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Shopify plans to contest $40 million Express Mobile patent infringement verdict (BETAKIT)
In a verdict filed earlier this week, a Delaware, US jury has decided that the Ottawa-based e-commerce giant’s tech infringes upon three patents held by Express Mobile related to software for providing content to mobile devices.
Shopify warns merchants against using Amazon’s ‘Buy With Prime’ service (CNBC)
The e-commerce platform is warning merchants who try to install Amazon’s “Buy With Prime” button on their storefront that it violates Shopify’s terms of service, and is also raising the spectre of security risks, according to research firm Marketplace Pulse.
Five months in, details on Canada’s new Innovation and Investment Agency remain sparse (BETAKIT)
Since the budget announcement, the federal government has little to offer about what the agency will look like, its role, how it will work and, most importantly, whether it will work at all. Queries to the federal government only elicit vague statements about why the new agency is needed, but yield nothing concrete about its potential workings.
Amazon closes, abandons plans for dozens of U.S. warehouses (BNN BLOOMBERG)
Amazon, determined to reduce the size of its sprawling delivery operation amid slowing sales growth, has abandoned dozens of existing and planned facilities around the US, according to a closely watched consulting firm.
Meanwhile, a separate report has found the e-commerce giant is lagging its chief rival Flipkart in India.
Canadian tech companies continue to hire despite downturn – here’s an (incomplete) list (BETAKIT)
350 companies have now added their job listings, indicating a strong and continued desire to hire #CDNtech talent.
Gopuff Tries to Raise Money Again (THE WALL STREET JOURNAL)
Gopuff is seeking to borrow up to $300 million as a cash cushion, according to people familiar with its plans, as it tries to navigate slowing growth in its instant-delivery business, falling valuations for tech companies and a weakening economy.
The SoftBank Group Corp.-backed company is nearing an agreement with bankers to establish a credit line, known as a revolver loan, that will allow Gopuff to quickly borrow up to a certain amount of money when needed, the people said.
How startups can avoid the “Frankenstein data stack” trap (BETAKIT)
In the quest for speed, many startup founders cobble together multiple low-quality data sources, hoping it offers practical insight. This is a problem Peter Fishman, co-founder and CEO of Mozart Data, frequently saw at fast-growing startups in the Bay Area.
Myplanet raises $14 million CAD to become leader in emerging ‘composable commerce’ market (BETAKIT)
“We had this ‘aha’ moment back in 2019, where we realized that this category, composable commerce, was right at that tipping point of going to the mainstream,” Myplanet founder and CEO Jason Cottrell told BetaKit in an interview.
“The ecosystem was [becoming] more established, the core vendors were now raising their Series B [and] their Series C [rounds], and so, we kind of sat back and made what at the time was a risk risky bet, but now seems great in hindsight.”
300 Meesho Employees Reportedly Laid Off As Company Shutters Grocery Business In India (INDIA TIMES)
That same month, the company had laid off more than 150 employees, mostly from Farmiso, as it aimed to integrate its grocery business within the core application.
And before that, the social commerce platform had laid off more than 200 employees in the first wave of the pandemic. According to the Inc42 report, “Low revenue and a high cash burn was the reason behind the startup’s decision to wind up operations in most of the cities” this time.
Jombone closes $3.3 million to modernize the blue-collar staffing industry (BETAKIT)
According to Jombone co-founder and CEO Sumit Sahdev, the sector has been working “in an antiquated fashion” for decades, relying on inefficient, expensive, and highly manual processes to find, hire, manage, and pay workers.
“There has been no innovation in this industry for a very, very long time,” Sumit Sahdev told BetaKit in an interview.
GoTo Posts Wider Loss on Spending to Tap Ride, E-Commerce Demand (BNN BLOOMBERG)
The adjusted loss before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization was 4.14 trillion rupiah ($279 million), compared with a pro-forma loss of 3.9 trillion rupiah a year earlier, the Jakarta-based company said Tuesday. Gross revenue on a pro-forma basis rose 45% to 5.5 trillion rupiah, a sign that appetite for online services keeps increasing in Southeast Asia’s largest economy.
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