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Disco closes $15 million Series A round from investors behind MasterClass, Coursera to scale its live learning platform (BETAKIT)
The startup has closed a $19 million CAD ($15 million USD) Series A funding round from the investors behind MasterClass and Coursera to enable its creators to potentially earn a living from their live learning communities.
With new $20B fund, Insight Partners has a stunning $90B in assets under management (TECHCRUNCH)
The fund marks the firm’s largest fundraise to date and very notably, its 350 employees, including 36 managing directors, represent the largest investment bloc in the fund.
Sea’s market decline hits $132 billion as stock tumbles again (BNN BLOOMBERG)
Sea Ltd., once the hottest stock in the world, has lost more than $130 billion in market value from its peak last year after a disappointing earnings report that added to its woes.
Q4 Inc. reports rising revenue, losses in fourth quarter and 2021 (BETAKIT)
Toronto-based investor relations (IR) software company Q4 Inc. saw continued revenue growth and increased losses in its 2021 fourth quarter and full-year earnings report. The report represents Q4’s second earnings report since going public, and its first where the results reflect it being a publicly-traded company.
Grab shares drop as revenue plunges on promotions and driver incentives (CNBC)
Singapore-based Grab said it had invested aggressively in improving incentives to attract drivers as ride-share demand recovered from pandemic lows.
Canadian venture capital investment hits all-time high of $14.2 billion in 2021 (BETAKIT)
Canadian venture capital (VC) investment hit an astounding mark this past year, increasing 215 percent from 2020. VC investment in 2021 hit $14.2 billion, following a trend of record years for venture investment that blew all past years out of the water.
Amazon’s Twitch suffers exodus of executives amid strategy fight (BNN BLOOMBERG)
Twitch, the popular site where people go to watch other people play video games, has lost at least six top employees since the beginning of the year, including the chief operating officer, chief content officer, and head of creator development.
Five tips for startups exploring buy now, pay later (BETAKIT)
PwC’s Andrew Popliger examines Buy Now, Pay Later’s digital adoption and shares tips for startups to ensure their BNPL experience is future-proof.
Connecteam raises $120M as deskless workforces get more tools (CRUNCHBASE)
The 8-year-old company has been scaling rather rapidly of late, and said it saw 400 percent growth in both revenue and customers last year. The company also raised a $37 million Series B in April.
OpsLevel raises $15 million Series A funding for developer portal (BETAKIT)
OpsLevel’s technology has attracted a customer base that includes Chegg, Hootsuite, Zapier, Podium, Outreach, Convoy, Under Armour, and others.
Automation firm Hyperscience slashes staff, loses CEO as startups face growing pressure (THE INFORMATION)
The moves reflect mistakes made by the company, whose software automates back-office tasks such as processing invoices and data entry.
Family that formerly co-owned Toronto Star behind new social venture, Hvr Technologies (BETAKIT)
According to co-founder and CEO Nelson B. Thall, Hvr has raised $4 million CAD over several rounds of funding, including from money the Thall family invested themselves as well as from undisclosed investors and funds.
Trump’s Truth Social bomb (AXIOS)
Former President Trump is blowing the launch of his new social media company, via a series of unforced errors.
We need to keep talking about founder mental health (BETAKIT)
Eigenspace co-founder Jesse Rodgers emphasizes the need for founders to talk about mental health, and shares tips on where to get support.
How a Zoom wannabe left employees empty-handed (THE INFORMATION)
Fuze had given employees hope that they might still make money from their equity in the struggling video-calling startup. Instead, an acquisition late last year left them with worthless stock options, while executives got big bonuses.