Top des actualités des startups technologiques du mercredi 18 janvier 2023 : Amazon, EarthOptics, Import.io et Microsoft

Top des actualités des startups technologiques du mercredi 18 janvier 2023 : Amazon, EarthOptics, Import.io et Microsoft

Horodatage: 18 janvier 2023 7h25
Nœud source: 1907375

Good evening! Below are some of the top tech startup news stories for Wednesday, January 18, 2023.

Amazon is set to begin a fresh round of layoffs affecting more than 18,000 people

Retail giant Amazon on Wednesday will begin a new round of job cuts that would affect more than 18,000 employees, making it the largest workforce cuts in its 28-year history. Early this month, CEO Andy Jassy told employees in a memo the retail behemoth was looking to eliminate as many as 18,000 roles, primarily employees in its human resources and stores divisions.

As we reported back in November, the company was looking to lay off about 10,000 employees. Amazon’s headcount grew after the company went on a hiring spree during the Covid-19 pandemic. Its global workforce increased to more than 1.6 million, from 798,000 in the fourth quarter of 2019.

Amazon is one of the many tech companies that have introduced cut-cutting measures to reduce spending amid the current global economic slowdown. In the last year, Microsoft, Amazon, and other tech companies have licencier plus de 60,000 XNUMX employés.

Earlier today, Microsoft also announced it would lay off 10,000 jobs instead of the 11,000 reported by major news outlets. In addition to the layoff, the Redmond-based company also said that it would take a  $1.2-billion charge as its cloud-computing customers dissect their spending and the company braces for a potential recession. The layoff is far larger than the 1,000 job cuts the company announced back in October 2020.

ThriveCart raises $35M in funding to help businesses build eCommerce carts and funnels

ProspérerChariot, an Austin, Texas-based tech startup that provides a comprehensive cart and funnel builder for small and medium businesses, has closed a $35 million investment from LTV SaaS Growth Fund to accelerate its product roadmap, grow its team and create best-in-class cart experiences for digital product sales. ThriveCart solves shopping cart abandonment issues that plague many online eCommerce websites.

Founded in 2016 by Josh Bartlett, ThriveCart is a shopping cart, payment processing, and affiliate marketing platform in the industry. ThriveCart’s platform is specialized for creators and businesses that sell digital products such as lessons and tutorials. E-commerce businesses that sell digital products use on ThriveCart to create high-converting content, cart pages, funnels, and affiliate campaigns.

ThriveCart’s platform features include profit boosters, upsell abilities, tool integrations, and real-time business insights, as well as ConvertBox, an on-site engagement platform for personalized offers and lead capture forms.

ThriveCart will also use the new capital infusion to further invest in its technology, which SMBs already adore for its lifetime license, flexibility, technical support, and integration possibilities. The startup also plans to grow its team to further tap into the thriving creator economy. The investment will accelerate the company’s growth as it offers tools to set up taxes, payments, subscriptions, coupons, and marketing solutions, as well as build and manage affiliate programs.

Scaleworks acquires web data extraction tech startup Import.io

Scaleworks announced today it has acquired San Antonio, TX-based web data extraction provider Import.io for an undisclosed amount. Founded in London, UK in 2012, Import.io simplifies and streamlines the data collection process with technology and expertise to deliver web data at scale.

Import.io provides a scalable web data platform that extracts, prepares, and integrates high-quality comprehensive web data into customers’ analytics platforms and business applications. With thousands of website feeds collecting over half a trillion data points per month, Import.io powers the analytics capabilities of the world’s most recognized brands.

The company delivers data to over 800 enterprise customers from millions of web sources. Headquartered in San Antonio, TX, Import.io maintains offices in London, UK, and Bangalore, India.

In addition, Paul Lynch, former CEO of Scaleworks-backed Chargify and Assembla, was named Chief Executive Officer, replacing longtime CEO Gary Read. Scaleworks is a SaaS growth fund that acquires and operates B2B software in the lower middle market.

“This is an exciting acquisition for Scaleworks and an excellent addition to our portfolio. Import.io provides critical services to its customers and has an excellent technology pedigree,” Ed Byrne, General Partner of Scaleworks a affirmé Valérie Plante.. “We look forward to working alongside the Import.io team and its CEO Paul Lynch in this next phase of the company’s expansion.”

EarthOptics raises $27.6M Series B funding to advance data-driven agriculture through actionable soil insights

TerreOptique is an Arlington, Virginia-based technology platform that gives farmers, carbon markets, and CPG companies trusted accuracy in measuring, reporting, and verifying the amount of carbon stored in the soil. EarthOptics provides farmers with tools that have the ability to generate added value across the food supply chain by helping companies offset their GHG emissions and create a new climate-smart product category.

To further advance data-driven agriculture through actionable soil insights, EarthOptics announced it has raised a $27.6 million round of funding, led by Conti Ventures, with participation from Rabo Food & Ag Innovation Fund (RFAIF), CNH Industrial, Louis Dreyfus Company Ventures, and CHS and Growmark’s Cooperative Ventures join current EarthOptics investors Leaps by Bayer, FHB Ventures, S2G Ventures, iSelect Fund, Route 66 Ventures, and Middleland Capital’s VTC Ventures.

Founded in 2018 by John Dombrosky, John Anderson (PhD), and Todd Martin, EarthOptics is an agricultural technology company developing next-generation soil-sensing technologies that give growers revolutionary insights into the physical characteristics of their soil. The company has offices in Raleigh, North Carolina; Arlington and Blacksburg, Virginia; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Fayetteville, Arkansas.

EarthOptics will also use the new cash infusion for product and service offerings to farmers and ranchers working to meet growing customer demand. “We believe EarthOptics has a clear advantage in soil measurement technology, as they improve the scalability of measurement while helping to reduce extrapolation error,” said Chris Abbott, Co-Head of Conti Ventures. “As we look for technologies that can verify critical soil measurements for growers, we believe EarthOptics stands out in providing agronomic value as well as verification for initiatives like carbon credits.”

Microsoft CEO confirms 10,000 job cuts as recession worries hit the tech sector

Microsoft confirmed today that it would lay off 10,000 jobs instead of the 11,000 reported by major news outlets. In addition to the layoff, the Redmond-based company also said that it would take a  $1.2-billion charge as its cloud-computing customers dissect their spending and the company braces for a potential recession. The layoff is far larger than the 1,000 job cuts the company announced back in October 2020.

Dans une note adressée aux employés de Microsoft, le PDG Satya Nadella a déclaré que les licenciements, touchant moins de 5 % des effectifs, se termineraient d'ici la fin mars, les notifications commençant mercredi. Nadella a ajouté que les clients souhaitaient « optimiser leurs dépenses numériques pour faire plus avec moins » et « faire preuve de prudence car certaines régions du monde sont en récession et d’autres s’y attendent ».

La nouvelle arrive à un moment où le géant de la technologie tentait de se développer dans le domaine de l’intelligence artificielle générative pour élargir davantage son offre de services. En juillet 2019, Microsoft a investi 1 milliard de dollars dans OpenAI dans le cadre des efforts déployés par les deux sociétés pour travailler ensemble pour apporter des technologies de calcul intensif.

FTX says $415 million of crypto was hacked from its accounts

Last week, bankrupt crypto exchange FTX announced it recovered over $5 billion in cash and crypto assets. The lawyer representing the company disclosed the $5 billion includes cash and digital assets. What wasn’t disclosed at the time was there are still significant shortfalls at both its international and U.S. crypto exchanges due to a hack.

In an announcement on Tuesday, FTX disclosed that the recovered crypto assets also include $415 million worth of crypto that was hacked from the exchange’s accounts. The amount represents a sizable chunk of the identified assets FTX is trying to recover. The bankrupt crypto exchange said that $323 million in crypto had been hacked from FTX’s international exchange and $90 million had been hacked from its U.S. exchange since it filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 11.

In a news release, FTX said: “With respect to FTX.com, the FTX Debtors have identified approximately $1.6 billion of digital assets associated with FTX.com as of the Petition Date, $323 million of which was subject to unauthorized third-party transfers post-petition, $426 million of which was transferred to cold storage under the control of The Securities Commission of The Bahamas, $742 million of which is in cold storage under the control of the FTX Debtors, and $121 million of which is pending transfer to cold storage under the control of the FTX Debtors.”

FTX a déposé son bilan en novembre de l'année dernière. Selon plusieurs documents judiciaires, l'échange de crypto en faillite FTX actuellement devait un total d'environ 3.1 milliards de dollars à plus d'un million de personnes, rendant "impraticable" le contact avec chaque victime. Le gouvernement américain a lancé un site Web permettant aux victimes de FTX de communiquer avec les forces de l'ordre.

Coinbase to halt operations in Japan due to ‘volatile market conditions’

crypto exchange Coinbase Global announced today it’s halting its operations in Japan due to volatile market conditions. The news comes a few days after it announced job cuts amid slow demand for digital assets.

"Le Japon est peu susceptible de contribuer de manière significative aux revenus de Coinbase", a déclaré l'analyste d'Oppenheimer, Owen Lau. Reuters, ajoutant que l'échange cryptographique examine le marché depuis un certain temps mais vient d'obtenir la licence du régulateur japonais il y a un an et demi.

Coinbase est le dernier d'une série d'échanges cryptographiques qui ont annoncé des licenciements ces dernières semaines. Crypto.com et Huobi ont tous annoncé leur intention de licencier environ 20 % de leur personnel respectif, tandis que Genesis a également supprimé des emplois, ce qui équivaut à 30 % de ses effectifs, a rapporté Reuters.

Pendant ce temps, la semaine dernière, Coinbase a annoncé qu'il licencierait environ 1,000 950 employés à mesure que la contagion de la cryptographie s'intensifie. La bourse a annoncé qu'elle réduirait ses effectifs d'environ XNUMX employés dans le cadre des mesures de réduction des coûts et du plan de restructuration. "Nous avons également vu les retombées d'acteurs sans scrupules dans l'industrie, et il pourrait encore y avoir une contagion supplémentaire", a déclaré Armstrong dans un article de blog. "Nous allons fermer plusieurs projets où nous avons une plus faible probabilité de succès."

La startup crypto traverse des moments difficiles depuis le début de cette année. Le 4 janvier, Coinbase a accepté de payer 100 millions de dollars pour régler avec les régulateurs américains sur les violations de la loi anti-blanchiment d'argent. Coinbase a accepté de payer une amende de 50 millions de dollars pour avoir laissé des clients ouvrir des comptes sans procéder à des vérifications d'antécédents suffisantes et appropriées et 50 millions de dollars supplémentaires pour améliorer la conformité. L'accord exige également que Coinbase travaille avec un moniteur tiers.

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