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Vendasta lays off staff after the pandemic spurred fast-pace growth (BETAKIT)
“Now, valuations are based on companies growing profitably, and it is in everyone’s best interests that we adapt to this new reality,” said Brendan King, Vendasta CEO.
Vendasta refused to disclose the number of people it laid off to BetaKit, with director of brand and experience Nykea Marie Behiel noting: “The structural changes this week are a result of our ongoing process to ensure both our team and our investment match our strategy.”
Open Text shares sink in wake of US$2.1-billion acquisition of Micro Focus amid growth concerns (THE GLOBE AND MAIL)
Both companies offer business-to-business software increasingly delivered through the cloud, though their customer base has little overlap. Open Text chief executive officer Mark Barrenechea said in a Thursday conference call that his company could help Micro Focus’s business lines return to growth, though his comments were met with some skepticism.
Q4 Inc. lays off eight percent of staff to accelerate “path to profitability” (BETAKIT)
Q4 Inc. founder and CEO Darrell Heaps said the cost-cutting moves come in response to current market conditions, adding that it will help Q4 Inc. accelerate its path to profitability. The company is working to become cash flow and EBITDA positive by the second half of next year.
Qatar Leads Investment Round in Celonis at $13 Billion Valuation (BNN BLOOMBERG)
The company was valued at almost $13 billion as part of the round, which was sought amid rising demand for its data analysis products, Co-Chief Executive Officer Alex Rinke said in an interview. Worries about inflation and increasingly complex supply chains were driving new business, he said.
VendorPM secures $20 million Series A to expand US footprint (BETAKIT)
“This $20 million investment will ensure that as our users’ expectations increase, we continue to raise the bar, and set a new industry standard,” said Emiel Bril, founder and CEO of VendorPM.
Union worked with Uber to ensure Ontario government would not classify gig workers as employees, documents show (THE GLOBE AND MAIL)
The United Food and Commercial Workers, one of Canada’s most prominent private-sector unions, worked closely with representatives from Uber Technologies Inc. to ensure that app-based drivers and delivery workers in Ontario would not be granted employee status – a change that would have expanded their pay and benefits.
Benevity’s platform surpasses $10 billion in donations, brings on 124 clients (BETAKIT)
Of the $10 billion in donations recorded on Benevity’s platform, the company noted that $3.8 billion was donated by individuals and $6.3 billion came from companies. The average donation amount by individuals is less than $50, which Benevity said reflects broad grassroots engagement versus traditional high net-worth philanthropy.
Apple faces growing likelihood of DOJ antitrust suit (POLITICO)
Various groups of prosecutors inside DOJ are assembling the pieces for a potential lawsuit, the individual said, adding that the department’s antitrust division hopes to file suit by the end of the year.
Canadian tech companies continue to hire despite downturn – here’s an (incomplete) list (BETAKIT)
Over 300 companies have now added their job listings, indicating a strong and continued desire to hire #CDNtech talent.
The many hurdles life sciences startups must overcome to commercialize (BETAKIT)
A lot of fantastic innovations find their origins in lab environments, but a working experiment doesn’t easily translate to a commercialized product. Speaking with BetaKit, Muggah shared some common hurdles that life sciences startups face as they move from functioning ideas to marketable products.
Twitter loses another top tech executive as its battle with Elon Musk rages on (THE WALL STREET JOURNAL)
Sandeep Pandey, vice president of engineering at Twitter, is leaving after more than a decade. He joined in early 2012 as a staff engineer and worked his way up through the ranks, becoming director of engineering before being promoted to the VP level. His focus for the last few years been on machine learning, leading the “cortex” team at Twitter, which is heavily geared toward advertising and platform performance.
Jombone closes $3.3 million to modernize the blue-collar staffing industry (BETAKIT)
After establishing a presence across Canada and seeing strong growth during COVID-19, Toronto-based Jombone has secured $3.3 million CAD in seed funding to square off with legacy staffing giants and fuel its US expansion plans. Meanwhile, Vancouver-based BarrelWise has raised $3.1 million to modernize wine barrel managment.
Zoom’s post-pandemic slowdown keeps stock in check (BNN BLOOMBERG)
Analysts predict the video-conferencing company, which went public in 2019, will report its smallest-ever increase in quarterly revenue late Monday. And Zoom’s shares have missed the big rally in technology stocks since mid-June, dropping 7.8 per cent versus a 17 per cent surge for the Nasdaq 100 Index.
Amazon makes AWS EdStart accelerator available to Canadians, picks Springbay Studio as first participant (BETAKIT)
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has made its EdTech accelerator available to Canada in recent months, selecting Toronto game developer Springbay Studio as its first Canadian participant from the country. Meanwhile, Vancouver-based Blossom Social has been selected for Google’s latest Women Founders accelerator cohort.