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Shipfusion secures $51.2 million CAD to expand warehouse network to Dallas, New Jersey (BETAKIT)
Toronto-based fulfillment tech startup Shipfusion has secured $51.2 million CAD ($40 million USD) in a growth equity investment from Kayne Partners. As part of this financing, Leon Chen of Kayne Partners will join Shipfusion’s board of directors.
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Amazon’s new Buy with Prime feature is a jab at Shopify and a ‘double-edged sword’ for retailers, analysts say (BUSINESS INSIDER)
With this announcement, the e-commerce giant is making a play to strengthen its relationships with smaller, direct-to-consumer brands and attempting to retain a competitive edge over other e-commerce platforms like Shopify.
Bonsai lays off a third of employees shortly after $21 million Series A, citing shift to growth strategy (BETAKIT)
Embedded commerce startup Bonsai has laid off 29 employees (about 34 percent of its team) less than a month after securing $21 million in Series A capital. The move was a proactive one, according to Bonsai CEO Saad Siddiqui, who told BetaKit that the staff cuts eliminated certain product and engineering teams in order to focus on customer acquisition.
Reliance calls off $3.4 billion deal with Future Group (TECHCRUNCH)
Reliance Industries “cannot implement” its $3.4 billion deal to acquire core parts of retail chain Future Group after the latter’s secured creditors rejected the offer earlier this week, India’s most valuable firm said in a stock exchange filing on Saturday.
Payment Startup Bolt Sued by Its Most Prominent Customer (BNN BLOOMBERG)
Bolt Financial Inc., the payments startup known for its founder’s inflammatory Twitter threads claiming Silicon Valley is run by “mob bosses,” is being sued by its most prominent customer.
Startup Genome ranks Vancouver, Toronto-Waterloo among top global AgTech, new food ecosystems (BETAKIT)
Vancouver ranked ninth overall, while the Toronto-Waterloo corridor, which Startup Genome groups together as a single ecosystem, stacks up at 11th, according to the report. Notably, no Prairie-based startup ecosystems cracked Startup Genome’s list.
Meet Freshii’s new ‘virtual cashier’ — who works from Nicaragua for $3.75 an hour (THE TORONTO STAR)
Union leaders ‘disgusted’ as restaurant chain develops ‘labour optimization programs’ that outsource jobs to countries that pay less.
Later acquired by US influencer marketing platform Mavrck (BETAKIT)
Mavrck used part of a recent $135 million strategic investment round to fund the deal. The capital came from Summit Partners and represents a follow-on to the equity investor’s $120 million investment to Mavrck in December.
Walmart Canada is in dire need of a shakeup. Meet the guy who’s leading it (THE GLOBE AND MAIL)
When Walmart veteran Horacio Barbeito took over the retailer’s Canadian business, he found an operation in scorching need of change — one that’s going to cost $3.5 billion to pull off
How being open to feedback helped Stephany Lapierre scale TealBook (BETAKIT)
On the #CIBCInnovationEconomy podcast, Lapierre explained how feedback became critical to her success with TealBook and her response to critics who say she listens to too much feedback.
Food Rocket blasts off after securing funding, grocery delivery deal with Circle K parent (TECHCRUNCH)
Many grocery delivery startups begin small, in one city, building up locations to cater to a certain neighborhood. Food Rocket has taken an unconventional route, striking a funding deal with Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. that puts its 15-minute grocery delivery service in more than 14,000 Circle K convenience stores and Couche-Tard locations.
Amid rising competition with Amazon, Shopify reports 45 percent increase in economic activity fuelled by its merchants (BETAKIT)
According to Shopify’s 2021 Economic Impact Report, Shopify merchants supported five million jobs and drove more than $444 billion USD in global economic activity last year.
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