Bi-Weekly Roundup
In the news
In a strategic move, Canadian e-commerce giant Shopify acquired Checkout Blocks, for an undisclosed amount. Checkout Blocks, founded in only 2022, allows merchants to use a drag-and-drop editor to enhance the checkout process with customizable "blocks" for shipping discounts, gift offers, and more. Following the acquisition, Checkout Blocks’ introductory product offering, previously $99 per month, became free for all Shopify Plus merchants—interesting, as it’s been reported that Shopify is looking to cease using Shopify Plus as a stand-alone brand.
This acquisition is another step in the ongoing trend of large Canadian tech companies building through acquiring startups to enhance their product. I’m very interested to see how they implement the products, as well as the Checkout Blocks team and their ideas, into Shopify’s ever-growing talent base.
Something I’m keeping an eye on
Toronto-based AI company Cohere secured $450 million in funding from investors including Nvidia and Salesforce Ventures, with hopes for a $5 billion valuation. Cohere, a developer of large-language models for business applications, has also launched a new Startup Program which aims to provide early-stage startups easier access to AI tools and support. With this funding, Cohere has set its sights on joining the competition with AI giants such as OpenAI and Anthropic, focusing exclusively on business solutions. Cohere has raised approximately $900 million to date—and with this new program to support and grow smaller AI companies, I’m interested to see how other Canadian startups in the space can be brought to new levels with this support.
In Case You Missed It…
From "Endless Shrimp" to Private Equity deals, what really sunk Red Lobster?
Red Lobster’s 2023 “Endless Shrimp” promotion was back in the headlines after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month. While the idea that the disastrous endless shrimp promotion caused the collapse of the household name certainly grabs attention, the promotion was only a symptom of deeper underlying issues.
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