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VC vet Andrew Abouchar to lead TIMIA's Ontario operationsVancouver-based specialty finance firm TIMIA Capital Corp has established a presence in Ontario with the hire of Andrew Abouchar as executive vice president, underwriting. Abouchar, a partner at Canadian venture capital firm Tech Capital Partners, will focus on expanding TIMIA's financing business in Ontario and across Canada. Abouchar co-founded Tech Capital in 1998 and has since helped lead the firm's investments in early-stage companies in the Toronto-Waterloo corridor. TIMIA provides financing to technology companies in exchange for a royalty on revenue.
BDC Capital increased VC investments to $253 mln in fiscal 2016BDC Capital, the investment arm of the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), authorized $253.1 million in venture capital investments in fiscal 2016. That's up 36 percent from the $185.4 million authorized the year before. BDC Capital also reported $259.1 million in growth and transition financing going to clients in fiscal 2016, which is up 12 percent. The group contributed to the bank's overall financial results with $121.1 million in net income, which is also higher year over year. BDC Capital's Jérôme Nycz recently wrote a feature article /canada/2016/8/building-unicorns-will-the-money-be-there-for-canadas-tech-startups-to-succeed/ for PE Hub Canada about increasing risk capital for high-growth Canadian technology companies.
Influitive's Mark Organ kicks off BDC Capital speaker seriesMark Organ, founder and CEO of advocate marketing software provider Influitive, was today the debut speaker in a new speaker series organized by Venture for Canada and presented by BDC Capital. The BDC Canadian Scale-Up Speaker Series was hosted at Influitive's Toronto headquarters. Organ founded Influitive in 2010. Since then it has raised $50 million in venture capital, including the $38 million raised in a Series B financing /canada/2016/3/influitive-tops-up-series-b-round-to-38-mln-buys-ironark-software/ in March. Organ, a serial entrepreneur, previously led Eloqua, which was acquired by Oracle Corp in 2012.
Building unicorns: Will the money be there for Canada’s tech startups to succeed?Jérôme Nycz, executive vice-president of BDC Capital, has met many Canadian founders with the ingredients to build the next unicorn. But Canada’s innovative startups also face headwinds, he notes. In a feature article for PE Hub Canada, Nycz asks if the capital will be there to support home-grown tech companies and ensure they can compete on a global scale.
Satellite startup Kepler nets $5 mln in IA Ventures-led roundKepler Communications Inc has raised $5 million in a seed-stage financing. U.S. venture capital firm IA Ventures led the round and was joined by Liquid 2 Ventures, Techstars, Globalive Capital, BDC Capital and a number of angel investors. Based in Toronto, Kepler is a satellite telecommunications service provider that is launching a real-time network for connecting terrestrial and in-space assets via low-cost small satellites. It plans to use the funds raised to launch satellites and deploy an initial service by the second half of 2017. Kepler is led by CEO Mina Mitry, who helped establish the company last year.
Diablo Technologies secures $37 mln Series CDiablo Technologies raised $37 million in a two-phase series C funding round. New investors Genesis Capital and GII Tech Ventures participated in the second phase. Battery Ventures, BDC Capital, Celtic House Venture Partners, Hasso Plattner Ventures and ICV contributed follow-on investments. Diablo develops large memory solutions for complex computing.
- VC-backed Robin Systems appoints Listwin to board
San Jose, California-based Robin Systems, a container-based virtualization platform software company, has added Don Listwin to its board of directors. Listwin is a former CEO of Sana Security and Openwave. Robin's backers include Clear Ventures, DN Capital, SAP's Hasso Plattner Ventures and USAA.
BDC and ATB to lend $1 bln to Alberta small businessesThe Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) and ATB Financial have agreed to provide $1 billion to finance Alberta-based small and mid-sized companies. The federal and provincial financial institutions will each contribute $500 million in new loans under the program. BDC and ATB said the partnership shows their commitment to "to stand by Alberta businesses in good times and difficult times."
Angels put $134 mln to work in Canadian startups in 2015: NACOAngel investors invested $134 million in Canadian startups in 2015, according to a new report by the National Angel Capital Organization (NACO). The report, based on a survey of 32 Canadian angel groups, found dollar flows to some 283 investments up 48 percent relative to 2014. The average deal size was over $1 million. NACO said 2015 is the third year of substantially increased angel investment activity in Canada. It attributed much of last year's growth to increased follow-on deal activity, which more than doubled compared to the year before.
Canada's late-stage ventures held back by growing capital gap: studyEven as venture investment in Canada is increasing, many of the country’s most promising tech companies face a funding gap at key points in their growth cycles, a new study found. A report released http://www.yaletown.com/yaletown-partners-research-highlights-canadas-opportunity-enhance-growth-technology-sector-closing-investment-gaps/ today by Yaletown Partners said late-stage tech companies often lack the capital to leverage initial commercial success and pursue emerging-growth strategies. This gap has reduced many innovative companies to bootstrapping their growth. The result is often slower expansion and delayed exits, typically at lower values, relative to competitors.