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Hopper continues acquisition spree with Parisian airline travel tech Smooss (BETAKIT)
“What the Smooss team has that we don’t have is they have a deep understanding of the passenger service system,” said Frederic Lalonde, CEO and co-founder of Hopper, in an interview with BetaKit.
Carvana acquires Adesa US auction business for $2.2B to jump-start used car sales (TECHCRUNCH)
The acquisition announcement, which was made alongside a fourth-quarter earnings report, marks a transition for the pure online business into a more traditional physical car dealer.
Aviron scores $23.6 million CAD Series A round to make rowing fun (BETAKIT)
The Toronto-based fitness tech startup combines gaming with high-intensity interval training, describing its offering as a “gaming-led, smart rowing machine.”
Canadian tech firms with Ukraine offices struggling to get employees out of country as Russian forces advance (THE GLOBE AND MAIL)
Canadian tech firms with offices and employees in Ukraine are trying to help staff flee the country amid the intensifying Russian invasion, but efforts to get them access to Canada have so far largely gone nowhere. The war has had wide-ranging impacts on Ukraine’s tech ecosystem. Many commonly used products and technologies have Ukrainian roots. The country also houses a booming tech outsourcing sector that has been put at risk by the ongoing conflict.
Former Bench CEO Ian Crosby joins Shopify Balance as product director (BETAKIT)
The move comes just over a month after Crosby left Vancouver accounting software startup Bench, which he co-founded and led as CEO for over a decade.
Italy gets its first unicorn as Scalapay raises $497m from Tencent (SIFTED)
Scalapay lured in an all-star group of foreign investors, with China’s Tencent and New York’s Willoughby Capital leading the round.
Klarna to open offices in Toronto, Vancouver, Québec as company expands service to Canada (BETAKIT)
Klarna plans to bolster the tech hub by hiring more than 500 engineers by 2025, and opening offices in Vancouver and Québec.
E-commerce firm Bloomreach attains $2.2 billion value in funding (BNN BLOOMBERG)
Bloomreach said it has raised $175 million in a funding round led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management, giving the e-commerce software business a $2.2 billion valuation.
Alibaba shares slip after it reports slowest ever revenue growth and misses expectations (CNBC)
The 10% revenue growth is the slowest quarterly year-on-year growth rate for the company since its 2014 U.S. listing.
Busbud closes $14 million CAD, acquires Recorrido to fuel Latin American expansion (BETAKIT)
After adjusting its approach due to the pandemic, Montréal-based travel tech startup Busbud sees room to grow south of the equator. The Canadian firm has secured $14 million CAD in equity funding led by Wind Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Chilean energy firm COPEC, and acquired Chile-based intercity bus marketplace Recorrido to support its Latin American expansion plans.
E-commerce startup Fabric, led by Amazon vets, raises $140M at $1.5B valuation to pursue ‘absurd’ market opportunity (GEEKWIRE)
The deal makes Fabric the Seattle area’s newest “unicorn,” a privately held startup valued at more than a billion dollars. It’s the 18th company in the region to achieve that designation.
Givex acquires Loyalty Lane to expand customer relationship management platform (BETAKIT)
Givex, whose shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, said the addition of Loyalty Lane supports Givex’s expansion into the grocery, convenience store, fuel pump, and consumer channels in the United States and Canada.
Etsy shares rise on strong sales report (WALL STREET JOURNAL)
The crafts-focused online marketplace has benefited from shopping trends during the pandemic.