More bad news for Goodfood. After both its co-founders left, the company announced a 21-percent decrease in its net sales earlier this year. Now, its CEO has resigned, and the company is trying to restructure its debts to avoid bankruptcy.

Goodfood seeks creditor protection after CEO resigns | BetaKit

The Montreal meal-delivery company is seeking time to restructure the business amid liquidity constraints and mounting debt.

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Shopify's latest financial results show revenue up by 34 percent year-over-year, reaching $5 billion CAD and beating Wall Street estimates. The company says increased demand for AI-driven shopping is a major factor.

Shopify tops revenue estimates in big quarter for merchants | BetaKit

Gross profit grew by 30 percent as the company shipped agentic AI tools for e-commerce.

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White Star Capital has closed its fourth global VC fund at $350 million, as it hopes to continue delivering strong returns amid a tough fundraising landscape for Canadian VCs.

White Star Capital closes $350-million CAD global fund | BetaKit

White Star Capital closes $350-million CAD fourth core global venture capital fund.

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Sanja Fidler is leaving Nvidia. No word yet on her next steps, but she has been making bold statements about world models being the "next breakthrough" in AI.

U of T prof Sanja Fidler leaves as Nvidia’s VP of AI research | BetaKit

Fidler did not reveal her next move, but said world models are the “next breakthrough” in AI.

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Vancouver-based Intellistake has agreed to acquire Dallas-based NanoAi Technologies in a $17-million stock deal.

Intellistake to acquire Dallas-based NanoAi for $17 million in stock | BetaKit

Vancouver company will combine its enterprise AI infrastructure with NanoAi’s air screening devices.

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Calogy Solutions has been selected by Jaunt Air Mobility Canada to design the battery system for the aerospace firm’s next-generation autonomous drone.

Calogy secures $1.2-million contract to power Jaunt’s autonomous drones | BetaKit

Sherbrooke cleantech startup to design lightweight battery system for Jaunt’s next-generation aircraft.

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Prairie manufacturers are well aware of AI's potential. The harder question is how to put it into production. Mode40 and Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters' new program will work with manufacturers to provide support in identifying opportunities and validating them inside operations.

Mode40 and CME partner to launch Prairies-wide AI initiative for aerospace, aviation, and defence | BetaKit

AeroTrace is designed to demonstrate the value of AI-enabled systems in industrial manufacturing.

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Telesat’s Lightspeed constellation is getting 69 more satellites, and MDA Space is getting another $474 million in manufacturing work.

Telesat, MDA Space tapped for $2.3-billion Arctic satellite buildout | BetaKit

Federal contract will expand Lightspeed constellation from 156 to 225 satellites.

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After their grandmother nearly died from an infection contracted during a routine hospital visit, two Canadian brothers began building Claryx, which they hope will be a more proactive way to prevent hospital outbreaks.

Claryx raises $3.5 million USD to detect hospital outbreaks before they start

Canadian co-founders say they’re starting in the US because it’s simpler to sell in private system.

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The threat of foreign giants is heating up competition in Canadian FinTech, as Questrade and @wealthsimple.bsky.social ramp up offerings. Also in this week’s BetaKit Newsletter: ☢️@ictc-ctic.ca on building Canada’s nuclear industry 🚛 Terminal raises $20M 🏡Sonder is back

Canadian FinTech braces for US competition

Plus: Was OpenAI's rogue agent unstoppable?

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“One thaw doesn’t make a spring.” Canadian venture investment is showing signs of life, but CVCA CEO Benjamin Bergen says the recovery remains far from certain.

Canadian VC dollar deployment sees first early-year increase since 2021 | BetaKit

A CVCA report shows that capital continues to concentrate into fewer, larger deals.

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The Alberta Securities Commission has permanently barred former Calgary crypto exchange Catalyx from operating and has fined its CEO $90,000 after the company allegedly mismanaged millions of dollars of its clients' crypto assets.

Calgary crypto exchange Catalyx permanently barred from operating | BetaKit

The former crypto exchange’s CEO, Hyuk Jae Park, will also pay a $90,000 fine to the Alberta Securities Commission.

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.@utoronto.ca prof and Fields Medal winner Jacob Tsimerman says AI safety is the most important issue of our time. And the best place to work on it is directly within a machine learning lab, like at OpenAI.

U of T professor Jacob Tsimerman, who won math’s highest prize, to join OpenAI | BetaKit

The Fields Medal winner says AI safety is the most important issue of our time, and the best place to work on it is directly within a machine learning lab.

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1Password’s Jacob DePriest says that OpenAI's model breaking containment and hacking Hugging Face was more or less "inevitable" given recent technological progress. But it was still shocking that it happened completely autonomously.

No product could have stopped OpenAI hack, Canadian cybersecurity firms say | BetaKit

Agentic threats are prompting innovation at companies like 1Password and Lastwall.

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NordSpace's investment in North Vector Dynamics is the second it has made out of its venture arm as it works to become a prime contractor for Canadian space projects.

NordSpace’s venture arm makes undisclosed strategic investment in North Vector Dynamics | BetaKit

The Canadian aerospace companies have already been tackling defence and hypersonic research projects together.

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Questrade will soon let investors connect chatbots like ChatGPT or Claude directly to their brokerage accounts. The bots can analyze portfolios, research markets, and prepare trades. But users will still have to approve the order.

Questrade is remaking its platform for an AI-driven investing market | BetaKit

Digital brokerage showcased chatbot-driven investing, research, and trading options at summer product showcase.

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Nearly one-quarter of Canadians aged 18 to 40 now use at least one @wealthsimple.bsky.social product, according to the company.

Wealthsimple reports “biggest quarter ever” as it nearly doubles assets under management in a year | BetaKit

The Toronto FinTech firm added roughly 200,000 users and recorded its largest-ever quarter for net deposits.

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Toronto vape tech company Greentank Technologies has landed a $20-million investment from AIR Global.

Greentank lands $20-million USD investment from Dubai’s AIR Global | BetaKit

The Toronto vape tech company has now raised $56 million USD through financing and strategic investment.

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Lightspeed bought back roughly $86 million in shares this quarter while shrinking its net losses from nearly $50 million to $2.4 million year-over-year. However, its overall gross margin fell from 45 to 43 percent thanks to negative hardware margins.

Lightspeed narrows net loss, beats revenue expectations in fiscal Q1 | BetaKit

Montréal firm focused on AI additions to retail and payment products this quarter.

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In the Wednesday edition of The BetaKit Newsletter, @madisonmcla.bsky.social breaks down why all the AI companies are talking about open weights. Plus: 💸Nvidia invests in Ilya Sutskever’s SSI 📈Wealthsimple launches prediction markets 🚘And Clutch opens a Halifax office

The new AI battle line is drawn | BetaKit

Plus: Big Tech’s voluntary buyout push.

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Alberta may have the energy expertise to attract data centres, but nuclear is a different challenge. The province is already behind peers like Ontario and would need to build much of the workforce, education, and supporting infrastructure from scratch.

Q&A: Can Alberta power its data-centre boom with nuclear energy? | BetaKit

A new report suggests there is work to be done to build a nuclear-ready workforce.

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Cohere is partnering with fellow AI startup Superwhisper to have its transcription model power the Toronto startup’s voice-to-text dictation.

Superwhisper partners with Cohere for all-Canadian voice-to-text AI | BetaKit

Cohere’s open-source transcription model now available in Superwhisper.

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Alberta has taken big steps to integrate AI into its public service. Now, innovation minister Nate Glubish says he won't do business with companies that aren't considering AI when bidding on government projects.

Alberta’s AI push is rewriting the rules for government contractors | BetaKit

Minister Nate Glubish says vendors must adapt to the new reality or risk being left behind.

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Terminal landed major public-company and Fortune 500 customers with one salesperson. After years refining its product, the Toronto startup is ready to step on the gas.

Y Combinator grad Terminal raises $20-million USD Series A round | BetaKit

The Toronto startup landed Fortune 500 customers with almost no sales team. Now, it’s shifting gears.

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US FinTech giant Ramp has opened its corporate expense management platform to Canadian businesses as it plans to add a new Toronto office.

Ramp fully launches in Canada alongside new Toronto office | BetaKit

The New York-based FinTech enters a market currently held by domestic players like Float and Venn.

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Maple Scan co-founders Sasha Ivanov and Ben Pearman are back with their AXL-backed Liquid Interactive, which wants to change how people use AI by making visual media more interactive.

Thinking outside the text box: Maple Scan founders launch Liquid Interactive with backing from AXL | BetaKit

The startup wants to change how people use AI by making visual media more interactive.

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Cory Doctorow joins The BetaKit Podcast this week, where he walks us through the fallacy of AI inevitability. Doctorow says this is less that technological change is coming, and more that people have no say in how the change manifests.

Cory Doctorow on using AI without letting AI use you

Award-winning author and tech activist is back with new book, “The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life after AI.”

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Vena says Morpheo's tech will help it deepen its FP&A platform's agentic AI capabilities. The goal is helping agents understand how a company uses its data well enough to plan, make, and execute decisions, taking on more of the FP&A burden.

Vena Solutions set to acquire Morpheo AI in agentic capability push | BetaKit

Toronto startups combine to deepen the role of AI in financial planning and analysis.

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Jonathan Schaeffer helped establish one of Canada’s leading AI institutes. But today, he says he's unhappy with the direction AI is going. Synsira Software is his attempt to build AI he can feel good about.

Former Amii founder launches privacy-first AI that keeps user data local | BetaKit

Synsira Software's Kind Local Pro is designed to keep data on-device and out of data centres.

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OpenAI, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Cohere have found common ground on AI, all backing Jensen Huang's letter in support of releasing open-weight AI models. The one notable holdout that still hasn't signed is Anthropic.

Cohere joins Silicon Valley heavyweights in call for open source AI | BetaKit

AI’s biggest players sign on to Jensen Huang letter supporting open-weight AI models—except for Anthropic.

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