Plus: Netflix coming to Vancouver with new acquisition.
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Introhive cuts 16 percent of workforce citing market conditions (BETAKIT)
Introhive CEO Jody Glidden announced the company-wide layoffs this week on LinkedIn, sharing an internal memo to Introhive employees. In his post, Glidden attributed Introhive’s decision to shed some of its staff to the current turbulent markets.
Chinese Regulator to Fine Didi More Than $1 Billion Over Data-Security Breaches (THE WALL STREET JOURNAL)
Once the penalty is unveiled, the government plans to ease a restriction banning Didi from adding new users to its platform, and to allow the Beijing-based technology company’s mobile apps to be restored to domestic app stores, some of the people said. The fine will also pave the way for Didi, whose app is used by tens of millions of users in China each month, to kick-start a new share listing in Hong Kong.
BMO to acquire carbon offsets developer Radicle (BETAKIT)
The deal is expected to close by the end of this year. Radicle’s management team and 130 employees are expected to join BMO’s Capital Markets’ Global Markets group. Founded in 2008 by cleantech innovator Alastair Handley, Radicle develops carbon offsets and helps organizations with emissions reduction.
Snap craters as sales disappoint, erases US$130B from peers (BNN BLOOMBERG)
The Snapchat parent plummeted 39 per cent, sinking to its lowest level since March 2020. Meanwhile, Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. fell 7.6 per cent, Pinterest Inc dropped more than 13 per cent, and Google owner Alphabet Inc. declined 5.6 per cent in its biggest one-day drop since March 2020.
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BlackBerry, L-SPARK unveil third cohort for connected car accelerator (BETAKIT)
The third cohort of the accelerator comprises Deeplite, Raven Connected, Sensor Cortek, and Wedge Networks. Launched in 2018, the joint accelerator program between L-SPARK and BlackBerry was created to help its cohort companies scale their businesses and bring new products to market.
TikTok has reportedly begun laying off staff as part of a restructuring (INSIDER)
David Ortiz, a US-based TikTok staffer who listed his title as “monetization product leader” on LinkedIn, wrote in a post on Monday that his job was “being eliminated in a much larger re-organization effort.”
Check out these Canadian tech venture funding reports for Q2:
All data sourced via briefed.in. BetaKit is a briefed.in Tech Report media partner.
Contentsquare closes a mammoth $600M round as customers clamor for digital analytics (TECHCRUNCH)
The consequences of delayed or wasted projects often extend beyond cash — think delaying strategic goals. That’s one of the reasons Jonathan Cherki founded Contentsquare, a platform that allows businesses to track online customer behavior to inform digital strategies.
Why now is the time for Canadian startups to hire internationally (BETAKIT)
Whether by adding remote employees or helping them relocate to Canada, accessing global talent can help fill the widening talent gap we face as Canada’s tech ambitions get bigger.
“They want to feel safe that they can stay in this country,” says Feruza Djamalova, the co-founder of Sobirovs Law Firm, a boutique business immigration law firm based in Toronto.
Messaging app JusTalk is spilling millions of unencrypted messages (TECHCRUNCH)
JusTalk says both its apps are end-to-end encrypted — where only the people in the conversation can read its messages — and boasts on its website that “only you and the person you communicate with can see, read or listen to them: Even the JusTalk team won’t access your data!”. But a review of the huge cache of internal data, seen by TechCrunch, proves those claims are not true.
Milk Moovement bags $26 million CAD to bolster dairy supply chain software (BETAKIT)
Milk Moovement provides a software-based platform for the dairy industry. The startup claims that its technology creates full supply chain visibility for dairy farmers and their distribution partners to track and route shipments in real-time, optimize delivery schedules, and create a significant decrease in food waste and loss of profits.
Netflix Comes To Vancouver With Animal Logic Acquisition (TECHCOUVER)
Animal Logic is recognized as one of the world’s leading independent creative digital studios, producing award winning design, visual effects and animation for over 30 years. “Together, we’ll create an animation studio that will produce some of our largest animated feature films,” Netflix said in the shareholder letter. Animal Logic has about 800 employees, mostly based in Sydney and Vancouver.
Tata Consultancy Services, Nitro Software announce new Toronto hubs (BETAKIT)
TCS, which already has a significant presence in Canada, is launching a new “Pace Port” in Toronto to help Canadian companies develop, trial, and adopt new technologies. The facility will mark the firm’s fifth global centre of its kind.
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