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!
Flashfood secures $12.3 million Series A to expand discounted food marketplace in the US (BETAKIT)
Opentable founder and S2G Ventures managing director Chuck Templeton will join Flashfood’s board of directors.
Fanatics raises $1.5 billion at $27 billion valuation (WALL STREET JOURNAL)
Investors in the latest round include Fidelity Management & Research, funds managed by BlackRock and Michael Dell’s family office.
Shopify platforms acquirer WeCommerce to purchase KnoCommerce for $2.6 million CAD (BETAKIT)
Created in 2019, WeCommerce is an acquirer of Shopify partner ecosystem companies. It focuses mainly on SaaS, digital goods, and businesses that build apps and themes.
Shopify removes most ‘pirated’ content in copyright lawsuit (THE CANADIAN PRESS)
Shopify says less than two per cent of merchants who have been targeted with takedown requests remain active on the e-commerce platform.
Canadian venture capital investment hits all-time high of $14.2 billion in 2021 (BETAKIT)
Canadian venture capital (VC) investment hit an astounding mark this past year, increasing 215 percent from 2020. VC investment in 2021 hit $14.2 billion, following a trend of record years for venture investment that blew all past years out of the water.
Shopify doubles down on ‘pay isn’t everything’ approach (THE INFORMATION)
In the mind of Shopify CEO Tobias Lütke, working at the e-commerce firm shouldn’t be about making lots of money. Lately, that’s been a reality for at least some employees.
Five tips for startups exploring buy now, pay later (BETAKIT)
PwC’s Andrew Popliger examines Buy Now, Pay Later’s digital adoption and shares tips for startups to ensure their BNPL experience is future-proof.
Weee! delivers second big funding round in a year, this time backed by SoftBank (TECHCRUNCH)
This new monster round not only comes about a year after the company’s $316 million Series D round last March, but boosts Weee!’s valuation to $4.1 billion.
We need to keep talking about founder mental health (BETAKIT)
Eigenspace co-founder Jesse Rodgers emphasizes the need for founders to talk about mental health, and shares tips on where to get support.
Zip to buy Sezzle as pressures weigh on BNPL sector (CRUNCHBASE)
The proposed acquisition is the latest in the buy now, pay later space, which is showing signs of maturation after investors poured billions of dollars into funding companies that offer such services.
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.
Amazon is shutting 68 retail stores, ending Amazon Books, 4-star and Pop Up shops (CNBC)
Over the years, Amazon has launched an array of brick-and-mortar concepts, from supermarkets to retail stores. But sales growth of the physical stores unit has noticeably lagged the company’s overall retail business. Elsewhere, Amazon reportedly plans to initiate criminal court proceedings against its Indian partner Future Retail for allowing the transfer of assets to a major rival despite a legal prohibition.
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.”
Epic Games acquires Bandcamp as ‘Fortnite’ maker expands into music (VARIETY)
Video-game developer Epic Games announced that it has bought Bandcamp, the online music store and community geared around independent musicians.
