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Asian food delivery service Fantuan secures $40-million USD Series C round
(BETAKIT)
Burnaby, British Columbia-based Fantuan has closed $54.3 million CAD ($40 million USD) in Series C funding for its Asian food ordering and delivery platform.
Co-founded by Wu and Feng Yaofei in 2014, Fantuan’s platform is very similar to Uber Eats, only it focuses on Asian foods and deliveries. Fantuan placed ninth on Deloitte Canada’s Enterprise-Industry Leaders list this year, sporting a 510 percent three-year revenue growth rate.
SkipTheDishes to appoint former Twitter executive as company’s third CEO this year
(THE GLOBE AND MAIL)
Winnipeg-based SkipTheDishes is appointing the former managing director of Twitter Canada as its third chief executive officer this year.
Paul Burns will become the new CEO of SkipTheDishes as his predecessor, Steve Puchala, is retiring after less than nine months at the top job. Howard Migdal, whom Puchala had replaced, was moved up the corporate ladder just shy of five months into his tenure.
Burns, an external hire, will be at the helm of SkipTheDishes at a critical time for the company and the overall food-delivery sector.
As ailing WeWork reduces Canadian footprint, BDC opens new collaborative work location in Vancouver
(BETAKIT)
The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) has opened a new BDC Square location in Vancouver, aiming to offer a new collaborative work and event space to small and medium-sized businesses.
When asked how BDC sees its Square locations being affected by the shuttering of WeWork locations in Vancouver, BDC told BetaKit that it has heard from entrepreneurs seeking more peer-to-peer learning opportunities, which prompted the Crown corporation to create a space for them.
China, U.S. Hurdles May Delay Shein IPO Plans
(THE INFORMATION)
U.S. lawmakers have Shein in their crosshairs as the fast-fashion retailer gears up for what could be an enormously valuable initial public offering. But another potential roadblock to Shein’s hopes for a U.S. listing may lie elsewhere—in China.
While Shein is not headquartered in China and it doesn’t sell to the Chinese market, its extensive Chinese footprint means the government there might decide it is on the hook to comply with IPO regulation.
Bianca Bharti joins BetaKit as newsletter editor
(BETAKIT)
BetaKit is thrilled to announce that Bianca Bharti has joined BetaKit’s editorial team as its first-ever newsletter editor.
As newsletter editor, Bianca will be in charge of accelerating BetaKit’s flagship newsletter, and will play a key role in defining and growing our editorial capabilities within the format.
BetaKit is on a mission to connect, interrogate, and inform Canadian tech. If you believe in this mission the way we do, join us: BetaKit is hiring a new senior editor and a permanent CEO, with more roles to be announced in the New Year.
Once Unstoppable, Alibaba Is Now Faltering
(THE WALL STREET JOURNAL)
Chinese internet titan Alibaba once seemed invincible. Now, it is stuck in a slump.
In recent months, the company lost a long-running chief executive, while a restructuring plan to revive Alibaba has quickly hit roadblocks. That came after Alibaba and Jack Ma, its co-founder, were slammed by Beijing’s regulatory crackdown that started three years ago.
Last week, Alibaba slipped from its long-held market capitalization perch as China’s most valuable online-retail company, losing the title to PDD Holdings.
Advice on fundraising and living in the future from Huntress CFO Marcos Torres
(BETAKIT)
Building a business is an exercise in living in the future, according to Marcos Torres, CFO of managed cybersecurity platform Huntress.
In a recent #CIBCInnovationBanking podcast episode, Torres shared his advice for founders who want the best chance of success in difficult times.
Goldman Sachs-backed ZestMoney, once valued at $450M, to shut down
(TECHCRUNCH)
ZestMoney, a buy now, pay later startup whose ability to underwrite small ticket loans to first-time internet customers attracted many high-profile investors, including Goldman Sachs, is shutting down following unsuccessful efforts to find a buyer.
The Bengaluru-headquartered startup employed about 150 people and had raised over $130 million in its eight-year journey.
Chinese e-commerce platform Temu drawing shoppers from US dollar stores -data
(REUTERS)
Temu, the fast-growing Chinese e-commerce platform selling $4 home decor and $10 shirts, is successfully taking on U.S. dollar stores including industry leader Dollar GeneraL, according to the latest market share data.
As of last month, Temu accounted for nearly 17% of market share in the United States within the discount stores categories, according to data analytics firm Earnest Analytics. That compares to 8% for the dollar chain Five Below, 43% for Dollar General, and 28% for Dollar Tree.
SMEs that reduce their carbon footprint perform better than those who don’t: BDC report
(BETAKIT)
Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) focused on mitigating their carbon footprint tend to earn more revenue and maintain highly dynamic businesses, yet nearly a third of SMEs do not intend to take any climate-related action, according to a new report by the BDC.
“There’s a direct impact between the action you’re taking and the performance of your business,” BDC chief economist Pierre Cléroux said. “We won’t be able to reduce our impact on the environment without businesses’ [efforts].”
PayPal shares slide after Amazon drops Venmo as payment option
(CNBC)
Amazon notified users late Wednesday it will soon stop accepting Venmo as a payment method.
The move is an abrupt reversal. Amazon announced last October it would add Venmo as a payment method at checkout, giving shoppers more options to pay for their purchases. Shares of PayPal, which owns Venmo, closed down 1.7% on Thursday.
From Unicorns to Zombies: Tech Start-Ups Run Out of Time and Money
(THE NEW YORK TIMES)
WeWork raised more than $11 billion in funding as a private company. Olive AI, a health care start-up, gathered $852 million. Convoy, a freight start-up, raised $900 million. And Veev, a home construction start-up, amassed $647 million.
In the last six weeks, they all filed for bankruptcy or shut down. They are the most recent failures in a tech start-up collapse that investors say is only beginning.
“As an industry we should all be braced to hear about a lot more failures,” said Jenny Lefcourt, an investor at Freestyle Capital. “The more money people got before the party ended, the longer the hangover.”