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Shopify reemphasizes brick-and-mortar with new mobile POS hardware (BETAKIT)

According to Shopify, Go enables merchants to close sales anywhere; view detailed product information, customer notes, and purchase history; and accept tap, swipe, and chip cards through a card reader. It also allows retailers to view sales, analytics, and inventory across every channel. Go can be used in any place where a WiFi connection is available.

Instacart Cuts Staff, Curbs Hiring in Run-up to IPO (THE INFORMATION)

The San Francisco startup over the last two months has fired some of its more than 3,000 workers after holding midyear performance reviews where managers were instructed to provide feedback on employees’ shortcomings, according to two people with direct knowledge of the situation.

Canadian tech must embrace Indigenous reconciliation (BETAKIT)

While Canada is often viewed globally as a thriving hub of innovation, investment, technology, and education within the digital economy, Indigenous communities and practitioners are largely missing from the conversations and spaces about the future ‘smart’ and decentralized technologies.

BlackRock, Indonesia Join $300 Million Funding for Southeast Asian Travel Startup (BNN BLOOMBERG)

The size of the funding round is significantly larger than the previously discussed target of about $200 million that Bloomberg News reported in June. Traveloka, backed by investors including GIC Pte and Expedia Group Inc., is considering an initial public offering in the US or in Indonesia, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked to remain anonymous discussing a private matter.

How tech leaders like Shopify are TV-ifying the traditional company meeting (BETAKIT)

Like the pandemic’s acceleration of remote-first solutions like virtual school and telehealth, the post-COVID era has given rise to another trend, namely TV-ifying the traditional video conferencing experience, where large meetings look less like a standard Zoom call and more like a high-production show. Think studio lighting, 4K cameras, crisp audio feeds, and glitzy graphics⁠—all for the monthly town hall.

Shopee, the Amazon of Southeast Asia, has been on a layoff spree within a year of raising $6 billion. We dug into the financials for an inside look. (INSIDER)

The latest round of Shopee layoffs came almost exactly a year after the ecommerce giant raised $6 billion through the sale of equity and bonds in September 2021. At the time, it was the largest fundraising in Southeast Asia.

How finance teams can prepare for an IPO (BETAKIT)

In a webinar presented by Sage Intacct, Michael Lister, Leader, InsightsOfficer, at PwC, and David Appel, Head of Software and SaaS at Sage Intacct, shared the seven steps startup finance teams need to take when preparing to go public.

Singapore’s Sovereign Fund Helps Create Thailand’s Latest Unicorn (BNN BLOOMBERG)

Thai food and parcel delivery app Line Man Wongnai raised $265 million in a round led by Singaporean sovereign fund GIC Pte, becoming the nation’s latest startup unicorn. The company’s value topped $1 billion after a Series B round of funding, according to a statement on its website. Other investors in the latest funding include Taiwan Mobile Co., BRV Capital Management and PTT Oil & Retail Business Pcl.

NACO report finds SAFEs on the rise in angel investment during record-breaking 2021 (BETAKIT)

This figure is more than double the $103 million in angel investment Canada saw in 2020, as the early-stage investment segment rebounded from a pandemic low fuelled by market uncertainty.

Meanwhile, angel organizations reporting deal flow information received 7,753 approaches from companies for investment last year—an 18 percent increase since 2020, and more than every other year since 2015, excluding 2017.

Leaked email: Impossible Foods founder Pat Brown stepping down from c-suite role to lead new research arm as executive shake-up continues at the plant-based meat maker (INSIDER)

Brown is now stepping down from his role to lead a new arm of the company, tentatively called Impossible Labs, according to an email obtained by Insider. The move comes after eight executives, including its president and multiple vice presidents, have left over the past several months, Insider previously reported. It also comes at a difficult time for the industry as sales of plant-based meat have cooled after growing rapidly early in the pandemic.

Important financial metrics every early-stage founder should know (BETAKIT)

Ali Ladha, a virtual CFO for startups & SMBs through his company Vertical CPA, talks about these problems regularly on his Twitter and YouTube channels. In viral tweet threads and various YouTube videos, Ladha explains the financial metrics every business owner should know, how to calculate them, and how they connect to operational decisions.

Chinese billionaire Richard Liu settles US rape allegation (AP NEWS)

The settlement was announced just two days before the civil trial was set to begin Monday in a Minneapolis courtroom. On Friday, a jury of seven men and five women were picked to hear the case.

Canadian unicorns Neo Financial, Ada lead LinkedIn’s 2022 Top Startups list (BETAKIT)

For the fifth edition of its annual Top Startups list, LinkedIn also named (in order) Fable, Shakepay, ApplyBoard, BenchSci, Cohere, Certn, Drop, Dapper Labs, Snapcommerce, Manifest Climate, Irwin, TealBook, and Klue.

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The post R|T: The Retail Times – How Shopify breathes new life into company meetings first appeared on BetaKit.