Author: Editor-in-Chief

Québec Premier François Legault has overhauled his cabinet, shuffling Minister Christopher Skeete away from the province’s innovation portfolio. The move leaves Minister Christine Fréchette to lead the innovation file with two junior ministers. Skeete was appointed a junior minister to the Ministry of Economy, Innovation, and Energy (MEIE) in 2022. After “super-minister” Pierre Fitzgibbon abruptly resigned from the ministry a year ago, Christine Fréchette was appointed to lead it. Skeete was asked to handle innovation, regional economic development, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Now, Skeete is taking on the duties of international relations and the French language, in addition…

With markets currently in a state of flux, you might think that Canada would double down on financial innovation. Instead, decision makers continue to stall on implementing the very thing that would make our economy more competitive and much more stable: open banking. Dubbed “consumer-driven banking” by Canadian regulators and policymakers, the immediate positive economic benefits that an open system would bring is fundamentally underestimated. This mismatch of priorities is slowing down action, and costing Canadians in the process. Considering the fact that Canada’s GDP has dropped for three consecutive months and we have an ongoing productivity problem, there’s no…

Toronto-based Wittington Ventures has hired former MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund (IAF) leader Zeeshan Ali as partner as it gears up to invest in more early-stage cleantech and healthtech startups. According to his LinkedIn profile, Ali joined Wittington Ventures this month, after serving as interim managing director of fellow Toronto-based venture capital (VC) firm MaRS IAF. Zeeshan was previously a senior investment director at IAF. He spent his three years with the firm investing in early-stage Canadian tech startups. Before that, Ali worked for three years as head of business development at MaRS Discovery District. “Our mission is to provide catalytic…

As Canadian news publishers allege that OpenAI violated Canadian copyright law in training ChatGPT, the artificial intelligence (AI) company is arguing that the case should be heard in the United States (US). A group of Canadian news outlets filed a suit against OpenAI last November in Ontario court, claiming that the AI giant used news content without authorization to train the GPT large language models (LLMs) powering its popular chatbot. The publishers include the Toronto Star’s parent company Torstar, Postmedia, The Globe and Mail, CBC/Radio-Canada, and The Canadian Press. “OpenAI using other companies’ journalism for their own commercial gain is…

Montréal-based gaming tech startup LocusX has raised $3 million to fund its artificial intelligence (AI)-powered debugging software for game developers. LocusX is the brainchild of two gaming enthusiasts and the two Montréal venture firms that co-led the round: venture builder Diagram Ventures and entertainment tech-focused Triptyq Capital. The funding closed at the end of July. CEO Francois Pelland told BetaKit in an interview that LocusX’s “issue resolution engine” can identify and propose fixes for programming bugs. “The night before the ship, I’ve seen game developers more anxious about leaving bugs than the quality of the game.” With the engine, LocusX…

Ten months ago, Mishel Wong thought her sustainable packaging startup was going to fold. Fundraising efforts for Bo (sometimes referred to as Bopaq) appeared to be stagnating as Investissement Québec paused the Impulsion PME (IPME) program meant to back young startups. “I didn’t know that stress could feel so physical,” Wong told BetaKit at the time. “This is such a validation of our business model as something not only viable, but [one that others] see a future in replicating.” This week, that stress turned to elation as Wong told BetaKit that Bo has been acquired by Québec’s largest recycling…

Aerospace startup NordSpace has been granted a new window to attempt Canada’s first commercial rocket launch following a thwarted effort at the end of August. The new launch window is set to open Sept. 20 and last until Sept. 27, NordSpace CEO Rahul Goel told BetaKit. The company will have two time blocks per day: one from 6:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., Atlantic Daylight Time (ADT), and another from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. ADT. Twelve members of the NordSpace team, which is based in Markham, Ont., will fly out to the Atlantic Spaceport Complex (ASX) launch site near St.…

Aancouver-based startup has taken the first step towards its goal of making electric home heating ubiquitous. Jetson launched its smart heat pump, Jetson Air, this week. Jetson Air integrates with a home’s existing ductwork, and the company claims it can operate quietly and reliably in temperatures as low as -30° C. The software-enabled unit also features remote monitoring, real-time performance alerts, over-the-air updates, and indoor air quality sensing. Jetson was founded by Stephen Lake, Matthew Bailey, Aaron Grant, and other leaders behind the smart glasses startup North. North, which was formerly Thalmic Labs, was acquired by Google in 2020. Its…

Toronto-based artificial intelligence (AI) scaleup Cohere has officially opened an office in Paris, France that will serve as the company’s “central hub” for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). In a blog post, the large language model (LLM) developer said its presence in EMEA is growing. It called the region “a key market” for the business and “a cornerstone” of its global strategy. Cohere plans to double its headcount in Paris over the next year. Paris is the home of European AI champion and Cohere competitor Mistral AI. France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, has sought to create a European AI…

BetaKit, TechTO, and Sage have teamed up to host one of the many decentralized tech events taking place in Montréal between Oct. 18 and 24. As part of Open House Montréal (OHMTL), the three organizations will bring together two of the city’s iconic entrepreneurs: Shopify president Harley Finkelstein and DavidsTea founder David Segal. “If you have an established startup, then you fit into some of the moulds, but there are so many people who don’t fit into some of the moulds that are still figuring it out.” Simran Kanda, Elantech The duo will share the lessons, challenges, and pivotal moments…