Robert Platek

The 2024 Federal Budget rolled out by the Government of Canada yesterday was disappointing, and needs to be reconsidered if we want Canada’s innovation ecosystem to thrive. News of the budget dropped in the middle of the InnovateWest conference in Vancouver, where investors, entrepreneurs, and other stakeholders in the innovation ecosystem were gathered to discuss how we could make Canada more innovative and how we can foster more entrepreneurship in Canada. Details of the innovation-averse decisions embedded in the federal budget spread through the conference like wildfire, sucking the oxygen out of the room. The federal government’s move to increase the capital gains inclusion rate from 50% to 66% punishes entrepreneurs and, importantly, employees of the startups and innovators that need to power the future of the Canadian economy. This tax increase makes Canada even less competitive relative to the US, which offers a much lower taxation rate of 20% on long term capital gains, alongside the QSBS tax exemption, which allows entrepreneurs to avoid 100% of capital gains in startups. In a post-covid world where companies can be founded anywhere more easily than ever before, Canada needs to be deliberately designing an environment that fosters innovation and entrepreneurship. Canada’s recent policy changes do the opposite. The government positioned this as a tax increase on the wealthy, but this is not true. It is a tax increase for anyone that takes risks in the Canadian economy, not only founders but the hundreds of thousands of employees of innovative companies in Canada. People take jobs at these companies often for lower salaries than they would at “safer” companies in exchange for equity, for stock options that have the promise of delivering capital gains (and an associated lower tax rate) as upside. This asymmetric reward (risk + capital investment = jobs and massive growth, when it works!) is what powers the economics of the innovation economy, and is ultimately what incentivizes Canadians to take risks. These asymmetric rewards benefit the broader economy, and we should be doing everything we can to encourage more people to innovate, to take risks, to take a swing at creating Canada’s next Shopify or Clio. Instead, Canada’s recent changes to its fiscal policy will further chill an already cooling innovation economy. Canada has 100,000 fewer entrepreneurs than it did in the year 2000 and a productivity crisis that the Bank of Canada itself describes as “an emergency.” We need entrepreneurship and innovation in Canada more than ever before, and Canada has the right to be the best and most innovative country in the world, with an incredible talent base, strong education system, and best quality of life standards. We deserve a fiscal policy that supports, rather than hinders, that opportunity.

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Collaboration is at the heart of everything we do at WEtech Alliance —it’s a core value that drives our mission to strengthen and grow the innovation ecosystem. Our latest collaboration with Communitech exemplifies this commitment, bringing the Scale-Up Platform, supported by FedDev Ontario, to our region. This partnership connects high-potential founders to critical resources, fosters stronger ties between the Windsor and Waterloo tech and innovation ecosystems, and prioritizes inclusivity by supporting women and non-binary founders. We’re especially grateful to Libro Credit Union for enabling us to leverage this opportunity. Their support underscores the importance of collective efforts in driving meaningful change and advancing innovation. Innovation ecosystems are ever-evolving, and a more effective, collaborative approach is essential to driving both innovation and long-term economic impact. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gVQaS6_E Jennifer Gruber CPA,CA Matthew Klassen Avvey Peters Christina Wood Angela Larraguibel Allison Mitchell, CLC Lori Atkinson Shawn Good Liz Arkinstall Adam Castle Susy Kustra Chris Albinson Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario | Agence fédérale de ...

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Discover how Economic Development Lethbridge (EDL) and the Regional Innovation Network of Southern Alberta (RINSA) are transforming entrepreneurship and innovation support in Alberta through AI Assistants. Hear directly from our guest speaker, Charlee Sereda, Program Manager at EDL, who will share: 🎙️ Their first-hand experience piloting AI Assistants in Alberta. 📚 Lessons learned from the journey. 🚀 Future plans to scale this innovative solution. Learn how AI is empowering entrepreneurs, streamlining processes, and building a data-driven ecosystem in Southern Alberta. 👉 Register now through the link in the comments! #AI #Entrepreneurship #Innovation #Alberta #PublicSector #StartupSupport #startupecosystem #AIAssistants #economicdevelopment

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Such a great blog post which I suggest every founder read. So many golden nuggets in here. But one that stands out: What are some qualities that you see in the most successful founders? Well, I love smart people, with high IQs, and high EQs, that’s great. But, of the founders that I see, the highest correlation with success is with their grit quotient. They’re not necessarily the smartest people in the world, but their grit and determination are unbelievable. They never give up and always find a way to blast through any obstacle they face. It’s the mentality of “succeed or die” – it’s that kind of determination that wins. #gritcotient #grit #founder #highperformancemindset

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Over the years, Canada has made a lot of investments in the building blocks of AI. But today, we announced how we're going to cement our country as a place where AI happens. We're building compute right here at home. It'll be where new ideas are discovered, where companies scale up, where your data is safe and secure. $2B was announced in Budget 2024. ~$1B to build a world's best sovereign supercomputer ~$700M to invest in commercial centres that will draw in billions of private capital ~$300M to help SMEs get affordable compute access in the near term, while we get to work building. Building this infrastructure in Canada will mean it's built in a country with renewable energy, with democratic values, and with, frankly, just the best people. A lot of people helped made this happen: colleagues in government, industry, academia, and more; a lot of people who saw a vision of Canada in the future, and are working to build it together.

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As someone who follows innovation in the semiconductor space closely, I’ve been increasingly impressed by ventureLAB and the impact they’re making on hardware and deep tech startups. VentureLab is much more than just an innovation hub—they’re building a community focused on helping companies tackle the unique challenges of hardware development, from raising capital and securing intellectual property to commercializing their technologies. Through programs like the Hardware Catalyst Initiative, they’re providing startups with access to critical resources that can be hard to find elsewhere, including top-tier mentorship, specialized equipment, and connections to industry leaders. One of the biggest highlights for next year is the Hard Tech Summit 2024, which VentureLab is hosting. This summit is set to be a major platform for semiconductor and AI hardware innovators, bringing together some of the brightest minds in the industry. It’s not just about showcasing cutting-edge tech—it’s about meaningful collaboration, discussing future challenges, and scaling up solutions to meet global demand. For anyone in deep tech, this event is a must-attend, and it’s amazing to see how VentureLab is supporting the future of hardware innovation. I’m excited to see how VentureLab continues to drive growth and opportunity in the semiconductor ecosystem, and I’m looking forward to the game-changing ideas that will emerge at the Hard Tech Summit 2024. #HardTechSummit2024 #VentureLab #SemiconductorInnovation #AIHardware #DeepTech #InnovationEcosystem

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The right private + public collaborations are a great way to tackle difficult societal problems such as our housing crisis. Proud of how Highline Beta is supporting innovators & making an impact on the Canadian housing ecosystem. https://lnkd.in/g_pq6ZM4

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One of the least talked about issues about the Vancouver startup ecosystem is the illegal eviction rate and how unaffordable it is to live. Many founders are looking elsewhere, and this nonsense is a big reason why: 'B.C. has the highest eviction rate in the country with 10.5 per cent of renter households having reported being forced to move between April 2016 to early 2021, compared to 5.9 per cent nationally.' - keeping in mind that a significant number of evictions aren't even reported. The entire system is still done on paper. https://lnkd.in/gCrQjhM7

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Big news this morning: BC-based Clio - Cloud-Based Legal Technology has topped a $4B CAD valuation with the largest software funding round in #CDNtech history. The company’s $1.24B CAD Series F was “substantially secondary” and financed entirely by new US investors (New Enterprise Associates (NEA) led, with support from Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Sixth Street, Alphabet’s CapitalG, and Tidemark). Clio claims it also makes it the most valuable cloud-based #legaltech firm in the world. I spoke with Jack Newton and Tony Florence about the round, what we know about it, Clio's progress in becoming a profitable double centaur, and where the fast-growing legal software company plans to go from here. #BCtech

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How an AI-Powered Solution is Transforming Chaos into Clarity in Healthcare Operations Migranium platform is a game-changer for North Western Toronto Ontario Health Team In today’s fast-paced healthcare environment, many health centers are overwhelmed with legacy systems, often relying on as many as 15 to 20 different software platforms to keep operations running smoothly. This level of complexity not only frustrates staff but also creates anxiety for patients, highlighting an urgent need for a more integrated, streamlined approach. Migranium is addressing these challenges by simplifying processes, automating workflows, and reducing manual tasks—all to enhance the experience for frontline healthcare workers and patients alike. Migranium’s journey began in a clinic’s waiting room, where its founder, Tope Ukaegbu, encountered firsthand the inefficiencies of fragmented systems. This moment of frustration sparked a vision for a solution that would redefine operational efficiency, harnessing AI to connect and enhance these disparate systems seamlessly. Think of Migranium as the Zapier or ClickUp for healthcare operations—an all-in-one solution that integrates seamlessly with existing platforms and uses artificial intelligence to optimize workflows. Today, Migranium is already making an impact, having streamlined processes for clients like the North Western Toronto Ontario Health Team, saving users over 30,000 hours for users to date. By automating repetitive workflows, streamlining operations, and offering unmatched configurability, Migranium empowers healthcare professionals to focus on their core mission: delivering exceptional patient care. “We are thrilled with the positive experience we’ve had with Migranium,” says Tiffany Budhoo, System Planner at the North Western Toronto Ontario Health Team. “The online booking platform has been a game-changer for North Western’s operations at the community hub and it has exceeded the organization’s expectations. After evaluating several solutions, Migranium stood out for its robustness, flexibility, and ease of use. The platform is highly customizable, allowing us to tailor it to our specific needs. It’s user-friendly for both our team and community partners, seamlessly adapting to our evolving requirements from day one.What truly sets Migranium apart is the exceptional support provided by their team. We highly recommend Migranium to any organization in need of a reliable, scalable, and adaptable booking solution.” Learn how you can optimize your healthcare operations: https://migranium.com/

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Great discussion. I’ve been blessed to live a couple transformative movements as well. At Acorn we’re focusing on how can we apply AI to specific use cases. Not marketing slogans and lingo. So no, we won’t change our URL to .ai and we won’t confuse our customers. AI is a tool that will solve problems for our users and when they ask how we’ll share the tools we use to build the solutions they like. Our view is that if we do this the trends won’t matter.

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This June, in collaboration with Mitacs and Dawson College Artificial Intelligence, our team at AI Launch Lab / Lancement IA will begin operating AI Accelerator Programs, an initiative designed to develop AI competencies in Canada's future workforce and to increase AI adoption in industry. As increasingly powerful AI models and tools begin to transform our roles in the workplace, the barriers to developing capacity to participate in these innovations is dropping. Having not yet been inculcated by workspaces of the present, college students are especially well-placed to learn, adapt, and contribute. AI Accelerator Programs can help enable a generation of college students to be prepared and capable to help Canadian industry lead this transition. College students with any background and from any discipline will be able to join a free, accessible, and diverse AI cohort, learning state-of-the-art skills through the process of creation while being mentored by experts in the field. Applied Learning will be followed by Launch, where distinguished students will be selected for a paid internship in order to complete an applied AI R&D project while retaining the full support, training, and mentorship from our teams and experts. AI Accelerator Programs' unique model enables rapid upskilling and provides industry value throughout the training process through starting and scaling R&D projects, prototyping, and experimentation to capable teams with a minimum of cost, management, and onboarding. It also promotes responsible AI by catalyzing practical deployment of data security and privacy-first practices as well as algorithmic impact assessments, leading to better outcomes for all stakeholders, and reducing potential liability from AI adoption to companies. AI Accelerator Programs will further advance Canada's strengths in AI education, increase adoption across industries and business sizes, expand the AI talent pool, and support the success of underrepresented groups in the talent development pipeline. I am thrilled to be part of this initiative, which we aim to scale to many thousands of students over the coming years. It is the outcome of more than 5 years of work from our current and previous teams, as well as the indispensable support of many colleagues, collaborators, and friends during that time. If you're interested in hiring an intern through this program (subsidized 50%+ by Mitacs) and benefitting from the project management, support, and deep expertise from AI Launch Lab and our partners, as well as the vast pool of trained and dedicated college students who will be contributing to your project's success even as they learn, apply at the link below. If you want to collaborate with us in another way or want to learn more, send me a message. The future competitiveness of the Canadian economy depends on its ability to vastly increase AI adoption and the AI talent base. Let’s help lead the way together. https://lnkd.in/eC5fFRwE

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I’m an introvert, how do I network? I'm going to Launch Party, the ultimate celebration of Calgary’s most promising Tech Startups and the grand finale of Innovation Week YYC 2024. It's going to be an awesome way to meet fellow entrepreneurs and tech enthusiasts including the Top 10 Selection Committee of Haley Jabusch, ✨Joella A. , and Matt Elliott. But when you walk into a conference room full of people, it can be intimidating. Here's what I do... I’m an introvert, how do I network? Introverts (like me) have an advantage in networking because we naturally have the right skills. We’re good listeners, we remember details, we ask good questions, and follow-up. What’s the best way to network at a conference? In short, be prepared. Before the event, find out who’s going, ask your friends, look up the sponsor companies, use LinkedIn to make connections. Then arrange a meet and chat one of the presentation topics - it’s easy to connect over an interesting topic. How do I introduce myself? First, learn about the other person. What are they working on? What are their goals for this year? Now you can relate what you do to what they do. Here’s a framework: “We help (customer) + (with problem) + so they can (benefits)” E.g. “We help founders simplify technology complexity so they can grow revenue”. 👋 Come say "Hi!" and let's have a fun conversation! What's your networking tip? Share below! Want to know more? 🛫 Follow me for Insights on scaling your business. 👟 Make better software decisions, faster. Get my Software Assessment Playbook. Send me a DM. #Innovation #Management #Technology

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TrekSoftware is heading to the Canadian Utility Energy Expo. Feel free to swing by Booth 820, as we are excited to discuss how TrekSoftware can help make your digital transformation journey a success! It is sure to be a great event! Comment below if you are attending, and what you are looking forward to! #TrekSoftware #CUEE

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I am pleased to share that ICTC-CTIC’s report (led by Heather McGeer), End to End: The Need for Green and Digital Skills in Canada’s Supply Chain Industry, is now available here: https://lnkd.in/gbicVfQA   It was my privilege to assist a little as a member of the green supply chain advisory committee. The report explores how, to improve efficiencies and environmental sustainability, the Canadian supply chains required to become more digitized, leveraging big data, artificial intelligence, IOT and advanced robotics. Supply chain professionals need to acquire new digital and environmental skills with the right workforce development programs and incentives. With these the supply chain industry can help Canada meet its environmental sustainability targets and goals. 

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Transforming AI: Join Cerebras Systems' Groundbreaking Innovation If you are in Toronto, you must join Cerebras Systems to witness their groundbreaking AI innovation. Cerebras Systems, under the visionary leadership of CEO Andrew Feldman, has struck again with the only purpose-built supercompute processor—not a repurposed GPU. Cerebras Systems has designed and built a supercomputer processor to solve one problem and one problem only: massive workloads like AI. Are you an engineer passionate about solving complex challenges and making a real impact in AI? Join the team that's creating the world's largest and fastest AI processors. https://lnkd.in/ejSJunrc P.S. Don’t miss the opportunity to be a part of this revolutionary journey. Be a trailblazer in the AI field with Cerebras Systems! #AI #Innovation #Engineering #Supercomputing #JoinUs #CerebrasSystems

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