The SaaS Weekly is a weekly newsletter covering major SaaS news from Canada and around the globe.
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Jeanne Lam named first president of Wattpad (BETAKIT)
Wattpad executive Jeanne Lam has taken on the role of president, the first in the company’s history as it reports “a period of explosive growth” following its acquisition by Naver.
Women in Tech Hiring Event
VanHack’s Women in Tech hiring event starts September 21st. In our last event, 30+ companies made over 700 connections, leading to 20+ women getting hired within days. Attending our event will provide companies who are struggling to find senior talent an opportunity to connect with dozens of female senior developers within one day.
Sign up for our event and find your next hire with VanHack!
Apple must allow other forms of in-app purchase, rules judge in Epic v. Apple (THE VERGE)
The ruling is likely to have significant impacts outside of Apple.
Clio acquires San Francisco’s Lawyaw as it ramps up merger and acquisition efforts (BETAKIT)
The increase in M&A activity follows $136 million CAD in Series E capital raised earlier this year, which gave Clio a $1.6 billion USD valuation.
Snyk snags another $530M as valuation rises to $8.5B (TECHCRUNCH)
The long list of investors includes an interesting mix of public investors, VC firms and strategics.
Traction on Demand acquires New Zealand’s Trineo to create 24-hour work cycle (BETAKIT)
ToD’s presence in Asia Pacific dates back to 2019 when it expanded into Sydney, Australia.
Brazil’s president bans social networks from removing some posts (NEW YORK TIMES)
The new rules in Brazil appear to be the first national policy that restricts how tech companies can control their sites, analysts say.
Shopify makes strategic investment in Israeli ecommerce marketing startup Yotpo with new partnership (BETAKIT)
Yotpo is just the latest Shopify investment as the Ottawa-based company races to bulk up its ecosystem with both funds and acquisitions.
Geely’s ride-hailing unit Cao Cao Mobility raises $589M Series B to upgrade tech and expand fleet (TECHCRUNCH)
This raise comes amid troubles for Cao Cao’s biggest competitor, Didi Global, the Chinese ride-hailing app that’s currently under cybersecurity investigation by the Chinese government and has been temporarily removed from Chinese app stores causing stocks to plummet.
Creative Layer secures backing from Shopify CEO, Celtic House for personalized printing platform for Shopify creators (BETAKIT)
The Ottawa-based company has already secured $3 million in seed funding led by Shopify co-founder and CEO Tobi Lütke and Celtic House Venture Partners, both of whom previously invested in Canvaspop.
How Facebook undermines privacy protections for its 2 billion WhatsApp users (PRO PUBLICA)
WhatsApp assures users that no one can see their messages — but the company has an extensive monitoring operation and regularly shares personal information with prosecutors.
Canadian tech leaders want more government guidance before returning to the office (BETAKIT)
At a recent panel for BetaKit Patreon supporters, a trio of Canadian tech’s people leaders said companies need more government leadership regarding how to navigate vaccination policies and mandates in the workplace.
Raising $250 million, the leading Future of Work startup has increased valuation 10x in one year (FORBES)
Papaya’s valuation has increased tenfold since September 2020.
Benevity and Unbounce make executive additions (BETAKIT)
Benevity has hired former Adobe executive Scott Lee as its first CPO, while Unbounce hires Greg Dos Santos as CFO.
The downside to surveilling your neighbors (THE MARKUP)
In one town, police say products like Nextdoor and Ring are helping fight crime. But racism and vigilantism are pervasive on safety platforms.
Toronto tech smashed venture funding records in Q2 with $1.46 billion raised
Toronto was one of four Canadian tech markets to set funding records in Q2 2021, along with BC, Waterloo Region, and Montréal (Calgary? Not so much). The quarter helped push H1 investment to its highest levels.