Category: Finance

by Chief Financial Officer Chia-Hua (Phyllis) Chen Last time, I talked about the growth mirage—when impressive metrics hide unsustainable costs. This time, let’s talk about another illusion: the illusion of speed. In startups, speed is celebrated. “Move fast and break things” sounds heroic—but in AI EdTech, moving fast without reflection often means breaking trust. Every model retrain…

by BrainStream Chief Marketing Officer Ya-Hui (Laura) Kao In my last post, I explored AI in content marketing. Today, I’d like to share news that’s highly relevant to our industry: the B.C. government will increase the Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit (IDMTC) from 17.5% to 25%, effective September 2025, and make it permanent. This is…

by Chief Financial Officer Chia-Hua (Phyllis) Chen Last month I talked about the infrastructure cost trap. Since then, I’ve had more conversations with early-stage AI EdTech founders, and another theme keeps coming up. It’s what I call the growth mirage. Here’s the scene: a founder is thrilled because their DAU and MAU are climbing fast. The…

by BrainStream Chief Marketing Officer Ya-Hui (Laura) Kao Exciting news for the interactive tech industry: on July 7, 2025, B.C. officially announced that the Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit (IDMTC) will increase from 17.5% to 25% and become permanent, effective September 1, 2025. 📄 Official announcement: B.C. Government 📊 Industry source: Creative BC This initiative aims to…

by Chief Financial Officer Chia-Hua (Phyllis) Chen AI has lowered the barrier to entry in education tech—but it’s also quietly raised the bar for sustainability. In recent months, I’ve spoken with multiple early-stage AI EdTech founders. There’s a common thread: infrastructure is treated as a technical concern, not a strategic one. That’s a mistake. The Hidden…