Featured Stories
Selling an Edtech Business: The PositivePsychology.com Exit
PositivePsychology.com, a mission-driven edtech platform used by 19M+ professionals, was acquired in an 8-figure deal advised by FE International. This case study covers their growth, decision to sell, and the exit process.
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IBM Acquires Red Hat, SplitIt Reaches 1000 Merchants, Google Suggest Subscription App Bundling: Newsletter November 2, 2018
IBM has this week announced the landmark acquisition of open-source software company Red Hat. In a deal that will bring together two leading hybrid cloud providers, IBM will acquire all issued and outstanding common shares at $190 per share (currently a 63% premium), making this the largest ever software acquisition. Red Hat will continue to operate as an independent cloud team, maintaining the current product portfolio and open source development legacy model currently in place.
Shopify Payments Adds Global Currencies, Shopify Posts High Q3 Profits, EU Parliament Audits Facebook: Newsletter October 26, 2018
Shopify this week announced new functionality to display product prices in multiple currencies. The new feature will detect a shopper’s location and automatically update prices a customer sees while shopping. Nine currencies will be initially available. Merchants will be required to distinguish between the shop’s native currency and the presented currency and foreign exchange rates will be included in the final purchase price.
GitHub Announces Workflow Automation Tool, Facebook Involved in Advertising Lawsuit, President Trump Announces Changes to Chinese Shipping Policies: Newsletter October 19, 2018
Following the acquisition by Microsoft earlier in the year, GitHub has this week announced a new workflow automation tool, GitHub Actions. In an effort to improve the efficiency of engineers’ ability to complete low-level workflows, Actions will provide a platform for engineers to automate time-consuming workflows run directly from GitHub. Microsoft is slated to acquire GitHub for $7.5 billion, approved by the EU this morning, and gain 31 million engineering users in the process.
Shopify Offers Fraud Protection to US Merchants, Elastic IPO, Square Rolls Out Monthly Installment Payments: Newsletter October 12, 2018
Shopify has this week launched Fraud Protect for Shopify Payments, a security system to safeguard merchants against fraudulent chargebacks. Currently available to select US stores only, the fraud protection system is derived from Shopify’s access to the millions of orders processed across its platform. Previously, Shopify merchants were left to manually review transactions for fraud. The new service now means Shopify will not only automatically screen purchases to detect fraud, but also assume the risk associated with fraudulent transactions. Pricing will be based on a small percentage of each order placed and screened.
Slack Prepares for 2019 IPO, Blockchain Market Predicted to Reach $7 billion, Google Ads Platform Update, UpWork IPO Opens 50% Up: Newsletter October 5, 2018
Slack is amid active preparations for a 2019 IPO, according to sources familiar with the matter. Reportedly expecting a valuation of $7 billion or higher, the intra-office communication market leader could file for public listing as early as the first quarter of 2019. Slack was valued at $5.1 billion in 2017 and has since surpassed 8 million daily active users, 3 million paid users and raised $427 million in a funding round led by Dragoneer Investment Group and General Atlantic. While Slack has consistently remained in a diligent multi-year IPO preparation process, the company has recently taken specific steps towards a listing on the public market. Slack has raised over $1 billion in lifetime funding.
Stripe Reaches $20B Valuation, Amazon Opens 4-Star Store in NYC, Digital Crosses Into Majority Advertising Spend: Newsletter September 28, 2018
Stripe has this week received a $20 billion valuation following a $245 million round of funding led by Tiger Global. The payments processing leader was previously valued at $9.2 billion after raising $150 million in 2016, and has since grown to serve 130 markets with payment origination in 25 countries. Congruent with its deployment of more than 3,200 versions of its core API this year, Stripe reportedly intends to use this recent funding round to build its “distributed global engineering team.” The company currently has no plans to file for an IPO.
Adobe Acquires Marketo, EU Competition Commissioner Investigates Amazon, Pinterest Expands Influencer Program: Newsletter September 21, 2018
Adobe this week announced it will acquire digital marketing platform Marketo from Vista Equity Partners. The $4.75 billion deal would be Adobe’s largest to date and bolster them in competition with incumbents like Salesforce, who have prioritized expanding into the marketing automation space (most notably through the $2.5 billion acquisition of ExactTarget). Adobe’s Digital Experience business, which includes their own marketing software, generated $614 million in revenue last quarter, demonstrating a 21% year-over-year growth from 2017. ADBE is up 78% over the past year.
SaaS 1000 Ranks Top SaaS Companies of Q2’18, Microsoft Acquires Lobe, EU Passes Controversial Copyright Law: Newsletter September 14, 2018
SaaS 1000, the industry’s official ranking of the world’s fastest growing SaaS companies, has this week released the 2Q’18 edition of the list. Using a proprietary algorithm that includes hiring trends, growth indicators and number of employees (among other indicators), the list highlights top SaaS companies worldwide, from smaller startups to the largest SaaS businesses. While the list is updated quarterly, companies must have between 40 and 1000 employees in order to rank. CultureIQ was named the number one fastest-growing SaaS company on the 2Q’18 list.
Shopify Launches New App Store, Juicer.io Acquired by SaaS.group, Microsoft Commits to Support Enterprise Users, Google Search Console Live: Newsletter September 7, 2018
Shopify Launches New App Store, Juicer.io Acquired by SaaS.group, Microsoft Commits to Support Enterprise Users, Google Search Console Live: Newsletter September 7, 2018
