Plus: Highflying cyber firms cut staff after raising hundreds of millions of dollars.
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Fluence acquires SaaS startup Sturnis365 to expand European presence (BETAKIT)
Fluence is not disclosing the terms of the deal, which closed on June 30. Fluence claims the acquisition will enable the startup to expand its target market to public, pre-IPO, and other regulated companies with regional and industry-specific disclosure requirements.
Twitter says it’s going to sue Elon Musk for trying to back out of the deal (THE VERGE)
Elon Musk is officially trying to pull out of his $44 billion agreement to purchase Twitter, claiming a “material breach” of their agreement by the social media company.
International IT firm Globant opens office in Toronto, plans to recruit 200 people (BETAKIT)
“We strive to find the most innovative, diverse, creative people to join our company, and we see our expansion and growth in Toronto as a strategic opportunity to do that, given the city’s impressive and extensive history of technical excellence,” said Nicolas Avila, Chief Technology Officer for North America at Globant.
Twitter lays off 30% of its talent acquisition team (TECHCRUNCH)
The company spokesperson added that employees will receive severance packages (but declined to share specifics) and said that the remaining recruitment staff will be reprioritized due to decreased hiring. Twitter is pausing most hiring and backfills, aside from the most critical roles.
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TrackTik acquired by US security workforce management firm Trackforce (BETAKIT)
TrackTik will continue to operate in Québec as it works with Trackforce on developing security solutions, such as time and labour management, guard touring, incident management, dispatch and mobile control, as well as billing and payroll.
Highflying Cyber Firms Cut Staff After Raising Hundreds of Millions of Dollars (THE WALL STREET JOURNAL)
“Everyone was thinking about grow, grow, grow at any cost,” said Lior Div, chief executive of Cybereason Inc., which last month laid off nearly 10% of its workforce, or roughly 140 employees. “Growing at any cost is not something the market is going to appreciate any more.”
BetaKit Live: How to use data to survive a downturn (BETAKIT)
In partnership with Mozart Data, BetaKit will present a livestream panel conversation on how startups can use data to survive the current downturn. Featuring both US and Canadian VCs, the panel will identify the metrics your company needs to keep a close eye on in a downturn, and how to take action based upon what the metrics tell you.
Google reportedly offers to shuffle ads business to avoid Justice Department lawsuit (THE VERGE)
According to the WSJ, the move would be a corporate shuffle. Rather than spinning off parts of its ad business into a completely separate company or selling them altogether, the proposal would make them a separate Alphabet company. Alphabet is the holding company for Google’s properties, such as Google itself, Waymo, and DeepMind.
It’s never been more important to address diversity in AI (BETAKIT)
Simply put, the makeup of project teams, who they consult with, and what their values are can be the difference between a model that is inclusive and respectful, and one that isn’t.
Virtual events startup Hopin, valued at $7.8 billion in the pandemic, is set for its second round of job cuts this year (INSIDER)
One source with knowledge of the matter, who is not authorized to discuss the cuts, said the startup could axe around 30% of its staff, equating to hundreds of jobs. The exact number is not confirmed and may change.
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