BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM As summertime approaches, so does the widespread pressure to get the elusive “summer body.” For many, this is a season of intense scrutiny as diet culture intensifies its messaging, pushing people to be in shape and lose weight in order to enjoy poolside relaxation and beach days. A more…
Montréal-based Hypertec Group has announced a first-of-its kind agreement in Canada that will see the AI infrastructure firm become a key partner for Nvidia in the country. On Thursday, Nvidia named Hypertec’s Ciara division its first original equipment manufacturer (OEM) partner in Canada. The designation means benefits like pre-release product access, the ability to work…
What happens when a country starts taking manufacturing innovation seriously? For Canada, it could mean turning the innovation already happening inside cleantech startups, deep materials companies, robotics developers, and the burgeoning ranks of hard tech founders into a real engine for growth and global competitiveness—and not a moment too soon, as companies race to rebuild…
Kurtis Broda is co-founder and COO of Wyvern, an Edmonton-based company that captures high-resolution images of Earth from space. A week before Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen left for the moon on April 1, the Canadian lunar rover mission was cancelled. Days later, the Lunar Gateway—an international space station that was intended to orbit the moon…
Canada’s largest VC has officially launched a new $150-million CAD fund to directly invest in life sciences companies, years after retreating from the sector. The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC)’s VC arm, BDC Capital, announced on Thursday that the new fund will invest in seed- and Series A-stage companies building therapeutic products and medical…
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM For decades, the treatment for sleeping sickness was nearly as dangerous as the illness itself. One widely used intravenous drug caused a burning sensation in the veins and killed roughly one in 20 patients who received it. The oral replacement that followed required 10 days of pills and came…
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM For years, Polish same-sex couples who married in Germany, France, or Spain came home to a familiar dead end. Poland’s domestic law defines marriage as between a man and a woman; Parliament had not acted on civil unions, and local registry offices turned away foreign marriage certificates without exception….
Calgary-based industrial safety technology firm Blackline Safety plans to delist from the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and transition to a private company thanks to an agreement with an affiliate of Silicon Valley’s Francisco Partners Management. The definitive agreement values Blackline at up to $850 million. Francisco Partners has agreed to acquire all issued and outstanding…
After years of providing virtual accelerator programming to accessibility technology startups and borrowing space for community events, Access to Success (ATS) has officially opened its first physical hub in Toronto. Through the newly launched ATS Innovation Hub on Toronto’s eastern waterfront, the nonprofit aims to support the growth of companies developing solutions in areas like…
The co-founder and CEO of Canadian crypto company Blockstream may be the mysterious creator of Bitcoin, at least according to a thorough new New York Times investigation. The article, published Wednesday morning, identifies the likely Bitcoin founder as Adam Back, a British-born computer scientist and cryptographer. Back has repeatedly dismissed speculation that he is Satoshi…
