Plus: Kirk Simpson, Peter Carrescia team up with an idea to disrupt the digital identity space.
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FreshBooks secures $100 million USD debt facility from BMO, J.P. Morgan (BETAKIT)
“This funding arrives at an important period of momentum for FreshBooks,” said Don Epperson, CEO of FreshBooks. “We want to seize global growth opportunities and continue scaling our operations to support more business owners than ever before.”
Wealthsimple growth stalls in second quarter, shareholder IGM reveals after slashing valuation by nearly half (THE GLOBE AND MAIL)
Data published Friday by its largest shareholder, IGM Financial Inc., shows that Wealthsimple’s clientele, excluding clients of its tax service, grew just 2 percent over the course of the second quarter ended June 30, to 1.7 million accounts. The current slowdown came as Wealthsimple slashed its marketing budget and cut jobs in the quarter.
ZayZoon raises $25.5 million to expand its earned wage access business across the US (BETAKIT)
Earned wage access is the ability for workers to access on demand pay that they have already earned. In Canada, growth of the product was stagnant. At the same time, the startup ventured down to a two-day trade show in the US, and signed more partnerships there than it had landed in Canada in the previous 12 months.
Robinhood Lays Off 23% of Staff as Retail Investors Fade From Platform (THE WALL STREET JOURNAL)
The job cuts mark the second round of layoffs this year at Robinhood, which in April reduced its staff by about 9%. Together, the two rounds have cut more than 1,000 jobs from the company.
The layoffs come alongside a broader company reorganization, Vlad Tenev, Robinhood’s chief executive, said in a message posted to the company’s blog.
POWERED BY: RBC Capital MarketsCanadian Private Technology Firms Talk M&A, Talent Shortages and Fixing Corporate Culture
Sky-high IPO valuations and venture capital boom times may be over for now, but Canada’s private technology companies are creating new opportunities to innovate, share ideas and collaborate.
Read more.
Kirk Simpson, Peter Carrescia team up to raise $6.5 million CAD with an idea to disrupt the digital identity space (BETAKIT)
The duo explained that they are still in the early stages, and yet to build a product, but are focused on accelerating the adoption of decentralized identity. The goal is to work with both consumers and businesses to make it easier and give them more control over how they share their digital information.
Coinbase shares soar on deal to provide crypto services for BlackRock clients (REUTERS)
The agreement offers some positive news for the company which, like many in the crypto sector, has been battered by a slump in crypto asset prices as investors fled risky assets amid geopolitical turmoil, rising rates and worries of an impending recession.
QuadFi uses AI to make it easier for Canadian newcomers to obtain financing (BETAKIT)
QuadFi claims its credit solution is borderless and doesn’t rely on FICO scores. FICO scores assess credit risk scoring, which FICO claims are widely recognized as the industry standard for measuring credit risk.
The Humbling of Coinbase (THE NEW YORK TIMES)
In just over a year, the United States’ largest cryptocurrency exchange went from a triumphant public offering to a “crypto winter” of cost cutting and layoffs.
The ‘crypto winter’ is coming — but just how bad will it be? (SIFTED)
It might seem that the time of crypto success stories is over. Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency, is currently trading at about $18k — a price last seen in 2020 — and prices are falling all over the market.
Clearco cuts a quarter of staff amid “significant headwinds” (BETAKIT)
Co-founders Michele Romanow and Andrew D’Souza told Clearco employees about the cuts in an email on Friday morning. The email, shared with BetaKit, stated, “Today we have made the hard decision to reduce our workforce by 125 people and are considering strategic options for our international operations.”
Global Payments to acquire EVO in $4 bln deal to boost B2B segment (REUTERS)
Companies such as EVO strive to digitize and streamline B2B payments which are usually more complex than business-to-consumer payments as they involve dealing with several domestic and overseas merchants.
Portage Ventures rolls out new late-stage FinTech fund, aims to raise up to $1 billion USD (BETAKIT)
Portage co-founder and CEO Adam Felesky told BetaKit that PCS will invest in securities that combine debt and equity features and do not require startups to lock in valuations as with traditional equity fundraising.
Dubai Buy Now, Pay Later Firm Tabby Gets $150 Million Financing (BNN BLOOMBERG)
Firms like Tabby allow customers to purchase goods and pay for them in installments. While concerns over inflation and a looming recession have hurt such companies in developed markets, Tabby expects demand to continue rising in the Gulf where access to credit is scarce. Less than 20% of the population has a credit card in Saudi Arabia — the largest Gulf economy — compared to more than 70% in the United States, the firm said.
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