I sat down with Kevin Kliman this week to talk about Canada’s job market. His company, Employment Hero, just compiled new survey data pointing to a clear divide between Gen Z and the rest of the workforce.
For the full details, you’ll have to wait for next week’s episode of The BetaKit Podcast. To hold you over, I suggest checking out Madison McLauchlan’s story below about another young entrepreneur captured by the gravity well of Silicon Valley.
The state of Canada’s tech youth is a subject I’ve given great attention over the past year. Expect to see more from me on it as part of BetaKit’s year-end wrap-up.
Back to Kliman, who had his own unique work experience this year: he joined Employment Hero after it acquired Humi, the Toronto-based company he co-founded. The one-year anniversary of that transaction is fast approaching, as is Humi’s 10-year anniversary; both milestones had the founder in a contemplative mood.
“The mission from the beginning was to build the largest support system for Canadian employers,” he told me. “We get to continue to do that, which is awesome.”
Kliman noted that Humi faced three options: raise new funding, become cash positive, or be acquired. “Behind the revenue curve as a venture-scale company,” Humi chose option three, and now has the capital and resources to chase its original mission of becoming a $100-million business in Canada.
While Kliman admitted to sleeping better post-acquisition, he was adamant that the process left him changed.
“ I never want to do it again,” he said. “Getting acquired was incredible. Going through an acquisition was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”
The decade-long entrepreneur began rattling off a long list of acquisition lessons learned and advice for young founders in a similar position. It’s far too much to include here, but it did make me wonder, dear reader, if you think such tips would make good fodder for a series on BetaKit. Perhaps including other companies of a similar vintage to Humi, willing to share the hard-won wisdom that often goes unsaid.
Perhaps you know a few. My inbox is open.
From Growth to IPO: Having an AI product strategy isn’t enough, your finance operations need one too.
Canadian scale-ups move fast, but financial complexity scales even faster. And trusting your core financials to generic LLM platforms with flashy demos but unproven controls won’t pass investor or audit scrutiny.
That’s why hundreds of Canadian scale-ups and public companies trust Sage Intacct to manage the messy middle between “growing fast” and “going public.”
What you get:
✓ AI-powered automation that ships, built-in AI with real financial controls.
✓ Audit-ready from day one, because diligence waits for no one.
✓ True multi-entity consolidation, not duct-taped. Not “coming soon.”
✓ SOC 2 Type II + compliance you can stand behind.
✓ Dimensional reporting that scales by product, region, or segment.
✓ Real-time visibility with guardrails where it matters.
She tried to bring Silicon Valley’s tech energy to Vancouver. Why did she leave to build a US startup instead?
Mai Trinh and her team wanted to build a community for Vancouver’s Gen Z tech scene that rivalled Silicon Valley. But when it came time to build her own startup, she says it was easier to decamp to San Francisco than pursue permanent residency in Canada.
Microsoft to spend $7.5 billion on AI data centre expansion with pledge to protect Canada’s “digital sovereignty”
As it expands the computing capacity of its two primary Azure data centre regions in Toronto and Québec City, Microsoft is launching a five-point, company-wide plan that it claims will “promote and protect Canada’s digital sovereignty,” an initiative it claims is as important as its investment in AI infrastructure.
Leadership changes
- The Council of Canadian Innovators has named its vice-president of corporate affairs, Patrick Searle, its new CEO. He replaces Ben Bergen ahead of what looks to be a “turbulent” year for Canadian tech.
- Montréal VC firm Inovia Capital has promoted two principals, Kory Jeffrey and Taha Mubashir, to partner as it prepares for a fundraising push in 2026.
- Online meal delivery company Goodfood will soon lose both of its co-founders, as president and COO Neil Cuggy says he will step down in January. Cuggy was entrusted with day-to-day operations when CEO Jonathan Ferrari left his post in August.
Canada needs a national semiconductor strategy, industry groups argue
As the only G7 country without a national semiconductor strategy, an industry consortium warns Canada has a gap that could threaten its competitiveness, capacity to scale innovation, and ability to exercise technological sovereignty over the digital economy.
From sawdust to seed round: ConstructionClock grows from Winnipeg
Wanting to triple the size of his company in 2025, contractor-turned-founder David Peters went to investors in the summer for seed funding, but ran into a very un-Winnipeg problem: too many of them wanted in.
Court order prompts Well Health, Healwell to hand over records in merger probe
The probe will focus on how Well Health’s takeover of Healwell affects choice and cost for users, and whether it creates barriers for new competitors to enter the digital healthcare space.
Well Health told BetaKit that it’s looking forward to “working collaboratively” with the Competition Bureau during its investigation.
The defence tech push
- The federal government’s new Defence Investment Agency has awarded its first contract to MDA Space and Telesat to develop satellite communications capabilities in the Arctic.
- Toronto AI scaleup Cohere has partnered with Thales Canada to help the French defence contractor service Royal Canadian Navy fleets.
- Twenty Canadian companies have been selected for the latest, and largest-ever, cohort of NATO’s defence tech accelerator program.
Shopify merchants can now sell products through AI chatbots
Building on Shopify’s early-access partnership with ChatGPT’s in-app shopping experience in September, agentic storefronts will allow Shopify merchants to sell their products across popular AI chatbots.
The new feature is part of the winter edition of the Shopify Editions newsletter, containing over 150 product updates across the platform, many focusing on integrating and improving AI features for sellers.
🇨🇦 Weekly Canadian Deals, Dollars & More
- VAN – Simuhealth raises $2.6M to modernize healthcare training
- RCH – General Fusion faces IPO pressure after $51.5-million raise
- KW – Nfinite nabs $4.6M to make paper perform like plastic
- KW – Assetflo closes $2M USD to track physical assets
- BRA – Enabled Talent gains traction in Africa and Europe
- OTT – Gander Social hits $1.5M crowdfunding goal
The BetaKit Podcast – Rogers v. Rogers is Canada’s Succession story
“It seems irrational, and irrational behaviour is where drama lives, it’s where comedy lives. It’s where all the fun is.”
A communications tycoon built an empire turning airwaves into cash. Now, his son, long dismissed by his father, is fighting for control of the family business. Meanwhile, one shrewd public servant is determined to derail the company’s billion-dollar takeover.
Is this a plot point from season three of Succession? No! It’s a Canadian story… and it’s all true—mostly. Award-winning playwright Michael Healey joins to discuss Rogers v. Rogers, his new play based on the Alexandra Posadzki book of the same name.
Take The BetaKit Quiz – Salesforce might rebrand, Shopify gets agentic, and SpaceX’s unexpected beneficiary
Think you’re on top of Canadian tech and innovation news? Time to prove it. Test your knowledge of Canadian tech news with The BetaKit Quiz for December 12, 2025.
Feature image courtesy Employment Hero.