Jacob Jackson

Canada just had one of its most quietly explosive funding weeks — and nobody’s talking about it. So we did. From AI to climate, fintech infra to robotics, Canadian founders didn’t just raise capital… they raised conviction. Investors backed real problems, real markets, and real revenue — not “AI but with vibes.” Here’s what stood out this week (Nov 30–Dec 6): 🇨🇦 Canada funded actual builders — Deeptech with customers — Climate tech with measurable impact — Fintech infra powering real payments — Robotics + automation companies replacing manual processes — Healthcare platforms solving real bottlenecks No hype. No wishful thinking. Just execution over ego. The full breakdown includes: 📌 Every funded startup 📌 Who backed them 📌 How much they raised 📌 One-line explanation of what they’re building 📌 Market insights investors won’t say out loud 📌 The trendlines shaping Canada’s 2025–26 VC landscape If you're a founder, investor, or operator… this week's Canada edition is a must-read. 👉 Full Newsletter: https://lnkd.in/ebYDBuSh CREDX Letters — raw. real. founder & investor first.

2

Love this profile of six great Canadian start-ups from University of Toronto (including Staircase Ventures-backed MedEssist | Transforming Pharmacy through Tech and AI!). There are incredible, globally-relevant companies that were born in Toronto but are scaling internationally.

32

2 Comments

We don’t just need more tech in healthcare, we need tools that actually see us. This week, I went on CTV News to talk about something deeply personal and professionally urgent: ✨ How AI can transform health conversations for women. Because here’s the truth ... ➡️ 60% of Canadian adults struggle to understand their health info. ➡️ Women and racialized communities are still underrepresented in research. ➡️ Patients are Googling diagnoses – and being met with misinformation. As someone who froze her eggs at 25, navigated 6+ specialist offices as a patient, and is training to be a clinician … I’ve felt the gaps. And now, I want to help bridge them. — Here are the top takeaways I shared during the CTV segment: 1. AI can clarify your concerns. Use tools like Microsoft Copilot to draft your thoughts before a doctor’s visit, just like you would text a friend for advice. 2. It can simplify complex info. Ask for visual aids, pros/cons tables, or plain-language summaries of treatment options. 3. You can ask for scientific citations. This isn’t just about getting answers. You can request peer-reviewed, cited material that’s relevant to your lived experience. 4. It helps patients feel prepared. Instead of walking in anxious, walk in with questions, data, and language that feels like you. 5. Context matters. AI only works when you’re honest with it. Share your background, barriers, and goals — and ask it to tailor accordingly. — This is not “Dr. Google.” It’s not “Dr. AI.” It’s a best friend in your pocket to help you advocate for yourself. Because health equity starts with feeling seen and heard, not just diagnosed. 💛 Enjoyed this? Repost to your network and follow @wellbyshania for more. 💬 Have you ever used AI before a doctor’s visit? If not, what’s holding you back? Let’s talk about it below. → More behind the scenes on IG & TikTok: @wellbyshania https://lnkd.in/gB_UEZrd

34

4 Comments

Why is Draper doubling down on investing in bio? Why now? The world is finally transitioning from chemotherapy to bio-cures. Entrepreneurs and scientists today are working to completely cure and eliminate disease, rather than giving patients chronic treatments and just treating symptoms. But those who are making a killing with the current system have no incentive to change. When big pharma is making billions on pills, they need people to keep buying. And they are killing people. While we spend more and more on health care, in the US we are living shorter lives. And when we at Draper see an industry providing bad service at a high cost, we look for those entrepreneurs who take new technologies into that industry and transform it. Timing. Timing a trend is tricky. Too early, and your money runs dry before the customer can see your vision unfold. Too late, and you’ll lose to competitors or incumbents who see the same thing you do. Broad social acceptance has to be trending up enough that scaling is possible, but early enough that competition is light. Right now we're seeing a massive surge towards bio cures replacing chemo therapies, but also in nuclear power, reproductive technology, and DNA manipulation. A nuclear power company would have no chance of success right after Three Mile Island. Companies like Colossal Biosciences would have struggled when cloning was “fighting with God.” Starting with the dire wolf was brilliant. That’s a project everyone can get on board with and support while they dream up new animals that haven’t been invented. Support would be much harder to come by if they came out of the gate with a carrier pigeon that can swim underwater, or pigs with wings. But maybe that is coming... We’re watching the future happen in real time. What industry do you think is about to get disrupted by entrepreneurs who timed it perfectly?

152

20 Comments

⏩ State of early stage funding in Canada - a helpful lens 💡 At Panache Ventures, we've spent time building a robust dataset looking at YoY and QoQ startup formation in Canada, a demand-side indicator of what to expect in the coming 12-24 months. Latest trends across provinces, the role AI is increasingly playing in startup creation and the make-up of our Canadian founder pool. CC : Prashant Matta, Inshaal Qadir, Domenic Del Vecchio and Alessia Priolo. ➡️ Read the full report below

30

1 Comment

In just five years, Enveda has grown from seed to unicorn and now raised a $150M Series D. Their unique AI-powered platform seeks to unlock nature’s chemistry to deliver a new wave of medicines for patients with serious unmet needs. The #Lingotto Innovation Strategy is proud to continue backing Viswa Colluru, PhD for this next stage of the journey. 🚀 🦄 cc Deepak Mishra, Sc.D #LingottoInnovation

50

2 Comments

🚨 NEW POD ALERT 🚨 On the latest episode of the #humanunicornpod, I sit down with Amar Varma — co-founder of Mantle ($10m raised), Autonomic (acquired by Ford for <$400m), Xtreme Labs (acquired by Pivotal), longtime builder of Toronto’s tech ecosystem-- and maybe most importantly, amazing father of 4. From pioneering mobile app development before the iPhone App Store existed, to scaling two of Canada’s most successful exits, Amar shares what it really takes to build durable companies outside Silicon Valley. We dive into his founder journey, lessons learned from working with global tech giants, and his vision for the next wave of Canadian unicorns including the one he's building now- Mantle. 🇨🇦🦄

114

8 Comments

We’re excited to welcome three incredible entrepreneurs to the RiSC Capital team. Each brings deep technical experience and a founder’s perspective to help us support Canada’s most ambitious Deeptech companies: 🔹 Sam Macdonald – Senior Advisor, Defense & Dual Use Co-founder of Deep Trekker Inc., Sam built one of Canada’s top underwater robotics companies and brings unmatched insight into defense, dual-use, and frontier hardware ventures. 🔹 Kristina McDougall – Venture Partner, Talent Founder of Artemis Canada, Kristina is a trusted advisor to founders and boards across the innovation ecosystem. She helps Deeptech companies scale by building exceptional leadership and technical teams. 🔹 Chris Burns – Venture Partner, Energy and Materials Founder of NOVONIX, Chris earned his PhD in Physics, focusing on battery materials at Dalhousie University and is a recognized leader in advanced materials and energy storage. His experience taking deep-science companies from lab to market is a huge addition to our platform. At RiSC Capital, we continue to build one of Canada’s strongest Deeptech networks spanning AI, energy, defense, and materials science. Together, we’re accelerating commercialization and strengthening Canada’s technology sovereignty. Let’s build the future here! #Deeptech #CanadianVC #Commercialization #Innovation #BatteryTech #DefenseTech #Talent #TechSovereignty

125

19 Comments

🇨🇦 For the Canadian tech ecosystem to rise above its potential, the pre-seed venture financings will need to more than double to create a meaningful pipeline of growth-stage companies in the future. ➡️ Read the full report below Panache Ventures is excited to release its 2025 Startup Formation Report — a data-driven look at new startup activity across Canada. We are proud to back visionary Canadian founders from day one. 🇨🇦 🚀 🦄

41

3 Comments

🙌 Founder shout-out for the unlock VC (previously WVC:E) Founders Connect initiative! 🚀 Proud to spotlight Suvi Haimi, a visionary founder building smarter, more sustainable product data. A serial entrepreneur (you may know her from Sulapac Ltd), Suvi is now leading Ovido, an AI-powered platform helping manufacturers manage product data for traceability, sustainability, and compliance. 📢 Ovido just raised a €2.4M seed round, led by Lifeline Ventures and Kvanted, with Illusian Founder Office and Business Finland onboard. 🌟 Currently, only 2% of VC funding goes to women-led teams - not because of talent, but because of access. The Founders Connect initiative is doing important work in improving these stats.

35

Scaling with Precision: How Invest Ottawa is Powering the SCORE-UX Vision Building a "sports app" is easy. Building a Biotech-positioned Intelligence Layer for the world’s elite competitive athletes is a different game entirely. Today, as we scale SCORE-UX, we aren't just relying on our 1.15-pixel computer vision or our built-in distribution moat of 85,000 players. We are leveraging the world-class mentorship at Invest Ottawa. Through the Flex program, the support from the IO team has been instrumental in refining our "Architecture of the Machine." Specifically, they are helping us navigate: • Institutional Alignment: Bridging the gap between high-performance coaching and deep-tech validation. • Scientific Rigor: Supporting our roadmap toward clinical-grade biomechanical data in partnership with Canada’s leading research labs. • Capital Efficiency: Ensuring our 5:1 LTV:CAC and 86% retention metrics are benchmarked against elite Global SaaS standards. Innovation is a team sport. Having the mentors at Invest Ottawa in our corner ensures that as we move toward the Ignition phase, we aren't just growing—we are building a category-defining institution. Special thanks to our advisors for pushing us to be "insanely great." The future of development intelligence is objective, longitudinal, and backed by the best ecosystem in the country. #SCOREUX #InvestOttawa #SportsTech #Biotech #SaaS #VentureCapital #TennisTech #Innovation

8

DIY health creates prevention-focused power users. In its Big Ideas 2026 outlook, Andreessen Horowitz partner Julie Yoo outlines how health-seeking consumers could reshape a system built for sick care. Reframing healthcare through SaaS metrics, Yoo coins “healthy MAUs” (monthly active users): people who aren’t actively sick but want to proactively track, understand, and manage their well-being. Traditional healthcare optimizes for acute episodes and chronic disease. A small slice of the population drives the majority of spend — roughly 5% of patients account for about half of all healthcare costs, with the top 1% responsible for more than 20%. Rewarding treatment over prevention, proactive check-ins, ongoing monitoring, and early detection are undercovered by insurance and deprioritized by providers. That dynamic is starting to change. AI is lowering the cost of care delivery, consumers are increasingly willing to pay out of pocket, and new insurance models are emerging — making preventative care economically viable. For builders, healthy MAUs could become the largest and most valuable user base in healthtech: highly engaged, data-informed, and focused on staying well. Expect AI-native startups and retooled incumbents to chase this cohort. If healthcare has historically monetized sickness, healthy MAUs flip the model — turning prevention into a habit, and adherence into the business. 📩 Subscribe to Fitt Insider for a weekly briefing on the convergence of fitness, wellness, and healthcare. → https://lnkd.in/erFVbn5Z

99

16 Comments

The startup, named io, was quietly launched by Ive and several Apple veterans with the aim of creating a new class of AI-native devices. The acquisition not only secures the talents of Ive and brings in a team of around 55 engineers, designers, and manufacturing experts. Of the total $6.5 billion US valuation, $5 billion will be paid in equity, with the remainder reflecting OpenAI’s prior 23% stake in io, acquired in late 2024.

4

1 Comment

Search Engines and LLMs have value because they are the origin point of the query. If you don’t have to manually enter the query though typing or voice the starting line for who gets to keep the finders fee moves. First to consciencess thought and eventually to subconscious preawareness. All queries are a cry for help to reduce “suffering”, an attempt to augment our domain over reality QUICKER. First principles: recognition and context in brains and AIs always precedes query.

8

Excited to share Two Small Fish’s latest investment in Montréal based Haply Robotics, featured today in BetaKit. “Like humans, robots will ultimately need the equivalent of five senses,” I told BetaKit's Madison McLauchlan. “The potential is that Haply can become one of the defining, world-class companies that owns the touch layer in robotics, and that is extremely exciting.” Haply obviously fits perfectly into our thesis: We invest in the next frontier of computing and its applications, reshaping large-scale behaviour, driven by the collapsing cost of intelligence and defensible through tech and data moats. Physical AI is one of the five key areas we invest in, and Haply sits right at the centre of it. Super excited to see what Colin and the team build next!

56

4 Comments

Orange Health Labs has always been committed to six-hour reporting. Not "as fast as possible" but specifically six hours, no exceptions. This one constraint made them build everything differently. They couldn't use standard labs designed for average daily volume - they had to build for peak hourly capacity. They couldn't have doctors at each location, so they built remote pathology, where one doctor reviews slides from multiple cities. They couldn't rely on traditional logistics - so they created dedicated networks covering four times the area of competitors. Now incumbents can't copy it without scrapping their existing infrastructure. They have hundreds of labs built the old way, doctors hired locally, and established logistics. Retrofitting would cost more than starting from scratch, and starting from scratch means abandoning their existing business. I like how Orange Health's edge is that matching their model means incumbents must treat their current infrastructure as sunk cost. This is the kind of advantage that compounds.

111

3 Comments

Worth a listen if you are interested in the US Healthcare ecosystem. Tylon (Ty) W., founder and CEO of Pruven Capital portfolio company Angle Health shares how they built an AI native, vertically integrated tech infra from the ground up to democratize healthcare to the SMB ecosystem in the US.

13

Exploring the Team Behind AMI Labs: Yann LeCun's Visionary Innovation Yann LeCun's founding of AMI Labs represents a significant shift in the landscape of AI startups. With his departure from Meta, the focus now shifts to how his leadership will shape the non-linear approaches to 'world models.' At ElevenX Capital, we believe that understanding the people behind the innovation can often be as crucial as the technology itself. As this startup unfolds, how should we evaluate the team dynamics in AI ventures? #investing #innovation #venturecapital #entrepreneurship

2