AnalytixInsight

Last week, more than $2-billion was shaved off Lightspeed’s (LSPD-NYSE, LSPD-TSX) market cap in response to a short-seller report. Fintech Propel filed a preliminary prospectus for an IPO. Sophic client, HIRE Technologies (HIRE-TSXV) strengthened its balance sheet by closing a $2.8 million second tranche non-brokered private placement for a total of $4.8 million oversubscribed financing. The company has been growing at higher than market growth rates, a stronger balance sheet should help the company accelerate growth. Canadian tech talent scored another win as Stripe announced its first Canadian office in Toronto. In light of recent market turbulence Allvue Systems postponed its IPO in the USA. However, on Friday, electric vehicle maker Rivian filed for its IPO. Earlier in the week, EV company Polestar announced it would merge with Gores Guggenheim SPAC in a US$20 billion deal. Amazon unveiled a new robot, updated devices, and also revealed it was expanding into the fitness market, putting itself in competition with Apple more directly. TikTok reached 1 billion monthly active users, and also made its first foray into NFTs. The Fed has ‘no intention’ to ban cryptocurrencies, Jerome Powell told Congress. At Sophic Capital, we published notes on GameSquare Esports (GSQ-CSE) as Esports influencer TimTheTatman recently announced that he would join Complexity Gaming and GameSquare Esports and Body and Mind Inc. (BAMM-CSE, BMMJ-OTC), which has a strong brand presence in Nevada and could benefit in that state.

This past week was relatively quiet in Canadian capital markets, in the face of global market volatility, however there were multiple developments in various innovation sectors globally. In Canada, Shopify (SHOP-TSX, SHOP-NYSE) reportedly surpassed Amazon in online traffic. Vancouver-based Dapper Labs raised US$250 million led by Coatue. These two developments, once again highlight how the tech ecosystem, and investing opportunities in Canada have expanded in recent times. CEO of Sophic Client Clear Blue Technologies (CBLU-TSXV, CBUTF-OTC, 0YA-FRA), Miriam Tuerk, showed how Clear Blue’s power innovation for MNOs in Africa unleashes The Green New Deal that pays for itself in an interesting industry discussion. In the USA, Toast and Freshworks had strong public market debuts, and WeWork set Oct. 21 as the date of its public listing. DraftKings stock dropped after a CNBC report of a US$20 billion cash-and-stock buyout bid for U.K.’s Entain. China said all crypto-related transactions are illegal, and the SEC’s Gary Gensler criticizes stablecoins amid call for tougher crypto regulation.