S|W: The SaaS Weekly – Inside Mozilla’s bid to enter the metaverse
Plus: Applyboard lays off customer experience employees.
SaaS
FigBytes secures $14.5 million USD in venture funding and debt
FigBytes’ funding comes as some countries are mandating ESG reporting.
Private wireless network startup Expeto closes $12 million Series B supported by Samsung Next, 5G Open Innovation Lab
Expeto enables large enterprises to extend private networks via any type of cellular connectivity.
Fintel Connect closes $4.8 million CAD to help financial institutions drive cost-effective growth
BankTech Ventures, EDC-backed Fintel Connect eyes US expansion.
Slack founding CEO Stewart Butterfield to depart company in January
Slack’s leader becomes latest to leave the Salesforce organization.
Top Hat acquires STEM EdTech startup Aktiv Learning
Aktiv is Top Hat’s fifth acquisition, and its first outside of publishing.
Wattpad president Jeanne Lam resigns months after being tapped to lead company
Naver Webtoon’s KB Nam has been appointed interim president.
Led by former Ada employees, Lancey secures $2 million to let B2B software buyers “try before you buy”
YC grad Lancey is backed by group that includes Panache, Garage, and Ada’s CEO.
Dissecting the anatomy of a Canadian tech seed round with Two Small Fish, Calico & Wavy
Eva Lau says don’t value your round based upon your ARR when fundraising.
Foresight 50 list names Canada’s “most investable” cleantech firms
Second annual list identifies firms like Terramera, Ekona Power, Summit Nanotech.
Shopify, Benevity set records for Black Friday-Cyber Monday and Giving Tuesday
Shopify merchants rack up $7.5 billion in sales over the weekend.
Mozilla acquires Canadian-founded startups Pulse, Active Replica to fuel metaverse strategy
The company behind web browser Firefox wants to deliver its own metaverse.
Durable aims to help solo entrepreneurs launch service-based businesses with AI
Durable has closed $6.25 million USD to date from US investors.
Produce8 lands $6 million in seed funding to improve digital-first team productivity
Startup believes addressing burnout is the answer to a trillion-dollar question.
RailVision Analytics closes $5.5 million CAD to cut train emissions by curbing fuel consumption
Trucks choo-choo chooses RailVision following successful pilots with Via Rail, Metrolinx.