Canadian Tech Weekly #05: Extra $60 million for Calgary tech startups

🌟 Editor's Note

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

🗓️ Upcoming Events

🚀 Deals, Deals, Deals

• 15Rock, a Toronto-based provider of autonomous AI reasoning systems, received an undisclosed investment from Malar Group to accelerate its global expansion.

• Axibo, a Cambridge, Ontario-based cinema technology startup, raised $12 million to develop a humanoid robot designed for film production.

• Zucara Therapeutics, a Toronto-based diabetes life sciences company, raised $5 million USD in the second and final closing of its $25 million USD Series B financing.

• Brio, a Montréal-based fintech startup spun out of Brightspark Ventures, raised $3 million CAD in seed funding.

• Veerum, a Calgary-based digital twin platform for heavy industry, raised $12 million CAD in Series B funding.

• The Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund (OCIF) received a $60 million CAD top-up from the City of Calgary, to be disbursed over four years, aimed at scaling local businesses and attracting talent.

• Planetary, a Dartmouth, Nova Scotia-based cleantech startup focused on ocean-based carbon removal, won nearly $1.4 million CAD in milestone funding from the Elon Musk-funded XPRIZE Carbon Removal competition.

• National Bank of Canada announced its acquisition of PGM Global Holdings, a foreign exchange and payments solutions provider serving primarily North American clients, as part of its strategy to enhance its international business capabilities.

⚙️ What’s Launching?

• VoPay, a Vancouver-based embedded financial technology provider, launched its Cross-Border Payments-as-a-Service solution, enabling software platforms and financial institutions to offer global money movement with real-time FX, compliance, and white-label capabilities across over 140 countries.

• Propra, a Calgary-based real estate technology startup, launched a new accounting solution as part of its property management platform, designed to streamline financial operations for rental property managers by automating rent collection, invoice tracking, and reconciliation.

🦄 Startup Spotlight

Happly.ai: AI-Powered Funding Matchmaker

Happly, a Montréal-based startup, connects entrepreneurs, nonprofits, and organizations with tailored funding opportunities.

The Backstory: Founded in 2021 by Thierry Lindor, Sean Muir, and Dinesh Pushparajah, Happly emerged to address the complexities of accessing funding, especially for underrepresented entrepreneurs.

What It Does: It offers a suite of tools including AI-powered matching to connect users with the right funding opportunities, a grant writer marketplace to pair them with verified experts, and program management features for incubators and accelerators to support their cohorts and alumni.

Funding: The company received a $250,000 prize from The Drive Group's pitch competition in June 2023 and also won some money at the INNOVATEwest 2024. In April 2025, it was selected for the Google for Startups Accelerator.

Why It Matters: By leveraging AI, Happly simplifies the funding process, making it more accessible and efficient.

🔥 In Case You Missed It…

News Roundup:

• Angel investors encouraged to be bold amidst economic uncertainty at NACO Summit

• Dragons’ Den’s Arlene Dickinson, Build Canada’s Daniel Debow recognized as Nation Builders at 2025 NACO awards

• Shopify developers lose annual revenue share break as program moves to lifetime model

• Canada plows another $210M into IBM’s Quebec chip plant

 📚️ Worth Reading/Watching

• The rise of Cursor: The $300M ARR AI tool that engineers can’t stop using

• Deep Dive: A Primer on Stablecoins

Till next time,