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Lightspeed Commerce makes gains in fiscal 2023, fourth quarter (BETAKIT)
Despite the better numbers, shareholders are still not pleased with the company’s performance. At presstime, shares in the TSX-listed Lightspeed had fallen by $2.83 CAD to $17.17, not far off of its 52-week low of $17.06.
Fashion Giant Shein Raises $2 Billion but Lowers Valuation by a Third (THE WALL STREET JOURNAL)
Shein, the online fashion company that won over millions of American shoppers during the pandemic, raised $2 billion in its latest fundraising round that values the company at $66 billion, about a third less than a year earlier.
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Tough Commerce raises $2 million to become Shopify for “complex” industries like construction (BETAKIT)
In this mission, the startup has rebranded from Brokrete to Tough Commerce and added former Shopify engineering lead Willem van Bergen as an investor and board member last year.
Some of Tough Commerce’s capabilities include order management, pricing management, logistics, e-ticketing, invoicing, customer portal, AR automation, and real-time delivery.
Restaurant365 gobbles up $135M to supersize its software for the food service industry (TECHCRUNCH)
Restaurant365, which develops all-in-one restaurant management software, announced $135 million in new funding co-led by KKR and L Catterton. Previous backers — specifically ICONIC Growth and Bessemer Venture Partners — are also participating in this round, which brings the total raised by the startup to $288 million.
Mayor Tory’s departure, competing bids, and financial pressure on province and feds place Collision’s future in Canada in doubt (BETAKIT)
While major North American tech conference Collision has privately communicated intentions to extend its Toronto stay by at least another year, no official agreement has been reached, BetaKit has learned. Securing that agreement might be harder than in years past.
The conference has upped its ask to north of $40 million CAD for an extended three-year stay, as five other cities vie to host the conference.
Fanatics buys PointsBet's U.S. business for $150M (AXIOS)
Fanatics, the sports merchandise giant valued at over $30 billion, has reached a deal to acquire the U.S. assets of PointsBet, an online sportsbook operator based in Australia.
The deal brings Fanatics further into the world of online sports betting as it gears up for a potential IPO.
Shopify claims best conversion rates among checkout solutions on the market (BETAKIT)
Shopify claims it has the best percentage of website visitors buying something, or conversion rates, among e-commerce companies that offer checkout solutions, citing a review by a management consulting firm. The Ottawa-based e-commerce giant also recently released its first report on the economic impact of its merchants, which found Canada ranks 12th globally.
TuSimple to lay off 30% of workforce, keep China business (TECHCRUNCH)
TuSimple, the once high-flying autonomous trucks company that went public in 2021, is restructuring and laying off about 30% of its global workforce as it works to preserve cash and stay in business.
The announcement early Thursday comes a week after the company disclosed that it received a delisting notice from the Nasdaq for failing to file its quarterly report on time.
CVCA: Canadian venture capital continues to fall back to pre-pandemic levels (BETAKIT)
While Canadian venture capital investment fell quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year, the amount invested is a return to pre-pandemic levels and sets the time period of 2021 to early 2022 as a potential outlier for Canadian venture capital.
How Inkbox CFO Louise Hucal handled the process of being acquired by a global corporation (BETAKIT)
Louise Hucal has worked in Fortune 500 companies and been involved in multiple M&A deals as an employee. However, pen maker Bic’s acquisition of temporary tattoo startup Inkbox felt more personal.
“We were not in the ‘be acquired’ head space at all at that point in time and were still comfortably funded by our venture partners," Hucal said.
Amazon Overhauls Delivery Network to Dispatch Packages Faster, More Cheaply (THE WALL STREET JOURNAL)
Amazon has upended its vast logistics network to reduce how far packages travel across the U.S. in an effort to get products to customers faster and improve profitability.
The company’s overhaul has cut delivery times, transformed inventory management and altered the search results customers see on its flagship e-commerce website.
Alberta’s tech sector remained resilient in first quarter of 2023 (BETAKIT)
According to briefed.in’s latest report, startups in Alberta raised $225.5 million in the first quarter of 2023. This represents a 30 percent increase in investment from the previous quarter and a 10 percent increase year-over-year.
African B2B e-commerce startup Sabi tops $300M valuation in new funding (TECHCRUNCH)
Sabi, a Lagos-based B2B e-commerce startup providing digital commerce infrastructure to Africa’s informal economy, has raised $38 million in Series B funding at a valuation of $300 million.
Québec attracted more venture funding than any other Canadian region in Q1 2023 (BETAKIT)
Despite seeing a decline in venture funding both quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year, Québec attracted more investment than any other Canadian region in the first quarter of 2023.
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