This is the weekly Report on Small Business newsletter. If you’re reading this on the web, or if someone forwarded this e-mail to you, you can sign up for it and all Globe newsletters on our signup page. This newsletter will pause for the holidays - see you back here on January 9. - Sarah Efron, Globe and Mail Small Business Editor
Calgary investment platform The51 aims to boost funding for women-led businesses
Three experienced entrepreneurs and investors are aiming to disrupt the widespread gender imbalance in Canadian venture capital through their new Calgary-based platform for investors and entrepreneurs. Story
When your CEO is a remote worker
When Trena White co-founded her book publishing company, Page Two Strategies Inc., she was awash with excitement about the business, her newborn son and the charms of life in Vancouver. Story
No carbon emissions, no meltdowns: B.C.’s General Fusion aims to build safe, clean power plant of the future with US$65-million funding
General Fusion Inc., a B.C. company backed by Jeff Bezos, has raised US$65-million to build a prototype plant in its quest to prove that nuclear fusion energy can be a commercially viable, carbon-free source of power. Story
Major Canadian tech financings continue as Nuvei raises $358-million in common equity
One of Canada’s largest private digital companies, payments technology provider Nuvei Corp., has raised $358-million in common equity from existing investors Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and private equity firm Novacap. Story
WHAT WE’RE READING ELSEWHERE
B.C. film sector caught in ‘streaming war’ crossfire
As the holidays approach and British Columbians catch up on TV shows queued up on streaming services, the province’s film and TV sector finds itself thrust into the crossfire of a war. Business in Vancouver
This Alberta real estate company’s shares are up 70% this year, despite the province’s struggles
At a time when the capital markets are skittish about Alberta’s energy sector, a local publicly traded real estate company is proving that the province is no wasteland for growth. Financial Post
Shopify picks Berlin for first engineering hub outside Canada
Shopify has chosen Berlin as the site of its first engineering hub outside Canada, and is hiring a senior executive to lead a team adapting its e-commerce platform for European merchants. The Logic
B.C. restaurants permitted to make and serve their own small-batch ice cream and yogurt, due to regulation change
If you see a lot of unique and intriguing flavours of ice cream and yogurt popping up at eateries around the province, this is probably the reason why. The Georgia Straight
Entrepreneurs beware: Behind the label of ‘tireless visionaries’ can lurk mental exhaustion and depression
A sudden bout of intense insomnia was the first sign that Megan te Boekhorst’s mental health was declining after she launched her first communications business in 2018. Financial Post
Sarah Efron