• About That
  • Posts
  • Canadian Tech Weekly #03: Blossom Social raises $1.8 million in 6 hours

Canadian Tech Weekly #03: Blossom Social raises $1.8 million in 6 hours

Another exciting week in Canada's vibrant tech ecosystem!

Author

Feranmi Akeredolu
April 19, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes

🌟 Editor's Note

This edition is packed with sharp insights, standout events, and stories straight from the frontlines of innovation.

🗓️ Upcoming Events

Canada Crypto Week

Join other crypto visionaries in Toronto for a city-wide celebration of Web3 & blockchain with dozens of events.

  • Event Link

  • Date: May 11 - 17, 2025

  • Location: Toronto, ON

Startup Canada Tour - Calgary

Connect with fellow entrepreneurs, gain insights from industry leaders, and grow your early-stage business.

  • Event Link

  • Date: April 29, 2025

  • Location: Calgary, AB

🚀 Deals, Deals, Deals

  • Blossom Social, a Vancouver-based FinTech startup, closed out a $3 million CAD raise, with a record of over $1.8 million CAD raised in 6 hours from community members.

  • Xaba, a Toronto-based company developing synthetic brains for industrial robots, secured $8 million CAD in seed extension funding led by Hitachi Ventures.

  • ABC Technologies, a Toronto-based automotive tech firm, completed the acquisition of TI Fluid Systems, an Auburn Hills, MI-based specialist in automotive fluid systems, for over £1.8 billion ($2.37 billion USD).

  • PolicyMe, a Toronto-based digital insurance provider, raised $30 million CAD from investors including Blue Cross Life Insurance Company of Canada and Securian Canada

  • Feldan Therapeutics, a Québec City-based clinical-stage pharmaceutical firm focused on intracellular delivery of therapeutics, received an undisclosed investment from Zynext Ventures

  • Traction Complete, a Vancouver-based revenue operations data management app provider, secured debt financing from CIBC Innovation Banking

Did You Know? Clio was born in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, bootstrapped from the homes of two childhood friends in Edmonton and Vancouver. What started as a scrappy side project built on evenings and weekends has grown into a $4 billion CAD legaltech giant—and in 2024, Clio secured a record-setting $1.24-billion CAD Series F round, the largest ever for a Canadian tech company.

🦄 Startup Spotlight

Venn: Simplified Banking for Canadian Businesses

Venn is helping businesses ditch traditional banks for something faster, smarter, and fully digital. Think global transfers, multi-currency accounts, cashback cards, and seamless expense management—all in one platform.

The Backstory: Originally launched as Vault, Venn rebranded in 2024 with a mission to modernize financial operations for Canadian companies with global ambitions. Frustrated by the slow, clunky tools offered by legacy banks, the team set out to give businesses more control and way fewer fees.

What It Does: With Venn, companies can open global accounts, send international payments to 200+ countries, issue virtual or physical corporate cards, and automate everything from accounts payable to expense reports.

Funding: Venn recently raised $21.5 million in Series A funding to scale its platform and continue building the financial infrastructure Canadian businesses actually need.

🔥 In Case You Missed It…

News Roundup:

  • PM Carney Proposes Deeper Deficits to Fund Infrastructure, Tax Cut

  • Several tech figures endorse Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives in open letter connected to Fairfax Financial

  • BMO launches a workplace savings platform with FinTech startup Link

  • Chamath Palihapitiya, Sanja Fidler among homecoming headliners as Toronto Tech Week unveils event calendar

 📚️ Worth Reading/Watching

Till next time,