A secret weapon for SMBs | The Morning Report

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Good Morning,

Here’s what you need to know today.

Unbounce officially launched its Conversion Intelligence™ Platform, a set of solutions that expand the company’s offerings beyond landing pages and are designed to meet the needs of small and midsize businesses (SMBs).

As online competition intensifies and consumer expectations continue to evolve, Unbounce’s latest product innovation is a crucial part of the company’s plans to help SMBs optimize their marketing and compete with Amazon and Walmart.» Get the details from Unbounce chief strategy officer Tamara Grominsky.

Dapper Labs, Inc. announced that it raised CAD$320 million (US$250M) in new funding led by Coatue, with participation from existing investors a16z, GV (formerly Google Ventures) and Version One Ventures with new investors including BOND and Government of Singapore Investment Corporation.

The company is now privately worth USD $7.6 billion (~CAD$9.6B or 1/4 of Telus), according to reports in TechCrunch and the Boardroom), potentially three times more than its March valuation when it raised nearly CAD$400 million from traditional investors and celebrities like Michael Jordan, Will Smith and Ashton Kutcher. The company has now raised nearly CAD$800 million in total.

The company also announced a partnership with Spain’s LaLiga, which will bring digital collectibles to fans of teams like Barcelona, Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid.» Get all the details that matter.

Funding and deals:

• SMPL Oats has raised $1.3 million dollars in a private placement, its initial financing round.The company is led by Conor Power, one of the founders of Vegano Foods, well as a venture capitalist who has raised over $35 million for various tech and CPG companies.

Ideas and insights:

• Boris Wertz, Version One Ventures founding partner, writing on his firm’s blog: Resetting venture capital return expectations: is 10x the new 3x?

• Jill Tipping, CEO of BC Tech, writing in Daily Hive: BC needs a modern approach to deal with economic change

In other news…

• Apollo Insurance was the sole Vancouver company on LinkedIn’s Top Startups of 2021 list.

• Mirror, which was acquired by Lululemon last year for $500 million is looking for a new CEO, after a leaked memo revealed that its founder Brynn Putnam was stepping down, effective immediately.

• Vancouver is ranked 29th in Startup Genomes annual global startup ecosystem report, down four spots compared to 2020.

BC tech headlines from around the web:

• EV startup ElectraMeccanica in Business Insider: This startup's $18,000 electric car only has one seat. Its CEO told us why he thinks buyers will eat it up.

That’s it for today’s Morning Report.

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Have a productive and fulfilling day. See you tomorrow.

- William (@notionport)