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The DMZ’s News Roundup: What went down in May

News Roundup

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The DMZ’s News Roundup: What went down in May

Canada’s venture deal woes, the country’s latest unicorn company and DMZ’s incoming Pre-Incubator cohort – this is your monthly DMZ news roundup.

Power up with DMZ’s News Roundup: a blog series dedicated to providing you with a quick look back on what went down in the Canadian startup and innovation ecosystem this past month.

We’ve got you covered with the most relevant news and notable wins from the ecosystem, DMZ updates and more.

Here’s a rundown of what went down.

INDUSTRY NEWS

New BDC report reveals a record-breaking 2021 for venture capital and private equity deals, while 2022 is expected to experience turbulence

A new BDC report revealed that 2021 was a shattering year for VC, with Canada breaking records by almost every metric. Canada saw a jump in domestic and international VC investing, with 752 deals made, representing $14.7 billion CAD. However, this past quarter, VC deal counts and the money behind private equity deals took a fall. Despite the forecasted challenges, BDC suspects that the startup economy and Canadian entrepreneurs are well-positioned to take them on.

Check out the full report here.

Neo Financial secures $185 million CAD in Series C funding, becomes the country’s newest Unicorn status company

Calgary-based Neo Financial closed their Theil-led Series C funding round, in which they raised $185 million CAD. This additional funding launched the company’s valuation to more than $1 billion CAD, making them the newest tech company to earn official unicorn status in the country. Neo Financial is an online bank bringing a low-fee alternative to the Canadian financial market, helping users save costs on spending and earn high interest on savings.

Learn more here.

Neo Financial becomes Calgary's latest $1 billion tech 'unicorn' | The Star

STARTUP NEWS

SPM solution provider, Forma.AI, is expanding platform development with $45 million CAD secured in Series B funding

DMZ alumni Forma.AI (Incubator ’18), a sales performance management solution provider, recently closed its Series B funding round. With the $45 million CAD secured in funding, they plan on expanding the marketing and development of their fintech platform.

Read more here.

Fable secured $10 million USD to make online accessibility a reality for disabled users

Fable (Incubator ’20), a Toronto-based startup that helps companies make digital products more usable by people with accessibility challenges, announced a $10.5 million USD round in venture capital funding to support the company’s growth. Alwar Pillai, CEO and Co-Founder of Fable, says the company is focusing on unlocking access to more clients by targeting large corporations’ digital teams to target their users.

Check it out here.

WBI-affiliated technology firm CyborgTech to acquire DMZ FinTech alumni Fortuna.AI

DMZ alumni Fortuna.AI (Incubator ’18) announced its acquisition from WBI-affiliated technology firm CyborgTech, home to robo advisory platform Cy, for an undisclosed amount. Fortuna.AI is an AI-powered platform helping financial services scale digital tools to get new clients in the marketing and advertising sector. Fortuna.AI was the winner of the DMZ-Bank of Montreal Fintech accelerator program.

Learn more here.

DMZ NEWS

Introducing DMZ’s Pre-Incubator Fall 2022 cohort of cutting-edge tech companies

In a new DMZ blog, we welcome 13 up-and-coming tech companies into our new Pre-Incubator cohort. Hailing from across Canada, the United States, Brazil, Estonia and Africa, this new cohort is already hitting above their own weight in a diverse range of industries. Check out all the companies in our new Pre-Incubator cohort here.

Looking for more startup ecosystem news and DMZ updates? Subscribe to our bi-weekly newsletter to stay in the know here.

The DMZ’s news roundup: What went down in April

The federal government unveiled their budget, American investors are flocking to Canadian tech, and our newest tech startups — this is your monthly DMZ news roundup.


Power up with the DMZ’s News Roundup. Our new blog series is dedicated to providing you with a quick look back on what went down in the Canadian startup and innovation ecosystem.

We’ve got you covered with the most relevant news and notable wins from the ecosystem, DMZ updates and more. 

Here’s a rundown of what went down in April. 

INDUSTRY NEWS

How the Federal budget will impact the startup and innovation economy

The federal government unveiled their long-awaited budget for 2022, which outlines a number of commitments for the Canadian tech and innovation economy. The first budget since the Liberal’s re-election last fall, the 2022 budget focuses on growing the Canadian economy while aiming to make everyday life more affordable. Big ticket commitments include a new innovation and investment agency, a growth fund to encourage private sector investments and a commitment to build a world-class intellectual property regime. 

Read more here.

Canadian innovation companies come to a halt on TSX

In the first quarter of 2022, there was not a single Canadian innovation company that went public via an initial public offering (IPO) on the Toronto Stock Exchange. 2021 saw a record breaking year for IPOs, with seven companies going public in the first quarter alone. 

Learn more here.

New report shares gender biases women founders face in raising capital

A recent study from the Conference Board of Canada found that compared to men, women take longer to raise Series A financing. Marie Chevrier Schwartz, Founder and CEO of Sampler (DMZV), shares her experiences raising capital and the gender bias she faced with Betakit.

Check out her interview here.

STARTUP NEWS

PocketHealth closes $20M CAD Series A financing to transform medical image access

PocketHealth (Incubator ‘18), a patient-centric medical image sharing platform, has secured $20M CAD in Series A funding led by healthcare venture capital firm Questa Capital. PocketHealth will be expanding its talent base, building U.S and Canadian clinical partnerships and invest in product innovation. 

Read more here.

U.S investors are pumping cash into Canadian enterprise tech startups

U.S venture-capital investors raised a record $13.6B USD last year in Canadian information-technology startups. In recent years, Google, Microsoft, Intel, and Uber have opened or expanded offices and research-and-development campuses in thriving tech hubs such as Toronto and Vancouver. In turn, this has fostered a homegrown pool of skilled tech workers that is becoming increasingly scarce in the U.S. More than half of all Toronto-area venture-capital deals have included at least one American investor.

Learn more here.

DMZ NEWS

12 tech startups that are disrupting the Canadian tech ecosystem – Meet the DMZ’s Incubator spring cohort 

Out of hundreds of the high-calibre startup founders that applied from Canada and around the world, the DMZ has hand-picked 12 tech companies to join a new 18-month cohort in the Incubator. This cohort has startups joining from Vancouver, Canada to Budapest, Hungary, across diverse industries like logistics, insurtech, fintech, proptech, and more.

Check out the tech companies here

Looking for more startup ecosystem news and DMZ updates? Subscribe to our bi-weekly newsletter to stay in the know here

The DMZ’s news roundup: What went down in March

Canada’s thriving tech sector, startup raises and DMZ’s Women of the Year inaugural list of winners — this is your monthly DMZ news roundup.


Power up with the DMZ’s News Roundup. Our new blog series is dedicated to providing you with a quick look back on what went down in the Canadian startup and innovation ecosystem this past month.

We’ve got you covered with the most relevant news, notable ecosystem wins, DMZ updates and more. 

Here’s a rundown of what went down.

INDUSTRY NEWS

New BDC report reveals Canadian tech sector driving growth across the economy and expects tech sector revenue to grow by 22% by 2024

The Canadian tech sector is driving growth across the economy. Experts are expecting tech sector revenue to grow by 22% by 2024. A new BDC report states that growth in the tech sector is expected to be 5.3% in 2022, and growth for the 2021-24 period is expected to be 22.4%. 

Read more here.

Export Development Canada makes pandemic investment program permanent for small- and medium-sized businesses

Export Development Canada (EDC) is making its investment matching program permanent after it was first launched as an emergency pandemic measure. The program provides up to $5-million in capital for companies that are raising funds from private investors. So far, EDC has invested $223-million in 82 companies through the program. Moreover, it aims to build a portfolio worth up to $500-million. 

Learn more here.

Canadian flag in the sky

“Y Combinator on steroids” – New security-focused tech fund

Glenn Cowan, a former member of Canada’s elite special operations unit, Joint Task Force 2, and Shopify co-founder Daniel Weinand launched a new venture capital fund aimed at financing national security startups. Cowan led high-risk military missions across the globe and recognized that special force units are the breeding grounds for new security related technologies, and are comparable to US accelerator Y Combinator. 

One9 Venture Partners launched its Special Mission Fund I, which is focused on national security and infrastructure. 

Read more here


STARTUP NEWS

Vancouver-based tech recruiter, VanHack, is supporting Ukrainian tech talent

DMZ alumni VanHack (Accelerator ‘18) is helping tech professionals from Ukraine find work. A global leader in tech recruitment, VanHack is waiving its placement fee for all Ukrainian tech hires. Plus, they are encouraging employers to donate to verified Ukrainian-based charities in lieu of its placement fees. 

Read more here.

Vanhack founder - Ilya Brotzky

Virtual Gurus Secured $8.4 Million CAD to Grow Virtual Assistant Marketplace Across North America

Virtual Gurus announced a $8.4 million CAD Series A and non-dilutive funding round to support the company’s growth. The company is a virtual assistant marketplace that focuses on supporting underrepresented individuals who have been historically overlooked for quality jobs.

Additionally, Founder and CEO Bobbie Racette is one of the first Indigenous women from the Canadian startup ecosystem to successfully raise a Series A round.

Check it out here.

Proptech startup iRestify raised $6 million CAD and announced its expansion into the United States

DMZ alumni iRestify (Incubator ‘17) announced a $6 million CAD raise to pursue expansion plans in the United States. The all-in-one technology-driven solution for building maintenance management has been adopted by Canadian property management brands Minto and Canadian Urban. 

After a successful soft launch in New York, Co-Founders Erifili Morfidis and Charlotte Gummesson are excited for further growth. 

Learn more here.


DMZ NEWS

The DMZ revealed inaugural award recipients of DMZ’s Women of the Year

All of DMZ's Winners of the year headshots for 2022
In celebration of International Women’s Day,
the DMZ unveiled the inaugural winners of our highly anticipated annual award: DMZ’s Women of the Year. Launched this year, the award honours inspirational women in Canada’s tech and business community and highlight their outstanding accomplishments and contributions to creating impact.

Check out all award winners here

Looking for more startup ecosystem news and DMZ updates? Subscribe to our bi-weekly newsletter to stay in the know here.