine venture Medicago, is advancing an $80-million project to develop plant-based vaccines for new flu shots and pandemic preparedness.  Half of the funding is a repayable contribution of $40 million awarded by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) through the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF), […]

Cohere secures federal backing to build multibillion-dollar Canadian AI data centre

Toronto-based generative artificial intelligence (AI) startup Cohere plans to build a multibillion-dollar AI data centre in Canada with the support of the federal government. The feds have committed up to $240 million CAD towards the effort in what marks their first investment through the recently unveiled $2-billion Canadian Sovereign AI Compute Strategy. The Government of […]

Mississauga’s rising entrepreneurs are cleaning water, transforming legal services, and making robot EV chargers

The Sauga Startup Pitch and Showcase, Mississauga’s flagship startup pitch competition, took centre stage on November 12, spotlighting nine finalists from four regional incubators and accelerators. With $15,000 in cash plus in-kind prizes up for grabs, the event showcased the thriving entrepreneurial spirit in Mississauga and its surrounding communities. Presented by IDEA Mississauga, ICUBE, SpinUp […]

KisoJi raises $57-million CAD Series B to advance antibody cancer therapy

Montréal-based biotech company KisoJi Biotechnology has raised $57 million CAD ($41 million USD) to bring its cancer treatment into clinical trials and leverage artificial intelligence (AI) for its antibody discovery technology.  KisoJi uses an AI model trained on its database of single antibodies, which the company says is the world’s largest, to identify new antibodies […]

Federal government outlines $2 billion in AI compute spending commitment

The federal government has launched the Canadian Sovereign AI Compute Strategy, outlining how it intends to deploy the $2 billion CAD it promised for artificial intelligence (AI) computing power as part of Budget 2024. This funding has been allocated towards increasing the computing power available to Canada’s AI researchers, startups, and scaleups. According to Innovation, […]

Trexo Robotics has helped people with disabilities take 100 million steps

Mississauga-based Trexo Robotics says its robotic legs device has helped people with disabilities walk over 100 million steps.  One user testified that she went from 30 steps in a manual walker up to 4,000 steps with a Trexo.  Trexo provides a pair of robotic legs, also called an exoskeleton, that is built around an external […]

Musical AI partners with India’s Beatoven.ai to create “fully licensed” AI song generator

As artificial intelligence (AI) companies, creatives, and copyright holders clash, Canada’s Musical AI has teamed up with another early-stage music technology startup to build what it says will be a “completely legal and licensed” AI song generator. The company has partnered with India-based Beatoven.ai to develop the new service, which will combine Musical AI’s rights […]

BDC launches program to help small businesses access financing to adopt AI

The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) has launched a new program meant to help small-and-medum-sized businesses (SMBs) learn about and access financing to adopt artificial intelligence (AI).  BDC noted that many companies seem unaware of the AI capabilities built into their existing tools. Through the Data to AI program, BDC will offer SMBs personalized […]