Angel Investors Ontario (AIO) is joining a new investor advocacy organization as it looks to secure more government funding amid an uncertain future. AIO, which represents 21 angel groups and 2,300 angel investors who have collectively deployed more than $800 million into startups to date, is a not-for-profit organization created in 2007 to support the…
One day, perhaps within the decade, quantum computers will be able to crack like an egg the encryption algorithm protecting your password. That day is known as “Q-Day,” and it’s what Toronto-based Quantum Bridge Technologies has been preparing for. “National security can’t wait for perfect conditions.” Mattia Montagna,Quantum Bridge The 20-person startup, which spun out…
Montréal-based Lightspeed Commerce beat revenue estimates in fiscal Q4 but fell short of earnings expectations as it completed the first year of a transformation plan to streamline its business. The retail and hospitality tech company posted $290.8 million USD ($400.4 million CAD) in revenue in its last quarter, which ended March 31, 2026. That’s a…
Toronto-based venture capital (VC) firm N49P has completed the first close of its fourth fund, securing $25 million USD ($34 million CAD) in commitments towards its $70-million target. N49P announced the news on Thursday morning. This close is more than double the size of N49P’s second fund, which it raised in early 2020, and nearly…
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM In October 2011, Chile extended postnatal leave from 12 to 24 weeks for women contributing to the country’s social security system. The reform also introduced five days of paid paternity leave. A study published this year by economist Francisca Rojas-Ampuero tracks what happened to women’s employment in the fourteen…
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Kariba has lived alone in a Belgian zoo for years. Julie has been with the Cardinali circus in Portugal since 1988, when she was caught in the wild and sold to a German zoo before the family acquired her. Both are African elephants in their 40s. And both are…
Alberta is investing $10 million over three years to advance the integration of AI into provincial healthcare. The provincial funding was announced during a fireside chat between Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii) CEO Cam Linke and Alberta Minister of Technology and Innovation Nate Glubish on Wednesday at the Upper Bound AI conference in Edmonton. Glubish…
Montréal startup BrainBox AI and its parent company Trane Technologies officially marked the opening of an AI innovation lab that could dramatically cut energy waste in the world’s buildings on Wednesday. Speaking to a packed atrium with a perfectly regulated temperature, Trane chair and CEO Dave Regnery said that most buildings waste about 30 percent…
Backlash is mounting to Bill C-22, the proposed Canadian legislation that would give law enforcement more power to surveil personal communications and data. The news: Last year, Bill C-2, the Strong Borders Act, was split into two pieces of legislation after pushback over its proposed sweeping surveillance powers. Now, Bill C-22, the part of that…
Montréal-based financial services conglomerate Power Corporation of Canada (Power Corp) is spinning up a new AI fund through its alternative asset management business, Sagard. Power Corp and two of its operating companies, Great‑West Lifeco and IGM Financial, announced a combined $150-million USD ($206 million CAD) investment into a new Sagard AI Fund on Wednesday morning. …
