General Business Updates and News

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Another acquisition by Descartes Systems:

Descartes acquires Airclic for $29.7-million US
Nov 20, 2014 | The Record | LINK

WATERLOO — Descartes Systems Group has acquired Pennsylvania-based Airclic Inc. for $29.7 million US.

The two companies have complementary technologies used by freight and parcel delivery carriers to manage their logistics.

Airclic uses hand-held wireless devices connected to computing services that automate processes, such as proof of delivery.

Waterloo-based Descartes operates a global network system used by its customers to plan routes, schedule shipments, track resources, and perform various documentation functions.

"Descartes and Airclic have several common customers who have achieved significant value by augmenting their route planning and optimization systems with comprehensive mobile data at the driver, vehicle and stop level," Edward J. Ryan, chief executive officer of Descartes, said in a statement Thursday.

"With a focus on integrating our businesses to provide superior results for our customers, we believe we can meet the growing demand for integrated routing and mobile fleet management solutions and put Airclic on a path to achieving similar operational profitability to Descartes."

Airclic is headquartered in the Philadelphia-area community of Trevose, Penn.

The acquisition is Descartes' third this year.

In June, it purchased Custom Info, a provider of trade data and research tools based in Salt Lake City, for $41.5 million US.

In April, it paid $6.6 million US for Computer Management USA, a specialist in security filing and custom clearance solutions for the air cargo industry.

Kik acquires visual messaging company, also raises $38.3 million
Nov 19, 2014 | Rose Simone | The Record | LINK

WATERLOO — Kik Interactive, creator of the chat network Kik, has acquired Relay, a Toronto-based company that has developed an animated visual messaging application.

It is the first acquisition for Waterloo-based Kik, which was founded in 2009. The terms of the cash and equity deal were not disclosed.

Separately, Kik announced Wednesday that it has raised $38.3 million from a number of venture capital funds. The new round of financing increases the funds Kik has raised to $70.5 million.

Relay employs four people in Toronto. Relay founders Jon McGee and Joe Rideout, both University of Waterloo graduates, will take roles with Kik in Waterloo, and the firm will end the Relay service on Dec. 15.

Kik said it will integrate the Relay technology into its Kik messaging application.

Relay allows people to share animated GIFs, which are short, repeating video loops, such as a five-second loop of someone laughing or making a gesture. Relay has a large library of GIFs from popular culture that people can share, but they can also create their own GIFs with their smartphones.

"It has become like a language on the Internet, a way of expressing emotions and a way of capturing moments," explained Rideout, co-founder of Relay, which was launched in 2012.

Chris Best, co-founder and chief technology officer of Kik, said Relay's technology will make Kik more engaging to users and enhance the core chatting experience.

"When we first downloaded the Relay product, we fell in love with it," he said. "The execution and the product itself were great, so right from the get-go, we thought this would be awesome to have. Fortunately, it worked out."

Rideout said his company had a number of acquisition offers, including from messaging companies in the United States, but Kik was the perfect match.

"The opportunity to join a big player and stay in Canada was exciting for us," he said.

It would have taken years for Relay to develop the kind of a user base that Kik already has, Rideout said.

"This is a way we can get our ideas and technology out overnight to hundreds of millions of people."

Kik, which employs about 60 people, has 185 million users. The company says its worldwide user base is growing by 250,000 people per day and they tend to be young. Best said about 40 per cent of youth ages 13 to 24 in the United States are active on Kik.

Kik said the new money it raised will be invested in product development, and in growing its engineering and business development teams.

The financing is coming from Valiant Capital Partners, with participation from Millennium Technology Value Partners and SV Angel. Existing investors, Foundation Capital, RRE Ventures, Spark Capital and Union Square Ventures, are also involved.

Best said Kik is aiming to double its size over the next year, depending on how quickly it can find the right talent.

Kik is in the early stages of finding ways to generate revenue. It has developed a Kik Promoted Chats service, which now has about 25 brands using Kik to reach a young audience.

The acquisition of Relay's technology will increase the user base and open up new opportunities for Kik to explore as it looks at other monetization strategies, Best said.

Ted Livingston, Kik's chief executive officer and co-founder, said in a statement that the acquisition of Relay and the funding, "puts us in a really strong position to dominate in chat."