Cognosys raises $2-million seed round to create AI personal assistants
Vancouver startup attracts prominent investors, including Google Ventures, Cohere
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Wingmate secures $1 million CAD to market and sell its lead-generation app for frontline staff
Wingmate aims to make “sales and service a team sport,” giving incentives to field staff to chase down leads.
R|T: The Retail Times – Shopify touts checkout conversion rates, ranks merchants
Plus: Lightspeed Commerce recovers from tough third quarter.
F|T: The FinTech Times – PayPal spent $1 billion on Xoom, now facing pressure to sell
Plus: Wealthsimple ups user insurance limit.
Withe raises $1.1 million in mission to address hospitality hiring challenges
The Vancouver-based software startup lists Marriott International as one of its users.
CVCA: Canadian venture capital continues to fall back to pre-pandemic levels
Canadian trends are in line with the US and global results.
A|I: The AI Times – At I/O, Google makes up for lost time
Plus: Bessemer and SoftBank bet big on AI.
F|T: The FinTech Times – Diagram Ventures adds $100M onto its FinTech bet
Plus: Shopify backs Nigeria-based FinTech Nomba.
A|I: The AI Times – Geoffrey Hinton issues warning, Cohere is soaring
Plus: IBM to pause hiring for jobs that AI could do.
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.
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.
F|T: The FinTech Times – Super and Neo evolve, Pillar and Billi shut down
Plus: Revolut’s valuation troubles signal a stormy horizon for less-profitable neobanks.
Tentree founders spin out platform to help businesses keep their tree planting promises
CEO: “For us, Tentree was never an apparel business that planted trees.”
R|T: The Retail Times – Shopify goes ‘stealth spear-fishing’ for tech talent
Plus: General Assembly sells its frozen pizza business.