Small Business (SMB) stories - Page 5

Ahead of International Women's Day, new research exposes how shattered confidence, bias and complexity fuel a stubborn credit gap for women.

From runway to boardroom, Australia's pageant stage doubles as a high-stakes PR lab for purpose-driven personal branding in 2026.

Acronis finds SMBs patch Microsoft flaws in about eight days, but the slowest endpoints stay exposed to known bugs for over five weeks.

Women now outnumber men in Canadian post-secondary study, yet remain sidelined in STEM and AI roles, threatening innovation and competitiveness.

Canada's tech leaders say closing the gender gap in STEM is vital to ethical AI and digital growth, urging targeted support for women.

Vistra and G-P unveil a single-contract route to shift firms smoothly from EOR hiring to fully fledged entities in overseas markets.

Ottawa is investing CAD $8.5M in 40 Atlantic Canada projects to speed AI adoption, boost exports and drive regional productivity gains.

Mastercard opens 2026 fund in Canada, offering CAD $10,000 grants and support to help women-owned small firms grow amid economic uncertainty.

Canadian small business sales sank 4.1% in late 2025, the sharpest quarterly slump since 2020, as uncertainty and supply shocks hit demand.

Proofpoint launches AI-first Nuclei suite to simplify archiving and compliance for small firms swamped by complex, multi-channel comms.

ECI names Jack Wood chief technology officer to spearhead platform modernisation and embed secure, workflow-native AI across its products.

Canadian firms are harnessing AI and efficiency to turn tariff shocks and labour shortages into a new edge: resilience-driven growth.

ECI acquires Drypowder to embed AI-driven AR and digital payments into its ERP platforms for construction and building materials users.

Rainforest adds PayPal, Venmo and PayPal Pay Later to its unified checkout for vertical software, aiming to shift users from cash and cheques.

Google is rolling out Nano Banana 2 across Gemini, Search, Ads and Cloud, making its faster image model the default in key AI products.

Tech communications win trust when diverse voices shape stories around outcomes and lived experience, not just logic and specs.

Blackline Safety fits sniffer dogs with GPS gas monitors, pairing canine noses with connected tech to track leaks for rural utilities.

AI-fuelled cyber threats are outpacing reactive defences, N-able warns, urging smaller firms to prioritise resilience over traditional security.

Tariff hikes, AI adoption and regional supply chains are redrawing global trade as firms diversify sourcing and tighten working capital.

ShiftCare nets over USD $20,000 from Xero referrals after baking accounting recommendations into onboarding and in-app workflows.