A group of semiconductor and technology industry associations has released a report asking the federal government to create a Canadian version of the United States’ CHIPS and Science Act to make the country more competitive on the global stage. “For Canada, the semiconductor sector is both a strategic vulnerability and a once-in-a-generation opportunity for growth.”…
One of Canada’s most successful venture capital (VC) firms is expanding its investment team by promoting two of its principals to partner roles as it prepares for a fundraising push in 2026. Montréal’s Inovia Capital announced today it will promote Kory Jeffrey and Taha Mubashir. At the same time, it said it intends to raise…
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM In a sweeping move to modernize its energy infrastructure and reduce reliance on fossil fuels, the European Union approved 100 cross-border hydrogen and electrolyzer initiatives, laying the groundwork for one of the continent’s most ambitious green energy overhauls. These projects are now part of a broader group of 235…
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM If you’ve ever watched a bumblebee clumsily bumble from flower to flower, you’ve probably smiled. But it turns out, bees might be sharing that good mood with each other, too, literally. A new study suggests that when one bee experiences a positive moment, that emotional high doesn’t stay personal….
Twenty Canadian companies have been selected for the latest, and largest-ever, cohort of NATO’s defence tech accelerator program. NATO’s Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) program connects companies with military end-users, mentors, and investors in the alliance to help develop and validate the innovations. It also helps NATO tackle its own operational challenges…
Gander, the social networking app positioned as a Canadian alternative to Meta or X, has hit its crowdfunding goal. Interest in the project is so high Gander has extended its crowdfunding deadline to January, rather than closing in mid-December. Ben Waldman, Gander Social’s CEO, posted to LinkedIn on Wednesday that the team surpassed $1.5 million…
Shopify merchants’ products can now be discovered on artificial intelligence (AI) platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Microsoft Copilot, after the Canadian e-commerce giant announced agentic storefronts in its latest update. Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke says the company is making every Shopify store “agent-ready by default.” The winter edition of the biannual Shopify Editions newsletter, called…
Mai Trinh and her team wanted to build a community for the city’s Gen Z tech scene to rival those in Silicon Valley. But when it came time to build her own AI startup, she decamped to San Francisco instead. “The US lets us test, ship, and scale faster before bringing those capabilities back into…
Microsoft says it will spend $7.5 billion CAD over the next two years to build new digital and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure in Canada–infrastructure that the United States tech giant claims will support Canadian digital sovereignty. The funding will go towards expanding computing capacity at Microsoft’s two primary Azure data centre regions: Toronto’s Canada Central…
Inclusivity-focused employment platform Enabled Talent is gaining traction in Europe and Africa, following its global launch in October. Enabled Talent says it has pilot projects underway in Canada, the United States, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and Mali. The artificial intelligence (AI)-powered employment platform helps organizations hire people with disabilities through job-matching, onboarding support, and providing accessibility…
