🚀 New creator first platform launched, alumni features & Canada investing in defense

🔔 Your campaign updates feed

📱Fanbase has launched!

The first Social Economy Platform where media, community, and commerce converge, Fanbase empowers everyone to be a Creator and earn from their content. Built from culture and designed for inclusivity, it puts Creators at the centre with full ownership, monetization tools, and freedom from algorithmic gatekeeping.

Invest in Fanbase | $13.2M Raised | 78% of target

🛒 KaleMart24 leads in innovation and expands to McGill

KaleMart24 is featured on the cover of Convenience Store Magazine in its special “Technology and Innovation” edition. Furthermore, KaleMart24 is expanding with its new location near McGill University, in partnership with Canadian franchisee David Emami.

Invest in KaleMart24 | $156K Raised | 63% of target

👟Hettas September recap

September was a milestone month for Hettas, with e-commerce sales up 100% and now 90% Canadian due to tariffs. With strong U.S. growth potential ahead of our March 2026 return. We also hosted four events across four provinces and proudly stood as the only female-focused brand at Georgia’s 3rd Runningman Festival, reaching over 1,000 women.

Invest in Hettas | $73K Raised | 29% of target

🔋 RheEnergise backs Canada’s green energy push!

RheEnergise is poised to support Canada’s push toward 70.9GW of renewable energy capacity by 2035 with its scalable, homegrown energy storage solution. Also RheEnergise has extended its campaign until the end of October.

Invest in RheEnergise | $3.2M Raised | 63% of target

🔔 Alumni updates

💳 tiptap announced a new partnership with PushPay. This collaboration helps faith-based organizations adapt to declining cash use by offering tiptap’s frictionless donation collection solution.

⚡️VoltSafe is showcasing their 2023 IBEX Innovation award-winning shore power system at the annual IBEX, International BoatBuilders' Exhibition & Conference in Tampa, FL. 

🔵joni has been selected as a finalist for the 2025 Ecostar Awards in their innovation category for joni’s Model V machine!ood producers, artisans, restaurants or farms produced by Chek Media.

🤔 What’s on our minds

🛠️ Canada Bets Big on Defense and Infrastructure

Canada’s economic landscape is undergoing a strategic pivot, with defense and construction sectors emerging as the path forward. In a move aimed at bolstering national security and stimulating long-term growth, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government has committed to a bold “nation-building” agenda.

The federal government has pledged to meet NATO’s 2% defense spending target this fiscal year, which is five years ahead of schedule. As well as, launching a wave of infrastructure and military procurement projects. Markets have responded quickly: shares in aerospace, engineering, and construction companies have seen strong gains, signaling growing investor confidence in this new economic narrative.

📈 A Surge in Defence Spending

With consumer activity slowing and traditional growth drivers losing steam, government-led investment in defense and infrastructure could fill the gap. To support this, Ottawa has created a new Defence Investment Agency tasked with fast-tracking military procurement and expanding capacity across sectors from shipbuilding to cybersecurity.

Investors have already begun shifting their portfolios toward companies likely to benefit:

• Bombardier has seen its stock more than double this year, buoyed by demand for its aerospace and defense capabilities.

• WSP Global, Stantec, and AtkinsRéalis are gaining ground as key players in the engineering and infrastructure space.

• Toromont Industries, Cameco (uranium), and Kraken Robotics are also rising on expectations of broader support for industrial and defense-adjacent innovation.

🔍 Targeting Economic Diversification and Sovereignty

This defense-led investment push is a deliberate effort to diversify Canada’s economy and reduce reliance on U.S. trade and supply chains. Projects tied to critical minerals, natural gas, and port expansion are being accelerated. By 2035, the government aims to spend up to 5% of GDP on defense and related infrastructure.

According to analysts, this new era of industrial policy could reshape Canada’s investment landscape:

• Defense and heavy industry may see sustained capital inflows

• Job creation is expected across engineering, tech, and skilled trades

• Canada may become more competitive in global energy, infrastructure, and security supply chains

📌 Final Thoughts

Canada’s shift toward defense and infrastructure investment reflects a deeper move toward resilience, security, and economic independence in a time of global uncertainty. 

For investors, the opportunity offers short-term gains while also allowing them to align with longer-term structural changes in the Canadian economy. However, critics argue that true resilience may lie in diplomacy and social investment rather than military expansion, raising important questions about the kind of future Canada is choosing to build.

🎙️ 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 more than just a drink brand; it’s 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. Buying their drink means supporting creativity and a shared cultural purpose.

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. The second was our U.S. launch in Boston, being this young Canadian company making waves in such a creative city felt huge. Each of these milestones reminded me that what started as a small art project had the potential to grow into something much bigger.

🎧 Want to listen to the full episode?

Spotify / YouTube / Apple

📌 FrontFundr Bulletin

FrontFundr at Elevate Festival 

FrontFundr is proud to be attending Elevate Festival, Canada’s leading event for tech and innovation. FrontFundr’s Founder & CEO, Peter-Paul Van Hoeken is attending and is excited to connect with entrepreneurs, industry leaders, and forward-thinkers driving change. If you’re attending, we’d be happy to meet you there.