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PSG makes investment in Hostaway to expand its vacation-rental software amid travel rebound (BETAKIT)

Growth equity firm PSG has provided Toronto startup Hostaway, which provides software for managing short-term and vacation rentals, with $237.7 million CAD ($175 million USD) in growth financing.

Sources indicated to BetaKit that this has led PSG holding a majority ownership stake in Hostaway, but Hostaway declined to confirm.

TripAdvisor rival GetYourGuide nears $2 billion valuation as it raises fresh funds to invest in A.I. (CNBC)

German online travel startup GetYourGuide raised $194 million from investors, hoping to capitalize on a bump in demand for travel services in the summer, further an expansion into the U.S., and invest in large language models and other artificial intelligence tools.

Vrify secures $6 million Series A to help attract mining investment (BETAKIT)

Vrify, a mining communications startup, has announced a $6-million Series A raise that the company hopes will drive market expansion and updates to its technology platform.

Mining companies use Vrify’s 3D visualization technology and 360-degree mining site virtual tours to refine communications and help attract and secure investments.

A developer says Reddit could charge him $20 million a year to keep his app working (THE VERGE)

Apollo, the popular Reddit app for iOS, is just one of the apps that could face millions of dollars in fees as a result of Reddit’s new paid API model months before the forum site’s IPO.

Twitter also recently started charging for its API, revoking developer access and switching to a subscription model which could reportedly cost $42,000 a month.

Ex-Panache, ScaleUp partners team up to launch new early-stage VC fund CMD Capital (BETAKIT)

Long-time Canadian technology startup investors Matt Roberts and David Dufresne have teamed up to launch their own early-stage VC firm, CMD Capital.

CMD Capital aims to raise up to $75 million CAD for startups that use artificial intelligence to solve problems across the B2B and enterprise sectors.

Cortex raises $35M Series B for its internal developer portal (TECHCRUNCH)

Cortex, a startup building an internal developer portal that helps engineering teams build better software at scale, announced a $35 million Series B funding round bringing the company’s total funding to just under $53 million.

Platformatic secures $3.5 million, launches tech to simplify back-end development for enterprises (BETAKIT)

Platformatic has closed $3.5 million USD in seed funding and launched a new API platform to help developers and companies focus on building “applications that matter instead of complex underlying infrastructure.”

A survey of the challenges women founders face when fundraising (and how to overcome them) (BETAKIT)

40 women founders from 25 different countries share their views for other women entrepreneurs fundraising.

Report: 2021 VC boom in Canada was short-lived as market resets to pre-pandemic levels (BETAKIT)

A recent report published by BDC Capital, the investment arm of the Business Development Bank of Canada, found that the number of VC deals in 2022 dropped by 12 percent year-over-year, while the total amount invested declined by 34 percent.

Salesforce could be repositioning itself as a data company (TECHCRUNCH)

One of the most interesting pieces of data in Salesforce’s financial report on Wednesday was which part of the company’s core offerings was actually the fastest growing cloud: the newest one, Data Cloud, which launched last year at Dreamforce.

Collision nears a one-year Toronto extension, efforts mount for a West Coast alternative (BETAKIT)

With Collision’s long-term future in Toronto still uncertain, efforts are mounting for a British Columbia alternative, as multiple Vancouver organizations have begun exploring the idea of luring Collision to the city.

Doormat raises $1.25 million to make real estate legal services easier (BETAKIT)

Toronto-based Doormat, which provides real-estate legal services to facilitate the closing of property purchases and sales, has raised $1.25 million CAD in pre-seed funding.

Doormat, which is currently available in Ontario, said this funding will support its plans to expand into British Columbia and Alberta.

Airbnb sues New York City over short-term rental restrictions (REUTERS)

Airbnb Inc. filed a lawsuit against New York City over a new law it called a “de facto ban” against short-term rentals set to go into effect in July, which the company says will limit the number of people who can host rentals in the city.

The law, according to the filing, will require hosts to register with the New York City Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement.

Saskatoon startups SolusGuard, BetterCart win a combined $75,000 at Uniting the Prairies 2023 (BETAKIT)

Two Saskatoon startups walked out of the Uniting the Prairies 2023 pitch competition with a combined $75,000 in investment funding.

Workplace wearables company SolusGuard won $50,000 and B2B price analytics platform BetterCart clinched $25,000.

The post S|W: The SaaS Weekly – Is Salesforce repositioning itself as a data company? first appeared on BetaKit.