BDC Capital recommits to leading seed deals in startups across Canada with new $50-million fund
VCs applaud BDC’s commitment to direct seed funding, ask for more emerging manager support.
layoffs
Ecobee’s Stuart Lombard retires, AI “godfathers” sign new policy letter
Plus: Wealthsimple’s CCO says a “lack of political will” harming FinTech innovation.
S|W: The SaaS Weekly – Struggling BBTV to go private while BlackBerry spinout eyes June IPO
Plus: What Allen Lau learned from Wattpad’s $754-million acquisition.
EDC report says Canada is struggling to convert startups to scaleups
Plus: Ripple Ventures plants flag in Vancouver as part of coast-to-coast Fund III.
R|T: The Retail Times – Inside the chaos of New York’s Airbnb ban
Plus: Flexport continues weekly cuts with 20 percent workforce reduction.
Procurify closes $68-million CAD Series C to invest in AI, global expansion of spend management platform
Ten Coves Capital, EDC join existing backers Information VP, HarbourVest.
S|W: The SaaS Weekly – Atlassian to buy video messaging provider Loom for nearly $1 billion
Plus: Vendasta closes $20M in new funding following layoffs.
First VCCI inclusive growth stream recipients get funding as Quantum Industry Canada appoints first-ever CEO
Plus: Exploring the forgotten history of Canadian venture capital.
R|T: The Retail Times – Hopper makes deep staff cuts, pulls back from Asia to pursue profitability
Plus: Canada looks at limiting number of Airbnbs to free up rentals.
Vendasta closes $20-million Series E to fund acquisitions, converts existing debt into equity
Foundry partner Brad Feld joins board, sees Vendasta as a “natural consolidator” of B2B SaaS firms.
S|W: The SaaS Weekly – Cardata gears up with new funding, BlackBerry plots connected-car split
Plus: Qualtrics lets go of 780 workers.
F|T: The FinTech Times – Canada’s open banking lead extends his term as delays continue
Plus: Clearco recapitalizes, WonderFi eyes Nasdaq.
Ecosystem fears SDTC funding gap, FinTechs rally against open banking delays
Plus: Hugging Face’s Sasha Luccioni on tracking the ethical and environmental impacts of AI.
H|T: The Healthtech Times – Andre De Grasse is in a race to fund health startups
Plus: VC interest in fertility continues with $20M Series A for Pollin.
Pine acquires Properly to capture more of the Canadian home-buying process
Digital mortgage firm aims to build the former proptech into Canada’s top real estate website.