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Galvanize’s journey from “written off” tech company to $1 billion exit (BETAKIT)
BetaKit spoke to Galvanize CEO Dan Zitting about the company’s road to a ten-figure exit, and what the future holds for the Vancouver-based firm.
Shopify’s global Indigenous programs lead joins Indigenous-owned Animikii (BETAKIT)
Animikii is backed by Raven Indigenous Capital Partners, which led a $1 million financing round in Animikii in 2019.
Zoom’s nearly $15 billion acquisition of Five9 rejected by shareholders (WALL STREET JOURNAL)
Zoom Video Communications Inc.’s nearly $15 billion bid to acquire contact center company Five9 Inc. was shot down, dashing a major expansion plan for a video-conferencing powerhouse that has battled scrutiny over its perceived ties to China.
Conexiom secures $130 million in growth investment (BETAKIT)
In 2020, the company secured $40 million in strategic growth financing.
Apple’s fortress of secrecy is crumbling from the inside (THE VERGE)
The last five months marked a turning point in Apple’s company culture — will it last?
Samdesk secures $13.5 million to fuel expansion of crisis detection and monitoring platform (BETAKIT)
Calgary’s Adventure Capital, which led Samdesk’s $3.6 million seed round in 2020, also participated in the round, alongside several other undisclosed existing shareholders.
Former Hootsuite marketing VP joins Thinkific (BETAKIT)
Thinkific appointed Henk Campher as its new chief marketing officer and moved its vice president of engineering, Chris McGuire, to the position of chief technology officer.
Instagram puts kids version ‘on ice’ after critical backlash (TECHCRUNCH)
The development comes hard on the heels of critical reporting in The Wall Street Journal which unearthed internal documents that suggest the Facebook-owned company was aware the social media service caused anxiety and mental health issues in teenaged girls.
Traction on Demand to open Winnipeg office, hire 100 with support from Manitoba government (BETAKIT)
Earlier this month, the firm, which employs over 1,200 people, announced its acquisition of fellow Salesforce consulting partner New Zealand-based Trineo.
Activision to set up $18M victims fund in response to harassment suit (AXIOS)
In response, a group of tech and gaming workers have slammed the planned settlement, saying an $18 million compensation fund for employees who were harassed or discriminated against is not enough.
Wishpond secures $6 million revolving credit from National Bank to fuel acquisition strategy (BETAKIT)
Currently, the company claims it has over $7.5 million of cash and no debt on the balance sheet.
JITbase raises $650,000 in seed funding to accelerate smart manufacturing software (BETAKIT)
In April 2018, BetaKit reported that JITbase was one of the graduating companies from the Montréal Founder Institute’s four-month early-stage tech startup accelerator.
When one pill kills (NBC)
Eight parents mourn children poisoned by deadly pills bought on Snapchat.
Hookdeck raises $320,000 USD in pre-seed funding (BETAKIT)
According to the company, its software provides a message queue that integrates webhook requests from SaaS applications and distributes them to a callback endpoint.