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Ikea’s investment arm buys into Bolt Logistics as part of Series B round (BETAKIT)
Bolt Logistics (formerly Second Closet) has had a lightning-fast year, finding its niche in fulfillment and last-mile logistics, and securing $115 million CAD to scale that offering beyond Canada. The financing comes less than 10 months after the startup extended its Series A round with $20 million to support a shift away from self-storage.
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Finnish food delivery giant Wolt bought by US competitor DoorDash for €7bn (SIFTED)
US food delivery giant DoorDash has been hunting around Europe for competitors to buy for months, and it’s finally picked one: Finland’s Wolt.
US private equity firms make $300 million CAD strategic investment in Fullscript (BETAKIT)
Fullscript said the HGGC and Snapdragon investment is designed to help it expand its platform “across the patient treatment lifecycle.”
Rivian shares surge in largest U.S. IPO since 2014 (WALL STREET JOURNAL)
California-based Rivian, which has almost no revenue, went public on the Nasdaq this week amid investor excitement over electric vehicles (EVs), scoring a valuation of about $86 billion USD, higher than Ford Motor Co. and on par with General Motors.
Shopify, Ledger dodge class action as California court dismisses 2020 data breach lawsuit (BETAKIT)
A California court has dismissed a proposed class-action lawsuit against Shopify and Ledger over a 2020 Shopify data breach that impacted both companies, on jurisdictional grounds.
Amazon seeking to settle EU antitrust investigations, sources say (REUTERS)
Amazon is engaged in preliminary discussions with the EU competition enforcer and has offered concessions to address their concerns, the people said.
VerticalScope, E Automotive report strong Q3 results (BETAKIT)
Despite its strong Q3 earnings, VerticalScope’s e-commerce revenue declined by 27 percent, which the company attributed to “continued challenges from supply chain disruption, and inventory shortages.” Meanwhile, E Automotive said that as a result of organic growth and a trio of recent acquisitions,its revenue was up 108 percent year-over-year.
Indonesia’s tech giant GoTo Group raises $1.3 billion ahead of IPO plans (CNBC)
Backers include tech titans like Google and Tencent, Singapore state investor Temasek, Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Permodalan Nasional Berhad as well as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.
Calgary, the city that offered to fight a bear for Amazon HQ2, gets new Amazon data centre (BETAKIT)
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney called the announcement “the single largest investment in the Alberta tech sector in history,” adding that it would provide thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in investment in the province.
UK’s Zilch raises $80M at a $500M+ valuation for its direct-to-consumer buy now, pay later service (TECHCRUNCH)
BNPL is a payment scheme that has been around as long as stores themselves, but its emergence online has been more a later arrival.
HugOps: how to get developer and security teams working together (BETAKIT)
Cybersecurity leaders from Microsoft Canada, GitHub, and Ammolite Analytx join a recent BetaKit Live panel to discuss what’s causing the disconnect between developers and security.
How Alibaba tracks China’s delivery drivers (MIT TECHNOLOGY REVIEW)
The food delivery service Eleme, owned by Alibaba, built a Bluetooth tracking system to make “instant delivery” a reality.
Ecobee to be acquired by US-based Generac for $770 million (BETAKIT)
Generac Holdings is set to acquire Toronto smart thermostat startup Ecobee for up to $770 million USD. In an interview with BetaKit, Ecobee founder and CEO Stuart Lombard said the startup agreed to the deal given the two companies’ shared mission and the chance to leverage Generac’s energy products and global presence.