🚀 Electric truck manufacturer and gluten-free bakery launch and New FrontFundr webinar to scale smarter

🔔 Your campaign updates feed

🚛 Edison Motors has relaunched!

Edison Motors is back on FrontFundr! Working to fill in the gap in the heavy duty truck market, the raise will go toward manufacturing Electric Hybrid Vocational Trucks and EV Conversion Kits in Canada. With a passionate community and a factory underway in Golden, BC, the company is poised to scale production and deliver real innovation in commercial trucking.

Invest in Edison Motors | $13M Raised | 65% of target

🍞Origin Bakery has launched!

Origin Bakery has moved from waitlist to officially launched. Investors can now process their reserved investments. Origin Bakery is a fast-growing gluten-free bakery brand expanding access to safe, high-quality baked goods through a scalable franchise model.

Invest in Origin Bakery | $44K Raised | 29% of target

🔔 Alumni updates

👟Hettas (women’s athletic footwear) Founder and CEO Lindsay Housman is featured on the Athletics Ontario Running Podcast to discuss how the company is designing shoes for women's anatomy.

🏦Expedier (global fintech platform) is featured in ThisDay Newspapers following the official launch of Expedier for Business, a pro-banking platform built to streamline cross-border payments and multi-currency transactions for businesses operating globally.

💳tiptap (touchless payment device) is making appearances as a background character in your favourite shows from Top Chef on Food Network to The Night Agent on Netflix

📝 From Our Desk 

Scale Smarter: Funding, Payments & Community-Led Growth Across Borders

Scaling a company today requires more than just a single funding source. On Thursday March 26, join FrontFundr, Swoop, and Airwallex for a practical discussion on how successful founders combine smart capital strategies with global financial infrastructure to expand efficiently. Key takeaways include:

🔷 Building a Modern Capital Stack: How to strategically mix debt, equity, and grants to fuel growth without unnecessary dilution.

🔷 Infrastructure for Global Expansion: Why global-ready payments and financial systems are critical for founders looking to move beyond the Canadian market.

🔷 Community-Driven Growth: How to leverage community-powered investment to turn your customers into your most loyal brand ambassadors.

The session will also feature a first-hand case study from FrontFundr alum Melissa L’Heureux-Haché (VEGAIN) on raising community capital to scale a consumer brand internationally.

[Register for the session here]

🤔 What’s on our minds

🏦 Bank of Canada holds interest rates steady

On Wednesday, the Bank of Canada held its benchmark interest rate at 2.25%, resisting pressure to cut further as a war thousands of kilometres away reshapes the global economic outlook. It was the third straight hold since the Bank delivered a cut of 0.25 percentage points in October 2025. 

🤔 Why hold?

The short answer: the Middle East conflict has thrown a wrench into the Bank's calculus. Oil prices have spiked in recent weeks as the Strait of Hormuz puts about 20% of the world's oil supply in jeopardy, which risks higher prices for fuel and just about everything else. The ripple effects are already being felt at the pump, and the Bank is watching closely for where they spread next.

The Bank flagged several pressure points Canadians should be aware of:

• Oil and gas prices have surged, adding fuel costs across the economy

• Fertilizer supply chains are being disrupted, as the same bottlenecks choking oil shipments affect other commodities

• Food prices could climb as a result of fuel and grocery inflation 

• Export weakness continues, as US tariffs weigh on Canadian manufacturers and trade flows remain subdued

📊 What Bay Street is saying

The Bank held, but analysts are not entirely relaxed about what comes next. TD Bank expects the Bank of Canada to continue taking a wait-and-see approach, but warned that "uncertainty is high" and that the supply shock could easily escalate, broadening inflation beyond energy prices.

TD Economist Maria Solovieva put it plainly: "When inflation is close to the central bank's target, there is no strong reason to change course. GDP growth is below target, but it's not enough for the BoC to move its interest rate, either."

The broader picture captures the Bank's bind. Inflation risks are creeping up from energy prices, while economic growth is sluggish and the labour market has softened. Canada lost 84,000 jobs in February, and the overall economy grew just 1.7% in 2025, its slowest annual pace since 2020. Cut too soon, and you risk stoking inflation. Hold too long, and you risk squeezing an already soft economy.

🔭 What to watch

The Bank's next rate decision comes on April 29, which coincides with the release of the Bank's Monetary Policy Report, a detailed document that lays out the Bank's updated forecasts for growth, inflation, and employment. Given how much has changed since the last report, including the oil price surge and the ongoing Middle East conflict, the April MPR will be closely watched for signals on where rates are headed for the rest of 2026.

Governor Macklem was clear about the Bank's mandate through the turbulence: "We can't fix the war. What we can do, and what we will do, is ensure that if energy prices stay high, it does not become ongoing, generalized, persistent inflation."  For now, the Bank of Canada is doing what central banks do in moments of genuine uncertainty: waiting, watching, and keeping its options open.

🎙️ Hear from our founder feature

Edison Motors: Diesel-electric trucks redefined with Eric Little

Q: What were those early days like, trying to prove the idea could work?

A: We always said we wanted to make “a train for the road.” That meant using electric motors for propulsion but keeping a diesel generator onboard. At first, we hacked together a system using Tesla parts and a refurbished 1983 CAT engine as a generator. It wasn’t pretty, but it worked. Within a year, we had our first truck on the road and drove it to a local truck show to prove the concept. That weekend, we raised another $1.5M and suddenly we weren’t just converting trucks, we were designing our own from scratch.

Q: The trucking market is massive. Where do you see Edison fitting in?

A:  Most people think of semis hauling goods on highways, and that’s about 80% of the market. But the part I’m most excited about is the other 20%: vocational trucks. Vehicles that have special functionality, such as log haulers. These fleets need more torque, more customization, and more durability. They also spend way more on fuel, so our efficiency is a big win for them.

Q: Looking back, has there been a defining moment for Edison so far?

A:  Without a doubt, it was when we rolled out our first prototype, “Carl”, back in 2022 at Hope Brigade Days. Everyone told us it couldn’t be done, that there was no way to make a diesel-electric hybrid work truck more efficient than the status quo. But with just $400,000 in capital, we built it, drove it, and proved the concept. That moment validated everything we’d been fighting for. Fast forward a few years, and now we’re standing up a factory to build trucks for actual customers.

🎧 Want to listen to the full episode?

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