S|W: The SaaS Weekly – Ontario judge swipes left on Tinder sale lawsuit appeal

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Extreme Venture Partners founders, Chamath Palihapitiya lose appeal in Tinder sale lawsuit (BETAKIT)

Justice William Hourigan had harsh words for EVP founding partners Sundeep Madra and Amar Varma, as well as Social Capital CEO and former Facebook VP Chamath Palihapitiya, in the tangled court case over whether the three had conspired to acquire mobile software development shop Xtreme Labs at a discounted price, in addition to breaching contractual obligations with EVP.


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Klue scores $79 million CAD from Tiger Global, Salesforce Venture (BETAKIT)

Vancouver-based software company Klue has closed $79.2 million CAD in Series B financing led by Tiger Global with participation from Salesforce Ventures to build on the growth of its competitor intelligence platform since it secured its Series A round last fall.


Life House closes $77 million CAD round co-led by Inovia, Kayak to help hotels boost profitability (BETAKIT)

Life House saw significant growth during the pandemic as hotel owners sought to control costs amid COVID-19 disruptions, and now plans to start selling its revenue management software to third-party hotel operators.


Think Facebook’s bad news? Meta’s man in Ottawa would like a word (THE LOGIC)

How Kevin Chan shapes the debate in Canada’s corridors of power.


Toronto right-wing video platform Rumble to go public on Nasdaq through SPAC (BETAKIT)

Toronto-based right-wing video-sharing platform Rumble, which is backed by a group of investors that includes JD Vance’s Narya Capital, Peter Thiel, and Colt Ventures. is set to go public on the Nasdaq through a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger.


Communitech exploring $200 million venture fund (BETAKIT)

TCEO Chris Albinson spoke to the strategy on a recent episode of The BetaKit Podcast, and while he is still vague on many details of how Communitech will help create Canadian winners to own the podium, one thing is clear: Communitech wants to launch a venture fund to support their growth.


Twitter CTO Parag Agrawal will replace Jack Dorsey as CEO (CNBC)

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has resigned, and Parag Agrawal, Twitter’s chief technology officer, has taken over leadership of Twitter. Agrawal has already begun restructuring the firm. Dorsey continues to serve as CEO of payments company Square, which has since rebranded to Block. With the move, Dorsey has become the latest in a list of major tech executives to step down or take a step back.


Spare ready to roll with $18 million Series A funding for its on-demand transit software (BETAKIT)

The Vancouver software startup hopes its platform will encourage better cooperation between different transportation providers, increased access to cost-efficient shared rides, and will see more people opt for collective transportation.


Survey suggests progress, room for improvement on equitable compensation for women in venture capital (BETAKIT)

The survey found that, for investment roles, salaries and bonuses are lower for women than men in more junior roles, but higher in more senior positions, with the exception of partners.


Pinterest settles shareholder lawsuit over workplace culture (NBC NEWS)

The company is also releasing former employees from nondisclosure agreements.


How Katherine Regnier found the right enterprise customers for Coconut Software (BETAKIT)

In a recent interview for the #CIBCInnovationEconomy Podcast, Regnier explained Coconut’s uncommon founding story and what she attributes as the secrets to her success landing enterprise clients.


Airtable valuation to double to $11.7 billion in new funding (THE INFORMATION)

The funding, expected to be more than $700 million, would likely be used to attract large corporate customers and develop new products, said a person with direct knowledge of the matter.


mCloud raises $12.1 million CAD in Nasdaq uplisting (BETAKIT)

Following its recent transition from the TSX Venture Exchange, Calgary-based mCloud Technologies has raised $12.1 million CAD as part of its uplisting to the Nasdaq. Meanwhile, fellow Canadian software company Legible made its Canadian Securities Exchange debut earlier this week as well.


Benevity reports record Giving Tuesday with over $112 million donated through its platform (BETAKIT)

During Giving Tuesday, Calgary-based Benevity saw donations double through its corporate purpose platform, as over $112 million was given to more than 43,000 causes. Meanwhile, over Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend, fellow Canadian tech platform Shopify merchants collectively generated $6.3 billion USD in sales worldwide, a 23 percent rise compared to 2020.


Salesforce promotes Bret Taylor to co-CEO alongside Benioff (CNBC)

Salesforce announced that it had promoted Bret Taylor to the role of co-CEO, alongside Marc Benioff, who co-founded the company in 1999. However, according to The Information, Taylor will still report to Benioff.


Just Boardrooms raises $3 million, launches marketplace for in-person meeting spaces (BETAKIT)

Toronto-based Just Boardrooms has raised $3 million CAD and launched its online marketplace for in-person meeting spaces. Fellow Toronto-based company Alida, which offers a customer experience management platform, has secured an additional $3 million for its Series D round. Elsewhere, software firm Staffbase has acquired Valo SolutionS.


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