Over the past few weeks, four Canadian tech startups have been involved in acquisitions, including Manifold, Navotar, ShipperBee, and FranchiseBlast. Here’s the latest on Canada’s movers and shakers.
Torstar acquires Guelph-based ShipperBee’s parcel delivery business
Metroland Parcel Services, a subsidiary of Torstar, has acquired the parcel delivery business of Guelph, Ont.-based shipping software startup ShipperBee. ShipperBee declined to disclose the financial terms of the deal to BetaKit.
Following the deal, ShipperBee will retain its intellectual property, parcel transfer mailbox network, and its team.
Founded in 2018 and led by CEO Jim Estill, ShipperBee offers a local package delivery system for retailers that skips distribution centers in order to save businesses money and reduce carbon emissions by 75 percent.
Following the deal, which closed this week, ShipperBee will retain its intellectual property, parcel transfer mailbox network, and team, according to the Toronto Star.
According to Paul Rivett, chair and co-owner of Torstar Corporation, the acquisition will expand Torstar’s footprint in the Greater Toronto Area and will improve its own parcel delivery service.
In November, Torstar first launched a parcel delivery service for retailers in Ontario. The company currently offers two to three-day and next-day delivery, real-time tracking, and photo delivery confirmation.
FranchiseBlast acquired by FranConnect
FranchiseBlast, a Quebec-based startup that offers a franchise management system, has been acquired by FranConnect, a United States-based firm. FranConnect declined to disclose the financial terms of the deal to BetaKit.
Following the deal, FranchiseBlast customers will be integrated into the FranConnect platform.
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Founded in 2007, FranchiseBlast has developed management software for franchise owners focused on field management, including site audits and self-assessments. The startup was founded in 2007 and was a member of 48 Hours in the Valley December 2013 cohort, C100’s flagship mentorship program.
FranConnect said in a statement, the acquisition is hoped to extend and enhance its own operations and performance management platform.
Ontario’s Navotar acquired by Montreal-based Valsoft
Montreal-based Valsoft Corporation, a firm that acquires and develops vertical market software companies, has acquired Navotar, a car rental software provider that offers solutions designed to automate fleet management.
Navotar aims to use technology to eliminate common issues faced by car rental businesses.
Navotar CEO Sanker Shivanathan declined to disclose the purchase price of the deal to BetaKit. According to a statement issued by Valsoft, the Navotar brand will continue under Valsoft, where the team will explore new opportunities for expansion across vehicle rental segments.
Founded in 2009, Navotar aims to use technology to eliminate common issues faced by car rental businesses. Product features include digitized damage assessment for rented cars, fast check-out and check-in, and secure payment processing. Clients include independent car rentals, body shops, dealerships, and franchise businesses.
In 2018, Valsoft acquired Bluebird Auto Rental Systems and Thermeon Worldwide, two other companies in the car rental industry. Valsoft said the acquisition of Navotar is the company’s third in the car rental space to date.
Snyk acquires Halifax-based Manifold
Halifax-based Manifold has been acquired by Snyk, an open-source security platform headquartered in London, England. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
According to an announcement from Manifold, the startup’s managed accounts, resources, and custom configurations will be shut down by April 26, 2021. Manifold’s team will work with Snyk to help accelerate the extensibility of Snyk’s platform with the goal of making it easier for the platform to “build upon and automate existing developer workflows.”
A statement from Snyk noted Manifold’s team is making “immediate contributions” to Snyk’s internal teams, particularly in the areas of product-led growth, platform extensibility, and partner integrations.
Founded in 2016, Manifold’s platform is aimed to reduce the complexity of building and deploying applications with microservices and third-party infrastructure services. The startup emerged from stealth in 2018 with $18.5 million CAD in funding and has team members based in San Francisco and Toronto.
Image source Unsplash. Photo by RoseBox.