Weekly martech review: IBM's Food Trust blockchain, LinkedIn acquires Glint, Talldesk valued >$1B

In our review of last week’s martech news, we highlight IBM launching their Food Trust blockchain, LinkedIn acquiring employee engagement platform Glint, and Talldesk’s latest round of funding bringing their total valuation to >$1B.

IBM launches Food Trust blockchain platform, to be used by Carrefour

What it is

IBM’s Food Trust network will allow retailers and suppliers in the food industry to track food back to its source, aiming to prolong shelf life, reduce waste, and improve transparency in sourcing. They announced that the platform will be implemented by French retailer Carrefour, making it accessible to more than 12,000 stores in 33 countries.

Why it matters

Users will be able to track back to the farm it came from and store information such as certifications, testing, and temperature. Information that can be incredibly useful in, for instance, situations where health experts need to track an E. coli outbreak or verify if produce marked as “organic” actually is what it claims.

LinkedIn acquires employee engagement platform Glint 

What it is

Microsoft-owned LinkedIn announced plans to acquire Glint, a company that gathers employee feedback on workplace and company culture so leadership can act on those insights. LinkedIn was a customer of Glint’s — others include United and Intuit.

Why it matters

LinkedIn’s advantage comes from knowing what talent is out there and what they’re looking for in the next opportunity. This Glint acquisition propels them into the next part of the lifecycle: how to keep skilled employees happy once they’ve taken the job.

Talldesk raises $100M new funding for smart call centers, total valuation >$1B

What it is

Talldesk provides cloud-based contact center software, using AI and machine learning to improve customer service. Their customers include IBM, Dropbox, and Stitch Fix. They were founded in 2011 in Portugal, and now have offices in San Francisco and Lisbon.

Why it matters

With this latest round of funding, the company is now valued at more than $1 billion — though the exact figure has not been disclosed. This is yet another sign that smart contact centers will continue to grow in the near future.

Before you go

• SAP launched ecommerce platform Upscale into the US market — claims to be deployable in 7-14 days
• What the end of Google+ means for marketers
• RankScience closed $1.8M seed round to “augment human SEO ability”
• Google Analytics 360 can be directly embedded into Salesforce products
• HubSpot opens new Latin American HQ in Bogota, Colombia
• After 6 months, Adobe completed Magento integration to “make every moment shoppable”
• Facebook launched Creative Compass, a new diagnostic tool for Marketing Partners
• Finally, we made a handy cheat sheet to Google algorithm updates from 2011 to today

See something we missed? Leave us a comment below!