BetaKit

Canada’s moment to build is now. BetaKit Most Ambitious returns May 25. Presented in partnership with @Uber_Canada, @dmzhq, and @nationalbank. Learn more: bit.ly/4lo55R2

.@Mila_Quebec says its new partnership with @mozilla could help open up “a different way of building and thinking about #AI.” #CDNTech Read more: betakit.com/mila-teams-up-…

At #CIXSummit, Sentinel R&D CEO Kath Intson argued it is “not enough to just onshore some other company’s capability and call it Canadian.” Read more: betakit.com/defence-tech-f…

UPDATE: @OpenText says its latest round of layoffs affected 4% of its staff. That's somewhere in the range of 880 people. Read more: betakit.com/opentext-emplo…

.@Opendoor has rented a floor at King Street and Spadina Avenue in central Toronto and wants to hire ~100 people. CEO @nejatian says he wants to make the city a hub, but that the company has no immediate plans to enter the Canadian market. Read more: betakit.com/opendoor-hirin…

.@AgriCanadian’s latest competition will focus on bridging the gap between new AgTech IP and its commercial adoption. Read more: betakit.com/caain-launches…

.@Wealthsimple has cleared an initial regulatory hurdle to enter prediction markets. The company has received initial @CIRO_OCRI approval to offer forecast contracts, though it says it has not yet announced any product plans. Read more: betakit.com/wealthsimple-g…

Miraterra says soil chemistry is only half the story. Now, the @terramera subsidiary has raised $16 million to build out a platform that combines chemical, biological, satellite, and AI-powered soil analysis. betakit.com/miraterra-anno…

.@DominionDynamic says Canada can be a leader in autonomous systems for extreme environments. Its new partnership with Calgary's @denvrdataworks is aimed at building the sovereign #AI simulation infrastructure to help get there. betakit.com/denvr-datawork…

Chexy started by helping tenants earn credit card rewards on rent. Now, thanks to a raise led by @khoslaventures, it wants to become a broader payments hub for Canadian households and SMBs—and stay entirely Canadian as it does. betakit.com/chexy-raises-1…

"Let’s build.” Experienced media operator Jacqueline Loch (@jacquelineloch) joins @BetaKit as General Manager to help drive new products and partnerships for one of the most important audiences in Canada. betakit.com/jacqueline-loc…

.@InBCInvestment and @UBC have both put up $10 million to establish the UBC Catalyst Ventures Fund, and hope to raise much more from private capital. The fund will back innovative spinouts created from licensed UBC research discoveries.

.@OpenText employees are reporting fresh job cuts tied to what appears to be a broader restructuring. The apparent layoffs come less than a month before Ayman Antoun is set to take over as CEO of the Kitchener-Waterloo software company. betakit.com/opentext-emplo…

Canada’s life sciences funding fell to its lowest level since 2018 in 2025. At @MaRSDD's Impact Health event, founders, investors, and policymakers will discuss what that means for the sector going forward. betakit.com/mars-impact-he…

.@Cohere is making another push into defence. The Toronto AI company has signed an agreement with @Saab to explore embedding its models into the Swedish firm’s GlobalEye surveillance jet. betakit.com/cohere-teams-u…

.@UCalgary has landed $4.25 million in federal funding to accelerate cleantech materials research at its recently formed CeFar research centre. betakit.com/calgarys-new-c…

Montréal chip firm @SPARKmicro has raised another $17 million as it pushes to commercialize its short-range wireless tech. The company says its technology is built to outperform Bluetooth and Wi-Fi in emerging AI and IoT use cases. betakit.com/spark-microsys…

The Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII) and Vancouver-based AI startup Caseway AI have settled their copyright dispute. betakit.com/online-legal-d…

Only 0.15 percent of venture capital deployed in Canada in 2025 went to Black founders. Now, @BKRCapital has secured an initial $20 million for its second Black Innovation Fund to start closing that gap. betakit.com/bkr-capital-se…

This week's BetaKit newsletter features Canada's newest Turing Award winner and big money for Canadian sovereign space launches. Plus, all the latest details about our marquee product, Most Ambitious, including the launch at the iconic TIFF Lightbox. betakit.com/canadas-moment…