BTI Games Inc, which also operates as Black Tie Ventures, has obtained additional undisclosed funding from angel investors. The Québec City-based company, a developer of casino games for niche online and mobile game markets, said the deal is its third financing round and that it already has commitments for its next round. Black Tie's flagship product, Pink Martini Casino, a social gaming platform created for women players, is scheduled to be launched in the first quarter of 2015.
2 min read · 20 November 2014
Canadian venture capital firm Golden Venture Partners has closed its second fund, Golden Venture Partners II, at $40 million. Capital commitments to the oversubscribed Fund II were led by Northleaf Venture Catalyst Fund, which contributed $15 million of the total, with participation from BDC Capital and other investors. The Toronto-based Golden Venture Partners said a new fund that is larger than the $17 million Fund I will allow it to lead or join seed deals of up to $750,000; undertake larger and later-stage investments of up to $1 million; maintain reserves for future portfolio activity; and diversify investing in around 25 mobile technology companies.
3 min read · 20 November 2014
Self Care Catalysts, a patient informatics, intelligence and self care specialist based in Toronto, has received $2 million in seed-stage financing. The round was backed by Prosoft Development Inc, a company that invests in information technology, software development, consulting and solutions for the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries. The funding proceeds will support the development of Self Care's platform products Health Storylines and Patient Storylines, which aim to empower patients with data and insights concerning their health issues. The company said it has raised a total of $2.7 million to date.
3 min read · 20 November 2014
Northleaf Venture Catalyst Fund (NVCF) has made a $15 million commitment to Golden Venture Partners Fund II, the second fund of Canadian early-stage venture capital firm Golden Venture Partners. The fund commitment, NVCF's fifth since its launch in January, builds on a 2012 commitment by the Ontario Venture Capital Fund, an investment vehicle managed by NVCF affiliate Northleaf Capital Partners. Based in Toronto, Golden Venture Partners is focused on investing in mobile technology startups. Among its portfolio companies is Wattpad, an online community for readers and writers, which secured $46 million in a Series C financing in April. NVCF co-invested in that round.
3 min read · 20 November 2014
Clearford Water Systems Inc (TSX-V: CLI) has agreed to buy a 90.5 percent interest in UV Pure Technologies Inc, a portfolio company of Canadian private equity firm Investeco Capital Corp. Clearford said it would pay $2.5 million for its purchase, with UV Pure's management retaining the balance of the interest. Based in Toronto, UV Pure is a manufacturer and distributor of ultraviolet systems for the purification of potable water, grey water and wastewater. Investeco has backed the company since 2005. With headquarters in Ottawa, Clearford is a provider of unified water management and sanitation systems.
5 min read · 20 November 2014
OsteoQC, a newly formed company that develops drug therapies for the treatment of bone-related diseases, has closed a seed-stage financing. The round, the amount of which was not disclosed, was led by the Merck Lumira Biosciences Fund, a fund managed by Lumira Capital, a Canadian life sciences venture capital firm. The Montréal-based OsteoQC, which is led by Dr. Debra Ellies, said the proceeds will enable the advance of its lead small molecule product candidate for bone formation. Lumira managing director Dr. Brian Underdown is the company's chairman, while managing director Dr. Daniel Hetu is its vice-chairman.
3 min read · 20 November 2014
U.S.-based Rubicon Project, an advertising automation company, has acquired Canadian venture capital-backed Shiny Ads. With a focus on advertising technology, Shiny Ads is a Toronto-based portfolio company of several Canadian investors, including Maple Leaf Angels, York Angel Investors and FedDev Ontario. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, however, Rubicon said that the price it paid for Shiny and another purchase, iSocket, was under US$30 million and largely in stock.
3 min read · 19 November 2014
The latest of several Canadian government-backed investment funds that are being set up to breathe life into the country's venture capital industry raised $160 million on its initial closing, Reuters reported. The fund, dubbed the Kensington Venture Fund, is being run by Toronto-based Kensington Capital Partners. Targeted to raise $300 million in total, Kensington's initial close was achieved in part through capital commitments from leading Canadian corporate and financial investors.
2 min read · 19 November 2014
Kik Interactive Inc has secured $38.3 million in Series C funding. U.S. venture capital firm Valiant Capital Partners led the round with participation from Millennium Technology Value Partners, SV Angel, Foundation Capital, RRE Ventures, Spark Capital and Union Square Ventures. Also, the company has acquired GIF messenger Relay. The financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Headquartered in Waterloo, Kik Interactive is the maker of Kik, a username-based smartphone messenger that currently facilitates chats by more than 185 million users. Update: The company said it has raised over $70.5 million in funding to date.
4 min read · 19 November 2014
Blockstream, a startup focused on Bitcoin technology and infrastructure, has raised $21 million in seed financing. The company said investors in the round totaled almost 40, led by U.S. entrepreneur Reid Hoffman, U.S. venture capital firm Khosla Ventures, and Canadian firm Real Ventures. Other investors included Crypto Currency Partners, FuturePerfect Ventures, Innovation Endeavors, Mosaic Ventures, Ribbit Capital, AME Cloud Ventures and several angel investors. Established this year by 11 co-founders, including CEO Austin Hill, the company is based in San Francisco, according to its LinkedIn profile. According to its profile on Crunchbase, Blockstream also has a presence in Montréal.
5 min read · 17 November 2014
