The Canadian universities that ship the most founders
What is the secret sauce behind universities that produce the most founders? This year, six Canadian post-secondary institutions made PitchBook’s list of the top 100 universities by number of students-turned-founders. Andre Charoo believes it’s the Ivy-League-quality education students receive at Canadian institutions (often at a much cheaper tuition compared to the US). Charoo, a Canadian […]
Luge Capital navigates emerging manager minefield, closes second early-stage FinTech fund at $96 million CAD
Despite tough market conditions leaving many emerging managers struggling to fundraise, FinTech-focused Luge Capital closed its second early-stage fund last month after securing $96 million CAD in total commitments. The Montréal and Toronto-based venture capital (VC) firm ultimately came in just shy of its $100-million target for Fund II, which has a list of limited […]
Academics, nonprofits caught in middle of data consent fight as AI companies push for access to copyrighted works
As major artificial intelligence (AI) companies like OpenAI, Cohere, and Anthropic seek more copyrighted works to use to train their models, it is academics, nonprofits, and early-stage AI startups who are struggling the most to find material they are allowed to use, experts told BetaKit. AI companies are running out of data sources as they […]
Harley Finkelstein wants Canadian entrepreneurs to ignore the “bullshit”
Back in May, BetaKit hosted a town hall where Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke noted that ambition is a problem in Canada’s “go-for-bronze” culture. The point resonated with many founders across the country, but I’m not sure if ambition is the sole problem. “Using Canada as an excuse for why you didn’t get funding, you didn’t […]
Shopify to become Roblox’s first platform commerce partner
Shopify is set to pilot its checkout in Roblox, one of the world’s largest online games, the two companies announced today. “This will open up a massive audience of 80 million daily active, highly engaged, Roblox users, and potential customers, for creators and brands.” Harley Finkelstein The announcement was made during this year’s Roblox Developers […]
“The impact can be devastating”: ASC launches $130,000 tech challenge in bid to combat crypto scams
The Alberta Securities Commission (ASC), the Edmonton Police Foundation, and the Edmonton Police Service have partnered to seek out new tech solutions to combat online crypto investment fraud. The ScamShield Investor Protection Challenge is calling on those working in the tech sector, academia, and other sectors to propose new ways to enhance investor protection against […]
“It’s just straight math”: Assent CEO Andrew Waitman sets bar higher after hitting centaur status
It’s mid-August at the Ottawa headquarters of compliance software company Assent, where three giant numbers filled with deflated balloons have been left ajar against the cafeteria wall—‘1’, ‘0,’ and ‘0.’ The block numbers are remnants from a celebration in June, where the company officially announced becoming a centaur, after achieving the coveted goal of hitting […]
Fed issues $5.2-million investment to boost southern Ontario cleantech
Boundless Accelerator, formerly known as Innovation Guelph, has launched a new cleantech fund aimed at supporting businesses developing clean technologies in southern Ontario. The Southern Ontario Environmental Impact Fund (SOEIF) received a $5.2-million investment from the federal government Wednesday. The federal investment was made through FedDev Ontario, the regional development agency for southern Ontario. The […]
Northside Ventures closes first early-stage VC fund at $15 million CAD
Toronto-based venture capital (VC) firm Northside Ventures has closed its inaugural fund, hitting its $15-million CAD ($11 million USD) target last month despite tough market conditions. Northside’s Fund I LPs consist of a mix of institutional investors, funds-of-funds, corporate VC arms, other VC funds, family offices, and experienced tech founders and operators. The group includes […]
Canadian healthtech company Deep Breathe bags top prize at US Army’s xTechInternational 2024
London, Ont.-based healthtech startup Deep Breathe, which develops artificial intelligence (AI)-powered ultrasound diagnostics systems, has taken first place at xTechInternational 2024, an international competition hosted by the United States (US) Army. The competition invites companies to showcase the potential military applications of their technologies. This year’s competition attracted more than 100 applicants across various industries […]