Plus: SkipTheDishes cuts staff.
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SkipTheDishes lays off 350 employees following global workforce review by parent company Just Eat (BETAKIT)
“Following a comprehensive review of its Global Logistics workforce, Just Eat Takeaway has made changes to the global organization to best set the business and its partners up for sustainable growth. This includes reducing the size of its Logistics team in Canada that support multiple, global markets across the business,” said a spokesperson for Just Eat Takeaway.
Caught on tape: Amazon exec threatened Marketplace shutdown in Canada if competition reforms go ahead (THE LOGIC)
A recording obtained by The Logic outlines Amazon’s vigorous behind-the-scenes campaign to head off changes to Canada’s Competition Act. Meanwhile, California is suing Amazon accusing it of inflating prices and crushing competition.
Shopify rolls out new employee compensation system to recruit, retain talent amid stock slump (BETAKIT)
The Ottawa-based e-commerce giant has been in the process of overhauling its approach to compensation since earlier this year. The move comes as Shopify has seen its stock price drop sharply from its pandemic high amid the broader tech selloff and return of physical retail. Previously, the amount of cash and equity each Shopify employee received was predetermined. But as the firm’s share price has fallen, so has the value of that equity.
Shopify and Amazon’s Cold War heats up (11:FS)
BetaKit editor-in-chief Douglas Soltys joins 11:FS’ Fintech Insider podcast to discuss Shopify and Amazon’s ongoing e-commerce Cold War, which has been heating up recently over their competing checkout services, and whether Shopify merchants should be using Amazon’s ‘Buy with Prime’ offering.
Indigenous venture firm Raven Capital eyes US market as it secures $46 million for second fund (BETAKIT)
“This is a really tough environment to raise [in], and a lot of investors are slowing down right now across the board,” Raven Capital managing partner Paul Lacerte told BetaKit in an interview.
“What we’ve found is sort of a unique value proposition [as the] first to market, and a pretty significant untapped desire on the part of investors to find ways to deploy capital into the Indigenous space, both in Canada and in the US.”
How to blow $85 million in 11 months: The inside story of Airlift’s crash (REST OF WORLD)
15 former employees reveal how mismanagement and inefficiencies brought down Pakistan’s first would-be unicorn.
Startup syllabus: how Dal Innovates embraced innovation education in Atlantic Canada (BETAKIT)
Halifax’s Dalhousie University (“Dal”), through its award-winning program Dal Innovates, is working to provide this education with multiple programs that encourage and support academics considering or otherwise joining the innovation economy.
Rent the Runway to Reduce Workforce as More Customers Pause Their Subscriptions (THE WALL STREET JOURNAL)
Rent the Runway Inc. said it would reduce its corporate workforce by 24%, primarily through layoffs, as the fashion-rental service adjusts to a slowdown in consumer spending and shifts from shopping habits adopted earlier in the pandemic.
The New York company on Monday didn’t specify the total number of jobs affected. It had 958 full-time employees and 138 part-time employees as of Jan. 31, according to securities filings.
Shopify swaps CFO, COO amid financial downturn (BETAKIT)
Amy Shapero, the company’s CFO of five years, will step down following Shopify’s third quarter 2022 earnings announcement on October 27. Jeff Hoffmeister will take over as CFO. Hoffmeister will join Shopify from Morgan Stanley, where he spent over two decades in its technology investment banking group.
As well, the company announced that Kaz Nejatian, vice president of product, will succeed Toby Shannan as COO, effective immediately.
At eBay, Lurid Crimes and the Search for Punishment (THE NEW YORK TIMES)
“If you are ever going to take her down .. now is the time.”
Devin Wenig, the chief executive of the e-commerce company eBay, texted those words to a deputy one summer afternoon three years ago. He was upset about a story he had just read.
Indoor Farming Startup Gotham Greens Raises $310M (CRUNCHBASE NEWS)
Per Gotham Greens, using hydroponics in their greenhouses allows them to use 97% less land when compared to farming.
“With increasing climate and supply chain-related issues facing our food system, it’s more important than ever to bring innovative farming solutions that grow high-quality produce while using fewer precious natural resources,” co-founder and CEO Viraj Puri said in a statement.
Jombone closes $3.3 million to modernize the blue-collar staffing industry (BETAKIT)
According to Jombone co-founder and CEO Sumit Sahdev, the sector has been working “in an antiquated fashion” for decades, relying on inefficient, expensive, and highly manual processes to find, hire, manage, and pay workers.
“There has been no innovation in this industry for a very, very long time,” Sumit Sahdev told BetaKit in an interview.
Walmart introduces virtual try-on tech which uses customers’ own photos to model the clothing (TECHCRUNCH)
The virtual try-on technology hails from Walmart’s 2021 acquisition of the startup Zeekit. The computer vision and neural network-powered feature is capable of analyzing catalog images of garments to create a dressed image. The use of neural networks helps to determine the different variations of a product, including size, color and other factors — like fabric draping or sleeve length, for example.
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