Uber Turns Passive Data Into Active Earnings
Rumblings about monetizing passive data have been part of the tech sector conversation for years.[...]
Funding
Funding
Past and Future Trends of Startups in Y Combinator’s Data
Reading applications to Y Combinator is like having access to a crystal ball. What does eight years’ worth of anonymized application data tell us?
Funding,IBM,Technology
VIDEO: Expertise and Mentorship Help Startups Exit the ‘Valley of Death’
Bridges are being built over what IBM Canada’s Pat Horgan refers to as the “Valley of Death” for startups trying to scale up. Initiatives like IBM’s Bluemix Garage – which provides technology support, shares growth experience, and offers mentorship – aims to foster scale up success in the long-run.
Funding,Highlighted,Technology
Early-Stage Startups Need More than Tech to Impress Investors
TechPORTFOLIO interviewed investors including iNovia Capital Managing Partner Chris Arsenault and others to learn what they look for in early stage startups – and how they define success.
Funding,Highlighted
Tech Sector Leaders on Funding Challenges Facing Canadian Startups
Startup founders need to think about funding options at all stages of growth. What kind of funding is available – or not – at which stages? We talked to investors and founders about the challenges attracting startup investment, cultural fit, and how some have negotiated funding issues. While everyone we spoke to said there are challenges getting funding, there’s little consensus on where exactly those holes are – or how they should be filled.
Funding,Highlighted,Technology
Tech Investors and Founders Identify Bankable Technologies
Entrepreneur and author Seth Godin’s comment from more than a decade ago, which addresses what’s now generally referred to as “disruption,” resonates among entrepreneurs more than ever. To address this, we asked each of our launch week interviewees what technology is going to be the most bankable in the next few years?
Funding,Technology
Funding & Talent Dominate Twitter Talk Around Techvibes
Techvibes hosts a semi-annual event called Techfest, which underscores the importance of hiring in the startup space. The networking event attracts more than 1,000 attendees and culminates in a series of 2-minute pitches by CEOs, founders and tech executives meant to attract the best employees.
Funding,Marketing,Startups
Choosing the Wrong Accelerator Can Get You Nowhere Fast
Accelerators can put startups on a fast track towards growth-stage success, but founders shouldn’t be tempted to apply to a program simply on the basis of acceptance chances. Geography, funding, office space, and mentorship availability are all important, and there are still other factors to keep in mind.
Funding,In Brief
Montreal’s #Startup Social Media Discussion
Montreal is home to some of Canada’s largest VC firms, including Real Ventures, Rho Canada, BDC Capital and iNovia Capital. The city also made Compass’ list of top startup ecosystems globally.
Focus,Funding,Technology
Demand for Fintech Innovation Creates Cooperation Ecosystems
Financial institutions are wrestling with the competitive implications of fintech. A recent PwC report says 20% of their business is at risk by 2020, so many are already partnering with more nimble, innovative startups. Funding of fintech startups last year reached $12.2 billion.
Funding,Startups,Technology
/newsrooms Launches TechPORTFOLIO to Cover Economic Value of Startup Ecosystems
TechPORTFOLIO will use IBM Cloud and cognitive technologies, including data and machine learning, as part of its journalistic approach to deliver insights relevant to the companies, startups and governments involved in the global startup ecosystem.
Funding,Highlighted,In Brief
Mind the Startup Leadership Team Gap, Investors Say
David Cohen, a co-founder and managing partner at Techstars Ventures, said in a 2007 blog post that he won’t rule out sole entrepreneurs, but holds them at a disadvantage. “Look for someone who compliments your skills,” Cohen said. “If you’re great at coding, find someone who’s great at selling or marketing.” Cohen’s investment instincts proved astute as Techstars became an early investor in Uber just two years later.
Funding,In Brief,Profiles,Technology
WIRED: Magic Leap Stands Out Among Giants in the Artificial Reality Race
By 2020, the augmented and virtual reality markets are expected to be worth about $150 billion. This is creating hardware and software development opportunities for startups in just about every industry and facet of life, from film to education to day-to-day office administration.
Focus,Funding,In Brief
What Do You Call a Canadian Unicorn?
A narwhal. While this medium-sized, carnivorous whale – distinguished by its single tusk – is an actual creature as opposed to a mythical one, try to find someone who’s seen a narwhal in the flesh. The animal’s scarcity makes it an appropriate metaphor.
Funding,Highlighted,Marketing
Why Canada’s Tech Scene is Worth Getting Excited About
It’s often overlooked that one of the most esteemed innovators of the 21st century, Elon Musk – the mind behind PayPal, SpaceX and Tesla – is a Canadian citizen and attended Queen’s University in Kingston before ultimately moving to the U.S. Vancouverite Stewart Butterfield created the original photo-sharing site Flickr in the mid 2000s and went on to build the office social platform Slack, now headquartered in San Francisco and valued around $4 billion.
Funding,Highlighted,Technology
Investors Weigh in on Programming Language Choice
Startups should consider their comfort level with the language, where the market is going and if the language they choose is the best one to reach their goals. While VCs usually don’t try to change decisions around programming languages, the way programs are written could affect investment decisions.
Funding,Highlighted,Technology
Startup Simulations: The Future of VC Funding
Recent advances in gaming and AI are adding another layer of complexity to an already competitive landscape in the form of “startup simulations.” As finance becomes more data-driven, simulations – which have been long been leveraged for gaming – serve a new purpose: determining whether or not a startup gets funded.
Features,Funding
Cockroaches Rise, Unicorns Fall as Venture Capital Plays Moneyball
Now that sobriety has set in, the tech world sees in hindsight how a nearly indestructible creature, able to live on dust, would be more attractive to investors than something that doesn’t exist – like profits among some the most well-known tech plays of the past few years. Think Pinterest, Yelp, etc.
Features,Funding,Marketing,Startups
Toronto is a Cockroach Nest
Toronto distinguishes itself as Canada’s financial center, the fourth-largest metropolis in North America, and its namesake university ranks in the world’s top-20. Toronto is also one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the world, a metric that McKinsey & Co. says supports corporate success. So where are the Toronto-bred unicorns?
Funding
Toronto has the Entrepreneurs. Imagine If It Had the Cash.
Cities outside of the world’s largest VC concentrations need to innovate to create conduits that tap these hubs. The C100’s Venture North event in Toronto addresses this problem. The C100 runs programs, including Venture North, which aim to do this by connecting Canadian entrepreneurs with compatriots active in Silicon Valley to foster partnership and investment.
share