It’s the last update of this remarkable, unforgettable (for many, regrettably) year, one that will go down in history like 1968 and 1919 as a year that portended enormous social change. But enough about that, on with the news!

B2B sectors, whether it was logistics: payment systems, edtech, healthcare, travel services, primary industries or all-things related to servicing the cannabis industry: had one thing in common this year. Consolidation. It was as if mergers and acquisitions were contagious.

There was no variant on the trend when XL Fleet, a vehicle electrification solutions provider for commercial and municipal fleets, announced its merger with Pivotal Investment Corporation just before Christmas. The newly renamed “XL Fleet Corp” started trading on December 22. 

Press release: https://xlfleet.com/news-and-events/news-releases/xl-fleet-a-leader-in-commercial-vehicle-electrification-and-pivotal-investment-corporation-ii-announce-closing-of-merger-xl-fleet-to-trade-on-nyse-as-xl/

There was a very American match created between sectors when commerce platform EverCommerce acquired Updox, a virtual healthcare platform last week. 

Press release: https://blog.updox.com/company/news-press-releases/evercommerce-acquires-updox-industry-leader

In 2020 all of us in interactive media almost stopped using the term viral in a positive way. 

Putting your feet up to rest after a stressful year of remote work and not learning TikTok dances may sound inviting, but if you want an appointment as a Z Fellow, you’ve only got until 15 January to get your application in. The program gives technical thinkers one week and $10,000 to work on a project they are passionate about with some of the most successful start-up founders in their 20s along with their greyer-haired friends.   

More info: https://www.zfellows.com/

We generally mention product launches, rather than product end of life events, but It would be ungracious not to recognize that December 31 marks the end of Flash as we know it. Adobe ends support for the tool at 11:59PM. The loss does not inspire the term RIP as much as it does RPG. 

More info: https://www.adobe.com/ca/products/flashplayer/end-of-life.html

The best trend of 2020 may not have a B2B angle, unless you were lucky enough to get a hot chocolate bomb in your company Christmas hamper. Fizzing one up in a mug of hot milk to reveal a surprise of marshmallows or peppermint crumbs might just be the most positive way to end 2020. Cheers to a happy, healthy and prosperous 2021 for all. 

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Kate Baggott is the Managing Editor of B2BNN. Her technology and business journalism has appeared in the Technology Review, the Globe and Mail, Canada Computes, the Vancouver Sun and the Bay Street Bull. She is the author of the short story collections Love from Planet Wine Cooler and Dry Stories. Links to recently published pieces can be found at www.katebaggott.com