#1. Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre says that, if elected, he will defer the capital gains tax on asset sales until after 2026—but only if what condition is met?
Poilievre said that if he is elected as Canada’s next prime minister, the capital gains tax on asset sales would be deferred until after the end of 2026 if the proceeds are reinvested in Canada. Poilievre is pitching the deferral as a bid to spur domestic investment.
#2. Victoria-based Tiny acquired Serato this week, which is known for developing what party essential?
Serato launched in 1998 and is best known for Serato DJ, a popular line of DJ software for mixing music during live sets. Victoria-based holding company Tiny purchased a controlling 66 percent stake in Serato for $94.5 million CAD.
#3. On March 27, US President Donald Trump pardoned the convicted founder of which tech company?
Trump pardoned granted clemency to Trevor Milton, founder of bankrupt truck maker Nikola. Milton was sentenced in 2022 to four years in prison and fined $1 million for securities and wire fraud but has remained free on bail during his appeal.
#4. How does Vancouver-based Well Health plan to gain a majority controlling interest in its long-time strategic partner Healwell AI?
Well Health is exercising its call rights to gain a majority controlling interest in Healwell AI. The call rights are a result of Well Health’s October 2023 investment in Healwell, which gave Well Health the right to acquire more than 60 million voting shares of Healwell within three years.
#5. This week, Kensington Capital Partners and Ottawa-based One9 combined forces to capitalize on a new interest in what?
Kensington has acquired the venture business of One9 to establish its own defence technology VC platform. According to One9’s Glenn Cowan, defence encompasses “much more than guns, bombs, and bullets,” including “top-secret level encryption and cloud compute.”
#6. Bob Smith, the former CEO of Blue Origin, believes this is “the last energy source humanity will ever need.”
Smith believes that fusion is the “last energy source humanity will ever need.” The former CEO of Jeff Bezos’s spaceflight company Blue Origin joined General Fusion as a strategic advisor this week, where he will help shape the BC-based company’s technology development and strategic growth.
#7. Which product did Toronto-based Float launch to help its business clients contend with the fallout of the Canada-US trade war?
Float has rolled out a new foreign exchange product that will allow Canadian companies using the startup’s business finance software platform to convert funds from CAD to USD and vice versa for a 0.25-percent fee, a 90-percent discount compared to some major Canadian banks.
#8. What certification has US-based crypto exchange Kraken tried to secure in Canada?
This week, Kraken secured its restricted dealer licence in Canada, but the firm is also seeking registration as an investment dealer, membership with CIRO, and approval to operate an alternative trading system.
The San Francisco-based firm recently appointed Cynthia Del Pozo as the newest leader of its Canadian business to help strengthen the exchange’s regulatory, political and commercial relationships.
#9. Three Canadian quantum frontrunners will participate in the first round of a research program backed by which entity?
The US military, through its Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, is backing the Quantum Benchmarking program to evaluate the potential of quantum computers for national security applications. Three Canadian companies—Xanadu, Nord Quantique, and Photonic—were selected to participate in the program’s first phase.
Your score:
Founder mode! Challenge your friends to sign up to The BetaKit Newsletter and see if they can beat you next week.
Too busy to read this week? Subscribe to The BetaKit Newsletter to keep up to date on the latest Canadian tech and innovation news!
