BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Men’s grooming has always occupied a strange middle ground. Too much and you’re vain. Too little and people notice. For most men, the default settled around soap, a razor, and deodorant, and that was that. Dermatologists have been making the case for years that a handful of small additions,…
Waterloo-based supply-chain technology firm Descartes is building out its logistics portfolio in Latin America with the acquisition of Santiago, Chile-based Drivin. The news: Descartes bought Drivin on Monday for $30 million USD ($42.6 million CAD) in cash, with the potential to add up to another $5 million USD, depending on revenue milestones over the next…
A Montréal startup is using generative AI to try to speed up one of the most laborious parts of real estate transactions in Québec—and eventually, the rest of the country. The news: Proptech startup Paraito announced on Monday it had raised $2.65 million CAD in equity pre-seed funding, led by Inovia Capital and with participation…
The federal government is making changes to its procurement policies to buy more from Canadian small businesses. “If implemented with rigour and transparency, these reforms can be a turning point for Canadian innovation, job creation, and public service delivery.” Laurent Carbonneau,CCI Minister of Government Transformation, Public Works, and Procurement Joël Lightbound, announced the creation of…
Katalyze AI announced $10.5 million USD ($14.9 million CAD) in seed funding on Monday to deploy its workflow software across large pharmaceutical firms. The news: Katalyze is building an agentic operating system for pharma firms. The startup’s platform allows pharma workers to build teams of AI agents to tackle engineering, scientific, and manufacturing tasks. With…
Every founder has an origin story. There’s one kind that may resonate with many femtech founders: interacting with a healthcare and benefits system that’s not designed to serve her at all. Often, that experience has been the catalyst to build a product that actually does. “We’re really seeing this shift to more of women’s health…
Montréal-based rare-earth mineral company Scandium Canada has acquired Québec City-based ski-maker Ferreol Technologies to help it turn those rare metals into aircraft parts. The news: Ferreol’s acquisition, which was announced earlier this week, cost $6.6 million in cash, stock, and assumed liabilities. Ferreol, now rebranded to Scalium+, got its start making skis out of an…
Hopper has agreed to settle a lawsuit with the US Federal Trade Commission over allegedly charging customers hidden fees on its travel booking app. The news: The Montréal travel tech startup has settled a complaint from the US federal regulator for $35 million USD ($49.7 million CAD), which claimed it charged consumers hidden fees and…
London, Ontario-based payment processing company Paystone filed for creditor protection in early June amid severe financial difficulties, according to court documents. This news, which was first reported by Insolvency Insider, follows a yearslong acquisition spree. Since 2019, Paystone has purchased a swath of other FinTech firms, including DataCandy, NXGEN Canada, NiceJob, Canadian Payment Services, and…
Episode Description: Stanford researchers took cartilage from patients already getting knee replacements (about as degraded as joint tissue gets) and discovered how it could regenerate itself. The cells weren’t replaced or reprogrammed; they just shifted back toward a younger pattern of behavior, which is the part that feels almost too good to be true. Alongside…
