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Diagram Ventures closes $100-million for latest fund as it continues to bet on FinTech (BETAKIT)
Diagram Ventures remains bullish on FinTech companies as it launches its latest venture fund with a first close of $100 million CAD.
This bullish focus on FinTech comes as the state of the sector has been a mixed bag over the last year.
Payments regulations may be revised over concerns from FinTechs, Bank of Canada's Morrow says (THE LOGIC)
The Bank of Canada’s Ron Morrow said in an interview with The Logic that there could be changes to proposed regulations that will govern the country’s payments sector. Consultations on the proposal revealed widely held concern about the burden the rules could place on small players, and that they could stifle innovation.
Canadian venture capital investment in Q1 2023 drops by 82 percent compared to last year (BETAKIT)
In the first quarter of 2023, deals in Canada’s tech ecosystem plummeted. The latest data from Briefed.in shows Canada experienced a 82 percent decline in amount invested compared to the same time last year, and a 67 percent drop in number of deals.
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Crypto Exchange Coinbase Posts Loss, but Beats Expectations
(THE WALL STREET JOURNAL)
Coinbase Global reported a fifth consecutive quarter of losses as individual investor enthusiasm for crypto trading on the platform remained stagnant.
The biggest cryptocurrency exchange in the U.S. posted a loss of $79 million in the first quarter, narrowing its loss of $430 million a year ago. The improvement was largely driven by operational cost cutting, including a 20% reduction in workforce announced in January.
Shopify backs Nigeria-based FinTech Nomba in $30 million round (BETAKIT)
Shopify has made an investment into Nomba, a Nigeria-based FinTech firm that raised $30 million in what it classifies as a “pre-Series B” funding.
Nomba is one of the latest additions to Shopify’s investment portfolio, which largely focuses on funding companies that support the Shopify merchant ecosystem as well as online retailers more generally.
Ant's Financial License Is in Limbo as China Shakes Up Regulatory System (THE WALL STREET JOURNAL)
For more than a year now, Ant has been waiting for Beijing to sign off on its restructuring. The last step in its overhaul is to obtain a financial-holding-company license that would result in Ant’s being regulated in a similar way to banks and other financial institutions in China.
Approval of the license has been held up by the creation of a powerful new financial regulator in China, which will need to sign off on the plan.
Brightspark seeks to recreate its "home run" exits of Think Dynamics, Radian6 as it launches $120-million fund (BETAKIT)
Brightspark Ventures thinks now is the right time to be investing in early-stage Canadian tech companies as it holds the first close for its latest fund, which has a target size of $120 million CAD.
‘Pirate’ crypto platform Kraken making tweaks to satisfy Canadian regulators (THE LOGIC)
Prominent American crypto trading platform Kraken is evaluating which stablecoins it can list and plans to shut off margin trading in the remaining provinces where it is offered by mid-June as it works towards registration with Canadian securities regulators.
Elevate to return for 2023 with Lisa LaFlamme, Dragons’ Den, and Shark Tank stars among speaker lineup (BETAKIT)
Canadian tech conference Elevate is returning for its second year in-person since the COVID 19 pandemic, and will be running from September 26 to 28 in downtown Toronto.
Elevate’s presenters for this year will include Canadian celebrity figures such as Lisa LaFlamme as well as two “dragons” from CBC’s Dragons’ Den: Arlene Dickinson and Wes Hall.
CEO explains how Koho has navigated Canada's "oligopolistic market conditions" for financial innovation (DANIEL EBERHARD)
Koho CEO Daniel Eberhard explains in a LinkedIn post that the company is just now getting a handle on the transaction failure rate problem it previously faced. He questions whether the Canadian market is built to allow for innovation.
"A payment rail which fails 1% of the time is considered broken and we were regularly operating at 20X that level," Eberhard wrote.
Conference Board of Canada, MaRS launch new innovation group as growth in Canadian ecosystem lags (BETAKIT)
Named the Canadian Centre for the Innovation Economy (CCIE), the group will gather Canadian innovation hubs, institutions, entrepreneurs, governments, corporate partners, and investors to research critical issues facing the innovation community.
When it comes to innovation, Canada has lagged behind, the CBoC found. This new centre is meant to address Canada's "innovation paradox," as Canada's workforce and research fails to deliver long-term success.
Crypto platform ezBtc committed fraud, B.C. securities regulator alleges (THE GLOBE AND MAIL)
Canadian cryptocurrency trading platform ezBtc committed fraud by lying to customers and diverting their money to gambling websites, according to British Columbia’s securities regulator.