Top tech startup news for Wednesday, April 5, 2023: Brizo, Cash App, Mintlayer, Savvy Games, and Scopely

Good evening! Below are some of the top tech startup news stories for Wednesday, April 4, 2023.

Bob Lee, the founder of Cash App and former CTO of Square, stabbed to death in San Francisco

Cash App creator Bob Lee, 43, has been reportedly killed in San Francisco. He was stabbed to death, sources told NBC Bay Area. Bob Lee, a multimillionaire tech titan who created CashApp, was stabbed to death at 2:30 am yesterday on a main street in San Francisco.

According to the report, the sources identified the man fatally stabbed early Tuesday near downtown San Francisco as tech executive Bob Lee, the founder of Cash App and former chief technology officer of Square.

According to the San Francisco Police Department, officers were called to a report of a stabbing at approximately 2:35 a.m. on Tuesday. Upon arrival, they discovered a 43-year-old man with visible stab wounds.

The victim was transported to a hospital with injuries deemed to be life-threatening. Unfortunately, he later succumbed to his wounds, as per the police.

Although the authorities did not disclose the identity of the victim, sources informed NBC Bay Area that the victim was Lee, the chief product officer of MobileCoin.

Mintlayer launches a $4M open-source development grant, opens applications

Mintlayer, a Bitcoin sidechain tech startup, today launched a $4 million open-source development grant to aid the development of tools and resources that will provide value to the Mintlayer ecosystem.

In an announcement on Wednesday, Mintlayer said that applications are open for their grants initiative. The grants are available in $ML tokens, with the equivalency of $4 million currently available at the time of publishing. The grant comes at an ideal time- institutional crypto investments dropped 95% in 2022.

The grants initiative is specifically set aside for projects that would be valuable for the Mintlayer protocol but wouldn’t create a revenue stream.

Founded in 2020, the San Marino, Italy-based Mintlayer is a cryptocurrency wallet that allows its users to store their Bitcoin, MLT tokens, and more securely. Mintlayer also provides “a future-proof blockchain that improves direct token interoperability and enables ways to trade value, create systems, functionalities, and participate in truly trustless finance,” the startup said on its website.

Potential candidates can apply for a grant through the Mintlayer Ecosystem here: https://www.mintlayer.org/en/ecosystem/

Candidates will need a detailed explanation of their project, personal details, and any documentation available that helps prove their ability to bring a project to fruition, or documentation on the progress of the project they are submitting. Recipients will be awarded based on how their project best fits with Mintlayer’s roadmap.

Toronto’s startup Brizo Data lands $8.9M in funding to provide market intelligence to the foodservice industry

Brizo Data, a Toronto, Canada-based data intelligence startup that offers fresh market analytics for the foodservice industry, has raised over $8.9 ($12 million CAD) in Series A funding in the form of combined venture capital and debt. The round was led by FRAMEWORK Venture Partners and BDC Capital’s Industrial Innovation Venture Fund.

Brizo will use the fresh capital infusion to accelerate growth and expand into new markets–making its solution an even bigger game changer for the industry, Brizo co-founder and CEO Ian Delisle said in a statement.

Founded in 2020 by seasoned entrepreneurs Ian Delisle, Trevor Shimizu, Gaetan Corneau, and Jean-Sébastien Vachon, Brizo helps the most competitive restauranteurs and restaurant vendors make better-informed decisions and win their market. The company’s vision is to become the source of truth in the food service and hospitality industries through its depth of industry data and insights.

Brizo FoodMetrics, the flagship offering from Brizo Data, stands out as the foremost provider of near real-time food service market analytics in North America, distinguished by its unmatched dependability and comprehensiveness.

With restaurant intelligence gaining importance as a significant driver in industry research, marketing, and sales, food, and beverage enterprises can leverage data-driven decision-making to succeed, and Brizo offers insights to a range of food service suppliers and vendors. This includes information on everything from providers of staffing technologies, delivery, and online reservation solutions to those who sell Wagyu beef or linen services.

“For restaurant industry professionals and suppliers, the sector has changed considerably through the rapid adoption of technology,” said Trevor Shimizu, co-founder and CRO of Brizo. “Brizo makes it fast and easy to understand the data and insights that are now part of day-to-day operations, and to operationalize those insights to remove friction for sales teams, widen margins and serve customers better.”

Savvy Games acquires mobile games startup Scopely for $4.9 billion

Savvy Games Group has agreed to acquire mobile game publisher and developer Scopely for $4.9 billion. the companies announced on Wednesday. Scopely was founded in 2011 and the company is known for several popular mobile games including Star Trek Fleet Command, Marvel Strike Force, Looney Tunes World of Mayhem, Scrabble Go,  and Yahtzee With Buddies.

Savvy Games Group, a games and esports company that is part of the Saudi government’s Public Investment Fund, said the deal will “strengthen Savvy’s global position while enabling Scopely to accelerate its growth and achievement of its strategic objectives.”

As part of the acquisition agreement, Scopely will become an autonomous operation under the Savvy umbrella, they said in a statement. In addition, Scopely will continue to be led by co-CEOs Walter Driver and Javier Ferreira. Savvy Games is led by CEO Brian Ward, who previously worked at Activision Blizzard, Microsoft Games Studios, and Electronic Arts.

“Scopely is one of the fastest-growing games companies today, and we have long admired their ability to build loyal, engaged player communities,” Ward said in a statement. “Under Walter and Javier’s stewardship, Scopely has proven to be an exceptional leader and will continue to revolutionize the future of games for years to come.”

In a statement, Driver said: “Savvy Games Group shares our long-held belief that the companies who have built the deepest relationships with their players will succeed. Together, as one, we will be able to further expand the possibilities of play, continuing to develop beloved game experiences for players around the world. This transformational partnership is a great validation of the incredible talent of our entire Scopely team and will further accelerate our efforts to drive the games industry forward.”