Elevate to return for 2023 with Lisa LaFlamme, Dragons’ Den, and Shark Tank stars among speaker lineup
Policy regulations around AI, Bill C-11 will be discussed at Elevate this year.
Canadian Startup News
Conference Board of Canada, MaRS launch new innovation group as growth in Canadian ecosystem lags
Despite new federal programs, Canada’s innovation sector hasn’t picked up pace.
Canadian venture capital investment in Q1 2023 drops by 82 percent compared to last year
VC saw a sharp decline in both amount invested and number of deals compared to last year.
Bell to acquire Montréal cloud services provider FX Innovation
Bell posted an 88 percent decline in free cash flow since the first quarter of 2022.
Shopify cuts 20 percent of staff, announces sale of logistics division
“There’s no way to make this good news,” Shopify CEO tells employees in company letter.
Diagram Ventures closes $100-million for latest fund as it continues to bet on FinTech
For the first time, Diagram will also invest in companies it doesn’t have a hand in creating.
1Password CEO calls Google’s move to passkeys “tipping point” for eliminating passwords
1Password is on a mission to lead the shift from traditional passwords to passkeys.
Startup Montréal awards $400,000 to startups as FounderFuel reveals first revamped accelerator cohort
Both programs award seed funding and mentorship support to tech founders.
Brightspark seeks to recreate its “home run” exits of Think Dynamics, Radian6 as it launches $120-million fund
Brightspark Ventures has made an initial close of $60 million towards its target.
Shopify backs Nigeria-based FinTech Nomba in $30 million round
Nomba provides payments and banking tools for businesses.
The DMZ awards $35,000 to Black-led startups Blue Guardian, Gia Health, Scooli
The DMZ downsized its prize money after handing out $50,000 last year.
BlackBerry considering breaking up its businesses to improve revenue, cash flow
BlackBerry’s year-over-year revenue declined by 18 percent.
BrainBox AI acquires ABB technology in its mission to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in buildings
Québec government and ABB invest $27 million CAD to aid BrainBox AI help retailers use less energy.
RenoRun shuts down operations as it pursues sale of assets
RenoRun expects to close a purchase of its assets by no later than May 15.
“Godfather of deep learning” Geoffrey Hinton quits Google to warn against dangers of AI
Hinton left his decade-long tenure at Google to speak openly about new AI fears.