Versant Ventures related stories
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- Canadian VC hits 16-year high in 2017 as top deals raise $1 bln
For Canada’s venture capital market, 2017 was a remarkable year. The story is told partly in milestones. They include the largest financing of a local IT company in 25 years (Lightspeed); the largest round on record for an artificial-intelligence startup (Element AI), and strategic funding of a top maker of laser sensors used in self-driving cars (LeddarTech). They were among Canada’s top 10 venture-capital financings last year, which together raised more than $1 billion from investors. The number is based on PE Hub Canada’s list of the largest deals announced in 2017, supplemented by preliminary data from Thomson Reuters.
Intuity Medical racks up $70 mlnIntuity Medical Inc, a developer of technologies for diabetes management, has raised $70 million in funding. The investors included Accuitive Medical Ventures, Investor Growth Capital, KCK Group, Luther King Capital Management, PTV Healthcare Capital, U.S. Venture Partners, Versant Ventures and Hercules Capital.
- Jnana Therapeutics scores $50 mln Series A
Boston-based Jnana Therapeutics Inc, which is focused on discovering drugs for cancer and other conditions by zeroing in on cellular proteins, has raised $50 million in Series A financing. The investors were Polaris Partners, Avalon Ventures, Versant Ventures, AbbVie Ventures and Pfizer R&D Innovate.
- Oyster Point Pharmaceuticals rallies $22 mln Series A
San Francisco-based Oyster Point Pharmaceuticals Inc., a developer of treatments for dry eye and other diseases of the ocular surface, has closed $22 million in Series A financing. New Enterprise Associates and Versant Ventures led the round.
- NousCom wraps up Series B round
NousCom, a Swiss oncology company, has closed its Series B funding round at 42 million euros. Abingworth was the lead investor. Also, 5AM Ventures, LSP and Versant Ventures participated in the round.
- Gritstone Oncology picks up $92.7 mln
San Francisco Bay area-based Gritstone Oncology, a cancer immunotherapy company, has closed $92.7 million in financing. Lilly Asia Ventures led the round with participation from other investors that included GV, Trinitas Capital, Alexandria Venture Investments, Versant Ventures, The Column Group, Clarus Funds and Frazier Healthcare Partners. Cowen served as financial adviser to Gritstone on the transaction.
Canadian VC sustains strong pace with $1.6 bln invested in H1 2017Venture capital investment in Canadian technology companies sustained a strong pace in the first half of 2017, according to a report by the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (CVCA). VC funds invested a total of $1.6 billion in 260 financing rounds at the end of June, not far behind the $1.7 billion invested in 275 rounds in H1 2016. Activity in the second quarter was especially robust, with $913 million going to 131 rounds, up 28 percent from Q2 2016. CVCA said H1 2017 was also notable for the return of major venture-backed exits in Canada, led by the sale of Luxury Retreats to Airbnb and initial public offerings of Real Matters and Zymeworks.
- Antibiotics developer VenatoRx Pharmaceuticals racks up $42 mln Series B
Malvern, Pennsylvania-based VenatoRx Pharmaceuticals, an antibiotics developer, has raised $42 million in Series B financing. Versant Ventures led the round with participation from Abingworth and Foresite Capital.