Latest news with #Moonshots
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
$190M Raised: Canada's Top 20 Moonshot Ventures™ of 2025 Unveiled After Closed-Door NACO Showcase
Canada's most promising early-stage companies officially unveiled today following a closed-door showcase at the NACO Summit, with ventures spanning AI, cleantech, healthtech, and space. OTTAWA, Ontario, May 14, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The National Angel Capital Organization (NACO) today unveiled Canada's Top 20 Moonshot Ventures™ of 2025—emerging companies led by bold entrepreneurs building transformative solutions across sectors. These ventures were selected through a rigorous, member-driven process. NACO invited its 100 member organizations—Canada's leading angel groups, incubators, accelerators and early-stage venture capital funds—to each nominate one high-potential company. From this curated pool, 23 ventures were selected by NACO's investment committee to take the Moonshots Stage™ at a closed-door NACO showcase held at the National Arts Centre during NACO Summit 2025. The audience featured top-tier angel investors, venture capitalists, and senior corporate leaders. 'Ontario's future depends on entrepreneurs, risk takers, and the investors who believe in them' said Premier Doug Ford, 'That's what makes events like this so important. As we face global economic uncertainty, Ontario's innovators are leading the way, building new companies and creating jobs.' Collectively, the selected Moonshots companies have raised over $190 million to date. They represent the future of Canadian innovation—driving breakthroughs in AI, cleantech, healthtech, space, deeptech, consumer products, and more. Founders hailed from across the country, with companies based in Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, Alberta, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Nova Scotia. The 2025 Moonshots cohort includes founders from diverse backgrounds, sectors, and regions—reflecting the inclusive strength and geographic breadth of Canada's innovation economy. 'These founders represent the bold ideas, entrepreneurial drive, and global ambition within Canada's innovation economy,' said Claudio Rojas, CEO of NACO. 'The Moonshots Venture Showcase is designed to elevate the country's most promising ventures by connecting them with the capital and networks they need to scale. We are proud to spotlight these exceptional companies as they take bold steps toward transformative growth and impact.'Photo available for download with caption (Julie Angus, Founder and CEO, Open Ocean Robotics on Moonshots Stage at NACO Summit): Top 20 Moonshots Stage™ Ventures of 2025 Organized by sector and listed alphabetically AI & Next Gen Computing Dreamwell AI — Co-Founder and CEO Kazzy Khazaal (Nominated by Panache Ventures) Inner Logic — Co-Founder and CEO Bryce Tully (Nominated by Maple Leaf Angels) AI & Bioelectronics Panaxium — Founder and CEO Brad Schmidt (Nominated by Brampton Angels / Altitude Accelerator) Cleantech BluWave-ai — Founder and CEO Devashish Paul (Nominated by Capital Angel Network) Evercloak — Co-Founder and CEO Evelyn Allen (Nominated by Capital Angel Network) Cleantech & Trade PemPem — Founder and CEO Joann de Zegher (Nominated by Anges Quebec) Consumer Packaged Goods & Retail The Little Cacao Co. — Founder and CEO Suzie Yorke (Nominated by Maple Leaf Angels) Enterprise, Software, & Deeptech Cinareo — Co-Founder and CEO Karen Elliott (Nominated by SheBoot) Depix AI — Founder and CEO Philip Lunn (Nominated by TandemLaunch) H2 Analytics — Founder and CEO Hugo Hodgett (Nominated by Invest Ottawa) Healthtech & Biotech Arbutus Medical — Founder and CEO Lawrence Buchan (Nominated by ThresholdImpact) Hyivy Health — Founder and CEO Rachel Bartholomew (Nominated by Women's Equity Lab) JVP Labs — Founder and CEO Paul Weber (Nominated by Golden Triangle Angel Network) mDetect — Founder and CDO Dr. Irsa Wiginton (Nominated by KNDL, Kingston Economic Development Corporation) MedInclude — Founder and CEO Seun Adetunji (Nominated by Communitech) Sparrow Bio — Founder and VP Rachel Collier (Nominated by The Firehood) Zilia — Founder and CEO Dr. Patrick Sauvageau (Nominated by Anges Quebec) Insurtech, Femtech, & AI Flora Fertility — Co-Founder and CEO Laura McDonald (Nominated by Highline Beta) Robotics, IoT, and Hardware Solace Power — Founder, COO and CFO Colin Ryan Space, Mining, and Oceans Mission Control Space Services — Founder and CEO Ewan Reid (Nominated by GreenSky President's Club) Open Ocean Robotics — Founder and CEO Julie Angus (Nominated by Spring Activator) Supply Chain / Inventory Management Moselle — Founder and CEO Lakhveer Jajj (Nominated by Highline Beta, Angel One Investor Network) Travel & Media The Hotel Communication Network — Founder and CEO Kevin Bidner (Nominated by Keiretsu Forum Canada) About the Nominating Organizations Canada's Top 20 Moonshots Ventures™ of 2025 are shaped by the insight and leadership of NACO's national member network. These organizations—spanning angel groups, accelerators, incubators, and innovation hubs—play a vital role in identifying Canada's most promising early-stage ventures. Each year, members are invited to nominate one high-potential Seed or Series A company they believe is ready for scale. This peer-driven process creates a national filter rooted in trust, experience, and proximity to innovation on the ground. The result is a curated group of ventures with strong traction, compelling leadership, and global ambition—brought together to engage with the country's most sophisticated investors at the Moonshots Venture Showcase. Photos of Top 20 Moonshots Ventures of 2025 available for download (captions in file name): About the Moonshots Stage™ Launched in 2022, the Moonshots Stage™ is Canada's premier platform for investment-ready Seed and Series A ventures. Unlike traditional pitch events, this showcase puts storytelling front and center—each founder delivers a personal, TED-style presentation designed to spark connection and catalyze opportunity with one of the most curated investor audiences in the country. Selected companies join the Moonshots Alumni Network™, a national peer community of ventures recognized for innovation, ambition, and global potential. It is a key pillar of NACO Summit, Canada's most exclusive gathering of early-stage investors and innovation leaders. Learn more at Media Contact: media@ / About National Angel Capital Organization (NACO) Established in 2002, NACO is Canada's professional association representing over 4,000 angel investors, serving as the national umbrella for more than 100 member organizations—including angel groups, venture funds, incubators, and accelerators. Collectively, NACO members have invested more than CAD $1.8 billion into over 2,000 Canadian ventures. Angel investors are individuals and funds deploying capital at the earliest stages of growth. They include limited partners (LPs) investing in venture funds, family offices backing pre-seed and seed-stage ventures, and individuals investing directly or through angel groups. High-growth companies backed by angel investment that went on to achieve significant global scale include Slack (British Columbia), Verafin (Newfoundland and Labrador), Wealthsimple (Ontario), Hopper (Québec), and Jobber and Neo Financial (Alberta). Recent standouts include CoLab (NL) and 7shifts (Saskatchewan). These successes illustrate how angel investment drives Canada's pipeline of innovative ventures, fueling future global success stories. Learn more at For media inquiries, contact: Claudio Rojas, CEO, National Angel Capital OrganizationEmail: media@ A photo accompanying this announcement is available at in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
$190M Raised: Canada's Top 20 Moonshot Ventures™ of 2025 Unveiled After Closed-Door NACO Showcase
Canada's most promising early-stage companies officially unveiled today following a closed-door showcase at the NACO Summit, with ventures spanning AI, cleantech, healthtech, and space. OTTAWA, Ontario, May 14, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The National Angel Capital Organization (NACO) today unveiled Canada's Top 20 Moonshot Ventures™ of 2025—emerging companies led by bold entrepreneurs building transformative solutions across sectors. These ventures were selected through a rigorous, member-driven process. NACO invited its 100 member organizations—Canada's leading angel groups, incubators, accelerators and early-stage venture capital funds—to each nominate one high-potential company. From this curated pool, 23 ventures were selected by NACO's investment committee to take the Moonshots Stage™ at a closed-door NACO showcase held at the National Arts Centre during NACO Summit 2025. The audience featured top-tier angel investors, venture capitalists, and senior corporate leaders. 'Ontario's future depends on entrepreneurs, risk takers, and the investors who believe in them' said Premier Doug Ford, 'That's what makes events like this so important. As we face global economic uncertainty, Ontario's innovators are leading the way, building new companies and creating jobs.' Collectively, the selected Moonshots companies have raised over $190 million to date. They represent the future of Canadian innovation—driving breakthroughs in AI, cleantech, healthtech, space, deeptech, consumer products, and more. Founders hailed from across the country, with companies based in Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, Alberta, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Nova Scotia. The 2025 Moonshots cohort includes founders from diverse backgrounds, sectors, and regions—reflecting the inclusive strength and geographic breadth of Canada's innovation economy. 'These founders represent the bold ideas, entrepreneurial drive, and global ambition within Canada's innovation economy,' said Claudio Rojas, CEO of NACO. 'The Moonshots Venture Showcase is designed to elevate the country's most promising ventures by connecting them with the capital and networks they need to scale. We are proud to spotlight these exceptional companies as they take bold steps toward transformative growth and impact.'Photo available for download with caption (Julie Angus, Founder and CEO, Open Ocean Robotics on Moonshots Stage at NACO Summit): Top 20 Moonshots Stage™ Ventures of 2025 Organized by sector and listed alphabetically AI & Next Gen Computing Dreamwell AI — Co-Founder and CEO Kazzy Khazaal (Nominated by Panache Ventures) Inner Logic — Co-Founder and CEO Bryce Tully (Nominated by Maple Leaf Angels) AI & Bioelectronics Panaxium — Founder and CEO Brad Schmidt (Nominated by Brampton Angels / Altitude Accelerator) Cleantech BluWave-ai — Founder and CEO Devashish Paul (Nominated by Capital Angel Network) Evercloak — Co-Founder and CEO Evelyn Allen (Nominated by Capital Angel Network) Cleantech & Trade PemPem — Founder and CEO Joann de Zegher (Nominated by Anges Quebec) Consumer Packaged Goods & Retail The Little Cacao Co. — Founder and CEO Suzie Yorke (Nominated by Maple Leaf Angels) Enterprise, Software, & Deeptech Cinareo — Co-Founder and CEO Karen Elliott (Nominated by SheBoot) Depix AI — Founder and CEO Philip Lunn (Nominated by TandemLaunch) H2 Analytics — Founder and CEO Hugo Hodgett (Nominated by Invest Ottawa) Healthtech & Biotech Arbutus Medical — Founder and CEO Lawrence Buchan (Nominated by ThresholdImpact) Hyivy Health — Founder and CEO Rachel Bartholomew (Nominated by Women's Equity Lab) JVP Labs — Founder and CEO Paul Weber (Nominated by Golden Triangle Angel Network) mDetect — Founder and CDO Dr. Irsa Wiginton (Nominated by KNDL, Kingston Economic Development Corporation) MedInclude — Founder and CEO Seun Adetunji (Nominated by Communitech) Sparrow Bio — Founder and VP Rachel Collier (Nominated by The Firehood) Zilia — Founder and CEO Dr. Patrick Sauvageau (Nominated by Anges Quebec) Insurtech, Femtech, & AI Flora Fertility — Co-Founder and CEO Laura McDonald (Nominated by Highline Beta) Robotics, IoT, and Hardware Solace Power — Founder, COO and CFO Colin Ryan Space, Mining, and Oceans Mission Control Space Services — Founder and CEO Ewan Reid (Nominated by GreenSky President's Club) Open Ocean Robotics — Founder and CEO Julie Angus (Nominated by Spring Activator) Supply Chain / Inventory Management Moselle — Founder and CEO Lakhveer Jajj (Nominated by Highline Beta, Angel One Investor Network) Travel & Media The Hotel Communication Network — Founder and CEO Kevin Bidner (Nominated by Keiretsu Forum Canada) About the Nominating Organizations Canada's Top 20 Moonshots Ventures™ of 2025 are shaped by the insight and leadership of NACO's national member network. These organizations—spanning angel groups, accelerators, incubators, and innovation hubs—play a vital role in identifying Canada's most promising early-stage ventures. Each year, members are invited to nominate one high-potential Seed or Series A company they believe is ready for scale. This peer-driven process creates a national filter rooted in trust, experience, and proximity to innovation on the ground. The result is a curated group of ventures with strong traction, compelling leadership, and global ambition—brought together to engage with the country's most sophisticated investors at the Moonshots Venture Showcase. Photos of Top 20 Moonshots Ventures of 2025 available for download (captions in file name): About the Moonshots Stage™ Launched in 2022, the Moonshots Stage™ is Canada's premier platform for investment-ready Seed and Series A ventures. Unlike traditional pitch events, this showcase puts storytelling front and center—each founder delivers a personal, TED-style presentation designed to spark connection and catalyze opportunity with one of the most curated investor audiences in the country. Selected companies join the Moonshots Alumni Network™, a national peer community of ventures recognized for innovation, ambition, and global potential. It is a key pillar of NACO Summit, Canada's most exclusive gathering of early-stage investors and innovation leaders. Learn more at Media Contact: media@ / About National Angel Capital Organization (NACO) Established in 2002, NACO is Canada's professional association representing over 4,000 angel investors, serving as the national umbrella for more than 100 member organizations—including angel groups, venture funds, incubators, and accelerators. Collectively, NACO members have invested more than CAD $1.8 billion into over 2,000 Canadian ventures. Angel investors are individuals and funds deploying capital at the earliest stages of growth. They include limited partners (LPs) investing in venture funds, family offices backing pre-seed and seed-stage ventures, and individuals investing directly or through angel groups. High-growth companies backed by angel investment that went on to achieve significant global scale include Slack (British Columbia), Verafin (Newfoundland and Labrador), Wealthsimple (Ontario), Hopper (Québec), and Jobber and Neo Financial (Alberta). Recent standouts include CoLab (NL) and 7shifts (Saskatchewan). These successes illustrate how angel investment drives Canada's pipeline of innovative ventures, fueling future global success stories. Learn more at For media inquiries, contact: Claudio Rojas, CEO, National Angel Capital OrganizationEmail: media@ A photo accompanying this announcement is available at in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Palmer Luckey is in a 'B Boys Club' group chat. There's only 1 accomplishment that scores you an invite.
Palmer Luckey said he joined an exclusive group chat after selling Oculus to Facebook in 2014. The "B Boys Club" includes entrepreneurs who sold companies for at least $1 billion, Luckey said in a recent podcast interview. Conversations in the chat include questions about each other's spending habits, he added. It's a group chat with "the boys" — but you have to have sold a unicorn to get an invite. Palmer Luckey says he scored an invite to an exclusive group chat after he sold his virtual-reality startup, Oculus, to Facebook in 2014. The "B Boys Club" is a private message thread reserved for entrepreneurs who were able to pull off big business deals, Luckey said in a May 6 episode of Peter Diamandis' "Moonshots" podcast. "It's all boys who have sold a company for at least $1 billion," said Luckey, who sold Oculus for $2 billion. Luckey said that while women aren't excluded from the group, there aren't any who've closed acquisition deals for $1 billion or more. (Despite Luckey's disclaimer, there are some notable examples of female-founded startups being acquired for $1 billion or more, such as IT Cosmetics cofounder and CEO Jamie Kern Lima, who sold her brand to beauty giant L'Oréal for $1.2 billion in 2016.) BI reached out to L'Oréal in an attempt to ask Lima if she had ever received an invitation to the group chat. Based on the criteria laid out by Luckey, there are some other notable names in the tech and business world that would be eligible for a "B Boys Club" invitation. Like Luckey, Instagram founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, as well as WhatsApp founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton, all sold their companies to Facebook, now Meta, for at least $1 billion. A more recent potential addition is Slack cofounder Stewart Butterfield, who sold the platform to Salesforce for $27.7 billion in 2021. Some of the richest men in the world, however, including Luckey's old boss, Mark Zuckerberg, don't make the cut. Despite his reported $216 billion net worth, Zuckerberg wouldn't qualify because he never sold his company. The same goes for Bill Gates, Sam Altman, and Warren Buffett. Luckey didn't immediately respond to Business Insider's request for additional comment. As a decadelong member of the group, Luckey confirmed that the successful businessmen in the thread are indeed talking about money. Luckey, who's worth an estimated $2.5 billion after confounding the defense-tech startup Anduril, told Diamandis that he's tried to "shame" his fellow wealthy founders into doing more with their fortunes. He said he's asked the group chat, "Guys, you have so much money. Why are you not doing what you know is the right thing to do with this capital?" As far as what he means by "the right thing," according to Luckey, his groupmates should execute their vision of "how the world should be" themselves instead of trusting others, be it employees or nonprofits, to know what to do with their money. Luckey said he's managed to change some of his peers' perspectives on their spending, while others are content with driving vintage race cars. Not all ultrawealthy men aspire to be Batman and use their money to shape the world as they see fit, he said. "I'm not saying everyone should become a vigilante crime fighter, but why wouldn't you use your resources to do the thing that you know needs to be done?" Luckey said. Read the original article on Business Insider Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Business Insider
12-05-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Palmer Luckey is in a 'B Boys Club' group chat. There's only 1 accomplishment that scores you an invite.
It's a group chat with "the boys" — but you have to have sold a unicorn to get an invite. Palmer Luckey says he scored an invite to an exclusive group chat after he sold his virtual-reality startup, Oculus, to Facebook in 2014. The "B Boys Club" is a private message thread reserved for entrepreneurs who were able to pull off big business deals, Luckey said in a May 6 episode of Peter Diamandis' "Moonshots" podcast. "It's all boys who have sold a company for at least $1 billion," said Luckey, who sold Oculus for $2 billion. Luckey said that while women aren't excluded from the group, there aren't any who've closed acquisition deals for $1 billion or more. (Despite Luckey's disclaimer, there are some notable examples of female-founded startups being acquired for $1 billion or more, such as IT Cosmetics cofounder and CEO Jamie Kern Lima, who sold her brand to beauty giant L'Oréal for $1.2 billion in 2016.) BI reached out to L'Oréal in an attempt to ask Lima if she had ever received an invitation to the group chat. Based on the criteria laid out by Luckey, there are some other notable names in the tech and business world that would be eligible for a "B Boys Club" invitation. Like Luckey, Instagram founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, as well as WhatsApp founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton, all sold their companies to Facebook, now Meta, for at least $1 billion. A more recent potential addition is Slack cofounder Stewart Butterfield, who sold the platform to Salesforce for $27.7 billion in 2021. Some of the richest men in the world, however, including Luckey's old boss, Mark Zuckerberg, don't make the cut. Despite his reported $216 billion net worth, Zuckerberg wouldn't qualify because he never sold his company. The same goes for Bill Gates, Sam Altman, and Warren Buffett. As a decadelong member of the group, Luckey confirmed that the successful businessmen in the thread are indeed talking about money. Luckey, who's worth an estimated $2.5 billion after confounding the defense-tech startup Anduril, told Diamandis that he's tried to "shame" his fellow wealthy founders into doing more with their fortunes. He said he's asked the group chat, "Guys, you have so much money. Why are you not doing what you know is the right thing to do with this capital?" As far as what he means by "the right thing," according to Luckey, his groupmates should execute their vision of "how the world should be" themselves instead of trusting others, be it employees or nonprofits, to know what to do with their money. Luckey said he's managed to change some of his peers' perspectives on their spending, while others are content with driving vintage race cars. Not all ultrawealthy men aspire to be Batman and use their money to shape the world as they see fit, he said. "I'm not saying everyone should become a vigilante crime fighter, but why wouldn't you use your resources to do the thing that you know needs to be done?" Luckey said.
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Uber cofounder says AI means some consultants are in 'big trouble'
Travis Kalanick says AI will replace consultants who are just executing tasks. The Uber cofounder and former CEO joked about a future where you "push a button, get a consultant." Deloitte, EY, and others already use AI agents to automate core consulting work. Uber cofounder Travis Kalanick thinks AI is about to shake up consulting — and for "traditional" professionals, not in a good way. The former Uber CEO said consultants who mostly follow instructions or do repetitive tasks are at risk of being replaced by AI. "If you're a traditional consultant and you're just doing the thing, you're executing the thing, you're probably in some big trouble," he said on an episode of the Moonshots with Peter Diamandis podcast that aired last week. He joked about what that future of consultancy might look like: "Push a button. Get a consultant." However, Kalanick said the professionals who would come out ahead would be the ones who build tools rather than just use them. "If you are the consultant that puts the things together that replaces the consultant, maybe you got some stuff," he told the podcast, which was recorded last month. "You're going to profitable companies with competitive moats, making that moat bigger," he explained. "Making their profit bigger is probably pretty interesting from a financial point of view." Kalanick stepped down as Uber's chief executive in 2017 and now runs City Storage Systems, a company that aims to disrupt how food is made and delivered, similar to how he disrupted taxis with Uber. His comments come as the world's biggest consulting firms compete to build the best AI systems that can handle the work humans used to do. Firms like Deloitte and EY are already deploying agentic AI — software agents that can complete tasks with little human input. Deloitte's new Zora AI platform provides clients with a selection of "intelligent digital workers" or agents that can perceive, reason, and act to complete tasks autonomously, Deloitte said in a March press release. The platform has been built to act as a "digital workforce to change the way work gets done," Deloitte said. EY is rolling out 150 AI tax agents to help with tax compliance, document review, and data collection — all tasks traditionally handled by human consultants. The agentic AI platform is expected to initially be used by 80,000 workers from the firm's tax rollouts seem to be changing what some firms expect from their employees. "It is no longer acceptable at Deloitte to not take an engineering-first mindset," said Jillian Wanner, a principal at the firm, during a panel last the industry shifts, Deloitte employees need to act as "technologists and engineers first" and "consultants second," added Wanner, who helps lead AI staff development at Deloitte. And KPMG's global head of AI, David Rowlands, told Business Insider in a December interview that while "AI will have a deep transformational impact on the professional services industry," the focus isn't about replacing jobs Rowlands added firms need to move beyond one-off AI tools. "What you have to think about is having AI embedded in your operating model," he said. Read the original article on Business Insider Sign in to access your portfolio
