Like many companies across Canada, BetaKit spent the first full workweek of the year welcoming new employees.
One of those employees is Jesse Cole, an Edmonton-based reporter staffing our newly launched Prairies Bureau. Along with a growing pool of freelance talent, Jesse’s mission is simple: cover the hell out of tech in the Prairies.
Jesse has already proven himself up to the task, speaking with a group of University of Calgary scientists who have discovered a new use for diamonds in quantum nanophotonics (if you want to know what that means, you’ll have to read the story).
BetaKit’s Prairies Bureau is funded through an innovative partnership with YEGAF, a not-for-profit entity dedicated to amplifying local stories. It’s a funding model for journalism that managing editor Sarah Rieger and I are particularly excited about, and one BetaKit would love to replicate in other regions across Canada.
In fact, you could call it BetaKit’s secret plan for 2026: report locally, and connect nationally.
But of course, that’s always been the plan. We’re just entering the year with a deeper bench to continue our award-winning work.
Jesse’s first week of onboarding is now over, so I would love it if you could stuff his inbox full of tech stories he should be covering throughout the year. Absolutely inundate him.
BetaKit wants to tell every Canadian tech story there is to be told. We’re well on our way.
Douglas Soltys
Editor-in-chief
Canada is gearing up for Hannover Messe 2026
This is your chance to be part of one of the world’s most influential industrial technology events.
NGen is once again leading Canada’s presence on the global stage by hosting the Canada Pavilion, bringing together innovative Canadian companies ready to showcase advanced manufacturing capabilities to an international audience.
As an exhibitor, you’ll gain access to valuable networking opportunities, high-impact visibility, and connections with potential partners, customers, and investors from around the world. To help companies take full advantage of this opportunity, NGen is offering up to $10,000 in eligible reimbursements for Canadian exhibitors participating in the pavilion.
If you’re looking to expand globally, attract new business, or highlight your latest technologies, now is the time to secure your spot.
Join Team Canada at Hannover Messe 2026. Apply to exhibit today.
“A perfect storm”: 2025 was the worst year for Canadian VC fundraising since 2016
Following a slight rebound in 2024, Canadian venture capital fundraising continued to trend downward in what marked a particularly poor 2025. A new RBCx report shows that emerging managers, fund sizes, and graduation rates are declining amid a lack of exits.
McRock Capital closes $120 million in third fund, backing industrial software startups
McRock looks to cut cheques to businesses with $5 million to $20 million in annual revenue, with hopes of helping them scale to $100 million and beyond.
Grok’s non-consensual sexual images highlight gaps in Canada’s deepfake laws
On social media platform X, users have been prompting AI model Grok to generate non-consensual sexual images of women, and sometimes children. Experts say Canada’s murky privacy and online harm laws leave victims with limited options.
Shopify ordered not to delete merchant data as legal spat with CRA continues
After the tax agency’s request for six years of Canadian merchant data from Shopify was dismissed in June, the Federal Court of Appeal has granted an order for the company to retain the data, including from inactive accounts that would normally have been deleted after two years.
The case, which started in 2023, is part of a CRA strategy to crack down on tax non-compliance, such as non-disclosure of online transactions.
#CDNtech’s 2026 predictions
To kick off the new year, BetaKit reached out to some of the smartest Canadians across the tech industry to ask what they’re watching this year in both AI and the future of work.
- Canadian founders, VCs, experts, and critics shared 30 bold predictions of what they expect from artificial intelligence in 2026.
- More Canadian tech leaders shared 15 bold predictions of what they expect both in the job market and at the office.
From roaming robo-barns to laser weeders, how an innovative program is helping BC farmers
Imagine a farm, with a barn sitting atop a lush, green pasture filled with chickens plucking away at the grass. Then, the barn starts to move on its own. The barn, it turns out, is a robot.
BC farmer Dave Semmelink got his robotic barn thanks to an Innovate BC program that has awarded just over $4.5 million in grants over the past year to help farmers acquire new tech.
Sprung Studios launches Sonar, an AI tool to track how players feel about games
Developed by a Vancouver game studio that’s worked on Call of Duty, Halo, and Apex Legends, Sonar is a free platform that uses AI to aggregate player sentiment from across the internet so developers (and gamers) can find out what people like and don’t like about a video game.
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FEATURED STORIES FROM OUR PARTNERS
- Cleantech investment may be down, but investor Darren Clifford believes the strongest opportunities are just beginning to surface. Read why Clifford sees climate-driven demand as a current strong enough to reshape entire industries.
- From agri-food to infrastructure monitoring, European scale-ups are choosing Canada as their launchpad into North America. From the Toronto Business Development Centre’s Horizon Sprint Week, Jacqueline Loganathan reports why Canada is emerging as a strategic entry point for global-ready companies.
- New data from Fasken’s Exit InSights Study reveals that most Canadian tech exits happen before companies reach full scale. Constantinos Ragas, a partner in Fasken’s Emerging Technology and Venture Capital group, sees that timing as a defining feature of Canadian tech M&A.
🇨🇦 Weekly Canadian Deals, Dollars & More
- SF – Canadian-founded D-Wave acquires competitor for $550M USD
- VAN – Photonic raises $180M to commercialize quantum
- VAN – Caseway AI and CanLII looking to settle copyright dispute
- EDM – Amii launches AI scholarship for environmental sciences
- BRA – MDA Space signs contract to bid on “Golden Dome” projects
- OTT – Backboard raises pre-seed round to solve AI amnesia
- OTT – Kinaxis appoints former Plainview head Razat Gaurav as CEO
- OTT – The Basic Phone launching on Kickstarter
- MTL – Flare uncovers phishing campaigns scamming Canadians
The BetaKit Podcast — The future is a four-day workweek
“The workweek will continue until morale improves.”
Jared Lindzon and Joe O’Connor’s new book, Do More in Four: Why It’s Time for a Shorter Workweek, argues that the future of work will feature more productive employees working fewer days. How is that supposed to happen when boomers still run the world, Gen Z is still Gen Z, and AI is coming for all of our jobs anyway? Let’s dig in.
Take The BetaKit Quiz – Canadian VC’s perfect storm, BC’s roaming robo-barns, and a CES tech check
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 January 9, 2025.
Access funding and manufacturing expertise to commercialize your medtech
Are you looking to advance regulatory approvals, conduct clinical trials, and undertake early manufacturing activities with the expertise and infrastructure needed to bring your medical technologies to market?
Innovation Factory’s Canadian Medtech Alliance (CAMEDA) program provides Ontario-based medtech innovators with funding and direct access to Canada’s leading medical contract development and manufacturing organizations.
CAMEDA can help you:
- Collaborate with experienced medical device CDMOs
- De-risk regulatory and clinical trial pathways
- Prepare for initial manufacturing and scale-up
Ready to accelerate your medtech journey? Apply to CAMEDA today: cameda.org
Feature image courtesy Condor Wei via Unsplash.