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TSX-listed Magnet Forensics to be acquired by Thoma Bravo in $1.8 billion CAD deal (BETAKIT)
Thoma Bravo has struck a $1.8 billion CAD deal to buy the publicly-traded Canadian cybersecurity company and take it private.
Following the close of the deal, Thoma Bravo intends to combine Magnet with fellow digital forensics firm Grayshift, a United States-based company that Thoma Bravo acquired majority control of in July 2022.
Google parent Alphabet to cut 12,000 jobs (THE NEW YORK TIMES)
The job cuts are the company’s largest ever, amounting to about 6 percent of its global work force. Sundar Pichai, the chief executive, said Alphabet had expanded too rapidly during the pandemic, when demand for digital services boomed, and must refocus on products and technology core to its future, like artificial intelligence.
Hootsuite CEO Tom Keiser replaced amid third round of layoffs (BETAKIT)
Tom Keiser, who took over as CEO from founder Ryan Holmes in 2020, is being replaced by Irina Novoselsky, who most recently served as CEO of CareerBuilder.
At the same time, the Vancouver-based company has laid off around seven percent of its current workforce, cutting about 70 people, in what represents its third round of staff cuts since August of last year.
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Microsoft is laying off 10,000 employees (CNBC)
Alphabet , Amazon and Salesforce are among the technology companies that have lowered head count in recent weeks. The contraction comes after demand for cloud computing and collaboration services picked up as enterprises, government agencies and schools encouraged remote work to reduce Covid exposure.
Vidyard sets sights on $1 billion in revenue as it bolsters go-to-market efforts (BETAKIT)
Vidyard co-founder and CEO Michael Litt said the company saw demand for its video offerings increase as sales and marketing professionals were forced to conduct business from afar.
Alberta Innovates’ Bryan Helfenbaum on the future of energy in Canada (BETAKIT)
“The fundamental challenge is how do we maintain the prosperity that we have enjoyed while simultaneously moving into a net-zero world, and in fact, not just surviving, but thriving,” said Executive Director at Alberta Innovates, Bryan Helfenbaum.
Reed Hastings is stepping down as Netflix’s co-CEO (THE VERGE)
Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters are now the co-CEOs running the massive subscription streaming company.
Hastings exits as CEO of the company on the day it reports 223 million paying subscribers worldwide.
Benevity cites lower than expected customer demand as cause for 14 percent layoffs (BETAKIT)
Benevity announced the cuts Wednesday in a statement from CEO Kelly Schmitt posted to the firm’s website, noting, “over the last nine months macroeconomic conditions have changed dramatically, and the demand we expected to see has slowed significantly.”
Microsoft faces EU antitrust warning over Activision deal – sources (REUTERS)
The European Commission is readying a charge sheet known as a statement of objections setting out its concerns about the deal which will be sent to Microsoft in the coming weeks.
Harvest Builders, Headversity, among 15 recipients of $25.5 million PrairiesCan investment for Calgary businesses (BETAKIT)
The investment was made through Prairies Economic Development Canada (PrairiesCan)’s Jobs and Growth Fund, and is expected to support and create over 800 jobs across Alberta’s innovation economy.
What Xero learned after 15 years of building software for SMBs (BETAKIT)
Speaking with BetaKit, Xero's chief product officer Anna Curzon explained the challenges of building what she calls a “purposeful platform” for small businesses.
Google-backed ShareChat cuts 20% workforce to ‘sustain through headwinds’ (TECHCRUNCH)
The startup informed its employees about the decision on Monday morning. It deactivated access to accounts and wiped out all data of impacted employees, a person familiar with the development told TechCrunch.
NowVertical secures $7 million CAD credit facility, completes Acrotrend, Smartlytics acquisitions (BETAKIT)
NowVertical announced last week that its acquisitions of United Kingdom data analytics solution providers Acrotrend and Smartlytics have been completed as the Canadian company continues its growth plans focused on acquisitions.
Milk Moovement countersues US competitor Dairy LLC, alleges monopoly abuse over dairy intelligence industry (BETAKIT)
On January 13, Milk Moovement filed a counter lawsuit against Dairy alleging that Dairy has abused its monopoly power by eliminating competition in the dairy intelligence space through de facto exclusive client contracts and acquisitions.