Thursday, April 25th, 2024 On April 8, Hootsuite Inc., a Vancouver-based social media management company, announced that it is acquiring Talkwalker, a Luxembourg-based consumer intelligence company. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2024. Talkwalker was founded in 2009, and offers AI-powered ‘social listening’ services – analysis of online conversations to provide consumer behaviour insights. Talkwalker’s analysis covers over 30 social media platforms. Hootsuite and Talkwalker have had a business relationship dating back to 2015, when they first began partnering on pro ..read more

Wednesday, April 24th, 2024 The Federal government is setting aside $2.4 billion in its upcoming budget to build capacity in artificial intelligence. In this announcement, Justin Trudeau stated the $2.4 billion package will accelerate job growth in Canada’s AI sector, boost productivity by helping researchers and businesses develop and adopt AI, and ensure this is done responsibly. The $2.4 billion package is expected to be allocated broadly: Investing $2 billion to build and provide access to computing capabilities and technological infrastructure for Canada’s world-leading AI research ..read more

Monday, April 22nd, 2024 In light of soaring egg prices, Onego Bio (“Onego”), an innovative food-biotech start-up based out of Finland, has leveraged its patented technology to develop an animal-free egg white called “Bioalbumen.” According to Onego’s founders, Maija Itkonen and Christopher Landowski, Bioalbumen replicates ovalbumin, the main protein in egg whites, contains 90 grams of protein per 100 grams of egg white, and comprises all essential amino acids. In terms of sustainability, and because Bioalbumen is not produced from animals, Onego claims that it has demonstrated potential ..read more

Tuesday, April 16, 2024 As reported by BetaKit, Royal Bank of Canada’s technology and innovation department takes another step in championing women in tech with the launch of the second edition of their mentorship program. Initially introduced in 2023, RBCx Mentor Meetups is a one-on-one virtual mentorship program that is aimed at providing women in tech with invaluable professional advice from RBCx mentors. While last year’s program saw over 180 women receive a total of 175 hours of mentorship from female mentors, this year, male mentors have joined the lineup, seeking to bridge the ..read more

Thursday, April 4th, 2023 On March 21, the U.S. Justice Department, in collaboration with 16 other state and district attorneys general, filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple. The lawsuit alleges that Apple has engaged in unlawful exclusionary behaviour by establishing an illegal monopoly in the smartphone market. This is said to be achieved through selectively imposing contractual restrictions on, and withholding critical access points from, developers. The Justice Department argues that Apple’s practices undermine innovation for apps, products, and services that would otherwise p ..read more

Tuesday, April 2, 2024 Spotify, a music, podcast, and audiobook streaming platform, is now venturing into e-learning. The platform will be providing its users with video-based courses by partnering up with educational tech companies such as BBC Maestro, PLAYvirtuoso, Skillshare, and Thinkific. This move seems to be the next logical step for Spotify, as approximately half of their 600 million users already stream podcasts and audiobooks on the platform for educational purposes. Babar Zafar, VP Product Development at Spotify said “Many of our users engage with podcasts and audiobook ..read more

March 26, 2024 At its inception eight years ago, PocketHealth set a goal to build an easier way for patients and healthcare providers to access and share diagnostic images. Today, the Toronto-based start-up’s software not only gives over 1.5 million people at over 600 hospitals and imaging centres across North America control over their medical images, but it also helps those patients make sense of those images using artificial intelligence. PocketHealth allows patients to securely access, store, and analyze their own medical image records, including X-rays, ultrasounds, CT scans, a ..read more

March 25, 2024 The social media giant, Reddit, has gone public by way of an initial public offering (IPO) in the United States. Reddit announced they would be offering 22,000,000 shares, with an initial share price of $34 per share under the “RDDT” ticker. However, the company’s share priced jumped 48% by the end of its first day of trading, peaking at $57.80 per share.  In their amended S1-Filing, Reddit stated it intends to use the funds generated from the IPO for “general corporate purposes” and potentially to “acquire or invest in complementary technologies, assets or intellectual pr ..read more

March 18, 2024 YouTube, the world’s largest video-sharing platform, has just unveiled its latest feature: YouTube Create. This mobile app is designed to empower content creators by providing an intuitive and feature-packed video editing experience. This standalone video editing app, distinct from the main YouTube app can be a game-changer for aspiring YouTubers. YouTube Create is a competitor to TikTok’s creative tools, which has been the premier choice for non-technical creators who want to experiment with video but may not have the editing expertise. It was important for YouTube to implemen ..read more

March 13, 2024 On March 4, 2024, Berlin-based Razor Group (“Razor”) acquired Boston-based Perch in an all-stock deal. Both companies are e-commerce aggregators, an industry made up of third-party marketplace sellers that gather products from multiple online brands and sell them in one place. Upon the companies’ merger, Perch’s investors will own about one third of the combined company shares, while Razor’s investors will own the remaining two thirds. The transaction is based on a valuation of US$1.7 billion for the combined company. In connection with the acquisition, Razor raised an addition ..read more