Nuvei is big in Japan, AI’s Sputnik moment, and the Uber for what?

Nuvei does not have an office in South Korea, though the company’s new Tokyo headquarters joins a collection of offices located in China, Hong Kong, Australia, and Singapore, with more than 200 on-the-ground staff in the Asia-Pacific region.

Knead Technologies aimed to curb food waste by deploying its software to help redistribute 100,000 pounds of food from vendors at the 2024 NFL Draft in Detroit last spring. Knead, which brands itself as “Uber for food waste,” will use its pre-seed financing to improve its software platform, land more US clients, and build more partnerships.

Clay was launched in 2017 by McGill University graduates and repeat entrepreneurs, Kareem Amin and Nicolae Rusan. Rusan, who has since left the company, is Canadian, while Amin came to Canada from Egypt to attend McGill before moving to the United States. The company, which raised $57.5-million CAD at a $1.25-billion USD valuation, makes software that automates customer research.

Homuth argued that shifting the core cost of manufacturing from labour to energy could make local manufacturing far more competitive. The goal, she explained, is to have her company’s only true cost be the energy used to produce. She believes Canada is well-suited to capitalize on this shift because of its access to affordable, renewable power.

The founders of AdGear sold the startup to Samsung in 2016 before starting Optable four years later. Optable, which helps companies see how their advertising campaigns are performing, closed $28.8-million CAD in funding this week.

Saskatchewan saw relatively low VC fundraising activity last year, and Conexus Venture Capital (CVC) managing director Jordan McFarlen told BetaKit that a lack of capital is the main issue, rather than a lack of high-quality deal opportunities. He added that CVC’s Fund II, along with its ability to bring in other investors, will play a key role in boosting deal activity in Saskatchewan.

Live shopping refers to live-streamed events where hosts present and sell products in real time. During her session at a recent TechTO commerce event, Lo said live shopping allowed Three Ships to sell $20,000 in beauty products in the first hour of livestreaming.

VueReal aims to improve the yield, efficiency, reliability, and cost of microLED and micro semiconductor manufacturing through its microprinting solution. The startup plans to use its Series C capital to scale its microLED lighting and display production capabilities and help partners integrate its MicroSolid Printing platform into commercial production lines around the world.

For years, the US government has worked to restrict China’s access to semiconductor chips, a critical component for generative AI models. However, some experts argue that these export limits may have inadvertently pushed DeepSeek to find more creative ways to train and run its R1 model.

Tech investor Marc Andreessen called the rise of DeepSeek’s model “AI’s Sputnik moment,” while Cohere co-founder Nick Frosst told BetaKit it proves that efficiency is just as good of a predictor of innovation as massive sums of capital.