📢 Funding round is closing soon, alumni achievements & Canada’s new global strategy

🔔 Your campaign updates feed

📱Gander Social is closing soon!

Gander Social is closing soon! Be a part of a Canadian social platform that keeps user data on Canadian soil under Canadian privacy law, with no foreign shareholders or ad-driven algorithms. This is your final chance to invest in the future of Canadian digital sovereignty.

Invest in Gander Social | $1.8M Raised | 125% of target

🛒 KaleMart24 featured on Dragon’s Den

KaleMart24 will be featured on CBC’s Dragon’s Den on January 22, 2026, at 8:00 p.m. Being selected for Canada’s premier entrepreneurship series validates the strength of KaleMart24’s business model, leadership, and vision to modernize the convenience retail experience.

Invest in KaleMart24 | $207K Raised | 83% of target

🔔 Alumni updates

💳tiptap is seeing strong adoption within the Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno began rolling out tiptap last summer across four parish churches, Christmas collections increased by 11 percent, with overall giving up about 18 percent year over year.

🚁AIRmarket tested its drone traffic management system during a simulated wildfire, showing how drones can move from detection to coordinated response using automated airspace management and tasking.

🍸Sheringham Distillery shared a story about “Castaway Gin,” an early blend of its Seaside Gin that was combined and barrel-aged by their master distiller as part of the development process before Seaside became its flagship spirit.

🤔 What’s on our minds

Mark Carney lays out a new reality for global power

At the 2026 World Economic Forum in Davos, Prime Minister Mark Carney delivered a defining speech on the future of global power, warning that the previous international order is no longer sustainable. Speaking to political and business leaders from around the world, Carney argued that clinging to the assumptions of the past is no longer viable and that countries must adapt quickly in a more fragmented, competitive era.

His message was blunt: “Nostalgia is not a strategy.” The line became one of the most widely quoted moments of the forum, signalling a more clear-eyed and assertive Canadian approach to global affairs.

🧭 The core message

Carney framed today’s global instability as the result of long-building pressures finally coming to a head. Economic interdependence, once seen as a stabilizing force, is now being weaponized. Trade, finance, and energy have become tools of geopolitical leverage rather than shared prosperity. Major powers are increasingly acting independently, and middle-power countries can no longer rely on institutions alone to protect their interests.

Carney’s speech centered on a call for realism. He argued that countries outside the major power groups must stop assuming stability will return on its own and instead work together more deliberately.

Key themes included:

• Acknowledging the end of the old playbook

• Building coalitions of capable, like-minded countries 

• Reducing strategic dependencies in trade, supply chains, and critical industries

• Standing firm against coercion, even when it comes from allies

The tone marked a shift from diplomatic optimism to strategic pragmatism, one that was widely interpreted as a response to growing uncertainty in U.S. leadership and global governance.

🇺🇸 The Trump factor

While Carney avoided naming specific leaders in his speech, the context was unmistakable. Donald Trump’s influence over U.S. trade and foreign policy loomed over Davos, and his recent remarks, including pointed comments about Canada’s reliance on the United States, amplified the tensions Carney was addressing.

Observers noted that Carney’s speech contrasted sharply with Trump’s worldview: where Trump emphasized national dominance and bilateral leverage, Carney stressed cooperation among middle powers as a counterweight to great-power volatility.

📌 What happens next

Carney’s Davos speech may be a turning point for Canadian foreign policy. He said Canada cannot rely on the old assumptions of stability and must work with other countries to protect its interests. He stressed that middle powers like Canada need to cooperate deliberately and reduce dependencies in trade, supply chains, and critical industries.

With global alliances under pressure and economic tools being used as leverage, Carney’s message was clear: countries that prepare for current realities, not past assumptions, will be better positioned.

🎙️ Hear from our latest founder feature

Collective Arts: Fusing innovative beverages with emerging artists with Matthew Johnson

Q: What inspired the creation of Collective Arts?

A: The idea really came from a belief that creativity makes the world better. In the beverage industry, creativity was always in the liquid but not on the outside. Most labels were generic, following the same rules. We wanted to flip that by pairing world-class drinks with emerging artists and musicians. 

Q: What makes Collective Arts stand out in a crowded beverage market?

A: Collective Arts is a creative, community-driven movement. We have encouraged artistic collaboration by receiving nearly 40,000 art submissions, paying over $1 million directly to artists while allowing them to retain ownership rights. Their brand appeals especially to Gen Z consumers who seek purpose and culture alongside products.

Q: Looking back, are there a few standout moments in Collective Arts’ journey?

A: The first was our launch party at the Gladstone Hotel in Toronto. We had over 600 people show up, the walls covered in art, and for the first time, we saw beer drinkers reacting to this crazy idea we’d been working on. 

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