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Telus International to acquire product development shop WillowTree for $1.2 billion USD (BETAKIT)
The transaction, which is expected to close in January 2023, involves $210 million of assumed debt. As part of the deal, WillowTree’s majority stakeholder Insignia Capital Group will sell its stake in the company, after initially investing in 2018.
Brutal week for Big Tech with nearly $800bn wiped off valuations (FINANCIAL TIMES)
The news extended a surprisingly weak earnings season from the huge US digital groups, ending a surge in growth during the coronavirus pandemic and putting paid to hopes that they would withstand the inflation and weakening growth that are hitting the wider economy.
Workflow SaaS integrator Unito raises $20 million to build more integrations (BETAKIT)
Founded in 2015 by co-founders Marc Boscher (CEO) and Eryk Warren (CTO), Unito integrates disparate SaaS applications, enabling workflows that can function across a variety of tools, teams, and organizations. Its no-code, two-way integrations allow information to flow freely between platforms like Asana, GitHub, Google Sheets, Jira, Salesforce, and Trello.
Musk completes US$44B Twitter deal, ending months of enmity (BNN BLOOMBERG)
Shareholders will be paid $54.20 per share, and Twitter will now operate as a private company. The completion caps a convoluted saga that began in January with the billionaire’s quiet accumulation of a major stake in the company, his growing exasperation with how it’s run and an eventual merger accord that he later spent months trying to unravel.
Byju’s to lay off nearly 12,000, a quarter of its staff (THE MORNING CONTEXT)
Byju’s, India’s largest education technology company, with a valuation north of $22 billion, plans to lay off about 12,000 people, nearly 25% of its total workforce, over the next year, according to five people in the know.
Earlier this month, in separate press statements, co-founder Divya Gokulnath and chief operating officer Mrinal Mohit said Byju’s will lay off 2,500 employees over six months, as the company reduces redundancies, consolidates its subsidiaries into one India business and focuses on sustainable growth and profitability.
Cinchy closes $19.7 million CAD Series B to make data integrations obsolete (BETAKIT)
Amid a rise in demand for data fabric and data mesh solutions, Cinchy has experienced more than 500 percent growth over the past three years, amassing a roster of traditionally hard to acquire “big, hairy logos” as customers.
Alphabet’s Profit Drops 27 Percent From a Year Earlier (THE NEW YORK TIMES)
Even Alphabet, the parent company of Google and one of the internet’s most entrenched businesses, was not immune to the punishing blows of the global economy and a sharp slowdown in the online advertising that is essential to the company’s profits.
Alphabet on Tuesday reported a net profit of $13.9 billion in the third quarter, down 27 percent from a year earlier, while revenue climbed 6 percent to $69.1 billion. The earnings fell short of analysts’ estimates of $16.9 billion in profit on $71 billion in revenue, according to data compiled by FactSet.
Certn acquires Australian firm InterCheck to bolster suite of background screening solutions (BETAKIT)
Led by Hayden Langhorn, InterCheck’s platform includes a range of employment background checks and candidate screening services. It claims more than 1,200 organizations as clients, including the Australian government’s Department of Employment, the Victoria State Government, Melbourne Convention Exhibition Centre, and Monash University.
Why Potloc founder Rodolphe Barrere tries to fire himself every six months (BETAKIT)
Not all startup founders go on to become growth CEOs, and Barrere said he’s had multiple opportunities to exit Potloc, either selling the company entirely or bringing on a professional CEO. However, he always decided against it.
Meta shareholder writes critical open letter saying company needs to slash headcount and stop spending so much money on ‘metaverse’ (CNBC)
The Meta investor recommended a plan to get the company’s “mojo back,” including reducing headcount expenses by 20% and limiting the company’s pricey investments in “metaverse” technology — VR software and hardware — to no more than $5 billion per year.
Visier acquires assets of skills intelligence startup Boostrs (BETAKIT)
Visier co-founder and CEO Ryan Wong told BetaKit that acquiring Boostrs’ assets enables Visier to provide broader and deeper insights for skills across the talent lifecycle.
“The Boostrs team had created a product that fit well within the Visier platform,” he said.