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Welcome to BetaKit’s startup stories of the week! Here, you will find the week’s most important news, features, and editorials published on BetaKit. If you prefer this update hit your inbox every week, make sure to subscribe to the BetaKit Newsletter using the form at the bottom of this page.

Top Stories of the Week

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Conduit’s ‘Stripe for DeFi’ approach bags startup $21.2 million CAD round led by Portage

After less than a year in business, decentralized finance (DeFi) startup Conduit has raised $21.2 million CAD in seed funding led by Portage Ventures. The Diagram company aims to become the ‘Stripe for DeFi’ by making DeFi “invisible” via its APIs.

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AmpMe accused of boosting app sales through fake reviews by noted App Store critic

Montréal-based startup AmpMe has found itself in the crosshairs of the App Store’s “one-man Bunco Squad.” Kosta Eleftheriou, an American entrepreneur, is alleging that VC-backed AmpMe has purchased thousands of fake reviews in order to boost the popularity of its music app on the Apple App Store.

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Unreserved closes $33 million seed round to build property auction platform

After building a successful car auction platform, E Inc founder Ryan O’Connor has set his sights on bringing online auctions to Canada’s booming residential real estate market through Unreserved. The Ottawa-based startup has secured $33.85 million CAD in seed funding and the support of E Inc investors and real estate professionals alike to support its growth.

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Review of 11 Canadian tech companies to watch in 2021

Kevin Sandhu reviews his list of the 11 Canadian tech companies to watch in 2021 to check in on how they fared over the past year. In 2021, Sandhu tagged Bluedot, Clutch, Symend, Ollie Order, Craver Solutions, Synctera, Showbie, Elastic Garage, Synex Medical, Lufa Farms, and LifeSpeak as worth watching.

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Vendasta makes second acquisition after dashed IPO plans, venture round

Saskatoon-based business solution startup Vendasta has acquired advertising tech company MatchCraft in its second acquisition deal in less than three months. The 14-year-old company is well-capitalized to make such purchases after putting its IPO ambitions on hold and securing $119.5 million CAD in venture capital in late May.

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Alberta launches tech worker immigration stream after calls from community

The new immigration stream – part of the federal-provincial Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program (AINP) – is something the Alberta tech and innovation community has been calling for as companies face a shortage of qualified tech talent.

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VC economics: why startup valuations are art while dilution is a science

Lewis Hower, Managing Director at Silicon Valley Bank, explains the investor mindset and how it can impact startup valuations.

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Latest Funding, Acquisitions, and Layoffs

• VIC – Redbrick acquires Delivra (read more

• VAN – Unbounce acquires LeadsRx (read more)

• CAL – Provision Analytics – $6M (read more)

• CAL – Wagepoint acquires Timesheet Mobile (read more)

• SSK – Vendasta acquires MatchCraft (read more)

• ONT – FedDev Ontario promises $5.4M to NACO + AIO (read more)

• TOR – Future Fertility – $7.6M (read more)

• TOR – Together – $6.2M (read more)

• TOR – Maple acquires Wello (read more)

• TOR – FundThrough acquires BlueVine’s invoice financing business (read more)

• OTT – Unreserved – $33M (read more)

• MTL – Conduit – $21.2M (read more)

• MTL – PayFacto acquires iShopFood (read more)

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RBC Capital Markets Global Market Outlook 2022

This year’s Global Market Outlook combines the insights of our M&A and Equity Capital Markets experts with the foresight of our Global Economists to determine what will drive deal flow in the year ahead.

As markets move into the next stage of recovery, momentum remains strong. But all eyes are on how QE unwinds and rates change.

Global market perspectives to help you lead today and define tomorrow.

Get the 2022 Outlook

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CONDUIT MAKES THE CASE FOR DEFI

“Imagine that the bank is a program.”

Conduit co-founder Kirill Gertman joins to discuss why he’s excited about decentralized finance and what’s still missing in the DeFi stack.

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BESSEMER, AND TRULIOO, AND PLAID – OH MY!

“This episode is going to get a little bit SaaS-y.”

A highlight of BetaKit’s interviews at SAAS NORTH, featuring: Bessemer Venture Partners, Trulioo, Plaid, RBCx, Unbounce, and L-SPARK.

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