Aviron scores $23.6 million CAD Series A round to make rowing fun
Toronto startup hopes to row around Peloton’s shark-infested waters.
A|I: The AI Times – Speaking Cohere’s language
Plus: Texas sues Meta over Facebook’s facial-recognition practices.
Former Bench CEO Ian Crosby joins Shopify Balance as product director
The Bench co-founder described Shopify Balance as “a phenomenal product.”
Busbud closes $14 million CAD, acquires Recorrido to fuel Latin American expansion
Chilean energy firm COPEC’s venture arm led the round.
Operto raises $15.3 million CAD to help hosts manage short-term rentals, hotels
Operto is eyeing international expansion and new verticals like hotels.
F|T: The FinTech Times – Things at Better are getting worse
Plus: Canadian tech salaries jumped 38 percent since 2019, but attracting talent is tough.
S|W: The SaaS Weekly – Wattpad’s widening end zone
Plus: Checking in with BC’s SaaS Unicorns.
Canadian startup news of the week (2/21/22)
Plus: Allen Lau drafts a new plan for Wattpad.
Roach Capital closes $6.4 million CAD for first fund from prominent VCs, Shopify execs
Golden Ventures and partners from Tiger Global and Garage Capital also invested in the Shopify alum-led fund.
H|T: The Healthtech Times – Canadian biotech leader Clarissa Desjardins secures the bag
Plus: Peloton is cutting 20 percent of workforce as CEO steps down.
R|T: The Retail Times – Shopify’s strategic investment to solve this supply chain mess
Plus: Massive “coffeetech” investments are giving startups a jolt.
Shopify shares drop following decelerated revenue growth, lowered guidance in Q4 2021
Shopify’s share price has dropped 18 percent following market open.
Alongside closes $8 million Series A to merge its HR tools with CareerBeacon’s jobs site
Alongside used some of the funding to acquire CareerBeacon in December.
Properly begins Canadian expansion with move into Vancouver, Fraser Valley
CEO says Vancouver is a “great hub” to begin serving Western Canada.
A|I: The AI Times – Raquel Urtasun’s autonomous vehicle revolution
Plus: Toronto tech institute tracking long COVID with AI.