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How the Silicon Valley Bank shutdown might impact Canadian tech (BETAKIT)
The run on Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) has ended almost as quickly as it started, with news breaking Friday that the bank has been closed by regulators, which have taken control of its deposits.
This dramatic and quick downfall for one of tech's most prominent financial institutions is likely to have cascading effects across not only Silicon Valley but Canadian tech.
WeightWatchers moves into the Ozempic market with telehealth deal (THE WALL STREET JOURNAL)
WW International Inc., known as WeightWatchers, is buying digital health company Sequence, marking the diet company’s move into the hot market for diabetes and obesity drugs including Ozempic and Wegovy.
Drug discovery startup Congruence Therapeutics closes $20 million CAD extension of Series A (BETAKIT)
Founded in 2021, Montréal-based Congruence designs novel small molecules that are meant to speed up drug discovery for rare diseases. Its platform aims to design small molecules to address protein misfolding, which is an error in protein formation that can cause diseases like Parkinson’s and Huntington’s.
The extension brings Congruence’s total Series A round to $88 million CAD and comes more than one year after the startup held the round’s original close.
AgeTech Capital bets big on the grey area (THE LOGIC)
A Montreal group is building a $250 million USD fund to develop innovative products and services for seniors.
CAN Health Network to serve all of Canada with Québec, northern territories expansion (BETAKIT)
With $30 million in funding from the federal government, CAN Health operates through a regional model that allows the organization to work across regional boundaries to identify shared problems and priorities, and connect health operators across the country interested in similar tech solutions.
Transcarent to scquire part Of AI-powered 98point6 In $100 million healthtech deal (FORBES)
The transaction includes 98point6’s physician group, self-insured employer business, and an irrevocable software license. 98point6 has developed an AI chatbot that collects information via a text exchange with the patient and summarizes it for a human doctor who then takes over the chat.
This means Transcarent will now directly employ more than 150 doctors and clinical support staff.
Toronto venture funding saw a “return to sanity” in 2022 (BETAKIT)
Toronto’s venture funding in 2022 may have dipped from a record-breaking 2021, but still far surpassed 2020 and 2019, signalling a “return to sanity” for the city’s tech sector. Meanwhile, the Waterloo Region saw a continued decline in venture funding activity throughout 2022, culminating in a four-year low in deal volume.
Accolade cuts workforce, downsizes office footprint (MOBI HEALTH NEWS)
The company declined to comment on the number of employees affected by the layoffs. In the filing, CFO Stephen Barnes wrote Accolade was "accelerating the integration of recent acquisitions" and making strategic reductions in the company's workforce.
Ten things worth reading on International Women’s Day (BETAKIT)
For International Women’s Day, BetaKit has updated the following list with new talking points, educational tools, and support resources. BetaKit has also updated its list of programs and organizations that support Canadian women in tech.
Six months after petition launch, federal minister calls market benefits plan “essential” to Global Talent Stream visa (BETAKIT)
The Plan requires participating companies in the Global Talent Stream to demonstrate how their hiring of international talent is having “positive impacts” on the local labour market.
It’s an aspect of the program that some in the Canadian startup community see as a time-consuming barrier built into a program meant to streamline hiring talent from abroad.
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