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Adam Nanjee departs Microsoft for Startups to lead venture capital in Canada for Amazon Web Services (BETAKIT)
According to Nanjee’s LinkedIn page, as the head of venture capital for Canada, he will be responsible for building partnerships between venture firms and AWS in order “to scale and invest in the best-in-class startups leveraging AWS.”
Judi Hess to depart as Copperleaf CEO after leading firm to unicorn status (BIV)
Current president Paul Sakrzewski joins the company’s board of directors effective Sept. 6 and will assume CEO duties this coming January 1.
“[Sakrzewski] has been at the helm of our successful global go-to-market and strategy team, focused on driving our sales, marketing, services and support teams to advance the company’s overall vision,” CEO Judi Hess said in a statement.
Panache closes $100 million for second fund as firm doubles down on seed-stage startups (BETAKIT)
Originally launched in 2018 by a team that came out of 500 Startups Canada, Panache’s stated goal at the time was to become “the most active and best-performing fund of its kind in the country.” It’s a feat that Panache has been able to achieve in the last five years, according to Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (CVCA) data.
Irish watchdog fines Instagram 405M euros in teen data case (AP NEWS)
Ireland’s Data Protection Commission said by email Monday that it made a final decision last week to fine the company 405 million euros ($402 million), though the full details won’t be released until next week.
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Facebook Parent Meta Platforms Cuts Responsible Innovation Team (THE WALL STREET JOURNAL)
Meta Platforms Inc. has disbanded its Responsible Innovation team, which was once a prominent piece of its effort to address concerns about the potential downsides of its products.
Led by ex-Vidyard employees, HyperComply wants to get rid of security questionnaires (BETAKIT)
Security reviews are a necessary procedure designed to assess the cybersecurity and compliance of potential B2B software vendors. Amid the already significant and rising cost of cybercrime, HyperComply co-founder and CEO Amar Chahal says prospective buyers “must do due diligence” on their supply chain given that most of the damage from cybercrime can be traced back to third-party suppliers.
Byju’s failure to publish accounts prompts scrutiny of edtech giant (FINANCIAL TIMES)
Byju’s, India’s most valuable start-up at $22 billion, is coming under intense scrutiny from the government, investors and creditors over repeated failures to publish its accounts, as funding and revenues dry up for the once-booming educational technology sector.
Network software startup Kaloom secures $27.4 million CAD from Québec government, Alternative Capital Group (BETAKIT)
ACG, a fellow Montréal-based firm, matched the province’s investment in the financing, according to Kaloom. The government agency that provided the funding and the amount invested by each entity was not disclosed.
Google Pays ‘Enormous’ Sums to Maintain Search-Engine Dominance, DOJ Says (BNN BLOOMBERG)
“Google invests billions in defaults, knowing people won’t change them,” DOJ attorney Kenneth Dintzer told Judge Amit Mehta during a hearing in Washington that marked the first major face-off in the case and drew top DOJ antitrust officials and Nebraska’s attorney general among the spectators. “They are buying default exclusivity because defaults matter a lot.”
D2L increases revenues as it tries to buck market downturn (BETAKIT)
The TSX-listed company managed to rack up increased revenues in its second quarter of 2022 despite what president and CEO John Baker referred to as a “slower” second quarter than expected.
Open source password manager Bitwarden raises $100M (TECHCRUNCH)
Founded initially back in 2015, Santa Barbara, California-based Bitwarden operates in a space that includes well-known incumbents such as 1Password, which recently hit a $6.8 billion valuation off the back of a $620 million fundraise, and LastPass, which was recently spun out as an independent company again two years after landing in the hands of private equity firms.
Meet the five Canadian startups participating in Y Combinator’s Summer 2022 Demo Day (BETAKIT)
This time around, only five of these 227 participants are Canadian. This total represents a steep drop compared to Y Combinator’s previous two cohorts, as 16 Canadian startups took part in Winter 2022 and Summer 2021 Demo Days—an all-time high. Five marks the fewest Canadian startups at a Demo Day since Winter 2019.
Netflix Hunts for Cost Cuts, From Cloud Computing to Corporate Swag (THE WALL STREET JOURNAL)
Netflix said it lost nearly one million subscribers in the June quarter, citing heightened competition. The company has laid off more than 400 employees this year and has said it would hold steady its spending on new movie and TV programming. But the cost-cutting efforts are going deeper, touching most corners of the business, as the company imposes greater financial discipline.
Signal, the Encrypted Messaging App, Appoints a President (THE NEW YORK TIMES)
Signal, which is committed to its users’ privacy, does not know how many people use the app, although the number appears to be growing. The app has been downloaded more than 100 million times from the Google Play store, and it ranks 15th among social networking apps on Apple’s App Store.