Temu and the Oscars buy Canadian, Sam Bankman-Fried weighs in on DOGE

For the second year in a row, Québec-based Helight Sleep will be part of the gift bag for nominees at the 2025 Oscars Ceremony. Inspired by NASA’s research on circadian rhythms, Helight Sleep’s patented sleep aid device uses red light therapy to help people fall asleep more easily.

The token associated with defunct crypto exchange FTX rebounded briefly Monday night after Bankman-Fried posted on X for the first time in two years.

Bankman-Fried, who is serving a 25-year prison sentence for embezzling $8 billion from FTX customers, expressed sympathy for the dismissed workers on Monday, drawing parallels to his own experience of unemployment. The source of these posts remains unclear, raising questions about how they were made from prison.

Dispersa has developed a process to convert food waste into chemicals for everyday products. Its PuraSurf biosurfactant is designed as an alternative to fossil-fuel and palm-derived surfactants in cleaners, detergents, and hand soaps. The startup recently raised $5.8 million CAD in seed funding from Canadian investors to commercialize its ingredient.

The acquisition appears to be part of a European strategy for Prosus. Prosus CEO Fabricio Bloisi said in a statement the merger is an “opportunity to create a European tech champion,” and will combine Prosus’s technical and investment capabilities with Amsterdam-based Just Eat Takeaway’s leading brand position in key European markets.

BetaKit will release the inaugural issue of BetaKit’s Most Ambitious, a digital and print issue highlighting inspiring tech efforts from across the country. We’re also hosting a Most Ambitious evening event and a BetaKit Town Hall during Toronto Tech Week.

Paperplane Therapeutics uses therapeutic virtual reality games to ease pain and anxiety in medical and dental offices, distracting patients with virtual monsters that feel less intimidating than a needle or dental work. The startup, which just raised $1.5 million, is planning to expand across North America and Europe.

The letter, published by community resource organization What In the Tech, notes Shopify as among the influential tech companies in Canada that have recently rolled back protections and support for underrepresented groups in tech.

The letter referenced Kanye West’s Shopify-powered store briefly selling a swastika-emblazoned T-shirt, and comes amid Shopify’s recent dismantling of several initiatives focused on underrepresented groups in tech.

Temu is now allowing Canadian vendors to sell on its platform for the first time, as political pressures push more consumers to buy domestically. The new program is open exclusively to businesses registered in Canada with local inventory and certain fulfillment capabilities. Previously, only discounted goods, mostly manufactured in China, were available to Canadian shoppers.

The researchers claim the new material combines the strength of carbon steel with the density of styrofoam. This makes it the lightest and strongest material of its kind so far, capable of supporting over a million times its mass while remaining delicate enough to rest on a soap bubble.

Promise’s robots are aimed to assist in the construction of homes. The startup claims that with the help of its robots, a single-family unit can be built in about six hours. The startup’s second factory in Calgary, which will cover 60,000 sq. ft., is hoped to help boost Canada’s housing supply.