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Welcome to this week's Sunday Briefing. In this issue, read about a platform helping workers access their earnings more quickly, plus 8 other stories you've probably missed. Have a great day. We'll see you again on Wednesday.

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ZayZoon earns $46M in Series B financing for its wages-on-demand platform

ZayZoon, a platform that enables employees to access earned wages on demand, has raised CAD $46 million (USD $34.5M) in debt and equity as part of a Series B financing round.

The round was led by Framework Venture Partners, with co-investment from Export Development Canada (EDC) and participation from Edmonton-based ATB Financial as well as existing shareholders.

Put simply, ZayZoon allows employees to instantly access their earned wages on demand. The company’s goal is to reduce financial stress related to individual cash flow shortfalls between paycheques, with the upshot being improved employee retention, productivity, and engagement.

The company said the new access to capital will support hiring and other forms of growth. “This financing will fuel our mission in being a true partner in financial health and workplace engagement to small and midsize businesses,” said Darcy Tuer, co-founder and CEO of ZayZoon, in a statement.

🗳️ Question of the Week

🤝 Funding, Deals + Partnerships

• Leadership development platform, Monark, raises $1.5M seed round. The Calgary-based company provides on-demand leadership development through its SaaS platform. Monark

• Alberta investing $7M into Cenovus Energy study on small modular reactors. The study will focus on how SMRs could be “safely, technically and economically deployed” for oilsands. CBC News

• Platform Calgary and National Bank of Canada partner to create new investment opportunities for Calgary’s tech sector. The new strategic partnership will focus on improving the connections between investors and Calgary technology startups. National Bank of Canada

• Arolytics raises seed financing led by BDC Capital. The provider of methane software and data analytics solutions for the oil and gas sector, is the inaugural investment in BDC Capital’s new $150M Sustainability Venture Fund. Arolytics

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2. Error-Prone: Manual entry often leads to errors, from miscalculated amounts to missing receipts. These mistakes can result in inaccurate financial records and potential compliance issues.

3. Lack of Real-Time Visibility: Expense reports provide a retrospective view of spending, making it challenging to track expenses in real time. This delay can hinder proactive cost control.

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📰 Need To Know

• Metro Vancouver's industrial space shortage is now Calgary's economic gain: report. Researchers state Metro Vancouver has lost an estimated 5.1 million sq ft of industrial businesses to Calgary. Daily Hive

• Calgary plant the ‘brains’ behind new innovation for more cost efficient EVs. Exro Technologies is celebrating what it calls its “commitment to pushing the boundaries of technology in the electric vehicle industry and clean tech space.” Global News

• Alberta cleantech company Kathairos Solutions reaches major methane milestone. Kathairos eliminates methane venting on remote wells by using liquid nitrogen — an inert, non-polluting fuel source — to operate pneumatic devices. Kathairos Solutions

• SkipTheDishes launches sustainable packaging pilot in Calgary with local company Earthware. The pilot aims to support Calgary restaurants looking to transition to reusable packaging through a convenient return-for-refund process leveraging Alberta bottle depots. SkipTheDishes

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