Shopify buys New York-based wholesale commerce firm, second acquisition of 2019

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Editor's Note

Updated to include a statement from Shopify on the transaction.

2019-05-24

Shopify has quietly acquired a New York-based e-commerce firm, the Ottawa tech giant’s second acquisition of 2019.

The local company confirmed to OBJ on Friday reports that it had bought Handshake, which develops a B2B platform for wholesale commerce. The company claims to help suppliers develop closer relationships with their customers.

SurePath Capital Partners, which advised Handshake on the sale, said in a statement that the acquisition “brings significant product capability and domain expertise to help (Shopify) meet the needs of larger merchants.”

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Details of the acquisition were not disclosed, though TechCrunch cited sources pegging the deal value at less than $100 million.

Also unannounced was Shopify’s acquisition in January of Toronto-based Helpful, which has developed a video communication platform for enterprise customers. Co-founder Daniel Debow wrote a message on Medium then to announce he and his team were shutting down their Helpful services and joining Shopify.

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