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.
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Top Stories of the Week
How the Silicon Valley Bank shutdown might impact Canadian tech
This dramatic and quick downfall for one of tech’s most prominent financial institutions is likely to have cascading effects across not only Silicon Valley but Canadian tech.
Toronto venture funding saw a “return to sanity” in 2022
Toronto’s venture funding in 2022 may have dipped from a record-breaking 2021, but still far surpassed 2020 and 2019, signalling a “return to sanity” for the city’s tech sector.
Meanwhile, the Waterloo Region saw a continued decline in venture funding activity throughout 2022, culminating in a four-year low in deal volume.
Ten things worth reading on International Women’s Day
For International Women’s Day, BetaKit has updated the following list with new talking points, educational tools, and support resources. BetaKit has also updated its list of programs and organizations that support Canadian women in tech.
Magnet shares independent advisor report recommending $1.8 billion acquisition as some shareholders push to halt deal
Nellore owns 1.2 million subordinate voting shares in Magnet, approximately 10 percent of the class, and has called the proposed $1.8 billion CAD purchase price “simply too low.”
Six months after petition launch, federal minister calls market benefits plan “essential” to Global Talent Stream visa
The Plan requires participating companies in the Global Talent Stream to demonstrate how their hiring of international talent is having “positive impacts” on the local labour market.
It’s an aspect of the program that some in the Canadian startup community see as a time-consuming barrier built into a program meant to streamline hiring talent from abroad.
Latest Funding, Acquisitions, and Layoffs
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SF – Synctera – $15M (read more)
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VAN – Yaletown Partners – $200M (read more)
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VAN – Zenhub – $10M (read more)
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QUE – CAN Health Network expands into Québec with $30M (read more)
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TOR – Cohere secures funding from Salesforce (read more)
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TOR – Wattpad lays off 15 percent of staff (read more)
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TOR – Helika – $4M (read more)
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TOR – Daily Blends – $2.7M(read more)
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TOR – Adaptis – $2M (read more)
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TOR – Barley – $1.5M (read more)
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TOR – Firehood hands out $100K in prizes (read more)
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MTL – Congruence Technologies – $20M (read more)
Make 2023 your year for innovation
Mitacs and the Canada Foundation for Innovation are collaborating to help Canadian startups and tech innovators jumpstart their business with access to project funding, state-of-the-art labs, and business development and research experts.
Sign up for your free, one-on-one consultation today
Dan Breznitz unmuzzled: Canada Innovation Corporation architect explains how we got here
"Let's be blunt about it: we as a country are extremely good at invention … we're horrible at innovation."
Dan Breznitz, co-director of the Innovation Policy Lab at the University of Toronto, walks through the reasons for Canada's failure on innovation, the origins of the CIC, and who he thinks should be its first CEO.
Panache’s Chris Neumann on FounderFuel’s return and “shitty” VC behaviour
"There is a special place in hell for investors who intentionally screw over their founders with no empathy for the journey or the challenges that they are going through."
Panache Ventures partner Chris Neumann joins to answer listener questions about his blog writing, the state of Canadian accelerators, and what VCs are talking about.
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