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Shopify shareholders approve increased voting power for CEO Tobi Lütke, 10-for-1 stock split (BETAKIT)
A May 20 filing argued that the plan carries “inadequate protection” for the interests of minority shareholders and limits their rights. “Ultimately, while we acknowledge the board’s concerns around the approaching sunset of the CEO’s effective controlling voting stake, we are not persuaded that the proposed arrangement is the correct solution,” Glass Lewis wrote.
Gorillas in the Midst of Funding Crisis as Firm Tightens Belt (BNN BLOOMBERG)
Last month the company slashed office staff by half, and it is now curtailing services in some markets and letting warehouse supervisors go, according to current and former employees who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public.
Hopper rolls out new FinTech products as it aims to build a “travel super app” (BETAKIT)
While the new products are consumer-facing with a downloadable app, they are also available through Hopper’s B2B initiative, Hopper Cloud. The latter allows travel providers to integrate and distribute Hopper’s FinTech and travel agency content and has provided much of the company’s revenue in recent years.
Exclusive: Amazon’s Consumer Chief Dave Clark Joins Supply Chain Startup Flexport As CEO (FORBES)
Clark, whose resignation announced on Friday surprised observers, finishes up as CEO of Amazon’s massive Worldwide Consumer division last day on July 1. And on September 1, he will take over as Flexport’s co-chief executive, alongside Flexport founder Ryan Petersen. Flexport plans for the 49-year-old Clark to become the company’s sole CEO six months later, with Petersen, 41, moving to an executive chairman role at the business he founded in 2013.
Convoy, which just raised $260M, lays off 7% of workforce in latest tech startup cuts (GEEKWIRE)
A spokesperson for the Seattle trucking marketplace startup confirmed the layoffs to GeekWire. Convoy said it employed 1,300 people in April, when it raised a $260 million investment round at a $3.8 billion valuation, so the cuts affected around 90 employees.
Maropost acquires Swedish AI startup Findify for over $4.45 million USD (BETAKIT)
Maropost offers a commerce and marketing platform that supports direct-to-consumer companies with audience engagement, customer acquisition, and revenue growth. The company serves customers across multiple sectors, such as ecommerce, retail, media, as well as travel and hospitality.
Symbotic closes SPAC deal and debuts on NASDAQ (THE ROBOT REPORT)
“Today marks a significant milestone for Symbotic and its employees, and we are excited to accelerate our growth with a truly disruptive technology platform used by some of the world’s largest companies,” Michael J. Loparco, CEO of Symbotic, said. “Symbotic’s long-term partnership with SoftBank and other established investors will allow us to more rapidly scale our operations, introduce new technology innovations, and expand into new markets.”
Nfinite bags $100M to give e-commerce 3D flare (TECHCRUNCH)
The company grew 10 times in annual recurring revenue in the last year and was adopted by three of the world’s top five global retailers, Alexandre de Vigan, nfinite founder and CEO, told TechCrunch. And, the company announced $100 million in Series B funding Tuesday, which quickly follows a $15 million Series A round announced in February.
Shopify finds conflict minerals in its third-party manufactured components (BETAKIT)
Conflict minerals were identified in Shopify’s chip and swipe reader, its retail kit, and its tap and chip reader, all of which are manufactured by third parties. Conflict minerals also showed up in Shopify’s collaborative mobile robot, Chuck, per SEC filing.
‘AI’ Shopping Startup Exaggerated Tech Capabilities to Potential Investors (THE INFORMATION)
While the company said it was using artificial intelligence to populate customer information during the checkout process, it had actually hired workers in the Philippines to manually enter the data on retailers’ sites for a significant portion of the transactions Nate facilitated in 2021, according to two people with direct knowledge of the company’s practices.
Lightspeed turns NuOrder acquisition into new B2B supplier network (BETAKIT)
In an interview with BetaKit, Lightspeed CEO JP Chauvet called Lightspeed B2B “game-changing for everybody in [Lightspeed’s] ecosystem,” adding that this launch represents “the last step” in the company’s plans to turn its bevy of acquisitions in recent years into new or revamped products.
Young consumers are opting to buy now and pay later, as more companies enter the financing game (CBC)
According to analysis conducted by SIA Partners, the buy now, pay later (BNPL) share of retail e-commerce and point-of-sale transactions in the U.S. was less than two per cent in 2021, but is expected to double to four per cent by 2025.
“Not worth it”: why Grab is shedding drivers and frustrating customers in Vietnam (REST OF WORLD)
Across various groups, drivers call for a widespread boycott; others doubt that will fix anything. In one group, a member repeatedly offers to do paperwork for those who want to leave the app and cash out their accounts. The heavy monsoon rains, which have inundated streets and worsened traffic jams since May, only add to the misery.
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