Software and Technology Monthly Newsletter - July 2024
In This Edition:
June 2024 In Review
Collision 2024
The Vehicle Shortage is Gone, Next Up: Cyberattacks
Financing
June 2024 Market Dashboard
Mergers and Acquisitions
June 2024 in Review
June 10 - Apple announces a new AI platform called Apple Intelligence, a revamped Siri, and an OpenAI partnership at its Worldwide Developers Conference.
June 18 - The shareholders of Nuvei (TSX:NVEI) voted in favour of a US$6.3B takeover by Advent International.
June 18 - NVIDIA overtakes Microsoft to become the world’s most valuable company by market cap at ~US$3.3T.
June 19 - Fengate Infrastructure announces a $1.8B investment in Canadian firm eStruxture Data Centres, a data centre platform provider that also rents out server and equipment storage space.
Collision 2024
The 2024 Collision tech conference in Toronto drew up to 40,000 guests, which included over 1,600 start-ups and over 700 investors. The tech conference serves as a platform for innovators, entrepreneurs, tech professionals and investors to come together for the latest technology developments. This year’s event was the fifth consecutive time the city of Toronto hosted the event, with next year’s edition to be rebranded as Web Summit Vancouver and hosted in the city of Vancouver in May 2025.
We summarized three highlights from Collision 2024 below we found interesting:
How can we manage AI’s threats to humanity?
With the widespread use of AI going forward, it is undeniable that AI poses a variety of threats to humanity. Some examples include autonomous weapons, illegal surveillance, fake videos corrupting elections, bioterrorism, cybercrime etc. Continuous AI testing is an absolute must to ensure the longer-term repercussions are identified and mitigated properly.
“The only thing powerful enough to make the big companies invest significant amounts of money in doing experiments on that … is governments. So I think governments should be involved in forcing the big AI companies to do lots of safety experiments.” - Geoffrey Hinton, the Godfather of AI
Travel scams to increase exponentially
ChatGPT is being misused by select parties to drive online scams, particularly in the tourism industry. With ChatGPT, the number of phishing incidents have skyrocketed where online users are tricked into handing over personal details via ChatGPT generated emails that appear real.
“AI is expected to increase online travel scams anywhere from a 500-900 per cent increase”. -Marnie Wilking, Chief Information Security Officer, Booking.com
AI in professional sports
No, we’re not talking about Robots vs. Wrestlers yet. However, AI advancements in professional sports are enhancing the overall experience. AI tools are used for reviewing offside calls and handballs in soccer, predicting injury risks, and more. These tools help eliminate human judgment errors and provide fans with better information about athletes, making the next visit to the Saddledome even more enjoyable.
“I think the acceptance of AI is really important,” ... “I look back to when the line calls were made by humans, and when the challenge system came into place, we were all extremely hesitant.” - Maria Sharapova, former world No. 1 tennis player and Career Grand Slam winner
The Vehicle Shortage is Gone, Next Up: Cyberattacks
Since COVID, new and used vehicle prices have skyrocketed due to supply reductions and the global push for electric vehicles (EVs). However, the era of consumers putting down a $500 deposit for a vehicle to be delivered 24 months later is over. With supply chain issues easing and prices creeping higher, wait times have significantly improved compared to two years ago. Still, don’t be surprised if you encounter delays at dealerships due to cyberattacks. Let’s dive in further.
Software technology provider including operations, sales, service, appointment tracking functions etc. to vehicle dealerships.
Headquartered in Chicago, IL.
Serves over 15,000 auto retail locations across North America.
Was a public company before being acquired by Brookfield Business Partners for US$6.41B in April 2022.
On June 19 and 20, CDK was the victim of two consecutive cyberattacks, which led to an outage that has continued to disrupt operations. The hackers have reportedly been impersonating CDK representatives to steal log-in credentials and confidential customer data. This led to CDK shutting down all its systems out of caution before a restoration process got underway, with the assistance of third party cybersecurity experts.
““Hundreds of dealers” across Canada are impacted by the outage.”
Due to the outage, auto dealerships switched to manual processes, including filling out sales invoices by hand. The company also notified law enforcement to investigate the cybercrime.
This incident adds to the growing list of cyberattacks, which have surged in recent years. Another high-profile attack in Q2 was the ransomware attack on London Drugs at the end of April, forcing the company to shut down all its stores in Western Canada for a week and compromising employee information. London Drugs offered 24 months of credit monitoring and identity-theft protection services to all employees and continues to investigate the attack.
As cyberattacks increasingly target companies of all sizes and sectors, we strongly encourage businesses to implement proper technical measures and employee training. Outsourcing cybersecurity to third-party firms should also be considered to reduce the threat of attacks.
Financing
We summarized a few tech financing transactions announced in June:
Market Dashboard - June 2024
Mergers and Acquisitions
June 5 – Orlando based OneRail acquires Vancouver based Orderbot. Acquisition of enterprise inventory and distributed order management solutions provider to enhance inventory and order management capabilities with cloud-based last mile operating system and delivery network.
June 7 – Shopify (TSX:SHOP) acquires San Francisco based Threads.com. Acquisition of written office communication tool for workforces to broaden e-commerce suite.
June 11 – Swedish firm Industrial and Financial Systems acquires Copperleaf Technologies (TSX:CPLF). $1B acquisition of shipment management platform provider serving small to medium sized logistics services providers to enhance global logistics offerings and to expand European geographic footprint.
June 11 – Descartes Systems Group (TSX:DSG) acquires UK based Boxtop. $18MM acquisition of shipment management platform provider serving small to medium sized logistics services providers to enhance global logistics offerings and to expand European geographic footprint.
June 11 – First Nations owned Sixty North Unity acquires Whitehorse based Northwestel. Acquisition of telecommunication services provider in Northern Canada by Indigenous communities consortium to create more opportunities for investment and ownership in infrastructure and communication projects.
June 12 – Vancouver based Apply Digital acquires Los Angeles based Sisu. Acquisition of digital agency offering digital strategy, UX, UI, development and other support services to bolster capabilities and enhance brand recognition.
June 17 – Toronto based Orium acquires Mexican firm Gluo. Acquisition of e-commerce agency by composable commerce specialist to enhance growth in the U.S. and Latin American markets.
June 17 – Montreal based CDWARE Technology acquires Laval based INGTECH. Acquisition of electronic-logging device software and technology provider in automated vehicle tracking to increase fleet management software capabilities.
June 20 – Numinus Wellness (TSX:NUMI) acquires Medbright AI (CSE:MBAI). Acquisition of AI machine learning deployment company that empowers medical professionals.
June 20 – Burbank, CA based CloudSoda acquires La Prairie, QC based DataIntell. Acquisition of data insights and visualization services provider by data management provider to combine expertise in modern data management capabilities.
June 21 – French company SCALIAN acquires Saint-Laurent, QC based Mannarino Systems & Software. Acquisition of company that specializes in avionics for electric aircraft and drones, and more globally in certified systems for the aerospace sector to expand internationally and to focus on safety critical systems and software engineering.
June 24 – Toronto based TRADER acquires Toronto based Collateral Management Solutions. Acquisition of provider of lien and registration services, recovery services, and insolvency management solutions to Canadian lenders by online media, dealership software and lender services provider from the Teranet group of companies.
June 24 –A-Mark Precious (NASDAQ:AMRK) acquires Silver Gold Bull. $9.6MM acquisition of additional 8% equity in e-commerce precious metals retailer to obtain majority ownership and to expand direct-to-consumer footprint in the international market.
June 25 – Quebec City based freelance.ca acquires Montreal based Workhoppers. Acquisition of Canadian freelancer platform provider to expand Canadian market and to expand services portfolio.
June 25 – Toronto based ZoomerMedia acquires Toronto based MobileSyrup. Acquisition of tech news publication company from Blue Ant Media to expand digital network to complement business digital publication offerings.
