After Startupfest last year, I grumbled about change in this newsletter. This time, I will try to be more constructive.
Startupfest hosted its 15th edition this year, and upon arriving at the Grand Quay in Montréal’s Old Port for my 11th personal appearance, I was enamoured with two new event installations.
The first was a Hall of Fame wall celebrating 45 individuals instrumental in helping the international startup festival survive and thrive over almost two decades. Startupfest founder Phil Telio told me the anniversary was an opportunity to reflect and recognize the people who often do not receive credit for their impact.
The second was a door, expertly stolen from the now-shuttered Notman House. Plastered all over it were stickers of the many startups that had made their way through the Montréal startup hub over the years.
At Startupfest, new companies started adding fresh stickers to the door. Event staff initially freaked out before Telio gave his blessing. “History never stops,” he said. “It’s a living reality.”
Accuse me (and Telio!) of sentimentality if you want, but there is power in connecting what has come before to what comes next. Sometimes a door can be a bridge.
The past several months, I have travelled across Canada for tech events large and small, new and old. At each stop, I was reminded that communities don’t build themselves; you get what you put in. So don’t forget to leave a mark.
Douglas Soltys
Editor-in-chief
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Startupfest pulse check
It didn’t take long for this year’s Startupfest theme to shift from “Ambition+” to “AI+.” BetaKit captured what venture capitalists, government officials, and startups had to say in Montréal this past week at summer camp for Canadian tech.
Founders need a good reason to forgo an AI strategy, VCs warn at Startupfest
In conversation with BDC Capital executive vice-president Geneviève Bouthillier for the BDC Women in Technology Bootcamp, Menlo Ventures consumer partner Amy Wu Martin said it’s internally considered an “exception” if the Calif.-based firm invests in a company with no AI strategy.
“There needs to be some powerful reason why, a ‘why now,’ without that business model,” Martin said.
Most Canadian companies are walking the AI adoption race: report
Despite the technology’s purported importance, a new report from Toronto VC firm Georgian Partners suggests most Canadian companies are still learning to walk as they grapple with AI’s barriers and mixed efficiency gains.
At Startupfest in Montréal, Georgian lead investor Evan Kerr said that ROI is a key concern for AI adopters, according to the report’s global and Canadian-specific data. Kerr encouraged founders selling AI products to have a “firm perspective” on defining ROI for their clients.
Minister Evan Solomon unveils fresh AI project funding to address “crisis moment” at Scale AI event
Innovation Minister Evan Solomon announced that 23 Québec-led AI projects will receive almost $100 million in combined public-private funding at Scale AI’s office during Startupfest, money he said is meant to address a “crisis moment.”
“Countries that master AI will dominate the future, you’re either part of the bulldozer or you’re part of the road. We cannot be left behind,” Solomon said.
Market recovery Canadian VCs expected still on the horizon, experts say at Startupfest
While a turnaround was predicted last year at Startupfest, data shows that a persistently cool exit market and middling returns are preventing cash from re-entering the VC space.
“Anecdotally, this year feels very similar to last year,” said RBCx director of capital investments John Rikhtegar. “Not that much has changed.”
MTatt takes home top prize at Startupfest 2025 as winnings exceed $1 million for the first time
The winner of both the Best of Fest $100,000 award and the Audience Choice Award was Montréal-based mTatt, a medtech company building a new way to measure blood test biomarkers with temporary tattoos.
“It was crazy to pitch in front of that many people,” mTatt CEO and co-founder Samuel Babity told BetaKit. “I’ve done smaller things before, but never quite on this scale.”
Manzil wants to become “the North American Islamic neobank” as it expands to the US
After acquiring Aghaz Investments last year, Manzil has brought its services to the US with the launch of a new investment platform tailored to the financial goals and religious requirements of Muslim Americans.
Over the past eight months, Manzil has turned Aghaz’s assets into Manzil Invest USA, a mobile investment app that is compliant with sharia (Islamic law).
In an exclusive interview with BetaKit, Manzil co-founder and group CEO Mohamad Sawwaf said Manzil wants “to be the North American player in this space.”
OpenText CFO Chadwick Westlake to succeed the late Andrew Moor as CEO of Equitable Bank
Chadwick Westlake is stepping down as OpenText CFO after just five months to take over as president and CEO of Equitable Bank following the unexpected death of Andrew Moor last month.
EQB said the board’s unanimous decision to select Westlake, who has a long work history at EQB, concludes “a thoughtful and deliberate” succession-planning process that began several years ago, with support from the late Moor.
“After reviewing many outstanding candidates alongside Andrew, Chadwick stood above all others,” EQB board chair Vincenza Sera said in a statement.
Deep Sky science chief Phil De Luna departs company to “build something new”
Phil De Luna has left his role as the chief science and commercial officer of Montréal-based carbon-capture startup Deep Sky, the executive announced in a LinkedIn post this week.
De Luna declined to comment on the nature of his departure or what his next steps are to BetaKit, but did say he is “going to be doing a lot of exploring.”
Opennote raises $850,000 USD, secures Y Combinator spot for edtech platform
Opennote, a Guelph, Ont.- and Irvine, Calif.-based edtech startup, has raised $850,000 USD (about $1.2 million CAD) for its education personalization platform targeting undergraduate students.
The three founders of Opennote are all students themselves, and they were also recently accepted into prestigious California-based startup accelerator Y Combinator’s Summer 2025 batch. Co-founder Vedant Vyas told BetaKit the firm hopes to scale out of California’s Bay Area, citing support from US-based investors and an increased institutional willingness in the US to pilot new edtech solutions.
Canadian co-founded eSIM provider Airalo hits unicorn status with $220-million USD Series C round
Airalo, a Delaware-based eSIM provider co-founded by Canadian Abraham Burak, has achieved “unicorn” status by surpassing a $1-billion USD valuation through a $220 million USD ($300 million CAD) Series C round.
Burak lives in Toronto. He studied at law schools around the world, including China, Switzerland, and The Netherlands, eventually attending a law program at the University of Ottawa before dropping out to build Airalo.
Hanna Zaidi joins BetaKit’s board of directors
BetaKit is excited to welcome Hanna Zaidi, VP of payments strategy and chief compliance officer at Wealthsimple, to its board of directors. Zaidi joins the board alongside Satish Kanwar and BetaKit editor-in-chief Douglas Soltys.
Hanna brings over a decade of leadership at the forefront of Canadian FinTech, payments infrastructure, and regulatory innovation.
“I’ve been a longtime reader of BetaKit and deeply value its role in connecting Canada’s tech ecosystem,” said Zaidi. “It’s an honour to join the board and help support independent, impactful journalism.”
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🇨🇦 Weekly Canadian Deals, Dollars & More
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The BetaKit Podcast – ‘Ambition made in Canada’ with Shopify, Cohere, and Wealthsimple
“ It’s kind of that ‘Valley or bust’ mentality which breaks the ecosystem and really hurts Canada.”
Harley Finkelstein (Shopify), Mike Katchen (Wealthsimple), and Aidan Gomez (Cohere) hold a candid conversation about ‘Ambition made in Canada’ during Toronto Tech Week. Recorded live at Homecoming.
Take The BetaKit Quiz – This week: Elon Musk’s new party, Canada’s AI adoption, and Clutch cracks $1 billion
Think you’re on top of Canadian tech and innovation news? Time to prove it. Test your knowledge of Canadian tech news with The BetaKit Quiz for July 11, 2025.
Feature image courtesy Startupfest.