📬 FrontFundr 2025 numbers are in, alumni updates, and Lululemon's big leadership shake-up

🔔 Your campaign updates feed

🚛 Edison Motors first BDE truck ships for paint and rig-up

Edison Motors shared a video update this week showing strong progress on their new shop, which is now reaching lockup stage with doors being installed. Most excitingly, their first BDE truck is ready for upfitting. Watch the video here.

Invest in Edison Motors | $14.2M Raised | 71% of target

🍹GoodLife Brand spotlighted their exciting investor perks 

GoodLife Brand spotlighted their exciting investor perks. The highlights include monthly beer on the house, a private tasting with the founders, a custom limited-run product with your name on it, and a 30% tax credit for investors at $25,000 and above. Read the full update here.

Invest in Goodlife Brand Collective | $591k Raised | 39% of target

🔔 Alumni updates

👟 Hettas: Women performance running shoes

Hettas’ founder, Lindsay Housman, has made the final five for the Entrepreneur of Impact Award. The $25,000 prize would go toward launching the Cambie, their new running shoe. Vote here.

🧃Cooler Co.: Yerba Mate drinks and craft kombucha

Cooler Co. drinks were featured at TED2026 this week, putting their products in the hands of scientists, technologists, and creators shaping the future. 

💳 tiptap: Autonomous contactless payment 

tiptap will be at the 2026 American Alliance of Museums Annual Meeting and Expo in Philadelphia next month. They also have four free passes to the exhibitor floor to give away. 

📝 From Our Desk

📢 Just Released: Community Capital Report 2025

2025 was a record year for private investing in Canada. As venture capital shifted toward larger and more selective rounds, community-driven investing stepped up and broke records. Today, we're proud to present FrontFundr's 2025 Community Capital Report, highlighting a year that cemented equity crowdfunding as a core part of how Canadian companies raise.

🚀 Key Highlights from 2025:

• $83.2M raised via FrontFundr (23% growth YoY)

• 8,064 individual investments (91% increase YoY)

• $360M+ raised since inception across 36,000+ investments

• Largest raise: Edison Motors at $6.8M from 2,667 investors

• Fastest raise: Blossom Social at $1.93M from 1,028 investors in approximately 6 hours

• Breakout campaign: Gander Social at $2.0M from 2,517 investors

"Community capital is no longer a niche channel. It's becoming a core part of how companies raise and how Canadians participate in private market investing." — Peter-Paul Van Hoeken, Founder and CEO, FrontFundr

Ten years since Canada's first equity crowdfunding investment, FrontFundr has established itself as a primary gateway to Canada's private markets. If you're planning your next round, the 2025 report offers a data-driven view of the trends shaping capital formation today.

👉 Download the full 2025 Community Capital Report here →

🤔 What’s on our minds

🧘‍♀️ Lululemon appoints new CEO and the reactions are mixed

Lululemon was the dominant force in the athleisure market for a decade. However, after a year of stagnant North American sales and a significant drop in its stock price, the Vancouver-based company is replacing its leadership to address slowing growth.

On April 22, 2026, the board appointed Heidi O’Neill as the new CEO. O’Neill spent 25 years at Nike, overseeing its growth into a $45 billion enterprise. Her primary task is to reverse a trend where domestic sales have flattened while newer competitors like Alo Yoga and Vuori gain market share. The hire indicates a shift toward prioritizing global infrastructure and mass-market scaling over the brand's traditional boutique image.

📉 Internal Conflict and Market Skepticism

The leadership change has triggered a public dispute with the company’s founder. Chip Wilson criticized the appointment shortly after it was announced, stating that hiring from Nike proves the board has lost touch with the brand's technical roots. Wilson argued that the corporate approach will alienate the core customer base that fueled the company's early success.

Investors remain unconvinced. Since the announcement, Lululemon’s stock (LULU) fell an additional 15%, contributing to a total decline of nearly 40% over the last 12 months. While international revenue, particularly in China, grew by 17%, the North American market remains stalled. Analysts are concerned that the brand is becoming overly reliant on price markdowns to clear excess inventory, which threatens its premium profit margins.

👟 The Transition Period

O’Neill does not officially take over until September 8, 2026. This leaves the company under interim management for the next four months during a volatile retail environment. The upcoming Q1 earnings report will provide the first data on whether the company can maintain its margins without O’Neill’s immediate intervention.

The appointment of O'Neill signals a strategic pivot. Lululemon is no longer aiming to be a niche yoga retailer; it is attempting to compete directly with global sportswear giants. The challenge for the new leadership is to achieve this scale without further eroding the brand loyalty from their customers.

🎙️ 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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