S|W: The SaaS Weekly – D2L downsizes TSX debut, Sharethrough postpones

D2L founder John Baker standing on a stage with the D2L logo behind him
Featured image courtesy from John Baker

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Despite reduced offering, D2L founder says public markets present “tremendous opportunity” for tech firms (BETAKIT)

Kitchener-Waterloo EdTech company D2L made its Toronto Stock Exchange debut earlier this week, raising $150 million CAD. Despite downsizing its initial public offering (IPO) amid a mixed market for Canadian tech IPOs, D2L’s John Baker said he’s “thrilled with the outcome.”


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Zendesk moves into customer experience data with $4.13B SurveyMonkey deal (TECHCRUNCH)

Zendesk, whose core offering involves customer service, now has a way to get feedback on that service and collect valuable data about the interactions.


Sharethrough postpones TSX debut amid Canadian tech IPO market struggles (BETAKIT)

JF Cote, co-founder and CEO of Sharethrough, said the decision came from “adverse and challenging current market conditions, especially for technology companies.”


Why Trulioo’s Steve Munford thinks “we don’t need more unicorns” (BETAKIT)

Speaking with BetaKit ahead of his talk at SAAS NORTH, Steve Munford shared what he thinks is the right approach to growth for Canadian tech founders.


HashiCorp files for U.S. IPO, said to seek $10 billion valuation (BNN BLOOMBERG)

The San Francisco-based company in a filing Thursday listed the size of the offering as $100 million, a placeholder amount that will likely change.


Uvaro lands $14.8 million CAD to expand tech sales training program (BETAKIT)

The company’s programs are designed to solve the single biggest challenge facing North America’s tech sector — access to well-trained, work-ready talent.


Hubdoc founders ready to help New Zealand’s A2X become as big as Shopify (BETAKIT)

“The complexity of accurately doing that accounting creates a big opportunity for us. I think we’re well-positioned to win the category.”


HoneyBook raises $250M for SMB customer management platform in Tiger Global-led round (CRUNCHBASE)

Its first institutional investor, UpWest, invested $25,000 in the company in 2013, which brought HoneyBook to Silicon Valley. In total the company has raised $498 million, according to Crunchbase data.


Rebranded Shakudo secures $4.2 million CAD to help data science teams get AI solutions to market (BETAKIT)

In an interview with BetaKit, Shakudo co-founder and CEO Yevgeniy Vahlis said, long-term, Shakudo wants to become “the platform for emerging tech teams.”


Back for second cohort, Ryerson Venture Zone in Brampton expands program beyond healthcare into smart mobility (BETAKIT)

Speaking with BetaKit, Usha Srinivasan, the Executive Director of RVZ, explained how the expansion came to be, how RVZ differs from other incubators and accelerators, and what the program looks for in startup applicants.


Trufan rewards consumers for web data, lands $2 million CAD (BETAKIT)

Toronto-based Trufan has raised a $2 million CAD extension to its March seed round to support the growth of its new web browser extension, Surf, which helps users passively earn points for their web-surfing.


Facebook sued by defunct photo app Phhhoto on antitrust grounds (THE VERGE)

The company claims Facebook copied it for Instagram’s Boomerang feature.


Attain Insight to acquire map intelligence tech from Australia’s Integeo (BETAKIT)

The company is purchasing the location analytics product suite from Integeo to advance its own geospatial and interactive visualization products.


Josh Scott

Josh Scott

Josh Scott is a BetaKit reporter focused on telling in-depth Canadian tech stories and breaking news. His coverage is more complete than his moustache.

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