#1. This month, GreenSky entered the 99th percentile of Canadian VC firms over the past decade. Why?
The first close of Toronto-based GreenSky Ventures’ sixth fund puts it in the 99th percentile of all Canadian venture capital firms over the past decade. According to research from RBCx, only one percent of Canadian VC firms have graduated to a sixth fund (excluding all opportunity, continuity, and alignment funds) over the last 10 years.
#2. Halifax-based photography tech company Iris Booth named its new CEO this month, scooping the leader from which notable Canadian tech company?
Iris Booth announced its hire of former Shopify director Brandon Ghaeli to steer the business through its next phase of growth. Ghaeli spent the last five years at Shopify, most recently as its director of global incubation sales. Previously, he was Shopify’s director of enterprise customer success for North America and head of revenue and merchant experience for Canada, among other roles.
#3. The CEO of fintech Koho said the company’s recent $190-million CAD funding round would help them focus on what market?
With a funding round led by PROPELR Growth with participation from return investors Drive Capital, TTV Capital, BDC Capital and New York-based Rockefeller Capital, CEO Daniel Koho said the company has its eyes on increased credit offerings, in-app bill splitting, and the “New to Canada” market.
#4. Orpyx, which closed $29.6 million CAD recently, offers a therapeutic insole for people living primarily with what condition?
Orpyx has developed a solution aimed at preventing diabetic foot ulcers, using shoe-based sensor technology to help people living with diabetes stay mobile. A 2016 study indicates that foot ulcers precede 85 percent of diabetes‐related lower extremity amputations.
#5. PocketHealth launched new cancer screening tools this week, following Ontario’s decision to lower the eligibility age for publicly funded what?
In October 2023, the province of Ontario lowered the eligibility age of self-referral for publicly funded mammograms from 50 to 40 beginning in fall 2024. Studies have shown that there is a 99 percent five-year survival rate when breast cancer is caught early. However, many Canadians are not getting screened early. Read more about PocketHealth’s latest launch here.
#6. AI godfather Geoffrey Hinton recently won a Nobel Prize in which category?
Geoffrey Hinton has spent recent years warning against the potentially disastrous effects of artificial intelligence (AI) systems he helped create. The life’s work that spawned his ‘godfather of AI’ nickname resulted in him winning a Nobel Prize in the (somewhat bizarre) category of Physics. Maybe next year Sam Altman will win for literature?
#7. Alison Nankivell, CEO of Toronto-based MaRS, recently set what target for the organization’s public and private funding split?
Nankivell told BetaKit that further headcount reductions announced this week are part of the innovation hub’s continued effort to reset its business model, which includes a target to achieve a 50/50 split between public and private funding “in the next few years.”
#8. Flora Fertility, which announced a $1.5-million financing round this month, offers what service?
Flora Fertility offers an individualized fertility insurance platform, targeting women aged 20 to 34, and providing coverage until age 44 for diagnostics, medications, and treatment related to women hoping to conceive. The startup recently closed pre-seed financing led by returning investor Highline Beta.
#9. Which telecommunications giant was among four private sector companies to back Quebec’s forthcoming innovation hub Ax-C with a funding boost?
Ax-C, an upcoming space in downtown Montréal that aims to foster entrepreneurship and innovation, received a $5-25 million CAD pledge from Bell, Google Canada, Desjardins, and the Fonds de solidarité de Québec. Bell said it plans to also provide tools and resources for Ax-C entrepreneurs, such as 5G networks, multi-access edge computing, and Internet of Things and artificial intelligence solutions.
#10. Shopify president Harley Finkelstein coined the phrase “the 600-pound beaver in the room.” What was he referring to?
During his keynote address on the opening night of the Elevate conference, Finkelstein called for “injecting more ambition into the Canadian psyche.” The president of Canada’s largest tech company identified what he sees as a collective unwillingness to go for gold.
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