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Vena raises $300 million from Vista Equity Partners (BETAKIT)
The Series C financing follows $25 million USD in growth capital financing Vena secured in September from CIBC Innovation Banking.
Cryptocurrency firm Paxos raises $300 mln at $2.4 bln valuation (REUTERS)
The latest investment in Paxos underscores surging investor interest in crypto firms, which have seen their perceived value increase in lockstep with bitcoin’s rise.
Newton had an outage and now users are complaining their transactions are pending (BETAKIT)
Newton wrote in a blog post it had temporarily paused trading and crypto withdrawals while it addressed an outage with its custodian related to a cyberattack.
Brex raises mega-round and announces a new feature for finance management (BUSINESS INSIDER)
This boosts Brex’s value proposition and should diversify its revenue streams.
Here’s why M&A activity is surging in Canada’s tech sector (BETAKIT)
BetaKit spoke to key members of the Canadian innovation ecosystem to determine why M&A activity is up, and where it’s going.
Mobile bank Current raises $220 million Series D, triples valuation to $2.2B (TECHCRUNCH)
As a result of the new round, the FinTech company has roughly tripled its valuation in five months, to $2.2 billion.
New report shows Montréal tech caught up to Toronto in 2020 (BETAKIT)
Venture funding in Montréal reached an impressive $1.15 billion in 2020, solidifying the city as one of the top startup ecosystems in Canada, only just behind Toronto.
China orders tech giants to unbundle financial services (WALL STREET JOURNAL)
Companies have turned their mobile payment apps into financial supermarkets, offering loans and insurance policies. No more, says Beijing.
Large deals fuelled Calgary’s healthy 2020, but Western Canada could have an early-stage funding problem (BETAKIT)
Hockeystick tracked four deals under $250,000 in 2019 and 2020, indicating an early-stage gap.
Payment for order flow made Robinhood huge. Now everyone’s arguing about it. (PROTOCOL)
With Robinhood poised to go public, customers, competitors and regulators will get a better look at the business model through the startup’s financials.
To become more diverse, cybersecurity experts say the industry needs more mentors and problem solvers (BETAKIT)
The current approach isn’t enough to foster the diversity – or scale – necessary to fill the estimated 3.5 million cybersecurity job openings globally in 2021.
Turkish crypto exchange boss goes missing, reportedly taking $2 billion of investors’ funds with him (CNBC)
According to the state-run Anadolu Agency, Turkish authorities have now issued an international warrant seeking Ozer’s arrest.
Farm payroll startup Labora wins SFU entrepreneurship competition (BETAKIT)
The startup provides simple, automated payroll transfers, allowing workers to send remittances back home more easily by giving them a “safe, convenient alternative to travelling to a physical bank.”
