The Retail Times is a weekly newsletter covering retail tech news from Canada and around the globe.
Subscribe to R|T using the form at the bottom of this page to ensure you don’t miss out on the most important retail tech news every week!
Shopify appoints former UberEATS exec Ian Black as Director of Retail (BETAKIT)
Black will be leading the business and go-to-market strategy for Shopify Retail in Toronto.
DMS Recommends: Digital Transformation Grant Program Interest Ramps Up Fast – Apply Today! (DMS)
Through the recently announced Digital Transformation Grant Program, there are 2,000 Digital Transformation Grants of $2,500 being awarded until March 2020 to qualifying main street small businesses to help them invest in digital technologies and training to compete and grow. Do not miss out on your opportunity to potentially receive a Digital Transformation Grant to assist your business! Apply today before they are gone.
Walmart adds four grocery delivery partners (TECHCRUNCH)
Customers likely won’t notice, or care, which delivery partner shows up to the door with their groceries. All that matters, and all that Walmart is trying to do, is get you your food in a timely manner, wherever you are.
WeedMD and BLOCKStrain announce cannabis strain verification program (BETAKIT)
WeedMD says it is the first licensed producer in the world to implement strain verification into its sales program.
Agritech startup WayCool to expand to South, West India with $16.9M funding (INC42)
WayCool is an omni-channel food distribution platform leveraging innovative technology to scale-up and operate a complex supply chain.
Shopify’s largest app developer raises $22 million to build the middleware for all e-commerce (BETAKIT)
Winnipeg’s Bold Commerce just might be Canada’s next e-commerce tech darling.
Indonesian e-commerce unicorn Bukalapak raises $50M (TECHCRUNCH)
The funding comes from the Mirae Asset-Naver Asia Growth Fund, a joint vehicle operated by Korean mutual fund Mirae Asset and Naver, the firm whose businesses include popular messaging service Line.
Pensa Systems raises $5M in funding (FINSMES)
Pensa Systems, which delivers a scalable system that automatically and systematically tracks in-store inventory, raised the funding from Sigma Venture Partners, with participation from others.
Following Sleep Country acquisition, Endy’s founders want to stay independent and Canadian (BETAKIT)
“We will continue making our mattress in Canada. That’s a really important part of our DNA.”
With $7M Series B funding, Instamojo looks to triple growth, double manpower (INC42)
Founded in 2012 as a side project, Instamojo offers independent merchants the means to operate a mobile-optimized storefront, collect payment and even take micro-loans.
Alibaba taps Kabbage to loan up to $150K to SMBs after it quietly acquired OpenSky to ramp in North America (TECHCRUNCH)
Kabbage provides loans to SMBs using big data and machine learning to determine eligibility faster than a traditional bank lender, to provide up to $150,000 of financing at the point of sale on Alibaba.com as part of a new program called Pay Later.
