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Nuvei, Plaid extend payments partnership to expand to different regions and businesses (BETAKIT)
Payment-processing company Nuvei and Plaid, an account-linking startup, are expanding their existing partnership to support a wider range of businesses and uses.
The expansion will enable Nuvei’s clients to accept payments for multiple uses. Those will include recurring payments and payouts, and to serve additional verticals within e-commerce, such as utilities and B2B.
Clearco backers buy back its debt amid windup of Silicon Valley Bank’s Canadian arm (THE GLOBE AND MAIL)
Inovia Capital is taking a big bet on Clearco, buying US$60-million of the challenged Canadian e-commerce merchant financier’s venture debt facility in tandem with two other investors in the windup of Silicon Valley Bank’s Canadian unit.
Startupfest 2023 awards Hutsy twice while Ora Medical receives BDC prize match (BETAKIT)
Founded in 2019 by Tefari Bailey, Hutsy won both the Black Entrepreneur prize worth $100,000 and the Audience Choice Award at Startupfest's 2023 awards.
Calling itself a financial “super-app,” Hutsy's platform allows users to spend money through a Visa prepaid card issued by Peoples Trust Company and track their spending through its companion app.
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Constellation Software to pay US$700-million for mortgage service provider Optimal Blue (THE GLOBE AND MAIL)
Toronto-based Constellation’s Perseus operating group will pay US$700-million for Optimal Blue, which provides data services to the mortgage industry, in a deal that could pave the way for the owner of the New York Stock Exchange to become the largest mortgage services provider in the United States.
Venture funding in Toronto, British Columbia rebounds in second quarter of 2023 (BETAKIT)
Following a sluggish start to the year, two of Canada’s largest tech ecosystems saw a resurgence in venture funding in the second quarter of 2023, according to new data from briefed.in.
Mostly thanks to a handful of very large deals, tech startups in Toronto raised a cumulative $1 billion in Q2, up 733 percent from Q1 2023 and up 71 percent year-over-year. A similar story unfolded further west. BC’s tech startups raised $639.6 million in Q2, which represents a 573 percent increase quarter-over-quarter and a 213 percent increase year-over-year.
Fed launches long-awaited instant payments service, modernizing system (REUTERS)
In the midst of Canada's setbacks to modernize its payments system, the U.S. Federal Reserve has launched a long-awaited service which will aim to eventually allow everyday Americans to send and receive funds in seconds, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the central bank announced on Thursday.
Canada’s private tech firms gather to talk AI, growth, global appeal (BETAKIT)
RBC Capital Markets hosted its fourth annual Canadian Private Technology Conference at the end of June, an exclusive gathering in Toronto of more than two dozen executives and founders from 17 tech companies across multiple disciplines and several venture capital firms.
The event culminated with a conversation with keynote guest, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, who shared his own entrepreneurial journey and his perspective on the tech and AI landscape today.
Visa, Mastercard Hit With Antitrust Suit Over Credit Card Fees (BLOOMBERG LAW)
Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. are facing a new antitrust lawsuit that alleges the credit card companies conspired to vastly overcharge the Square payment platform, causing higher retail prices paid by consumers.
Block Inc., the company formerly known as Square Inc., claims that Visa and Mastercard conspired to fix inflated “interchange” fees and maintain market power, according to a suit filed July 14.
Here’s how much Canada’s top public tech company CEOs were paid last year (BETAKIT)
A new report by human capital consulting firm Global Governance Advisors, and shared with the Globe and Mail, maps the compensation of Canada’s top public company CEOs across a variety of industries, determined by their market capitalization.
From Shopify's Tobias Lütke to Opentext's Mark Barrenechea, find out how much these CEOs were making as public tech companies faced a challenging year in 2022.
Thunes pockets $72M at a $900M+ valuation to expand its cross-border, B2B payment platform (TECHCRUNCH)
Thunes, a Singapore and London-based fintech that has built a payments platform for businesses to send money to each other internationally by tapping into the growing network of mobile wallets and other alternatives to bank accounts, has closed its $72 million Series C round of funding to expand its business.
Toronto and Montréal added the most tech jobs in Canada in the last five years: Report (BETAKIT)
Within Canada, Toronto and Montréal added the most tech talent jobs between 2017 and 2022, according to CBRE’s latest Scoring Tech Talent report. In the five-year period, CBRE’s report found that Toronto added 63,800 tech jobs, while Montréal added 51,500.
The report illustrated the emerging tech talent concentration in Canada, with three of the top five North American cities in this category located in Canada: Ottawa, Waterloo, and Toronto.
Card Startup Karat Raises $70 Million, Bucking Funding Trend
(THE INFORMATION)
Despite the funding collapse for creator economy startups, Karat, which offers business credit cards and financial services for creators, announced $70 million in Series B funding.
Celsius Approved to Pay Shareholders $25 Million in Bankruptcy (BLOOMBERG)
Celsius Network won court approval of a deal to end a bankruptcy fight with preferred shareholders by paying $25 million to them, instead of risking an extended legal battle that could have cost $600 million.
US Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn approved the settlement, which ends one of the longest-running fights in the Chapter 11 case of the crypto firm.