Financeit acquires consumer-loans competitor Simply Group Financial
Toronto-basedFinanceit, which offers a suite of consumer financing solutions, has acquired the consumer loans businesses ofSimply Group, its biggest competitor in the space, in its aim to become the leading home-improvement financing provider for Canadians. The transaction involves the purchase of three entities that offer financing services for home improvement under the Simply group of…
A100 partners with software maker REES to tackle harassment in Alberta tech community
TheA100, a support and mentoring organization for Alberta tech founders, is partnering withREES(Respect, Educate, Empower Survivors), a software-development company, to set up a third-party, online incident reporting program. The new program will be used to report bullying, abuse, harassment and discrimination, and will be available 24/7 on the Start Alberta website, which A100 operates. The…
ventureLAB unveils Hardware Angel Network, supporting pre-seed and seed-stage hardware startups
In what appears to be an expansion of itsHardware Catalyst Initiative,ventureLABhas launched the Hardware Angel Network (HAN). The Markham, Ont.-based technology hub claims HAN will be the only hardware and deep-tech-focused investor network supporting pre-seed and seed stage startups in the country. More than 30 investors have committed support to the Hardware Angel Network from…
University of Waterloo uses $5 million from endowment to launch VC fund
The University of Waterloo is investing up to $5 million from its $800-millionendowmentto create a venture capital fund to invest in startups. Led by general partners Ross Robinson and Akash Vaswani, Velocity Fund II (VFII) represents the first time that UWaterloo’s endowment will be used to invest in venture capital, according to the university. Robinson…
Québec bolsters quantum footprint as semiconductor industry forms advocacy group
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. If you prefer this update hit your inbox every week, make sure tosubscribeto theBetaKit Newsletterusing the form at the bottom of this page. Top Stories of the Week Collision has announced itwill…
AWS, NVIDIA launch global FinTech accelerator for seed-stage startups
Amazon Web Services(AWS) in partnership withNVIDIA, a major supplier of artificial intelligence hardware and software, has set up a new global FinTech accelerator for seed-stage startups. The AWS Global Fintech Accelerator is dedicated to helping jump-start early-stage FinTech startups that are leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to innovate financial services. The three…
Gaming and esports tech firm Swarmio files for creditor protection
Swarmio Mediahasannouncedthat it is seeking creditor protection. The Halifax-headquartered gaming tech firm hasfiledan application for creditor protection from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA). Swarmio noted that this decision follows “careful consideration of all available alternatives” and consultation with financial and legal advisors. Per the filing, as of…
Three Canadian FinTech startups hiring full-stack developers
Canadian financial-service companies are searching for full-stack developers of varying experience levels to join their teams. From established neobanks to growing cryptocurrency platforms, these Canadian startups need developers who know both sides of platform construction to build their next projects. Check out all the organizations recruiting atJobs.BetaKitfor more opportunities. Neo Financial Neo Financial is one…
R|T: The Retail Times – Shopify is in a “fight” with CRA over merchant records
The Retail Times is a weekly newsletter covering retail tech news from Canada and around the globe. Subscribeto R|T using the form at the bottom of this page to ensure you don’t miss out on the most important retail tech news every week! Shopify is making its one-click online checkout solution, Shop Pay, available to…
PitchBook analysts say 2023 VC funding is “pretty much shot,” long-term recovery appears likely
As the economy has deteriorated, non-traditional investors have pulled back from the venture capital (VC) space and the initial public offering (IPO) market has cooled. Combined, these factors have put a strain on the VC market,PitchBookanalysts told BetaKit during an interview at the Collision Conference in Toronto. There is still “a huge spread” between what…