Here’s what’s making headlines on the startup scene today:
Virtual store opens in Toronto
Starting today Guelph, Ont. startup Well.ca has opened what it callsthe first QR code virtual store in North America on one wall inside theBrookfield Place office tower in downtown Toronto. The “store” will beup and running from April 2 to 30. Consumers who want to give it a tryhave to download the Well.ca app for iPhone, Android or BlackBerry,then visit the virtual store (seen in the photo below) to scan the QRcodes for the products they want to buy. Certain items (including some under the Tide,Crest and Pampers brands) can be purchased this way during the limitedpromotion, which includes free shipping of purchased items to almostall locations in Canada, according to a news release from Well.ca. The2008 e-commerce startup sells over50,000 health, beauty, household andpersonal care items from its site.
Well.ca’s virtual store openedtoday at Brookfield Place in downtown Toronto.
FundRazr scores with Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods is taking another shot at charitable crowdfundingwith the help of Vancouver startup FundRazr. The PGA superstar haspicked the company’s technology to run a fundraising drive on hisFacebook page aimed at raising money for scholarships named after hislate father Earl Woods. It’s the second time golfer Woods has usedFundRazr’stechnology; the first project, to raise money for Save the Children andAfrican famine relief, has raised over $90,000 in just over a week,TechVibes reports.
HootSuite makes foolish acquisition
With recent reports valuing Vancouver-based HootSuite at $200 million, it’s plausible the firm will start making acquisitions of smaller players. But first, it’s pulling our legs with an April Fool’s day joke on the HootSuite blog. HootSuite bought Termtter, the gag went. Supposedly aterminal-basedTwitter app written in Ruby that lets users post tweets, read tweetsfrom a timeline, send direct messages, view followers and more usingshell commands. Termtter has now been rebranded as HootSuite CommandLine. The deal follows HootSuite’s other recent acquisitions of Geotokoand TwapperKeeper.
HootSuite CEO Ryan Holmescelebrates the Termtter acquisition with Termtter’s chief engineerUjihisa Tatsuhiro in this photo from the HootSuite blog.
Deadlines, deadlines, deadlines …
If your startup would like to make a pitch during the InternationalStartup Festival in Montreal from July 11-13 thedeadline to apply is May 4. If your startupwould like to become partof the Incubes incubator program in Toronto, the deadline toapply for that program isMay 15.