January 19, 2025: Market Could Be Getting Off Intermediate Pause

Markets had a positive end even as US markets will be closed on Monday, suggesting the intermediate ~month long pause could be behind us. Dow Jones rose 3.7% last week, S&P 500 gained 2.9%, and Nasdaq composite was up 2.45%. Trading platform eToro has filed confidentially for a US IPO that could value the company at over US$5 billion. eCommerce company, Rokt, was valued at US$3.5 billion in secondary deal, and is targeting a 2026 IPO. Data analytics firm Databricks raised US$5 billion in debt in a new round of financing that will help the company offset taxes from employee share sales, Bloomberg reported.A.I. military start-up Anduril is planning a US$1 billion factory in Ohio. Saronic, a three-year-old startup that is aiming to make a fleet of autonomous boats for the U.S. Navy, is in talks to raise US$500 million. The Series C round talks, which remain ongoing, would value the nascent company at over US$3 billion. TSMC, the world’s largest chipmaker, reported on Thursday that net income increased 57% to US$11.6 billion in the December quarter from a year ago, thanks to strong demand for artificial intelligence chips. The EU is reassessing its probes into Apple, Meta, Google and other big tech companies. In Canada, Sophic Client Plurilock, upsized its special warrant offering to $4.8 million from $2.5 million. Edge Total Intelligence announced a non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of ~$5 million. Sophic Client NowVertical Group executives purchased shares in the open market, and the CEO is taking an equity bonus in lieu of cash. A Fortune 500 food company signed a five-year renewal with Sophic Client Boardwalktech. Toronto-based healthcare platform League secured a US$100 million ($144 million) credit facility from RBCx. Toronto-based corporate card and expense management technology startup Float has secured a $70 million Series B round.

Sophic Client Plurilock announces upsize of special warrant offering to $4.8 million.

Plurilock Security Inc., announces that due to investor demand it will increase its previously announced non-brokered private placement of special warrants (the “Special Warrants”). The Company will now offer up to 12,000,000 Special Warrants at the price of $0.40 per Special Warrant for gross proceeds up to $4.8 million (the “Offering”). The Offering is over-subscribed and the Company has closed the books. The Company expect to close the Offering on or about Wednesday, January 22, 2024. https://t.co/h1pNqg0USj

Sophic Client Plurilock (PLUR-TSXV, PLCKF-OTCQB) announces $2.5 million special warrant offering.

Plurilock announced a non-brokered private placement of up to 6,250,000 special warrants (the “Special Warrants”) at the price of $0.40 per Special Warrant for gross proceeds up to $2.5 million (the “Offering”), subject to upsize. Each Special Warrant will automatically convert into one unit of the Company (each a “Unit”), as described below. Each Unit shall consist of one common share of the Company (a “Share”) and one transferable common share purchase warrant (a “Warrant”). Each Warrant shall entitle the holder thereof to acquire one Share at a price of $0.50 per Share for a period of three years following the date of issue. The Warrants are subject to an accelerated expiry if the volume weighted average daily trading price of the Shares on the TSX Venture Exchange (the “TSXV”), or such other market as the Shares may trade from time to time, is or exceeds $0.65 for any five (5) consecutive trading days, in which event the Warrant holder may, at the Company’s election, be given notice by way of a news release that the Warrants will expire 30 days following the date of such notice. https://t.co/si4FVoVDrL

EdgeTI (CTRL-TSXV) announces LIFE offering private placement.

Edge Total Intelligence Inc. is announced a non-brokered private placement financing (the “Offering”) of up to 9,433,000 units of the Company (“Units”) at a price per Unit of $0.53 for aggregate gross proceeds of up to approximately $4,999,490. Each Unit shall consist of one subordinate voting share in the capital of the Company (an “SVS”) and one half of one SVS purchase warrant (each whole warrant, a “Warrant”). Each Warrant shall be exercisable to acquire one additional SVS at an exercise price of $0.67 for a term of 24 months from the date of issuance thereof, subject to earlier expiry in the event the price of the SVSs on the TSX Venture Exchange exceeds $1.00 for any ten (10) continuous trading day period at any time following four months and one day from the issuance of such Warrant (the “Acceleration Condition”), in which case the Company may, but is not required to, issue a news release announcing that the Acceleration Condition has been met, following which the Warrants will expire fourteen (14) days from the date of dissemination of such news release. https://tinyurl.com/4e9njvpv

Sophic Client NowVertical Group (NOW-TSXV) executives show confidence in growth with major open market share purchases.

NowVertical announced that certain members of executive management have purchased approximately 1.06 million Class A subordinate voting shares in the open market (the “Management Purchases”). Including these Management Purchases, management’s pro forma ownership is expected to increase to approximately 27%. https://t.co/L59x2j86Im

Sophic Client NowVertical Group (NOW-TSXV) CEO takes equity bonus in lieu of cash, underscoring shareholder alignment.

NowVertical Group Inc. announces that Sandeep Mendiratta, the Chief Executive Officer and a Director of the Company, has elected to receive his annual bonus in the form of restricted share units in the capital of the Company (“RSU”). Mr. Mendiratta has elected to receive an aggregate of 750,000 RSUs pursuant to the Company’s omnibus incentive compensation plan (the “Plan”). https://t.co/2ffjXQfDGt

Sophic Client NowVertical Group (NOW-TSXV) earns highest Google partner recognition: premier partner status in LATAM region.

NowVertical proudly announces its recognition as a Google Premier Partner in the LATAM region. This premier level of partnership represents the highest tier within Google’s partner ecosystem. This partnership underscores NowVertical’s advanced expertise in Google Cloud solutions, particularly in Data & AI Specialisations, which are core to driving NowVertical’s initial revenue run rate objective of US$50 million and best-in-class 20% EBITDA margin. https://t.co/jS6eA4f15Q

Fortune 500 food company signs five-year renewal for Sophic Client Boardwalktech, Inc. (BWLK-TSXV, BWLKF-OTCQB) supply chain solution.

Boardwalktech announces that a Fortune 500 client has signed a 5-year extension to license and further deploy Boardwalktech’s supply chain solution. The customer is a food and snack manufacturer generating $36 billion in annual revenue. The Company expects the renewal to generate in excess of US$300,000 of license revenue over the term of this extension, not including potential professional services work or usage-based upside revenue. https://t.co/pFVWUXPk5e

Sophic Client Legend Power Systems Inc. (LPS-TSXV, LPSIF-OTC) Signs Unity Electric, an Equans company, as sales, distribution, and installation partner for SmartGATE in NYC.

Legend Power Systems announced a strategic partnership with Unity Electric, an Equans company and the premier electrical contractor in the New York City metro area. This agreement marks a significant step in expanding the availability of Legend Power’s SmartGATE™ platform to address critical power challenges for commercial properties in one of the world’s most dynamic real estate markets. Unity Electric will serve as a key sales, distribution, and installation partner for SmartGATE, enhancing customer access to this new technology. Additionally, leveraging Equans’ network of companies and capabilities across the globe, including its $19 billion in annual revenue and operations in more than 20 countries, opens new opportunities to scale Legend Power’s solutions into new markets and industries. https://t.co/x0HcSjZB5X

Sophic Client Xcyte Digital (XCYT-TSXV) introduces PRISM Marketplace: an immersive venue for investors and small cap companies.

Xcyte Digital, announced the beta introduction of PRISM Marketplace, envisioned as a 365-day online immersive venue. The PRISM Marketplace platform is designed to redefine how investors connect with small cap companies, offering opportunities for networking, knowledge sharing, and deal-making through a variety of engaging events and activities throughout the year. https://t.co/X6saH9ANi9

League hits user milestone and secures US$100 million credit facility from RBCx.

Toronto-based healthcare platform League has secured a US$100 million ($144 million) credit facility from RBCx as it celebrates achieving 40 million users under contract. League struck a partnership with Australia’s largest private health insurer this past October. League said in a statement that the customer milestone represents a 160 percent increase year-over-year, and claimed the surge is driven by increasing demand for its new data and artificial intelligence (AI) offerings. The company added that the financing will support its investments in platform development, sales capacity, and potential mergers and acquisitions. https://tinyurl.com/4d756e88

Float raises $70 million Series B led by Goldman Sachs.

Toronto-based corporate card and expense management technology startup Float has secured a $70 million Series B round to increase its footprint in Canada. The all-equity round was led by the growth equity arm of Goldman Sachs with participation from OMERS Ventures, FJ Labs, Teralys, and return investor Garage Capital. https://tinyurl.com/44yef7dc

Vasco raises $11.5 million to help startups manage revenue trajectory with AI.

Montréal-based Vasco has secured US$8 million ($11.5 million) in seed funding to help startups commercialize through its artificial intelligence (AI)-powered revenue operations (RevOps) platform. Vasco’s revenue management platform aims to solve go-to-market challenges and eliminate revenue blindspots for startups so they can scale effectively. The company says the funding will go towards enhancing the platform’s AI solutions and expanding its client base globally. Inovia Capital led the all-equity, all-primary round, with participation from BY Venture Partners, FRAMEWORK Venture Partners, and angel investors. https://tinyurl.com/5n8ywdh4

Lyteflo secures $3 million in seed funding.

Montréal-based electric vehicle (EV) sales platform Lyteflo has closed a $3 million seed round to help car dealerships sell EVs more effectively. “EVs are here to stay. They’re too big to fail.” The software-as-a-service (SaaS) startup aims to demystify the EV buying process for consumers and dealerships through its EV Revenue Platform, which it says offers a suite of tools for sellers to access frequently requested information about EVs. Montréal-based Diagram Ventures led the all-equity, all-primary round through its ClimateTech fund. Whitecap Venture Partners and Amplify Capital also participated. Both are Toronto-based venture capital (VC) firms that target seed and Series-A stage investments. The round closed Dec. 3, adding to an initial $700,000 secured in simple agreement for future equity (SAFE) funding. https://tinyurl.com/4f6nbxt2

Trading platform eToro said to be eyeing US$5 billion US IPO in 2025.

Trading platform eToro has filed confidentially for a US IPO that could value the company at over US$5 billion, the Financial Times reported on Thursday. Israel-based EToro, which competes with the likes of Robinhood, told TechCrunch it is “not commenting on IPO rumors.” The fintech had initially announced plans to go public via a SPAC at a US$10.4 billion valuation in 2021 before scrapping those plans in 2022. In March 2023, it secured US$250 million in funding at a US$3.5 billion valuation. Founded in 2007, eToro gives users a way to trade assets such as stocks, ETFs and crypto. A source told FT that the company could formally list in New York as early as the second quarter. After a lull and perhaps encouraged by ServiceTitan’s public market success thus far, more fintechs are taking steps to go public themselves. Digital bank Chime filed its confidential paperwork with the SEC in December. https://tinyurl.com/ztwtkndt

Rokt valued at US$3.5 billion in secondary deal, targets 2026 IPO.

E-commerce software company Rokt said Thursday it would sell US$335 million in existing shares to investors including Tiger Global Management and Australian venture capital firm Square Peg Capital, as well as the company’s board members, in a deal that values the company at US$3.5 billion. That’s up from when the company last raised money at a US$1.63 billion valuation in December 2021, according to PitchBook. Rokt’s software helps big retailers and other companies like Uber, Live Nation and PayPal show targeted ads to shoppers after they make a purchase or add an item to their cart. Rokt said it grew revenue more than 40% to US$600 million in 2024 and that the company is profitable. Bruce Buchanan, the company’s CEO, told Bloomberg the company was targeting an initial public offering as soon as the first half of 2026. The company also said it would acquire customer data software company mParticle in a US$300 million deal. https://tinyurl.com/3sav4e4z

A.I. military start-up Anduril plans US$1 billion factory in Ohio.

Anduril is among a number of new tech companies focused on working with the military and intelligence communities. Anduril, a technology start-up that designs autonomous systems and weapons for government agencies and the military, plans to build a US$1 billion factory in Columbus, Ohio, the company said on Thursday. It said the factory, called Arsenal-1 and described as a “hyperscale” plant, would bring more than 4,000 job to Ohio and eventually produce tens of thousands of autonomous systems and weapons each year. “We will be creating with our partners in Ohio something that does not currently exist” at such a scale, Anduril’s chief strategy officer, Chris Brose, said in a briefing with reporters. The company has worked closely with state officials on the project and has secured tax breaks to locate it in Columbus. https://tinyurl.com/4yrxpcbj

Databricks raises US$5 billion in debt financing.

Data analytics firm Databricks raised US$5 billion in debt in a new round of financing that will help the company offset taxes from employee share sales, Bloomberg reported. The financing, which included loans from Blackstone, Apollo Global Management and Blue Owl Capital, comes on the heels of a $10 billion equity round in December that valued Databricks at $62 billion. Databricks expected to use part of the proceeds from that round to let current and former employees cash out shares, it said. The company said at the time that it expected to pass $3 billion in revenue run rate and turn free cash flow positive in its fiscal fourth quarter, which ends Jan. 31. A Databricks spokesperson declined to comment on the debt financing. https://tinyurl.com/mt5sfpvf

Military drone boat startup Saronic in talks to raise US$500 million.

Saronic, a three-year-old startup that is aiming to make a fleet of autonomous boats for the U.S. Navy, is in talks to raise US$500 million. The Series C round talks, which remain ongoing, would value the nascent company at over US$3 billion, according to five sources with knowledge of the deal. https://tinyurl.com/3rn79zt4

Intel’s venture fund to spin off into standalone firm.

American chip pioneer Intel is spinning off its corporate venture capital fund, Intel Capital, into a standalone investment fund, the company said Tuesday. Intel will remain as an investor in the new firm, which has been operating within the business for 30 years. The separation is still in progress, but Intel Capital is expected to change its name and operate independently by the end of the year, according to a press release. The firm has US$5 billion in assets under management, exclusively from Intel until now. It will now seek external investors. Intel Capital has made over 1,800 investments, including in data labeling company Scale AI, AI chip startup Sambanova, software startup Datarobot and humanoid robotics company Figure AI. The firm will continue investing in early-stage startups across cloud, devices, frontier technology and Silicon, according to a spokesperson. Intel said the spin-off fits into its strategy to bring “greater focus and efficiency across the business,” according to a statement by David Zinsner, interim co-chief executive officer and chief financial officer. Intel joins OpenAI, Google and SAP and other firms in having corporate venture arms that are separate from the company’s main operations. https://tinyurl.com/24cfm5wb

Chinese officials evaluate potential sale of TikTok U.S. to Elon Musk.

Chinese government officials are evaluating a potential option for TikTok that involves Elon Musk acquiring the app’s U.S. operations, Bloomberg reported. Under one scenario that the officials have discussed, Musk’s social media company X would take control of TikTok’s U.S. business and run it with the TikTok team, according to Bloomberg. A ByteDance spokesperson denied the report, calling it a fiction. “We can’t be expected to comment on pure fiction,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement. The Bloomberg report comes as TikTok is facing an imminent ban in the U.S. Under a law that was passed last year, TikTok will be banned Jan. 19 unless its Chinese owner, ByteDance, sells the app’s U.S. business. TikTok and ByteDance are fighting a legal battle in the Supreme Court to try to stop the sale-or-ban law from coming into effect. The Chinese officials strongly prefer that ByteDance continues to own TikTok, but they are also evaluating contingency plans including a potential sale as a way to avoid a ban, according to Bloomberg. https://tinyurl.com/yc492f5t

Starboard builds big stake in chip maker Qorvo.

Starboard has amassed a 7.7% position in the company, the people said. The stake, valued at around half a billion dollars, is expected to be revealed in a securities filing Friday morning, they said. The details around Starboard’s plans for Qorvo couldn’t be learned. Qorvo, based in Greensboro, N.C., had a market value of nearly $7 billion as of Thursday. Its share price has stumbled in recent months. The business has struggled to rein in expenses and has faced stiffer competition from other semiconductor companies including Skyworks Solutions and Broadcom. Qorvo shares plummeted late last year after the company forecast quarterly revenue and profit below Wall Street estimates. Starboard has held investments in a number of other chip companies over the years, including Nvidia, Marvell Technology, ON Semiconductor and Mellanox Technologies, before it was sold to Nvidia in 2019. https://tinyurl.com/y3y67bbv

TSMC profits surge 57% on strong demand for AI chips.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the world’s largest chipmaker, reported on Thursday that net income increased 57% to US$11.6 billion in the December quarter from a year ago, thanks to strong demand for artificial intelligence chips. TSMC, which manufactures chips for Nvidia and Apple, projected that revenue from AI chips will double in 2025. AI chips account for 53% of the company’s revenue in the fourth quarter, with the rest from smartphone, automotive and other chips. Total revenue increased 39% to US$26.8 billion in the fourth quarter. The U.S. government on Wednesday proposed new export control regulations that prevent Chinese companies from placing advanced AI chip orders at TSMC. CEO C.C. Wei said impact from the new rules would be “manageable,” as the company can still work with Chinese companies on non-AI chips. TSMC generated 11% of revenue from China in 2024, compared to 20% in 2019. https://tinyurl.com/3h598frc

Microsoft, Google roll out new AI pricing for businesses.

Microsoft and Google both rolled out changes to how they bill corporate customers for AI software on Wednesday in an effort to drum up more AI revenue. Microsoft will start letting businesses pay for certain features within its enterprise-focused AI software on a consumption basis, rather than a flat monthly fee that it has been charging for other corporate AI software. Meanwhile, Google is making AI features a part of its Workspace software by default, meaning customers will no longer pay separately for the features, and is raising the baseline cost of Workspace. The changes show how both companies are willing to experiment with new pricing models in order to coax corporate customers to spend more money on generative AI features. Microsoft’s flagship 365 Copilot product, which adds generative AI features to its popular Office software, is still priced at US$30 per user per month, but many companies have balked at that price point and remain reluctant to spend heavily on it. Microsoft’s pricing changes apply to “agent” features that can automate workplace processes, such as using AI to answer employees’ questions about an HR policy, and are part of 365 Copilot Chat, Microsoft’s otherwise-free corporate chatbot meant for enterprise customers. Under the new consumption pricing, one message within 365 Copilot Chat costs roughly one cent, while messages that require the chatbot to create a lengthy answer using generative AI cost two cents, and messages that require the chatbot to draw on other data from other applications cost 30 cents. For instance, Microsoft says that if 200 employees asked the software questions about an HR policy in a day, and each message required the AI to pull from company data and generate a response, the cost for the day would be roughly US$64. In Google’s case, the company is increasing the baseline pricing of its Workspace products by US$2, bringing the cost to $14 per user per month, and including its Gemini AI features in Workspace by default. Previously, customers had to pay US$20 to US$30 extra per user per month to use Gemini in Workspace. https://tinyurl.com/sx2epv6e

Axios signs content licensing partnership with OpenAI.

Digital news outlet Axios signed a content licensing agreement with OpenAI, the companies announced today. The partnership will allow OpenAI to train its models with free content from Axios national and local content, or stories the publication doesn’t put behind a paywall. Separately, OpenAI is funding Axios Local’s expansion to four new cities – Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Boulder and Huntsville, Alabama. While Google has supported several local news outlets through the Google News Initiative, OpenAI has done fewer partnerships. OpenAI has struck a number of content licensing deals with news publishers, unlike rivals such as Google. As we’ve reported, those deals have helped ensure publishers are opting to use OpenAI’s tech over Google’s AI in their operations. The deals also help the ChatGPT owner avoid litigation, like the lawsuit it faces from the New York Times over alleged copyright infringement. https://tinyurl.com/56r5nuzm

EU reviews big tech probes.

The European Union is reassessing its probes into Apple, Meta, Google and other big tech companies, the Financial Times reported, a move that comes as U.S. tech executives press President-elect Donald Trump to intervene in European regulatory efforts. All decisions and potential fines are on pause until the review is complete, the FT reported, though technical work on the cases will continue. The review includes all cases starting from March last year under the EU’s digital markets regulations, according to the report. A spokesperson for the European Commission denied a review was taking place, telling the FT the ongoing cases were not ready yet “at a technical level.” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on Joe Rogan’s podcast last week that Trump should stop the EU from fining American tech companies, and noted that the EU has fined US tech companies more than $30 billion dollars over more than a decade, by his own calculation. The commission started a new term last year, and Thierry Breton and Margrethe Vestager, two regulators tough on tech firms, have left their posts. https://tinyurl.com/vp7b5rft

U.S. moves to restrict trade ‘loophole’ used by Temu and Amazon.

U.S. authorities took a key step on Friday toward heavily restricting a trade rule used by e-commerce companies like Temu, Amazon and Shein to import products into the U.S. from China without paying tariffs. U.S. Customs and Border Protection proposed rules on Friday that would bar companies from importing packages worth $800 or less if the items contained are subject to certain tariffs. That means companies like Temu, Amazon and Shein that had been dodging tariffs on items like apparel by shipping goods directly to U.S. shoppers from China would have to start paying tariffs. Temu, Shein and other e-commerce companies have used the technique for years, while Amazon launched a low-cost marketplace called Haul in November that ships items to U.S. shoppers from China under the tariff exemption, known as de minimis. The Biden administration first announced plans to restrict de minimis through executive action in September. On Friday, CBP issued a notice of proposed rulemaking, which sets off a 60-day period for public comment. After that, the rule changes can officially go into effect. However, the incoming Trump administration could choose to modify or reverse the Biden administration’s move before it goes into effect. Trump has not taken a public stance on de minimis in particular but has spoken generally in favor of tariffs on China and other countries. https://tinyurl.com/bdhvvus6

Apple eyes Barclays, Synchrony to replace Goldman for credit card.

Apple is in talks with Barclays and Synchrony Financial to replace Goldman Sachs as the partner for its credit card, Reuters reported Wednesday. The news comes after the CEO of Goldman Sachs told analysts on an earnings call Wednesday that its credit card partnership with Apple might end before the contract expires in 2030. The Information previously reported that Goldman had been trying to get out of the partnership because it wasn’t profitable enough in the near term and that Apple had held talks with American Express as a potential replacement. The Wall Street Journal reported last year that JPMorgan also was in talks with Apple to take over the credit card partnership. Apple has worked with Barclays in the past. The two companies launched a credit card together more than a decade ago that offered not only credit card rewards but also allowed the ability to pay for Apple products via monthly installments. That card, however, was discontinued in 2021. https://tinyurl.com/4eayb8x6

Coinbase reintroduces Bitcoin-backed loans to U.S. customers.

Coinbase says it’s launching a bitcoin-backed loan program that will allow customers to borrow up to US$100,000 worth of USDC stablecoins using bitcoin in their accounts as collateral. The loans will be offered through Morpho, a decentralized lending protocol that runs on Base, the blockchain that Coinbase developed. The loans will be overcollateralized, meaning Coinbase users have to hold more bitcoin as collateral than what they borrow, and the funding for the loans will come from pools of capital contributed by Morpho’s users. Over time, Coinbase users will be able to borrow against more types of crypto and access services beyond lending, Max Branzburg, Coinbase’s vice president of product said. In 2023, Coinbase started to shutter a previous earlier bitcoin-backed loan program, citing re-evaluation of customer needs. A rise in bitcoin prices since then could boost demand for such loans, since they allow users to make other bets or spend money without selling the bitcoin and incurring a big taxable gain. Currently, Coinbase’s institutional business also has a lending service, catering to exchange-traded fund issuers, hedge funds, crypto miners and others. https://tinyurl.com/5n855efw