Plus: FinTech vertical sluggish as investors worry over economy.
Welcome to BetaKit’s startup stories of the week! Here, you will find the week’s most important news, features, and editorials published on BetaKit.
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Top Stories of the Week
COINBASE SAYS IT WANTS TO BE A LONG-TERM LEADER IN CANADA’S CRYPTO MARKET
American cryptocurrency giant Coinbase sees room to invest and expand in Canada given the country’s “regulatory clarity,” strong developer ecosystem, and crypto-aware population.
As Binance and other foreign crypto-trading platforms pulled out of the country in response to tightening rules by securities regulators following the collapse of Voyager, Celsius, and FTX, Coinbase signalled its commitment to Canada and regulatory compliance earlier this year.
LEGALTECH SCALEUP ATHENNIAN NAVIGATES GROWING PAINS WITH LAYOFFS, LEADERSHIP CHANGES
Athennian has experienced some familiar growing pains since closing its Series B round last year.
The Calgary-based startup, which sells entity management software to law firms and corporations, has made multiple rounds of staff cuts, and seen its co-founder and COO, CTO, and a pair of VPs depart, while recruiting another two to its team.
CARBON ENGINEERING SOLD TO US OIL AND GAS COMPANY OCCIDENTAL FOR $1.1 BILLION
Squamish, BC-based cleantech startup Carbon Engineering has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by oil -and-gas company Occidental Petroleum for $1.1 billion USD ($1.48 billion CAD).
Carbon Engineering is one of the latest Canadian cleantech startups to be pulled towards south of the border as more companies make use of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in the United States.
CYBERSECURITY STARTUP FIELD EFFECT ON THE HUNT FOR ACQUISITIONS FOLLOWING $30-MILLION CAD DEBT FACILITY FROM SCOTIABANK
Field Effect has secured a $30-million CAD debt facility from Scotiabank’s Technology Innovation and Banking Group to scale its suite of cybersecurity solutions for businesses.
Field Effect was founded by Matt Holland (CEO) and Andrew Loschmann (COO) in 2016. Prior to building this startup, the duo spent years working at the Communications Security Establishment—Canada’s cyberspy agency.
FINTECH VERTICAL SLUGGISH AS INVESTORS WORRY OVER ECONOMY, KPMG REPORT SAYS
Concerned about the state of the global economy, and compounded with fears of a recession, elevated inflation and interest rates, investors are currency wary when it comes to measuring the valuations of FinTech companies.
CANADIAN STARTUPS NLPATENT, BORDERLESSHR, MONARK ACCEPTED INTO GOOGLE’S WOMEN FOUNDERS ACCELERATOR
Three Canadian startups are joining Google’s latest cohort for its women founders accelerator.
NLPatent, BorderlessHR, and Monark–which are respectively based in Toronto, Ottawa, and Calgary–are among the 11 North American startups selected to take part in this year’s edition of Google for Startups’ Women Founders program.
FOUNDERS OF VENDORPM, SHAKUDO, MOMENT ENERGY AMONG C100’S 2023 FELLOWS
Non-profit Canadian tech member association The C100 has unveiled the participants in this year’s installation of its fellowship program, including founders of notable early Canadian startups such as VendorPM, Shakudo, and Moment Energy.
Latest Funding, Acquisitions, and Layoffs
CGY – Finofo – $1.6M (read more)
TOR – Horizn acquired by Inbenta (read more)
TOR – Innerspace – $10M (read more)
TOR – Voiceflow – $15M (read more)
MTL – Dcbel – $50M (read more)
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The BetaKit Podcast
#CDNTECH TALKS VC RISK, DUE DILIGENCE, AND THE AI HYPE CYCLE
“I sometimes feel like Canada needs to up [its] risk-taking ability.”
“It’s the latest shiny thing that a lot of people are running after.”
“Markets are now audiences. Your competitive moat is your community.”
Canadian tech luminaries brave tornados and beanbag chairs to discuss renewed due diligence, DEI, and AI’s impact on investment theses in this compilation of interviews recorded live at Startupfest.
DO CANADIAN ENTREPRENEURS TAKE RISKS?
“I don’t think our entrepreneurs are not risk takers; I just don’t think our culture is set up to accept those risk takers.”
It’s a Canadian tech summer vibe check as the gang answers submitted listener questions: on the low government trust battery in the wake of another cabinet shuffle, cleantech tax credit delays, and a Hypergrowth program designed to pick winners; whether or not Canada can handle 10,000 H-1B visa applicants given our national housing crisis; and yes, whether or not Canadian entrepreneurs are taking risks and solving big problems.
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