Canadian startup news of the week (8/1/22)

Welcome to BetaKit’s startup stories of the week! Here, you will find the week’s most important news, features, and editorials published on BetaKit. If you prefer this update hit your inbox every week, make sure to subscribe to the BetaKit Newsletter using the form at the bottom of this page.

Top Stories of the Week

Clearco cuts a quarter of staff amid “significant headwinds”

Co-founders Michele Romanow and Andrew D’Souza told Clearco employees about the cuts in an email on Friday morning. The email, shared with BetaKit, said the cuts were “prudent” and “necessary.”

Shopify’s Q2 2022 growth continued to slow amid changing e-commerce market conditions

Shopify has posted its Q2 2022 earnings, pulling in $1.3 billion USD as the company’s growth continued to slow amid shifting e-commerce conditions. The results come one day after Shopify laid off 10 percent of its employees.

Coinsquare lays off 24 percent of staff amid turbulent crypto market, shifted focus to regulation

Coinsquare has seen its headcount reduced from 125 employees prior to the layoffs to approximately 95 workers now. The company also introduced a pay cut for its executives, though declined to disclose any further details.

Portage Ventures rolls out new late-stage FinTech fund, aims to raise up to $1 billion USD

Portage co-founder and CEO Adam Felesky told BetaKit that PCS will invest in securities that combine debt and equity features and do not require startups to lock in valuations as with traditional equity fundraising.

Crypto custodian Balance completes SOC 2 audit to increase customer confidence

The startup claims that it is now the only Canadian digital asset custodian to achieve SOC 2 compliance for both its cold (offline) and warm (online) crypto storage systems.

From seed to fork: building better food systems through impact investing

“It has to start with providing all people—emphasis on all—with enough food and nutrients to nourish themselves,” said Ran Goel, founder of Fresh City Farms in Toronto. “That is the foundation. Then the question becomes: how do we do that in a way that can essentially carry on indefinitely into the future?”

Check out these Canadian tech venture funding reports for Q2:

Latest Funding, Acquisitions, and Layoffs

• VAN – Fable – $8.4M (read more)

• VAN – General Fusion secures funding from US Department of Energy (read more)

• CAL – Avatar Innovations – $500K (read more)

• REG – Solvera solutions acquired by Accenture (read more)

• SUD – Verv – $3.8M (read more)

• CAM – Eclipse Automation to be acquired by Accenture (read more)

• TOR – Stadium Live – $12.8M (read more)

• TOR – Nova, formerly Polar, secures funding (read more)

• KIN – GreenCentre Canada secures $2.5M (read more)

• OTT – Women Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Fund calls for project proposals (read more)

• GAT – Converge Technology – $500M (read more)

• MTL – BrainBox AI – $6M (read more)

• MTL – Ubenwa – $3.24M (read more)

• STJ – ProcedureFlow – $11.8M (read more)

SHOPIFY STUMBLING, ROGERS RESILIENT, RECESSION FUNDRAISING

“That’s the pull quote. ‘Amber Mac: things are crumbling.’”

Special guest Amber Mac joins to answer listener questions on the award-nominated BetaKit Podcast. Topics include: Shopify’s layoffs, Rogers’ revenue resiliency following its second outage in the last year, Canada’s digital divide, and early-stage fundraising tips.

MARK MCQUEEN THINKS IT’S A GREAT TIME TO HAVE A CHEQUEBOOK

“When we look at companies today, I’m reminded of what it was like – just how bleak it was – in that summer of 2000. You can play through that as an investor and an entrepreneur.”

The President of CIBC Innovation Banking is not concerned about the current tech downturn.

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