Plus: Replicon is acquired by US-based Deltek.
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Andorix receives $54.3 million CAD in debt, equity for in-building digital infrastructure (BETAKIT)
Andorix, a Toronto-based startup that creates integrated systems for smart buildings, has closed a $54.3-million CAD ($40-million USD) financing round.
The smart building industry is still relatively new, with various factors driving building owners to explore the technology. These factors include the desire to reduce energy costs, enhance tenant comfort (such as monitoring indoor air quality), and meet environmental, social, and governance (ESG) guidelines.
Microsoft-Backed Rubrik Aims for IPO as Soon as This Year
(BNN BLOOMBERG)
Rubrik Inc., a cloud and data security startup backed by Microsoft Corp., is on track to hold its initial public offering this year and its investor roadshow could start as early as October, according to people familiar with the matter.
Rubrik will be joining a handful of technology companies with sizable IPOs planned for the coming months, widely viewed as as a gauge of the market’s reception towards new listings.
Employee time-tracking startup Replicon acquired by US-based Deltek (BETAKIT)
Initially announced in May, Calgary-founded startup Replicon, which offers employee time-tracking software, has been officially acquired by Deltek as the latter expands its suite of software solutions for project-based businesses.
According to Deltek, acquiring Replicon represents one of the largest deals in the company’s history, and will complement its offerings for project time-tracking, knowledge workforce management, and professional services automation.
POWERED BY: TECHNATIONAddressing Canada’s talent gap in the tech industry boils down to removing the barriers for equity-deserving groups.
The Advanced Digital and Professional Training (ADaPT) program is a cost-free digital and professional skills development initiative that bridges the employment gap. It equips students in their final semester and post-secondary graduates with in-demand skills for entry-level tech roles.
ADaPT supports a diverse group of talent from varied educational backgrounds, with 81% of participants identifying as belonging to at least one equity-deserving group. Backed by 70+ hours of intensive training, the program exposes participants to tech career pathways.
The ADaPT program is funded by the Government of Canada’s Future Skills Centre and led by Toronto Metropolitan University’s Diversity Institute in collaboration with TECHNATION Canada.
To support future talent in thriving tech careers within Canada’s changing job market and become an ADaPT employer, find out more here.
Microsoft is unbundling Teams from Office in Europe to address regulator concerns (THE VERGE)
Slack originally filed an anti-competitive complaint against Microsoft with the European Commission in July 2020, just months after a global pandemic began and Microsoft saw massive growth for its Teams product.
Alongside the Teams unbundling, Microsoft is also planning to improve its documentation on interoperability with Microsoft 365 and Office 365 for rivals like Zoom and Slack to integrate into Exchange, Outlook, and Teams.
OMERS Ventures turnover continues with global head Damien Steel joining Deep Sky as CEO (BETAKIT)
At the beginning of 2023, head of venture capital Damien Steel laid out a bold vision for the future of OMERS Ventures. Now, he is leaving the firm.
Steel’s departure is the latest in a series of reversals for OMERS Ventures, which at the beginning of the year announced plans for a fifth fund featuring a unified global investment team. Since then, the firm has pulled out of the European market, losing or terminating multiple managing partners in the process. Now, only two managing partners remain: Yang, and Henry Gladwyn, who moved to New York as part of the London, UK office shuttering.
Apollo.io Is Valued at $1.6 Billion in Sales Tech Financing
(BNN BLOOMBERG)
Sales technology platform Apollo.io says it has raised $100 million in new financing at a $1.6 billion valuation.
Its platform organizes customer data with the goal of helping its users close more sales. Apollo.io says it is now using artificial intelligence to tailor email messaging.
FlipGive raises $5 million to expand fundraising platform for youth sports teams (BETAKIT)
Toronto-based FlipGive has raised $5 million CAD in Series B funding as it expands its fundraising software platform for youth sports teams, allowing other companies to launch their own fundraising initiatives.
Launched in 2016, FlipGive offers an online platform that connects merchants to consumers through community fundraisers.
SentinelOne CEO says the cybersecurity company is not for sale (CNBC)
SentinelOne, a cybersecurity company that went public in 2021, is not for sale according to its co-founder and CEO, Tomer Weingarten.
The comments follow a Reuters report earlier this month, citing unnamed sources, that said the company was looking at a possible sale. Bloomberg reported security startup Wiz was considering an acquisition of SentinelOne, pointing to comments from a Wiz spokesperson.
Seven Canadian tech founders dish about their journey running a startup (BETAKIT)
So far, 2023 has been tough for entrepreneurs. Inflation has kept costs high and profits low, and investors have mostly kept their chequebooks closed. But in uncertain times, founders can lean on each other for wisdom and inspiration.
We talked to a diverse group of Canadian tech founders about what motivates them during tough times and the importance of learning from their customers and peers.
Mediafly, one of Chicago’s fastest-growing software startups, raises $80 million (BIZJOURNALS)
Chicago software company Mediafly announced an $80 million raise on Tuesday.
Mediafly’s platform provides software to large organizations like Nestle, TransUnion, and Adobe that help market-facing teams with sales by allowing users to create and share content scaled across tens of thousands of sellers and buyers.
Flojoy raises $1.7 million to apply AI into instrumentation testing for heavy industries (BETAKIT)
Montréal-based Flojoy has raised $1.7 million CAD ($1.3 million USD) all-equity and all-primary in seed funding to develop its no-code software that enables industrial companies to automate their testing processes.
Flojoy is the brainchild of repeat entrepreneur Jack Parmer. He previously co-founded Plotly, an interactive data-visualization software for scientists who work with the Python and R programming languages.
Gambit Partners aims to take some of the risk out of early-stage investing by leaning on its LPs (BETAKIT)
Toronto-based venture capital (VC) fund Gambit Partners aims to de-risk pre-seed investing with the help of its limited partners (LPs).
Co-founder Simon Sokol claims that Gambit’s assembly of LPs is “uniquely situated” to help early-stage entrepreneurs with hiring, fundraising, and tech problems, noting that Gambit can bring in LPs to analyze prospective investments, solve issues at portfolio companies, or even join them.
SearchEye raises $1 million to scale digital public relations platform (BETAKIT)
After two years of bootstrapping, SearchEye has raised a $1-million CAD pre-seed round to scale the capabilities of its platform.
Searcheye claims to offer an end-to-end platform that says it functions as a direct bridge for companies looking to work with content channels to increase brand awareness.
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