The Royal Bank of Canada will be starting with a focus on B2B startups with an accelerator program called RBC Reach that will offer $100,000 in funding to entrepreneurs from around the world. RBC Reach, which is accepting applications until the end of the month, is being launched in partnership with Highline BETA, a company […]
Watching two heavyweights in the Canadian startup sector wage war in the media should not go unnoticed, as there are major implications for the sector in general, especially in a newly uncertain and volatile provincial political environment. On one side is a MaRS-led contingent that is startup-focused, largely apolitical, (despite promoting a we’re- not-Trump-based new […]
As a means to foster innovation by giving developers and other smart people a creative challenge, there has arguably been nothing as popular as a hackathon — in fact, research suggests they may almost have become too popular. In its most recent Developer Marketing survey report, Santa Cruz, Calif.-based Evans Data showed a 13 per […]
It’s already one of most talked-about startups innovating in workplace productivity and collaboration, but Slack’s Michael Lopp is working hard to respond to enterprise decision-makers who say they just can’t let go of traditional e-mail. Though it is based in San Francisco, the firm’s vice-president of engineering has been making a series of in-person appearances […]
Marketing and sales teams might cringe at the thought of asking their IT department to help them with a blockchain project today, but a startup called Crowd Machine is promising an easy way to create decentralized applications without any technical skills. Based in San Jose, Calif., Crowd Machine has set up a system whereby everyday […]
We tend to think of social media services as public forums where everything we say or do is visible, but the CEO of Conversocial predicts a rise in the use of private messaging functions will soon change the way businesses solve some of the most sensitive customer service challenges they face today. Conversocial, which has […]
The increased willingness of fintech startups to work with banks and other traditional financial services firms may be hampered by attitudes about their agility and ability to execute on innovative ideas, according to a global survey from CapGemini and LinkedIn released Wednesday. World Fintech Report 2018 was originally released late last month, but executives from […]
The rapid maturation of the marketing performance management space has led Bizible and Allocadia to create a joint go-to-market strategy that helps each other’s customers use their respective technologies in a more holistic way. Seattle, Wash.-based Bizible offers applications to automate the planning and attribution of marketing activities in B2B companies. Allocadia, based in Vancouver, […]
It should have been a celebratory time for Evan Schneyer. His travel-oriented startup, Wanderfly, was being sold to Tripadvisor after about five weeks’ worth of discussion. Then, when it came time to sign on the dotted line, the contract challenges emerged that gave birth to his new venture, Outlaw. “It was like a glorified job […]
Consultants and contractors have been part of large organizations for years, but these will soon be joined by the “human cloud” of contingent workers sourced through a variety of online channels and marketplaces, according to Staffing Industry Analysts. Speaking at the HR Professional Industry Association (HRPA) conference in Toronto last week, Staffing Industry Analysts senior […]
One of the biggest challenges for today’s seller is helping their buyer understand their product or service’s differentiator — in other words, what makes it better than others that walk, talk, look and act like it. None of us wishes for our solutions to be thought of as an imitator or second-best. We want our business […]
There are plenty of people betting big on how technologies like artificial intelligence will change consumers’ lives, but Ash Fontana is strictly putting his money on line-of-business applications. Fontana, managing director at Silicon Valley VC firm Zetta Venture Partners, was in Toronto last week as part of the CDO Summit. The former head of fundraising projects at […]
Long before he started to explore the future of connected, electric and autonomous vehicles, Ted Graham was picking up drunks in his family’s minivan, trying to find ways to help accountants. The head of open innovation at General Motors recounted his last role, as an innovation leader at accounting firm PwC, in his closing keynote […]
Faster and cheaper computing power, coupled with improved quality of life around the world, should have every business thinking about how they could improve their importance by a factor of 10, according to X-Prize founder Peter Diamandis. Speaking at the first-ever SingularityU Canada Summit on Wednesday, the entrepreneur — whose X-Prize foundation helps fund breakthrough […]
Ask your grandparents if they can imagine a successful business with no employees sitting in the office. I bet they say no. The things that used to be a crazy dream a decade ago are now entering our everyday lives. Nowadays more and more companies, both large and small, tend to hire remote workers and […]
The next generation of software-as-a-service startups need to go beyond “vanity metrics” and demonstrate plans for sustainable growth if they want to gain the trust of B2B customers, according to the managing director of an accelerator whose application process closes Friday. L-Spark, which has launched 29 startups since 2015 and is about to select 10 […]
Uri Levine, computer programmer, investor, and start up guru, is best known for his involvement in the traffic mapping GPS app, Waze. Similar to the crowd-sourcing concept of the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, Waze’s breakthrough platform provides drivers an opportunity to send real-time alerts about any traffic situation for other drivers, anywhere in the world. From […]
Businesses do not always have to build all their products and content from scratch. Licensing provides a fantastic opportunity for businesses to collaborate with other businesses to build sophisticated products and services. Take Uber, for example. The core business of this popular ride-hailing app is to help passengers connect with cabs in their neighbourhood. To […]
You’ve used recruitment marketing to attract the best employee talent on the planet. Hopefully if you’re using technology to attract employees, you’re using something to retain them as well. If you have a global staff, one that works in an office all the time, or one that’s remote, you also want to encourage the “team” […]
Interbrand announced its second annual Interbrand Breakthrough Brands report in partnership with New York Stock Exchange (NYSE),Ready Set Rocket, and Facebook this week. The 2017 report recognizes 40 next-generation, disruptive brands that define progress and the potential to grow. The report complements Interbrand’s annual Best Global Brands report, now entering its 18th year, by putting a spotlight on emerging brands—those that […]
