2020 Year in Review
This has been a year like no other.. Here’s what kept our team going in 2020:
GROWTH AND RECOGNITION
- Fast Company award for the team. Highline Beta was selected as one of the Best Workplaces for Innovators by Fast Company, alongside Shopify and RBC Ventures.
- Investments! We have made several investments this year (some we haven’t yet announced!) Highline Beta invested in ChargeLab, EV charging infrastructure for everyone, and in Aifred Health to support its mission of improving clinical decision making for mental health. Our portfolio company Relay, which secured US$3M in funding from Fortune-500 American Family Insurance, Highline Beta, NFP Ventures, Plug and Play Ventures this year, was selected for 2020 InsurTech100. Another portfolio company Moselle has rounded off the year as a winner of the Emerging Lending Platform of the Year by the Canadian Lenders Association.
- Team. We continued to grow, and have welcomed new team members to Highline Beta, including Andrea Poptsis joined Highline Beta as VP Operations and Finance and Sebastian Boisjoly joined Highline Beta as Executive Director, Montreal.
CASE STUDIES
- AB InBev: Creating a sustainable future with AB InBev through corporate-startup collaboration
- American Family: How American Family Insurance partnered with Highline Beta to build Relay Platform
- Aviva Canada: How MicroTraffic leveraged Safe x Connected Cities Accelerator to launch a national road safety pilot
- Venture Studio: Building Moselle: A Story of Startup Co-Creation
- The Brief History of Relay Platform: From deep dive with AmFam to spinning out and closing $3M in funding
ACCELERATOR PROGRAMS
- Intuit Canada launched the Intuit Prosperity Accelerator with Highline Beta to power future-forward financial prosperity for Canadians and announced the inaugural cohort
- Highline Beta and Aviva Canada announced the inaugural Safe x Connected Cities Accelerator startups
- Safe x Connected Cities launched in partnership with Aviva Canada, focused on road safety is now accepting applications for the second cohort.
- 100+ Accelerator hit another milestone, with 13 startups in its second cohort. Read about AB InBev’s 100+ Sustainability Accelerator Demo Day.
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP IN THE TIMES OF COVID
- Don’t Panic. Highline Beta’s 7 recommendations for startups on what to do in this COVID-19 crisis
- Crisis Manifesto: How retail will change post-Coronavirus report
- Crisis Manifesto: How Insurance Will Change Post-COVID
- Crisis Manifesto: Innovation Opportunities in Payments post-COVID
- State of Innovation survey | Innovation Leader: Stormy seas, but a continued commitment to innovation
TOP POSTS
- Making Corporate and Startup Collaboration Work: 5 suggestions to accelerate new business partnerships
- How to manage an innovation portfolio with ZX Ventures
- How Citi is creating seamless customer experiences
- Innovation in Payments interview series with RBC, Interac, Revolut, our portfolio company BanQu, Dr. Bill, Bidali, and Sensibill
- Work remotely, stay productive: 7 useful tools for remote work
- Starting a new role in the time of COVID-19
- How do startups and big companies work together? On the Origin and Evolution of Highline Beta
IN THE NEWS
- Fast Company | Best Workplaces for Innovators
- CBC News | Highline Beta Grows Into Quebec
- Finance et Investissement | Highline Beta ouvre un bureau à Montréal
- BetaKit | Pilots Over Pitches: How To Accelerate Growth Through Corporate-startup Collaboration
- BetaKit | Out-collaborate Your Competition: The Growth Formula For Fintechs
- Toronto Star | Six things Canadian corporations should be doing to help startups thrive
- Innovation Leader | Three Common Pitfalls When Building New Ventures Within a Large Company
- Forbes | Brands Must Step Up And Support Small Businesses During Crisis Recovery
