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theScore is ready for mobile sports betting to come to Ontario (BETAKIT)
Today, theScore is betting that its decades-long history with Ontario sports fans will give it a home-field advantage as the province opens up single-game sports betting to licensed private operators on April 4. The move, which will create the fifth-largest sports betting market in the U.S. and Canada, comes less than a year after the federal government passed legislation to legalize single-event sports betting.
Why Today’s Buy Now, Pay Later Shoppers Crave Choice at the Checkout: BNPL is the fastest growing eCommerce payment method worldwide, and there’s a new trend emerging. Enter multi-app.
Check out the latest from Zip Canada to learn more about the fast emerging consumer imperative with serious FOMO.
Food Delivery Stocks Lose $24 Billion in Just Three Months (BNN BLOOMBERG)
In a market gripped by concerns over rising interest rates and soaring inflation, investors are avoiding European food delivery companies, turned off by their steep losses and determined efforts to expand.
Bonsai closes $21 million to scale embedded commerce solution for publishers like BuzzFeed, Vox (BETAKIT)
Launched in 2016 as a men’s streetwear shopping and news app, Bonsai shifted into a commerce tech company for media publishers in 2020. Bonsai founder and CEO Saad Siddiqui called the startup’s latest financing “evidence that the pivot worked.”
Meet 34 members of the ‘Shopify Mafia’ who embraced the e-commerce giant’s entrepreneurial spirit and launched their own companies (BUSINESS INSIDER)
A number of former Shopify employees — members of the so-called “Shopify Mafia” — have gone on to found or focus full time on startups of their own, from direct-to-consumer snack brands to software companies focused on parenting, renting, and the creator economy. Like the “Paypal Mafia” before them, many of these former employees have gone on to become influential figures in the startup world.
Uber Eats alum, Top Chef finalist secure backing for Spatula Foods to serve Canadians flash-frozen gourmet meals (BETAKIT)
With a list of investors that includes senior executives from HelloFresh and Goodfood, Spatula has announced the launch of its subscription service in Toronto. The startup is looking to tackle what CEO Ian Weng sees as “a new category” in the country’s food service space.
Why Stripe’s ‘Fast’ Horse is losing the one-click checkout race (THE INFORMATION)
Stripe-backed Fast has been slow to grow its one-click checkout business and is far behind rivals, generating around only $600,000 in revenue last year. After struggling to raise fresh funding, The Information has reported that Fast is seeking a buyer.
Antitrust bill targeting Amazon, Google, Apple gets support from DOJ (WALL STREET JOURNAL)
“The Department views the rise of dominant platforms as presenting a threat to open markets and competition, with risks for consumers, businesses, innovation, resiliency, global competitiveness, and our democracy,” says a letter to bipartisan leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee, signed by Peter Hyun, the Justice Department’s acting assistant attorney general for legislative affairs.
Our Lady Peace’s Raine Maida says creators can’t afford “not to take advantage” of Web3, NFTs (BETAKIT)
At a recent event for BetaKit Patreon supporters, Our Lady Peace frontman Raine Maida and Horizon Blockchain Games co-founder and chief storyteller Michael Sanders discussed how NFTs could change the world of entertainment.
Etsy sellers will go on strike in April and want customers to boycott (THE VERGE)
In February, Etsy CEO Josh Silverman had good news to share with investors: sales and revenue were at an all-time high, sending Etsy stock soaring. At the same time, Silverman had less welcome news for sellers, delivered via email: transaction fees were going up, from 5 percent to 6.5 percent, or a 30 percent increase, beginning April 11th.
MaxSold raises $16.1 million to expand online auctioning platform (BETAKIT)
Kingston-based MaxSold secured $11.1 million in a Series B investment round led by new investor Framework Venture Partners with participation from existing investor Canadian Business Growth Fund. MaxSold also received $5 million in growth capital from Silicon Valley Bank.
Gopuff cuts 3% of global workforce, more than 400 employees, in restructuring (BUSINESS INSIDER)
The layoffs affected the corporate side as well as its warehouse operations and comes as the company insinuates IPO ambitions but has no plans to go public in the near term.
Live shopping marketplace ShopThing secures $10 million Series A round (BETAKIT)
Marking its first round of institutional funding, ShopThing intends to scale across new categories, markets, and product development. The company also plans to fuel its growth in user adoption, retail partnerships and with the content creator economy.
‘Apparel is hard’: Why VC funding has moved on from traditional clothing startups (MODERN RETAIL)
In the early aughts, e-commerce apparel startups became venture capital darlings as more investor money flowed into direct-to-consumer startups. But some of these startups have since fallen out of fashion. Apparel brand Nasty Gal raised $65 million in VC funding from 2006 to 2016. However, it declared bankruptcy in 2017 after burning through capital on marketing, luxury offices and brick-and-mortar stores.
Online shopping in the middle of the ocean (REST OF WORLD)
E-commerce giants don’t reliably deliver to the remote islands of French Polynesia, so locals made their own online shopping service.
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