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StubHub Plans Summer IPO in New Test of Market
Online ticketing marketplace StubHub is aiming to go public by late summer, people close to the company said, setting up another sizable internet initial public offering after Reddit’s IPO last month. And as StubHub has more than $2 billion in debt, many times its estimated profits, the company will test investors’ appetite for companies with strained balance sheets.
Avidbots launches Kas, a smaller cleaning robot targeting new markets
Kitchener-Waterloo-based startup Avidbots has made a new, smaller, addition to its line of fully autonomous floor scrubbing robots.
Avidbots says the new robot, Kas, is part of the company’s effort to meet the needs of the retail, transportation, healthcare, and education industries, which require a robot that can navigate around people, objects, and tighter spaces.
(BetaKit)
How Havenly is expanding from an online design service to a brick-and-mortar retailer after its acquisition spree
After completing three furniture and houseware acquisitions in two years, online interior design service Havenly is focusing on crafting a brick-and-mortar strategy that caters to its millennial clients.
Havenly co-founder and CEO Lee Mayer told Modern Retail that it is actively scouting new locations for more stores to cater to the millennial customer who navigates between shopping online and in person for big-ticket purchases.
Major Canadian retailers choose Rivercity Innovations to keep things fresh with cold chain monitoring solution
Saskatoon-based Internet of Things technology startup Rivercity Innovations believes it has found the key to cost-effectively monitor temperature-sensitive products at scale, and a handful of major Canadian retailers seem to agree.
Beyond its in-store and mobile monitoring solution, Rivercity is also working with the French government to deploy a satellite-based system that can track temperature-sensitive goods at sea, and with the world’s largest shopping cart manufacturer, Wanzl, to help prevent theft and vandalism.
(BetaKit)
Macy’s settles with activist investor Arkhouse
Macy’s reached an agreement with activist investor Arkhouse Capital Management, which will withdraw its director nominees.
A takeover still could happen, but bringing the activists inside the house makes it less likely.
(Axios)
Pinterest is on a Toronto hiring spree to scoop up AI talent
Pinterest is looking to expand its business in Canada and capitalize on the country’s artificial intelligence and machine learning talent as it sets out on a strategic plan to make the platform more of a shopping destination, said chief technology officer Jeremy King.
“Because more than half of Pinterest users see us as a place to shop, our vision is to make everything people see on Pinterest shoppable,” King said.
(BetaKit)
Guesty snaps up $130M at $900M valuation to help property managers list on Airbnb and beyond
Travel and tourism are very much back on the map for consumers and the business world. Now, to underscore that surge, one of the startups building software in the space has closed a big round of funding. Guesty, a platform that lets accommodation managers manage their business online, including on platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo, has raised $130 million.
Sources confirmed to TechCrunch that the Series F values Guesty at around $900 million post-money.
Intel says enterprises need choice to scale AI’s potential
Following Intel’s CEO keynote and announcement at the company’s Vision conference of more energy-efficient processing chips and an open AI app ecosystem, Asma Aziz, Canada Marketing Director at Intel, spoke with BetaKit about why the company believes the path to enterprise AI adoption is through open ecosystems rather than walled gardens.
(BetaKit)
Two years after its historic win, a divided Amazon Labor Union lurches toward a leadership election
Two years after clinching a historic victory at a warehouse in New York City, the first labor union for Amazon workers in the United States is divided, running out of money and fighting over an election that could determine who will lead the group in the near future.
Although many of the union’s problems are internal, it also continues to face roadblocks from Amazon, which has resisted efforts to come to the bargaining table despite pressure from federal labor regulators to do so.
As crypto regains momentum, Coinbase Canada’s Lucas Matheson zeroes in on the next big goal: adoption
To Lucas Matheson, CEO of Coinbase Canada, it’s now clear that crypto as an asset class is “here to stay,” and the industry is now shifting to a new focus: driving adoption.
“Now is the opportunity for us to shift and help evangelize the opportunity for Canadians to get access to the digital economy,” Matheson told BetaKit.
In a recent fireside discussion with BetaKit interim CEO Satish Kanwar, Matheson explored how Coinbase is looking to catalyze crypto adoption in Canada, the role that the government will play, and Canada’s wider innovation opportunity.
(BetaKit)
Feature image courtesy Ajay_Suresh via Flickr.
