What could a legendary UFC fighter and an e-commerce entrepreneur have in common? The scale of their ambition and a lifelong struggle of mental preparation, according to Shopify president Harley Finkelstein and hall of fame fighter Georges St-Pierre. The news: To kick off Day 1 of Startupfest, the annual Montréal tech conference, Finkelstein sat down…
Shopify president Harley Finkelstein’s fireside chat at Montréal’s Startupfest was interrupted by a protester today, the second time the entrepreneur’s appearance at the event has been disrupted. The news: A man interrupted a fireside chat between Finkelstein and former Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter Georges St-Pierre. The protester came up to the side of the stage,…
There’s a leaked exchange from Facebook’s early days wherein Mark Zuckerberg reportedly brags to a friend that he’s amassed a vast amount of data on his fellow college students. “People just submitted it. I don’t know why they ‘trust me.’ Dumb f***ks,” Zuck reportedly said. Anthropic recently announced a new science-focused AI model. It touted…
Ontario has gained a new early-stage, life sciences venture capital (VC) fund. The news: The University of Toronto (U of T), Hamilton’s McMaster University, and the Ontario government have teamed up to finance a new fund focused on seed-stage life sciences spinouts tied to both schools and partner hospitals. The group announced on Wednesday that…
Meta will build its first data centre in Canada north of Edmonton—a $13-billion investment that will be the largest data centre in the country. The US social media giant announced the news on Wednesday. The one-gigawatt centre, which will be built in Sturgeon County, was first announced last year. At the time, partners Pembina Pipeline…
Alberta is investing tens of millions across multiple continents to advance drilling technology in oil and gas, geothermal, and critical mineral development. The news: Alberta is investing $37 million through Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA) to support innovation in drilling technology. Announced yesterday at Platform Calgary, the funding will support 10 projects spanning oil and gas,…
Christian Weedbrook, founder and CEO of Toronto-based quantum computing firm Xanadu, visited the White House on Tuesday to attend the US government’s quantum summit. The news: Weedbrook shared the news in an X post. He told BetaKit over email that the event brought together American quantum CEOs and senior US government officials working on related…
Kitchener-Waterloo-based information management company OpenText has laid off two percent of its workforce, BetaKit has learned. The news: OpenText has confirmed to BetaKit that it has laid off two percent of its global workforce. The confirmation comes after OpenText employees began posting on social media and online message boards this week that they were laid…
Some Québec clinics might soon use AI-powered technology to more quickly test patients for dry eye syndrome and help doctors diagnose the condition. The testing comes through the Québec government-fundfed Medteq+ Support Program. Montréal-based healthtech startup AI4Eyes is rolling out its AI-powered dry eye disease diagnosis and treatment recommendation platform for testing in certain Québec…
The federal government is dispensing $10.2 million across six Manitoba businesses to help them grow and adopt new technologies like AI. The news: The Prairies Economic Development Canada’s (PrairiesCan) funding was announced by AI Minister Evan Solomon at a Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce event on Tuesday morning. The largest recipient was Winnipeg-based adtech Taiv, which…
