Private Equity
GradeSlam, a Montréal-based personalized learning platform, has secured an undisclosed follow-on financing. The round was backed by Google Assistant Investment Program, Birchmere Ventures, BDC Capital, Reach Capital and Anges Québec. The company's other backers include Real Ventures. Founded in 2014 by CEO Philip Cutler and CTO Roberto Cipriani, GradeSlam provides an on-demand, chat-based tutoring service to students. It currently works with more than 150 North American schools, districts and organizations. The funds raised will be used by GradeSlam to advance voice technology and expand its product reach, a goal that will supported by Google Assistant.
3 min read · 12 February 2019
Sitka Biopharma, a Vancouver-based biotechnology company, has raised $1.2 million in follow-on financing. The investor was the Centre for Drug Research and Development (CDRD), a Canadian life sciences commercialization firm. Sitka was originally spun out of CDRD and the University of British Columbia. Sitka is developing a nanoparticle platform to increase the absorption of drugs in difficult-to-penetrate tissues. The funds raised will be used to accelerate development of STK-01, the company’s lead product for treating bladder cancer, and expedite clinical trials. Last October, Sitka secured a $1.9 million investment from Quark Venture and GF Securities Co Ltd.
3 min read · 11 February 2019
Cycle Capital Management, a Montréal-based clean technology venture capital firm, has raised $109 million in the initial close of its fourth fund. Cycle Capital Fund IV secured commitments from a range of investors, including a $50 million contribution from Investissement Québec. Other limited partners included Teralys Capital, Fonds de solidarité FTQ, Fondaction, Suez, Hydro-Québec, Innergex Renewable Energy, McConnell Foundation, Rio Tinto, Vancity and Trottier Family Foundation. The fund, which aims to raise up to $250 million, according to the Globe and Mail, will invest in Canadian and U.S. growth-stage clean technology companies.
4 min read · 11 February 2019
Canadian enterprise software venture capital firm Leaders Fund has hired Dave MacDonald as a venture partner. MacDonald was formerly CEO of Softchoice, a Toronto-based IT solutions and managed services provider. He led the company for more than 16 years, retiring in 2017. He continues to serve as a director. In 2013, MacDonald led a management buyout of the listed Softchoice, partnering with Birch Hill Equity Partners. At Leaders Fund, he will support the growth strategies of portfolio companies. Based in Toronto and Atlanta, Leaders Fund was launched in 2016 by Managing Partners Steve DeBacco and David Stein and Partner Gideon Hayden.
3 min read · 11 February 2019
Espresso Capital, a Canadian venture debt provider to technology companies, has hired Mark Gilbert as director, loan origination. Gilbert joined Espresso in January from BMO Financial Group, where he served for more than six years, most recently as regional market leader of the technology banking practice for Toronto. Before then, Gilbert was a senior underwriter at Chubb Insurance. Espresso CEO Alkarim Jivraj said Gilbert will play a key role in the Toronto-based firm's growth in 2019, which will include expansion into the United States.
2 min read · 11 February 2019
AmorChem has made an undisclosed investment in a project focused on regulatory mechanisms involved in the innate immune response in neurological disorders. AmorChem, a Canadian life sciences venture capital firm, will through a partnership with Laval University and Québec City's CERVO Brain Research Centre, fund development of a project on the checkpoint control target SRSF3 in the laboratory of Dr Jasna Kriz. The project aims to identify new treatments for central nervous system diseases. AmorChem invested through its $46-million second seed-stage fund, AmorChem II Fund LP, backed by Fondaction, Fonds de solidarité FTQ, Merck and other limited partners.
3 min read · 11 February 2019
Kardium Inc, a Burnaby, British Columbia-based medical device company, has raised undisclosed financing led by T. Rowe Price Associates, a U.S. investment management firm. The round was joined by new and existing investors. Kardium, founded in 2007, has developed an advanced system for the diagnosis and treatment of atrial fibrillation, a heart rhythm disorder. Led by CEO Doug Goertzen, the company will use the funds raised to commercialize the system in Canada and Europe and back clinical testing in the United States.
3 min read · 08 February 2019
Beyond Food, a Halifax-based food technology company, has raised $1 million in a seed-stage financing. The round was led by angel investors, including Stuart Rath, a former cable communications executive, and Jamie Bagnell, an environmental technology inventor. They were joined by professional athletes, including Joe Thornton, Adam Lowry and John-Michael Liles. Founded in 2017 by CEO Darren Burke, CMO TJ Galiardi and Brian Lowe, Beyond Food makes plant-based functional foods and sports nutrition products under the TDF Sports brand. Its latest technology, Zero Waste Pod, converts aging fruits and vegetables into nutrient-rich powders with a long shelf life.
3 min read · 07 February 2019
BDC Capital has provided $1 million of mezzanine financing to Nuvyyo, the Ottawa-based maker of digital video recorder brand Tablo. BDC invested through its growth and transition capital group. Founded in 2010 by CEO Grant Hall, Nuvyyo developed Tablo to enable users to record and stream over-the-air television programming without a cable subscription. The company will use the loan's proceeds as working capital to support growth initiatives, including meeting U.S. demand for Tablo and increasing R&D to generate new products. In 2013, Nuvyyo raised a $4 million Series A financing from Canadian venture capital firm Celtic House Venture Partners.
3 min read · 07 February 2019
Lightspeed POS, a Montréal-based point-of-sale solution for retailers, restaurants and e-commerce businesses, has filed a preliminary prospectus with Canadian regulators for an initial public offering. The company has not yet determined the number and price of subordinate voting shares to be sold on the Toronto Stock Exchange. In November, the Globe and Mail reported Lightspeed is looking to raise at least $200 million from an IPO. Founded in 2005 by CEO Dax Dasilva, Lightspeed raised about $207 million (US$166 million) in a Series D financing in 2017. Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec led and was joined by IQ, iNovia Capital and Silicon Valley Bank.
3 min read · 06 February 2019
