The Toronto-based scaleup has raised funding not just from financial backers but also U.S. tech companies like Salesforce and Slack, executive chair Jeff Shiner said. “We don’t see that a lot in Canada and we need to do that.” He was speaking Monday at the University of Waterloo’s Tech Horizons event in Toronto. (The Logic)

Talking point: Corporate Canada is far less likely to back startups than its U.S. equivalent. Just six per cent of Canadian firms with revenues over $1 billion made direct venture investments between 2019 and 2023, compared to 40 per cent of U.S. peers, according to a study by BDC Capital and Deloitte Ventures. Beyond funding, business backers can buy from startups, introduce them to other potential customers, provide valuable product feedback, and perhaps even eventually acquire them, Shiner said. He called for the federal government to provide a financial incentive like a tax deduction to encourage companies to set up corporate venture funds.