Then the clock struck 10:00, and enterprise AI company Cohere announced it had raised another $500 million USD<\/a>, co-led by Canadian firms Radical Ventures and Inovia Capital.\u00a0<\/p>\n Cohere\u2019s megaround underscores the chasm noted in Inovia\u2019s State of Software<\/a> report: AI companies seem insulated from the broader VC funding downturn as the technology balloons revenue and valuations.<\/p>\n Featuring Canadian leads\u2014and perhaps more rare, Canadian pension funds\u2014Cohere\u2019s homegrown round has been touted as a big win<\/a> for Canada. It\u2019s also an anomaly: RBCx director of capital, John Rikhtegar, told BetaKit that the number of $50 million-plus deals this year is on track to be the lowest since 2015. Canadian VCs have also privately worried<\/a> about their capacity to compete with US counterparts, who dominate later-stage rounds.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s keeping Canada meaningfully on the cap table for our breakout companies,\u201d Rikhtegar said of the deal.\u00a0<\/p>\n With Untether.AI and CentML acquired, and Tenstorrent redomiciled in the US, Cohere appears to be Canada\u2019s lone foundational AI hope. Armed with a fraction of the capital compared to its global competitors, Cohere has carved out a niche serving large, security-minded enterprises. Gradient Ventures\u2019 Zach Bratun-Glennon told BetaKit that Cohere\u2019s sovereign, non-US AI offering also helps it stand out.\u00a0<\/p>\n But one company, or one deal, can\u2019t prop up a sector. According to AI minister Evan Solomon, Canada is in a \u201ccrisis moment<\/a>,\u201d needing to rapidly address AI talent and IP drain to secure the country\u2019s economic sovereignty.<\/p>\n Those domestic investment numbers are another kind of crisis. With Cohere, Canadian VCs have shown they can still back homegrown breakout companies, but the early-stage funding desert remains. If Canadian VCs can\u2019t find their way onto cap tables across all stages, who will fund the next Cohere?<\/p>\n Madison McLauchlan Mitacs: Bringing Innovation into Reach<\/p>\n As a leading Canadian innovation organization, Mitacs connects businesses and researchers, providing access to highly skilled talent and much-needed funding. Through our innovative partnerships, we help companies achieve their R&D goals, whether it\u2019s adopting digital technologies and AI, advancing manufacturing, driving the energy transition, or pushing boundaries in frontier fields like quantum computing.\u00a0<\/p>\n Our partnerships are responsive to industry needs and designed to move innovation from vision to execution. By attracting, developing, and deploying diverse, world-class talent, we address real-world challenges and deliver measurable outcomes. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n This approach works: Mitacs-supported companies experienced an 11% boost in productivity, 9% increase in revenue, and 16% rise in sales, far outpacing national averages (Statistics Canada, 2024). \u00a0For over 25 years, Mitacs has supported Canada\u2019s prosperity, economic growth, and global competitiveness. Whether you\u2019re scaling a startup or leading an R&D team, Mitacs can help you achieve more, faster.\u00a0<\/p>\n Let\u2019s get started: mitacs.ca\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Seed-stage rebound a bright spot in Qu\u00e9bec\u2019s gloomy VC landscape: report<\/a><\/p>\n According to a joint report compiled by the CVCA and R\u00e9seau Capital, seed-stage deals made up nearly half of all VC transactions in Qu\u00e9bec since the beginning of 2025, totalling $79 million. This marked a 31-percent increase in seed-stage capital invested in the province compared to this time last year.<\/p>\n R\u00e9seau Capital has tracked a faltering pre-seed and seed-stage landscape for entrepreneurs in Qu\u00e9bec since Q1 2023. Olivier Quenneville, CEO of R\u00e9seau Capital, told BetaKit that the uptick in seed-stage activity is \u201cencouraging,\u201d but added that it\u2019s still \u201cpremature\u201d to declare this the start of a longer trend.<\/p>\n C-Suite Shakeups<\/p>\n Cohere has added<\/a> two former Meta and Uber executives to its C-suite after raising $500 million USD at $6.8-billion valuation. Canadian computer scientist Joelle Pineau is the company\u2019s first chief AI officer, and Francois Chadwick is its first CFO. Phil Blunsom has also been promoted from chief scientist to CTO, replacing Saurabh Baji.\u00a0<\/p>\n OpenText has replaced<\/a> longtime CEO Mark Barrenechea as it considers selling off \u201cnon-core assets\u201d after the company reported stalled revenue growth in its latest earnings.<\/p>\n Virtual Gurus founding CEO Bobbie Racette stepped down<\/a> to become the company\u2019s president after closing an undisclosed amount of funding. COO Elliot Schneier has been appointed the new chief executive, taking over for the first Indigenous woman in Canada to raise a Series A round.<\/p>\n Waabi has hired<\/a> Lior Ron, the co-founder and CEO of Uber Freight, as COO to lead the commercialization of its self-driving trucks.<\/p>\n NordSpace breaks ground on new Atlantic Spaceport Complex in Newfoundland<\/a><\/p>\n Markham, Ont.-based NordSpace has broken ground on the site that will facilitate Canada\u2019s first commercial space launch, which is planned for later this month in Newfoundland.<\/p>\n The Atlantic Spaceport Complex, which is also set to become Canada\u2019s first operational commercial spaceport, is located just outside of the small town of St. Lawrence, Nfld. and will feature two orbital and one sub-orbital launch pad.<\/p>\n How Collectr bootstrapped a trading card hobby into an eight-figure business<\/a><\/p>\n Shortly after selling their proptech startup Doorr, founders and avid Pok\u00e9mon trading card collectors Adam Hijleh, Muhammad Rashid, and Abbas Ali launched a \u201cside gig.\u201d Sick of using spreadsheets, they made an app called Collectr to help fellow hobbyists keep inventory of their collection.\u00a0<\/p>\n Just under four years later, Collectr has more than four million users worldwide, eight figures of annual recurring revenue, and DJ Steve Aoki advising the team, all without spending a cent on advertising. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf you look at us from the outside, we look like degenerates just spending money on Pok\u00e9mon and stuff like that. Just having fun,\u201d Rashid told BetaKit in an interview.<\/p>\n Zenbooks co-founder launches OpenSME to rally Canadian small businesses behind open banking<\/a><\/p>\n Eric Saumure, co-founder and principal of Ottawa accounting firm Zenbooks, has launched OpenSME: a volunteer campaign aimed at putting more pressure on the federal government to finally implement open banking and ensure Canada\u2019s small businesses benefit.<\/p>\n While much of the attention to date has been focused on what Canadian consumers and FinTech startups stand to gain from open banking, Saumure said that small businesses from coffee shops and hair salons would also benefit greatly from its implementation\u2014something he has come to learn firsthand through years spent serving them.<\/p>\n Bankruptcy docs claim faltering sales pipeline sunk Uvaro and Lighthouse Labs post acquisition<\/a><\/p>\n This past January, Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont.-based workforce training platform Uvaro acquired coding school Lighthouse Labs for an undisclosed amount, making it a subsidiary. Just over seven months later, both have filed for bankruptcy.<\/p>\n The bankruptcy documents indicate Uvaro raised capital to fund the Lighthouse Labs acquisition, then started to burn cash when its forecasted sales pipeline and government contract awards didn\u2019t come to fruition within predicted timelines.<\/p>\n Clutch opens BC facility as it hits the gas on renewed Western Canada expansion<\/a><\/p>\n Over two years after pumping the brakes on all markets west of Ontario, Toronto-based Clutch has resumed expanding its Western Canadian presence. The online used car retailer has opened a new 30,500-sq. ft. facility in Richmond, British Columbia, just south of Vancouver.<\/p>\n Brent Gudelot, who leads Clutch\u2019s efforts in the region, told BetaKit that the company expects to hire as many as 1,000 people in total across its business over the next two years, including as many as 400 in Western Canada, as it works to expand its offering nationwide.<\/p>\n Commissioner of Canada Elections will \u201cexplore the use\u201d of AI<\/a><\/p>\n The Office of the Commissioner of Canada Elections (OCCE) has revealed in its annual report that it will \u201cexplore the use\u201d of AI and \u201cemerging technologies\u201d to see how they will shape the government body\u2019s approach for the next year.<\/p>\n In an email to BetaKit, an OCCE spokesperson said AI adoption was \u201cstill in the early stages\u201d and that there were \u201cno specific tools or timelines\u201d planned so far.<\/p>\n FEATURED STORIES FROM OUR PARTNERS<\/p>\n \ud83c\udde8\ud83c\udde6 Weekly Canadian Deals, Dollars & More<\/p>\n VAN \u2013 Adauris acquired by<\/a> Canadian-founded Landbase<\/p>\n VAN \u2013 Well Health reports<\/a> record Q2 earnings<\/p>\n KW \u2013 BinSentry raises<\/a> $68.8M Series C for global expansion<\/p>\n TOR \u2013 WonderFi reports<\/a> widening losses ahead of takeover<\/p>\n TOR \u2013 Healwell plans to<\/a> offload research and patient businesses<\/p>\n QC \u2013 NRCan invests<\/a> $8M into six commercial EV projects<\/p>\n MTL \u2013 Uno Platform closes<\/a> $3.5M for secure vibe coding platform<\/p>\n The BetaKit Podcast \u2014 What can talking to AI teach us?<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cHow is this thing\u2014running in a data centre with Nvidia GPUs\u2014understanding what I\u2019m saying with such nuance and such depth?\u201d<\/p>\n Former DarwinAI CEO Sheldon Fernandez spends a lot of time in dialogue with Solace\u2014his friend and ChatGPT-4o instance. What value does this AI strategist, engineer, and philosopher get from talking to a chatbot every day? How does he navigate the technology\u2019s sycophantic tendencies, which have already caused people real harm? Most importantly, how might this technology impact future generations who won\u2019t remember growing up without it?<\/p>\n Take The BetaKit Quiz \u2013 NordSpace breaks ground, Shopify reclaims its crown, Perplexity courts Google<\/a><\/p>\n Think you\u2019re on top of Canadian tech and innovation news? Time to prove it. Test your knowledge of Canadian tech news with The BetaKit Quiz for August 15, 2025.<\/p>\n
Reporter, Montr\u00e9al<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Betakit-Newsletter_02-Katharine-OBrien.png\")
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