The week's news · new episode 19 Oct 2026
The BetaKit Podcast
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Canadian startups and venture capital, from BetaKit's newsroom.
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Every episode 203 · page 1 of 7
- 203Kyla Scanlon on why AI dominates the stock market19 Oct 2026 · 34 min▶Show page
About this episode
"The United States economy definitely has a cold right now. And when the US sneezes, the whole world catches a cold." Economic commentator and New York Times bestselling author Kyla Scanlon joins to discuss the concerning connection between debt and the AI data centre buildout, how AI companies drive the US economy…
- 202Why Koho won't bet on prediction markets12 Oct 2026 · 1h 14mDaniel Eberhard▶Show page
About this episode
"I think that we will look back on prediction markets the same way we look back on altcoins and … NFTs." Canada's newest FinTech unicorn also seems poised to become Canada's newest bank. In a wide-ranging interview, Koho CEO Daniel Eberhard discusses what both milestones mean for the company, the impact of…
- 201Where quantum and AI intersect (ALL IN 2026)5 Oct 2026 · 45 minLisa Lambert▶Show page
About this episode
"Transformative technology doesn't become transformative when we invent it. It becomes transformative when we adopt it." AI and quantum are two potentially transformative technologies at very different stages of development. Leaders from Xanadu (Nikki Bhatia), Nord Quantique (Marc-Antoine Lemonde), IonQ (Lisa…
- 200How Canada can keep its AI talent (ALL IN 2026)28 Sept 2026 · 47 min▶Show page
About this episode
"I think, and I hope I'm right, that we can build the next OpenAI, or Anthropic, or world model here in Canada." Mila entrepreneur-in-residence Alex Shee joins to explain the cultural shift among academic institutions toward supporting the entrepreneurial journeys of locally trained AI scientists and the "generational…
- 199How the future of tech and Canada's sovereignty are changing Elevate18 Sept 2026 · 56 minAl GoreKyle Lowry▶Show page
About this episode
"We're focused on 'the future of', so that gives us a lot more liberty of the type of speakers we can book." Elevate is the type of tech festival that plays host to everyone from Akon to Al Gore to Michelle Obama. This year, Kyle Lowry, The Greatest Raptor of All Time, will take the stage. CEO and co-founder Lisa…
- 198Waving the AI bubble red flags11 Sept 2026 · 54 min▶Show page
About this episode
"They're building AI that they're selling as so powerful that it is exceeding its limitations." We've talked a lot about AI on The BetaKit Podcast, but there's one topic we tend to ignore: the AI bubble. No longer! BetaKit Managing Editor Sarah Rieger joins to wave a few select AI bubble red flags (circular…
- 197Answering your burning tech questions24 Aug 2026 · 45 min▶Show page
About this episode
"My god. Every time I ask you people for questions, I instantly regret it." What is Canada's most overrated tech company? How do we keep young founders in the country? Is BlackBerry making a comeback? What are Canada's must-read business books? In a special mailbag episode of The BetaKit Podcast, BetaKit…
- 196Can Canada function without American tech?14 Aug 2026 · 57 min▶Show page
About this episode
"When we talk about sovereignty, we're talking about strategic capacity. Can you govern yourself with the tools that you have?" What would happen if, overnight, Canada suddenly lost all access to American tech? Canadian Shield Institute managing director Vass Bednar joins to answer that question before discussing how…
- 195What killed your startup? (LIVE from Startupfest 2026)4 Aug 2026 · 1h 3m▶Show page
About this episode
"There has never been a more exciting time to found and build a company in Canada." A *killler* lineup of Startupfest speakers joins for a live recording of The BetaKit Podcast at the Startupfest village in Montréal's Grand Quay. In a rapid-fire talk show format, these luminaries discuss the leading causes of startup…
- 194Cory Doctorow on using AI without letting AI use you27 Jul 2026 · 1h 12mCory Doctorow▶Show page
About this episode
"I am Tron-pilled: I fight for the user. I want people to be in charge of their technology, not the other way around." Award-winning Canadian science-fiction author, journalist, and tech activist Cory Doctorow is back with a new book, " The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI ." He joins The BetaKit Podcast to…
- 193How Dominion Dynamics is building Canada's first line of Arctic defence13 Jul 2026 · 50 minEliot Pence▶Show page
About this episode
"The Arctic is the hardest operational environment on Earth for anybody. For any country." Dominion Dynamics CEO and BetaKit Most Ambitious honouree Eliot Pence joins to discuss his company's plans to become the general contractor for Canada's defence needs, why the Arctic is so important, and why he came back to…
- 192Minister Evan Solomon on Canada's AI strategy, sovereignty, and social media1 Jul 2026 · 1h 4mEvan Solomon▶Show page
About this episode
"Either we build the innovation here with our entrepreneurs, or we buy it from someone else. And either we make the rules here, or we follow someone else's. Those are the choices we've got as a country." It's a special Canada Day edition of The BetaKit Podcast! Canada's Minister of AI and Digital Innovation, Evan…
- 191Cohere's Nick Frosst on sovereign AI and Star Trek16 Jun 2026 · 1h 3mMarc Andreessen▶Show page
About this episode
"If your entire technology is coming from a single country, and that country decides that every now and again they're going to shut off access to you, that's not a foundation you can build on." The US government just ordered Anthropic to ban access to its most advanced AI models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5. Seems like now…
- 190Physical AI and economic nationalism at BetaKit Most Ambitious: Town Hall8 Jun 2026 · 1h 3mUniversity of TorontoRaquel Urtasun▶Show page
About this episode
"You guys have done what you've done with the wind in your face. Imagine if you had the wind at your back. Wow." Couldn't attend BetaKit Most Ambitious: Town Hall? Don't worry. Enjoy Waabi CEO Raquel Urtasun explaining how the future of transportation will be driven by physical AI before sitting down to discuss…
- 189AI sovereignty & defence tech at BetaKit Most Ambitious: Town Hall1 Jun 2026 · 1h 8mEvan Solomon▶Show page
About this episode
"Everywhere I go, BetaKit is there. They grill me. Every time I say something, I say 'I wish I didn't say that' because BetaKit recorded it." Couldn't attend BetaKit Most Ambitious: Town Hall? Don't worry. Enjoy our Vantage Points panel on Canadian defence and dual-use tech, featuring leaders from Dominion Dynamics,…
- 188How Toronto Tech Week became Canada's largest grassroots tech event22 May 2026 · 48 minJulia Konefal▶Show page
About this episode
"You could start your day paddleboarding on Lake Ontario, then you could go to a workout class, then you could go to a session on what VCs want to hear." Last year, a decentralized community experiment led to 15,000 people attending over 300 events in the middle of June. With nearly 600 events welcoming people from…
- 187Harjit Sajjan reports for duty15 May 2026 · 1h 6m▶Show page
About this episode
"I know people with amazing ideas, but they don't have the right investment to take their idea to the prototype stage. At the prototype stage, they don't have the ability to take it to the manufacturing stage. So guess what happens? Another company from outside the country comes and snatches 'em up. It was…
- 186Evaluating Canada's Defence Industrial Strategy27 Apr 2026 · 59 minMatt Lombardi▶Show page
About this episode
"There's a lot in this document… Do we feel the urgency and the threats are covered here?" After months of waiting, the Defence Industrial Strategy offers clarity for $7 billion worth of spending commitments in Budget 2025. Is that enough? What's missing? What comes next? Vass Bednar (Canadian Shield Institute) and…
- 185How StackAdapt quietly built an adtech giant20 Apr 2026 · 60 minVitaly Pecherskiy▶Show page
About this episode
"With AI, it should bring down the barriers to how you quickly adopt new software without having to become masters of the software." When StackAdapt started with its adtech solution, competition was fierce and investors didn't see the opportunity. A decade later, StackAdapt is one of Canada's largest and most…
- 184How to fix Canadian VC13 Apr 2026 · 1h 24mStartup TNTJesse WiebeMatt Roberts▶Show page
About this episode
"We have a collective action problem. Somebody has to take the first step and say, 'Hey, we're going to deploy a lot of capital here in Canada. We're gonna bet that Canada is going to grow more over the next 20 years than it did over the last 20 years." Recent data shows that the bottom has fallen out of Canadian…
- 183How to fix Canada's Start-up Visa23 Feb 2026 · 52 minVisaBoris WertzVersion One▶Show page
About this episode
"Speed is of the essence. This is a super dynamic marketplace. Canada is losing entrepreneurs, we're losing the next generation of founders, and we need to do things, quick." More than a decade ago, Canada launched the Start-up Visa program to attract entrepreneurial talent from around the world. After years of…
- 182Is BDC too big to change?16 Feb 2026 · 59 min▶Show page
About this episode
"BDC is powerful in the sense that it can make or break a fund… And a lot of people are trying to close funds right now." In 2022, the federal government commissioned a report asking Canada's VCs what they thought about Crown corporation BDC. The report was effectively forgotten, and the feedback was never actioned.…
- 181An insider's take on Canada's AI task force report9 Feb 2026 · 57 min▶Show page
About this episode
"If we don't get our AI ducks in a row at some point and we miss that boat to shore up our industries right now, it's not really going to matter what regulations we have on the table. Because we won't have control." The federal government has released the results of its public consultation on AI, including over 30…
- 180Why Y Combinator cut Canada out2 Feb 2026 · 1h 6mY Combinator▶Show page
About this episode
"It's important for the success of Y Combinator to see people investing at a very, very early stage. And if it means, to keep them happy so that they're investing in YC companies, they will do what it takes." Globally recognized tech accelerator Y Combinator will no longer directly invest in Canadian-domiciled…
- 179TikTok and Grok are messes Canada can't clean up26 Jan 2026 · 1h 9m▶Show page
About this episode
"You have just seen control of one of the most popular social media platforms in one of the most influential countries in the world switch from one foreign power relative to you to another." Canada and the US have both claimed national security concerns over TikTok. Our country's (unclear) response might not matter…
- 178The Canadian company solving AI's latency problem19 Jan 2026 · 50 min▶Show page
About this episode
"How do I create the 'wow' moment for my end user? And slowness never creates the wow moment." PolarGrid founder and CEO Rade Kovacevic believes GenAI video and voice will be killer apps once they can function in real-time. Enabling real-time GenAI requires uncorking the inference bottleneck that the hyperscalers…
- 177The future is a four-day workweek12 Jan 2026 · 53 minJoe O'Connor▶Show page
About this episode
"The workweek will continue until morale improves." Jared Lindzon and Joe O'Connor's new book, Do More in Four: Why It's Time for a Shorter Workweek , argues that the future of work will feature more productive employees working fewer days. How is that supposed to happen when boomers still run the world, Gen Z is…
- 176The biggest tech questions of 20265 Jan 2026 · 1h 7m▶Show page
About this episode
"Maybe we will see the robots that we want in our lives in 2026. But be prepared: they will definitely be controlled by people in India with Xbox controllers." Robots, and IPOs, and AI, Oh My! Managing editor Sarah Rieger joins to ask the biggest tech questions of 2026, after evaluating which 2025 tech questions were…
- 175The biggest tech stories of 202529 Dec 2025 · 1h 8m▶Show page
About this episode
"2025 is the year that we committed to the bit, and all pretences went away." Special guest star Rob Kenedi (Decelerator) joins for The BetaKit Podcast's annual tradition: stuffing your holiday stocking with the biggest tech stories of 2025. Have a different take on tech this year? Let us know: podcast@betakit.com .…
- 174Canada's job market sucks for Gen Z22 Dec 2025 · 54 minKevin Kliman▶Show page
About this episode
"Can you imagine a quarter, 25 percent, of Canada isn't sure if they'll be employed next year? That is a wild statistic." Kevin Kliman, president of Canadian business at Employment Hero, joins to explain why Canada's workforce is underemployed and anxious about 2026. He also shares data indicating things are…
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Firms named in its episodes, and people named in descriptions: talked about, rather than on the show.
