📢Healthy convenience store chain is back, BlackBerry’s cybersecurity pivot and where to find FrontFundr this April

🔔 Your campaign updates feed

🛒 KaleMart24 is back on FrontFundr!

KaleMart24 is a Canadian natural convenience store chain. It offers healthy and organic foods in an upscale store environment. Founded by Oussama (Sam) Saoudi, the company operates a growing franchise model with locations in Quebec and Ontario.

Invest in KaleMart24 | $230K Raised | 92% of target

🔔 Alumni updates

🌸 Blossom Social (an investing social network) launched Beevis, an AI portfolio coach that uses your linked brokerage and personal investor profile to give tailored insights. In just two weeks, Beevis has answered over 18,000 questions.

🔵joni (a period care solutions provider) is helping Manitoba businesses prepare for the new mandate requiring free menstrual products in all provincially regulated washrooms by August 2026.

🌾 Prairie Clean Enterprises (a sustainable ag-tech manufacturer) is ramping up production at its Weyburn facility, with fresh pallets of premium flax cat litter now heading to customers.

🤔 What’s on our minds

📱 BlackBerry is back and better than before

BlackBerry is riding the nostalgia wave, with Gen Z snapping up BlackBerry Bolds off eBay. Meanwhile, in Waterloo, the company is quietly declaring its own comeback, only this time, it's not selling phones at all.

🛡️ The DNA of the Comeback: Security First

To understand BlackBerry’s resurgence, you have to look at what made them famous in the first place. At its peak in the early 2000s, BlackBerry commanded over 50% of the U.S. smartphone market. While consumers loved the keyboards, governments and world leaders loved the security. When the iPhone arrived and hardware dominance faded, BlackBerry didn't actually abandon its core identity; it simply shed the plastic shells. The transition from "the world’s most secure phone" to a "security-focused software giant" was a natural evolution of their greatest strength. Today, instead of protecting your texts, they protect the digital systems of cars and global infrastructure.

🤔 What's the deal?

After years of painful restructuring, the strategy is finally paying off. New CEO John Giamatteo recently declared that BlackBerry is officially "back to being a growth company."

The fiscal fourth-quarter results tell the story:

• Revenue: US$156 million (up 10% year-over-year).

• Earnings: Operating earnings climbed 71%, beating analyst expectations by US$10 million.

• Consistency: This marks the third time in four quarters the company has posted a net profit, a massive swing after years of losses.

🏭  The Pivot from handsets to software

The road here was long. When John Chen took over in 2013, the company was hemorrhaging billions. He steered the ship away from the doomed hardware race and toward embedded software and cybersecurity.

The cornerstone of this new era is QNX software. It is now embedded in over 235 million vehicles worldwide. In a world of connected and autonomous cars, protection from hacking isn't just a feature. It’s a life-or-death safety requirement. By acquiring AI-driven threat detection firms like Cylance, BlackBerry has positioned itself as the invisible shield for the modern world.

🔭 What's ahead

The BlackBerry of today is invisible, embedded, and essential. It sells peace of mind to automakers and governments rather than handsets to consumers.

The company ended fiscal 2026 with double-digit top-line growth and its eighth consecutive quarter of improving profitability. For a company that was written off more than once, the turnaround is no longer just a "plan". As John Giamatteo told investors, the restructuring is done; the growth story is just beginning.

🌐 Community Responses

Sharing some community responses from last week’s newsletter article on Chinese EV brands entering the Canadian market.

🎙️ Hear from our founder feature

GoodLife Brand Collective: Crafting goodness through beverage and community with Josh Vanderheide

Q:  You came from marketing and advertising before opening a brewery. How did that shape the way you built the business?

A: I wasn't a brewer when we started a brewery, which sounds like a weird way to begin. But not knowing everything forced me to learn from the people around me. Our first staff member, Parker, is still with us ten years later. Every time we brought someone new in, I had to learn from them. That ended up shaping how we lead: collaborative, open, and built on trusting the people around you. I think that's why it's worked.

Q:  Craft beer is a maturing market. How has GoodLife managed to keep growing?

A: Despite a challenging economy and a maturing craft beer market, our craft beer portfolio grew about 22% last year when the market was starting to contract. I think that comes down to how we look at product development, which is through a marketing lens, a product lens, a sales lens, all at once. We make decisions together and we make them well. The growth has followed from that.

Q: GoodLife has grown from a single brewery into a multi-beverage portfolio. What has that evolution looked like?

A: We started with craft beer at the peak of the boom and have expanded from there into a broader beverage portfolio across multiple locations. We even have a five-acre farm now where we grow ingredients for our operations. None of it would be possible without the people behind it though, we have about 130 staff now across the organization. The goal has always been to grow from BC across Canada, and we're well on our way.

🎧 Want to listen to the full episode?

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📌 FrontFundr Bulletin

FrontFundr is attending Vancouver Startup Week

FrontFundr’s Chief Growth Officer, Trieste Reading, and members of our team are excited to be attending Vancouver Startup Week ​​Opening Reception and Ecosystem Showcase!

📍 Science World
📅 April 27, 2026 | 6:30–9:00pm

For over a decade, VSW has been the heartbeat of BC’s startup community, bringing together founders to celebrate Vancouver’s global innovation scene. This year’s “Start Local, Think Global” theme captures it perfectly.

🎟️ Tickets: Grab yours at vanstartupweek.ca 

20% off your All-Access Pass using our code: FRONTFUNDR20

FrontFundr is attending Startup Canada April 29th

FrontFundr’s Founder and CEO, Peter-Paul Van Hoeken, will be attending the Startup Canada Tour in Halifax!

📍 Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21
📅 April 29, 2026 | 8:30am - 4:00 pm

You can find us at the Entrepreneur Support Zone and Ask the Expert Lounge for the Finance & Funding Strategies Session. If you're a Halifax entrepreneur, we'd love to connect and hear what you're building. 🙌

🎟️ Register now: bit.ly/startup-canada-tour-halifax