Welcome to BetaKit’s startup stories of the week! Here, you will find the week’s most important news, features, and editorials published on BetaKit. If you prefer this update hit your inbox every week, make sure to subscribe to the BetaKit Newsletter using the form at the bottom of this page.
Top Stories of the Week
Shopify, Benevity set records for Black Friday-Cyber Monday and Giving Tuesday
Shopify declared a record-setting year with combined Black Friday-Cyber Monday sales on its platform adding up to $7.5 billion USD from merchants globally. The figure represented a 19 percent increase from 2021 when Shopify merchants declared $6.3 billion in sales.
Cross-border payments startup Buckzy takes the smart money in downscaled $19.5 million CAD Series A
Buckzy founder and CEO Abdul Naushad told BetaKit in an interview that this capital will extend the startup’s runway by 12 months and help it reach cash flow breakeven by this time next year.
Foresight 50 list names Canada’s “most investable” cleantech firms
“Last year’s Foresight 50 companies went on to collectively raise $593 million to amplify their cleantech solutions,” said Foresight Canada CEO Jeanette Jackson.
Ha Nguyen named McRock Capital’s third partner as firm looks to raise $200 million fund
Nguyen originally joined McRock in 2016 as an associate, serving as McRock’s Western Canada lead and vice president for the last four years.
Durable aims to help solo entrepreneurs launch service-based businesses with AI
“The bottom line is it’s still way too hard to start a business, specifically a service-based company,” said Durable founder and CEO James Clift.
Montréal Startup Community Awards 2022 honours #MTLtech’s best and brightest
Over 300 peer nominations were received with a selection committee shortlisting five to 10 finalists for each category. The awards were handed out at the Gala de la Communauté Startup on December 1.
What Coconut Software CFO Matt Petrow learned while raising a Series B
Matt Petrow, CFO of Coconut Software, said it’s about more than simply knowing your numbers and taking the best term sheet available.
How to keep yourself safe from cyber threats
Leigh Tynan, the Director of TELUS Online Security; Jeff Bonvie from the RCMP’s Cybercrime Coordination Centre; and Matthew Moniz, entrepreneur and Content Creator of Moniz Media, shared their insights on the current state of cybercrime and the secret to staying safer online.
Latest Funding, Acquisitions, and Layoffs
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VAN – Active Replica and Pulse acquired by Mozilla (read more)
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VAN – Durable – $6.25M (read more)
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VAN – Produce8 – $6M (read more)
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CAL – Avatar Innovations secures $750K for new fund (read more)
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REG – Ground Truth – $4M (read more)
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KW – ApplyBoard lays off six percent of staff (read more)
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TOR – Private AI – $10.7M (read more)
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KIN – Fictionary – $1.8M (read more)
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MTL – RailVision Analytics – $5.5M (read more)
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QC – UgoWork – $22.8M (read more)
DISSECTING THE ANATOMY OF A CANADIAN TECH SEED ROUND WITH TWO SMALL FISH, CALICO & WAVY
“If we take a look at some of the salaries we were seeing, it was probably four engineers and our entire round was gone.”
Eva Lau (Two Small Fish), Shawn Hewat (Wavy), and Kathleen Chan (Calico) discuss what it was like to raise a seed round in 2021 and what changed in 2022 so founders are ready for 2023. Recorded live at SAAS NORTH on the BetaKit Keynote Stage.
CANADIAN TECH TALKS DOWN ROUNDS, DISASTERS, AND “RECIPES FOR FAILURE”
“There was a bit of ego raising.” “I think it has been a disaster.” “I read BetaKit for the truth.”
Canadian tech luminaries try to make sense of a crazy year in this compilation of interviews recorded live at SAAS NORTH.
Featuring: Laura Lenz (OMERS Ventures), Leo Lax (L-SPARK), Louis Têtu (Coveo), Ria Bhavnani (Shopify), Peter Housley (Unbounce), Natalie Archibald (Clio), and Sean Silcoff (Globe & Mail).
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