The publication of record for Canadian tech and innovation can now boast back-to-back wins at the annual SABEW Canada Best in Business Awards.
For the second year in a row, BetaKit received the award for General Excellence, Small Publication. Josh Scott received the 2024 award for General Excellence, Reporter at a Small Publication.
“I would like to thank SABEW on Josh’s behalf for continued recognition of his ability to get to the heart of issues affecting Canadian business,” said Ottawa-based staff writer Alex Riehl, who represented BetaKit at the awards ceremony in Toronto on Wednesday night.
The annual SABEW Canada awards recognize outstanding Canadian business reporting produced and published the year prior.
Scott is currently in BC reporting on Web Summit Vancouver, along with Editor-in-Chief Douglas Soltys and other members of the BetaKit team.
“This award is an honour that would not have been possible without the small but mighty BetaKit team,” Scott said when reached while on assignment. “I’m also grateful for the folks across the Canadian tech ecosystem who have shared their stories and perspectives with me. Their trust makes what we do possible.”
In the hope of repeating next year, Scott committed to filing stories on time and eventually catching up with his emails. His editors could not be reached for comment.
The annual SABEW Canada awards recognize outstanding Canadian business reporting produced and published the year prior, in categories ranging from breaking news to multimedia and features.
Scott’s award for General Excellence was based on a package of work that included coverage of Clio’s record-breaking fundraising, a scoop on the closure of CDPQ’s $250-million Equity 25³ Fund, and a thought-provoking year-end feature on Canada’s struggles to find its place in the global AI race.
BetaKit was recognized for General Excellence, Small Publication for a package of editorial work documenting a weird year for Canadian tech that laid the groundwork for where we find ourselves today: a nation contemplating its future in a strange new economic landscape filled with political uncertainty.
Throughout the year, BetaKit worked hard to capture the complex dynamics at work and their impact on the tech sector. Included in that work was BetaKit’s breaking news coverage of Budget 2024, with real-time reaction to the surprise capital gains tax change, and an explanatory feature by Scott explaining its impact on investors, entrepreneurs, their companies, and employees.
Also recognized was a scoop by Scott revealing that financing delays caused by the SDTC scandal had forced Canadian cleantech companies to make layoffs and cancel contracts. Scott also broke news that major tech conference Collision would end its fraught relationship with the city of Toronto and relocate to Vancouver under a new name, continuing the investigative work that earned him the 2023 Jeff Sanford Best Young Journalist Award.
Riehl, who took second place in the award ceremony’s pub trivia competition, shared his relief with attendees that his newsroom colleague’s work could still be recognized now that Scott is no longer a young journalist.
In an ever-shrinking news cycle, BetaKit also examined past stories to track their long-term impact. Contributing freelancer Kelsey Rolfe returned to the fall of Silicon Valley Bank one year later to explore how Canadian banks had worked to fill the country’s lending gap.
“BetaKit is dedicated to covering Canadian tech because we understand the relationship between this sector and the opportunities and challenges that face our nation,” said Soltys. “I’m sad I couldn’t be there last night to buy another round of shots for our colleagues, who are all telling amazing business stories that matter to Canada.”
The SABEW Canada Best in Business Awards winners were named in more than 15 categories last night. The full list can be viewed here.