Canada
Canadian VC in Q3 2026 relied on US investors for 64%
Canadian startups raised $4.71 billion in the first nine months of 2026, down 7%. US investors supplied 64% of the money, while growth and later-stage funding dropped sharply.
· 3 min
Blog
Founder briefings on capital, AI and policy
Funding data, policy changes and operating playbooks for founders building in Canada and the US.
CanadaLatest · Canada
Cohere Series E is Canada's largest private tech round
Toronto-based Cohere announced the initial close of a Series E targeting up to CAD $7 billion at a CAD $35.7 billion valuation.
· 3 min · PacTech Team
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Canada
BDC defence funding grows StrongNorth to $500 million
On September 15, 2026, BDC set out how it will invest $1 billion from its Defence Platform. StrongNorth, its direct fund for early-stage defence and dual-use companies, grows to $500 million.
· 3 min
US
US venture capital hit a record through Q3 2026
US startups have already raised more in 2026 than in any full year on record, with AI taking 82.7% of deal value. Q3 cooled sharply, and the IPO window remains mostly shut.
· 3 min
Canada
Vancouver and BC tech funding in 2026
British Columbia ranked third in Canadian venture funding in H1 2026, but its average deal was the largest of the top three provinces. Cleantech, hardware and AI companies led the province's biggest rounds.
· 3 min
Canada
Start-up Visa pause and the options for immigrant founders
IRCC paused the Start-up Visa Program on June 30, 2026 and is processing only applications already received. It has said a new, targeted pilot for immigrant entrepreneurs will replace it.
· 3 min
AI
Sequoia's cognitive revolution essay compares AI to industry
Sequoia partner Konstantine Buhler argues the AI transition will follow the Industrial Revolution's pattern, at larger scale and higher speed. He sees coding agents as the first application, not the defining one.
· 3 min
Playbook
Seed pitch deck structure using YC's slide template
Y Combinator's seed deck template is built for clarity, not decoration. With Canadian seed dollars down 31% in H1 2026, every slide has to earn its place.
· 3 min
US
YC Spring 2026 batch shows 70% of startups build AI agents
A developer's review of Y Combinator's Spring 2026 batch counted 137 of 196 companies building AI agents. The batch is mostly B2B, with a visible return of defence and hardware.
· 3 min
Canada
Canadian venture capital in H1 2026 reached $2.69B
Canadian startups raised $2.69 billion across 250 deals in the first half of 2026, the first first-half increase in dollars since 2021. Seed fell 31%, and foreign investors joined most large rounds.
· 3 min
Playbook
Trademark registration in Canada with 2026 CIPO fees
A Canadian trademark protects your brand name across the goods and services you list. CIPO's 2026 fees start at $491.06 online, and fees rise 1.7% on January 1, 2027.
· 3 min
AI
AI adoption by Canadian businesses in StatCan's 2026 survey
Statistics Canada's June 2026 survey found that 19.2% of Canadian businesses used AI to produce goods or deliver services, up from 6.1% in 2024. Two in five still say AI is not relevant to them.
· 3 min
US
Section 174 R&D expensing returns for US startups
US startups can again deduct domestic research costs, including software development, in the year they pay them. Small businesses also got a window to apply the rule to earlier years.
· 3 min
Canada
Canada's AI for All strategy and what it means for startups
Prime Minister Mark Carney launched Canada's national AI strategy on June 4, 2026. It rests on trust, opportunity and sovereignty, and it includes new money for adoption, compute and equity in AI firms.
· 3 min
Playbook
Significant control registers for CBCA and BC companies
Federal and BC corporations must both track who controls them, but the rules differ. CBCA companies file with Corporations Canada. BC companies keep the register in their own records.
· 3 min
Playbook
SAFE financing in Canada with post-money SAFEs
The SAFE is a short contract that converts to shares at a priced round. Y Combinator publishes Canadian versions. This guide covers the cap math, MFNs, side letters and Canadian considerations.
· 3 min
Playbook
Agentic engineering and Karpathy's Software 3.0
At Sequoia's AI Ascent 2026, Andrej Karpathy described LLMs as a new programmable layer for digital work. His distinction between vibe coding and agentic engineering is a practical guide for small teams.
· 3 min
AI
Sequoia's MAD framework from AI Ascent 2026
Sequoia's fourth AI Ascent brought more than 150 founders and researchers to San Francisco. Pat Grady's advice for builders on top of the labs was a three-part framework called MAD.
· 3 min
Playbook
CanExport SMEs rule changes for 2026-27
CanExport SMEs funds export development of up to $50,000 per project. For 2026-27 the program raised its minimums, separated US and non-US markets and put more weight on defence.
· 3 min
Canada
NRC IRAP funding and how the advisory process works
NRC IRAP is not an open grant call. It starts with an advisor relationship, and funding follows only when a project fits. Here is how the intake works and who qualifies.
· 3 min
Playbook
Outcome-based pricing for AI startups
Cloud software sold seats. Sequoia argues AI software sells completed work. This guide turns that thesis into pricing decisions for an early-stage AI company.
· 3 min
Canada
SR&ED changes in 2026 raise the enhanced limit to $6M
Bill C-15 received Royal Assent on March 26, 2026. It doubled the SR&ED enhanced expenditure limit to $6 million and brought capital expenditures back into the program.
· 3 min
US
QSBS rules under Section 1202 after the 2025 US tax law
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act changed the US qualified small business stock exclusion for stock acquired after July 4, 2025. The cap, the holding periods and the asset ceiling all moved.
· 3 min
AI
AI services startups and Sequoia's case for selling work
Sequoia partner Julien Bek argues that the next major AI companies will sell finished work rather than tools. His playbook starts with tasks companies already outsource.
· 3 min
Canada
Futurpreneur startup loans of up to $75,000 with BDC
Futurpreneur's Startup Program offers founders aged 18 to 39 an equity-free loan of up to $75,000, including BDC financing, and up to two years of one-to-one mentorship.
· 3 min
AI
Sequoia's generative AI thesis from 2022 to 2026
Sequoia has published a generative AI essay almost every year since 2022. Read in order, they trace a shift from model capability to customer value to selling finished work.
· 3 min
US
YC and Techstars deal terms compared for 2026
Y Combinator's standard deal is $500,000 on two SAFEs. Techstars now invests US$220,000 per company and is rebuilding its Toronto program. Here is how each offer works and what to compare.
· 3 min
Playbook
Doing things that don't scale to win your first users
Y Combinator's most repeated advice is to do things that don't scale. Paul Graham's essay shows how Stripe, Airbnb and others recruited users by hand, and why weekly growth matters more than launch day.
· 3 min
AI
Long-horizon AI agents and Sequoia's case that AGI is here
Sequoia's January 2026 essay drops the technical debate and offers a working definition of AGI: the ability to figure things out. Its practical claim is that long-horizon agents now do real work, and that founders should sell that work.
· 3 min
AI
Sequoia's 2026 AI forecast of delays and fast adoption
Sequoia partner David Cahn expects 2026 to split in two. Infrastructure and AGI timelines slip, while adoption by end users keeps climbing. Founders building applications sit on the side of the split that is still accelerating.
· 3 min
Blog
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