The Toronto-based company uses chatbots on existing messaging platforms like SMS and WhatsApp to surface deals to consumers, recommend products and complete transactions. Inovia Capital and London-based private equity firm Lion Capital led the growth round, which also included $20 million in debt from Silicon Valley Bank. Snapcommerce plans to grow its core staff of 70 to about 200 by January 2022, and double its customer service team to 200. (The Logic)

Talking point: The company originally launched in June 2016 as Snaptravel, a hotel-booking system. It’s now applying the technology to other categories like consumer goods, offering brands what it says is a cheaper marketing and sales channel than social media ads or discount sites. The uptake of shopping by text still has room to grow—63 per cent of Asia-Pacific shoppers had messaged a business during the previous holiday season, compared to 35 per cent in North America, according to a September 2019 Facebook-commissioned survey. Snapcommerce’s last round took place in late 2018, when it raised $13.2 million from Telstra Ventures and Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry.