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As tech companies thrive in Toronto West, building community becomes top priority (BETAKIT)
As Toronto tech continues to refurbish, fill, and flourish inside the city’s old factory buildings, the integration of companies like Shopify alongside mom-and-pop shops creates a unique challenge for BIAs.
DMS Recommends: Mastercard’s Masterpass tackles small business painpoints (DMS)
After a restaurant client identified pain points surrounding the time it took for customers to get and pay their bill, Mastercard developed Qkr, the pay-at-table app to streamline the process and help small businesses do what they do best without the hang up.
iZettle expands from mobile payments into e-commerce and online sales for SMBs(TECHCRUNCH)
iZettle, the startup out of Sweden that has been referred to as the Square of Europe, is making a move that underscores a bigger strategy building on its traction with small businesses in mobile payments to expand into an ever-wider range of financial services to fill out its $950 million valuation.
Physical retail isn’t dead: it’s working with tech to be more human-focused(ADWEEK)
To understand the future of retail and its ever-evolving intersection with technology, look no further than Daft Punk.
Eventbrite acquires Spanish events player Ticketea (SILICONREPUBLIC)
The acquisition follows Eventbrite’s purchase of Dutch ticketing player Ticketscript in January last year, and will give the company greater exposure to music events in Europe.
The psychological impact of an $11 Facebook subscription(TECHCRUNCH)
Would being asked to pay Facebook to remove ads make you appreciate their value or resent them even more?
Why Hubba CEO Ben Zifkin thinks there are 25 potential billion dollar tech companies in Toronto(LINKEDIN)
In this wide-ranging conversation with NEO’s Julia Kassam, Zifkin explains why he thinks his company is not the only one prepping to be Toronto’s next big thing.
The founder of online luxury website Net-A-Porter is launching a $75 million VC fund for retail tech (BUSINESSINSIDER)
Net-A-Porter founder Natalie Massenet has raised $75 million(£52 million) to launch a new venture capital firm targeting retail technology.
Startupfest opens pitch applications, chance to win free airfare (BETAKIT)
Startups in the retail and AI spaces can also pitch at Element AI’s AIFest and its new CannabisFest.
eBay app uses barcode scanning to list your items in seconds (ENGADGET)
It’s usually a pain to list your goods on an auction or marketplace site, especially if it’s your first time. eBay, however, thinks it can cut the process down to a few taps.