Canadian tech is facing a black swan event: extremely rare and extremely severe. BetaKit investigates to help the ecosystem stay connected in isolation.

Black Swan

“Maybe it’s not quite good enough to just be a collision space. Maybe we have to add a new capability to the arsenal.”

Matthew Lombardi, new Managing Director of the new OneEleven, joins to discuss the tech hub’s new focus on talent upskilling, and what it means to run a “collision space” in the midst of Canada’s third wave.

Sponsored by Xero. Produced with support from TWG.

The new OneEleven's new focus | Black Swan #48

"We have a solution and they're not paying attention to this. You have zero acknowledgement from this government. Zero."

BookJane CEO and founder Curtis Khan explains why Ontario's vaccine rollout has been so bad, while expressing frustrations over the lack of support from the Ford government.

Sponsored by Xero. Produced with support from TWG.

Why won’t the Ontario government help BookJane vaccinate the province? | Black Swan #49

"Innovation and biotechnology was the star of the day."

Anne Woods (SVB) and Andrew Casey (BIOTECanada)join to discuss one of Canada's hottest sectors, and the impact of recent biotech commitments in the federal budget.

Sponsored by Xero. Produced with support from TWG.

How COVID changed Canada's biotech sector | Black Swan #50

"We've seen a lot of restaurants developing virtual brands."

Deliverect's Jerome Laredo and Noah Hayes explain how restaurants have become digital brands due to the pandemic, and why your favourite restaurant might not even be a restaurant.

Sponsored by Xero. Produced with support from TWG.

Black Swan Podcast

The startup powering pandemic food deliveries explains the rise of ghost kitchens | Black Swan #51

"I am shocked at how fast it's happening... If you're not in early, you're not in."

Matt Golden (Golden Ventures) and Paul Parisi (SVB) join to unpack a bonkers Q1 2021, and what rising numbers across the board might mean for Canadian tech.

Sponsored by Xero. Produced with support from TWG.

Why banks and VCs are optimistic about 2021 | Black Swan #52

Velocity's Wes Worsfold explains how he mentors young startups at the University of Waterloo incubator.

Wes Worsfold Velocity Interview

Harry Gandhi, CEO and co-Founder of Medella Health, explains how its wearable health tech solution to fight diabetes wasn't possible five years ago.

Medella Health Harry Gandhi Interview

Ansik founders Yashin Shah and Shiva Bhardwaj don't care if the company doesn't win pitch competitions if it keeps winning customers.

Ansik ShockLock Interview

"One of the deepest pieces of why AccessNow exists is to find the thing that shifts a culture into wanting access for everyone. Our bet is that we can use tech to do that."

AccessNow founder & CEO Maayan Ziv joins to discuss why modern tech is still not designed with all users in mind, and what can be done to fix it.

Produced with support from TWG.

Black Swan #34: The perils of bad design

Covering Canadian startups and tech innovation since 2012.

Black Swan #34: The perils of bad design

BetaKit

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