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Food delivery apps rack up $20bn in losses in fierce battle for diners
Leading online food delivery groups in Europe and the US have racked up more than $20bn in combined operating losses since they went public, after a fierce battle for market share.
Shares in Deliveroo, Just Eat Takeaway, Delivery Hero and DoorDash — the four largest standalone, publicly listed food-delivery businesses in the US and Europe — are all trading well below their pandemic-era peaks, as investors scrutinise their business models.
“Investors’ willingness to fund losses has changed” and they now want food delivery businesses to “demonstrate sustainable, profitable growth” after a rise in interest rates, said UBS analyst Jo Barnet-Lamb.
Fading 2023 VC performance underscores Canadian tech market’s “vulnerability,” BDC reports
Last year marked a “repeat year of recalibration” for Canada’s venture capital market as the industry continues to normalize following a record 2021, according to a study from the investment arm of the Business Development Bank of Canada.
Per BDC Capital’s latest Canadian VC landscape report, 2023 also saw softening returns amid a proliferation of down rounds (a round of financing at a lower valuation than a company’s previous round) and markdowns for Canadian technology firms.
(BetaKit)
Hackers Claim Ticketmaster Data Breach: 560M Users’ Info for Sale at $500K
The notorious hacker group ShinyHunters has claimed to have breached the security of Ticketmaster-Live Nation, compromising the personal data of a whopping 560 million users. This massive 1.3 terabytes of data, is now being offered for sale on Breach Forums for a one-time sale for $500,000.
ShinyHunters has allegedly accessed a treasure trove of sensitive user information, including full names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, ticket sales and event details, order information, and partial payment card data. Specifically, the compromised payment data includes customer names, the last four digits of card numbers, expiration dates, and even customer fraud details.
(Hackread)
Toronto’s lead over other Canadian cities continues to widen in new startup ecosystem rankings
StartupBlink’s Global Startup Ecosystem Index for 2024, released this week, ranks the strength of startup ecosystems for both countries and cities. StartupBlink ranks ecosystems based on an algorithm that assesses three key measures: the quantity of startups and supporting organizations, the quality of startups and support organizations, and the business environment of each ecosystem.
Toronto’s score is currently almost double that of the second-highest-ranked Canadian ecosystem: Vancouver, which ranks 40th in the world. In a statement, StartupBlink noted the gap in total scores between Toronto and other Canadian cities is widening. However, Vancouver still managed to increase its position by one point this year.
(BetaKit)
PayPal Is Planning an Ad Business Using Data on Its Millions of Shoppers
PayPal hopes to boost its growth by starting an ad network juiced with something it already owns: data on its millions of users.
The digital payments company plans to build an ad sales business around the reams of data it generates from tracking the purchases as well as the broader spending behaviors of millions of consumers who use its services, which include the more socially-enabled Venmo app.
Genesys, Longbow and others recognized for big exits at 2024 CVCA awards
The Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (CVCA) announced the winners of its annual Deal of the Year, Private Capital Regional Impact, and Ted Anderson Community Leadership awards this morning at the Invest Canada ’24 conference in Montréal.
Toronto-based Genesys Capital won the 2024 VC Deal of the Year award for its investment in Montréal-based Inversago Pharma, while Calgary’s Longbow Capital was recognized with the PE Deal of the Year for its investment in hydrogen and natural gas distributor Certarus.
(BetaKit)
How Shein and Temu Snuck Up on Amazon
In the fall of 2020, Amazon looked unstoppable. The pandemic lockdowns had supercharged its e-commerce business, and executives were busy hiring an army of new workers and expanding the number of Amazon fulfillment warehouses across the US. But the tech giant would soon face the biggest threat to its online shopping empire in recent memory, and it would come from an unlikely place: China.
Elevate reveals speakers, content tracks ahead of 2024 tech festival
Elevate Festival has revealed its lineup of speakers and content tracks for its 2024 event.
Attendees can expect a few new features at this year’s conference, including a new pub crawl, different content tracks, and expansion of the Women+ in Tech program, which offers access to a lounge, networking opportunities, evening events, and a chance to pitch on stage.
(BetaKit)
Indigo shareholders vote in favour of privatization sale to companies owned by CEO’s spouse
Indigo Books & Music Inc. shareholders have voted to approve a deal that will see the retailer become a private company.
Shareholders voted Monday in favour of a $2.50 per share offer from Trilogy Retail Holdings Inc. and Trilogy Investments L.P., which already held a 56 per cent stake in Indigo.
Indigo is still recovering from a cyber attack that downed its website for a lengthy period last year, a series of quarterly losses leading up to a January layoff, and a succession of changes that saw four of 10 board members depart last year with one claiming mistreatment and “a loss of confidence in board leadership.”
(CBC)
When the classroom works to scale
Last month, Amanda Fong found herself in Santiago, Chile, presenting a benchmarking analysis to the CEO and management team of a local agriculture-focused venture capital firm.
Originally from Ottawa and now settled in Toronto, Fong has a commerce degree and work experience as a Product Manager for the PC Health portfolio at Loblaw Companies Limited. But she found herself on a two-week study tour of Peru and Chile as part of an optional course in her MBA in Technology Leadership, offered by the Schulich School of Business at York University.
“The pace of change in the business world is unprecedented,” she explained. “To remain competitive and effective, I knew I needed to invest in myself, continually develop my skills, and challenge the status quo.”
(BetaKit)
WeWork to exit bankruptcy after judge approves restructuring plan
A U.S. bankruptcy judge on Thursday approved WeWork’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan, allowing the shared office space provider to eliminate $4 billion in debt and hand the company’s equity over to a group of lenders and real estate technology company Yardi Systems.
Flexible workspace provider WeWork expanded at breakneck speed, opening its first location in 2011 and hitting its peak with a $47 billion US valuation in January 2019. But the company racked up steep losses on its over-extended real estate portfolio before filing for bankruptcy protection in November 2023.
(CBC)
Ecosystem Spotlight: Alberta tech is striking gold
Less than a decade ago, Alberta’s global reputation had little to do with its tech ecosystem. But according to Joe Timlin, Managing Director at CIBC Innovation Banking, the province is quickly emerging as a key destination for investment and impact.
“We’ve just seen the ecosystem mature to the point where a number of name brand venture capital and private equity firms have done their first investments in Alberta, and now I think they’re eager to do more after seeing the opportunity set there,” Timlin told BetaKit.
(BetaKit)
What’s good, readers?
It’s time to tell us what you think! We’re checking in with the BetaKit community as the Collision conference rolls into Toronto for its 5th year. Let us know if you’re going, which speakers you’d most like to see on stage and share your recommendations for tech sector visitors to Toronto during the conference.
We’ll use anonymized data to inform our upcoming coverage. Your insights are important to us, so complete our quick BetaKit survey here.
Photo courtesy of DoorDash.
