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Canadian Tech Weekly #07: Robinhood to acquire WonderFi for $250 million

Another exciting week in Canada's vibrant tech ecosystem!

Author

Feranmi Akeredolu
May 18, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes

🌟 Editor's Note

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

🗓️ Upcoming Events

2025 IP Summit

Whether you're building your first product or scaling fast, you'll leave with actionable IP strategies, fresh perspective, and connections that matter.

Web Summit Vancouver: Founders, Funders & Friends

Join for drinks and conversations off the convention floor.

🚀 Deals, Deals, Deals

  • Robinhood to acquire WonderFi, a Toronto-based crypto platform, in an all-cash deal for approximately CAD $250 million.

  • Rentsync, a Toronto-based software and data company serving Canada's rental housing industry, received growth investment led by Silversmith Capital Partners.

  • ContactMonkey, a Toronto-based internal email platform provider, received growth capital financing from CIBC Innovation Banking.

  • Veritree, a Vancouver-based nature restoration platform, closed a $9.1 million CAD ($6.5 million USD) Series A financing round led by Pender Ventures.

  • Verdi, a Vancouver-based provider of irrigation automation solutions, raised CAD $6.5 million in seed funding led by SVG Ventures.

  • Stablecorp, a Toronto-based fintech firm and digital money infrastructure provider, closed a $1.8 million USD strategic funding round backed by Coinbase Ventures.

  • Capillary Technologies, an AI-powered loyalty management company, acquired Kognitiv, a Toronto-based provider of intelligent, omnichannel loyalty solutions.

  • Velocity Fund II, backed by the University of Waterloo, secured an initial close of $10 million USD ($14 million CAD) to invest in early-stage startups.

  • Freshr Sustainable Technologies, a Halifax-based developer of sustainable active packaging solutions, closed an undisclosed seed funding round led by Invest Nova Scotia.

  • Repliers, a Toronto-based real estate data experience platform developer, raised additional undisclosed funding from Scale Shift Ventures.

Did You Know? The groundbreaking artificial intelligence field of deep learning was pioneered largely by Geoffrey Hinton, a researcher based in Canada.

🦄 Startup Spotlight

Unblocked: AI-Powered Developer Knowledge Assistant

It’s an AI-driven platform designed to streamline software development by providing developers with instant, context-aware answers about their codebase.

The Backstory: Founded in 2021 by Dennis Pilarinos, a seasoned engineer with experience at Microsoft and Apple, Unblocked emerged from the need to address the inefficiencies developers face when seeking information. Recognizing that valuable knowledge is often scattered across various platforms, the team set out to create a solution that consolidates this information, making it readily accessible within the developer's environment.

What It Does: Unblocked gives developers instant, context-aware answers by connecting to tools like GitHub, Slack, Notion, and Jira. It surfaces relevant documentation, historical conversations, and code insights right where developers work—whether in their IDE, Slack, or browser—so they don’t lose momentum switching between tabs.

Funding: In May 2025, Unblocked raised $20 million USD ($27.5 million CAD) in a Series A funding round led by B Capital, with participation from Radical Ventures and Artisanal Ventures.

🔥 In Case You Missed It…

News Roundup:

 📚️ Worth Reading/Watching

Till next time,