The San Francisco-headquartered firm has acquired DNE Resources, based in Kirkland, Que., after purchasing New York’s Broker Online Exchange (BOX) in a US$85-million deal earlier this month. AppDirect is financing the transactions with a new debt fund from Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. (The Logic)

Talking point: DNE helps businesses like U-Haul and Boston Pizza buy power in the U.S. and Canada, and runs energy audits to make clients more efficient. The firm’s 60 or so employees will join its new parent company’s staff of over 1,000, said Andy Ellerhorst, AppDirect’s vice-president of operations. DNE’s brokers will also switch to BOX’s software platform. AppDirect makes software that tech companies use to sell their services, and that businesses use to buy them. La Caisse has been a major backer of the firm, which was founded by Canadians and with a major office in Montreal. In January 2024, the provincial pension fund manager put $136 million into AppDirect for a program that finances startups with recurring revenue.