Ray Boehm is something of a legend at Rayhawk Technologies, the railcar-loading automation startup that bears his name. It’s not just that he’s the father of founder Tom Boehm, or that he occasionally shows up to the Saskatoon-based facility dressed head-to-toe in Rayhawk gear. It’s that his life story has become a part of the…
Brilliant Harvest, an artificial intelligence (AI) platform serving the heavy equipment industry, announced today that it has secured $4 million USD ($5.4 million CAD) in seed funding. “From a commercialization standpoint, we’re expanding — almost all of our dealer customers sell both agriculture and construction.” Remi Schmaltz, Brilliant Harvest. The Calgary-based AgTech startup is an…
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM In a world where the scale of plastic pollution can feel overwhelming, 2025 brought a milestone worth celebrating: The Ocean Cleanup, a Dutch nonprofit dedicated to removing plastic from marine environments, pulled more than 25 million kilograms of waste from global waters last year alone. That’s over 55 million…
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Let’s face it: in many social circles, alcohol is the default. We drink to celebrate, to unwind, to meet new people, to mark life’s big (and not-so-big) milestones. Birthdays? Champagne. Breakups? Wine night. Your coworker’s dog’s half-birthday? Sure, another round. But more and more people, especially younger adults, are…
Maturity is a term that Unicorne President Éric Pinet encounters often. In the tech sector, maturity usually translates to a company’s size, and Pinet hears the same meaning applied when companies talk about their cloud maturity: where the indicators of progress are headcount and budget. “The difference is not team size or IT budget, but…
Toronto FinTech company Vena Solutions has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Chicago competitor Acterys to expand its financial planning and analysis (FP&A) capabilities. Founded in 2011, Vena sells FP&A software to finance teams at medium and large-sized companies. The company’s AI-powered, Microsoft-focused platform helps clients manage budgeting, forecasting, and business planning. This transaction helps…
Canada’s innovation ministry has released the results of the 30-day national consultation that will inform the country’s renewed AI strategy. However, the report’s high-level summary cites little of the data or methodology behind the compilation of its broad recommendations. While the report states that respondents “strongly emphasized the need for Canada to attract, retain and…
Rick Christiaanse is no longer the CEO of Invest Alberta after an abrupt and as-of-yet unexplained resignation earlier this week. Christiaanse served as CEO for four years at the provincially established, multi-million-dollar economic development corporation. Keith Bradley, the organization’s former COO, has been named acting CEO during Christiaanse’s absence. Invest Alberta was established as a…
The president of BDC says the development bank’s return to direct investing in medtech is an attempt to re-engage with an industry it was too quick to pull back from. “There’s still a role for us to play in this sector and, probably, we pulled out too quickly, too early.” Isabelle Hudon, BDC At the…
Canadian software investors now see the use of AI as table stakes for the startups they invest in, according to a new market report, as interest in the technology has fuelled the largest fundraises amid a larger downturn in venture funding. In 10 years, AI-native deals have gone from 12 percent of deal flow to…
