Managers

Spark collects $1 bln for two funds

Venture M&A falls in October but is on pace for strong year

AR photography startup Prynt scores $7 mln

Spark collects $1 bln for two funds

Spark Capital, an early and growth-stage venture firm, has raised a total of $1 billion for two funds, according to a news post. The firm closed $400 million for its fifth venture fund and $600 million for its second growth fund. Investors included foundations and university endowments.

Company creator TandemLaunch raises $15 mln for third seed fund

TandemLaunch has raised $15 million in the close of its third seed fund. TandemLaunch Ventures II hit maximum capitalization thanks to additional commitments from BDC Capital, as well as new commitments from investors in China, Singapore, the United Kingdom and United States. In all, 44 limited partners invested. They included Guy Laliberté's Lune Rouge Innovation, Speed of Trust Ventures, YUL Ventures, Nathalie Marcoux and Jean-Francois Grenon. Montréal's TandemLaunch will use the funds raised to build another dozen synthetic startups that respond to innovative trends. PE Hub Canada interviewed TandemLaunch's founder, Helge Seetzen, in June.

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Canada pension plan's assets rise to over $300 bln: Reuters

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Canada's biggest public pension plan, said it ended the second quarter of its fiscal year with $300.5 billion in assets, up from $287.3 billion three months earlier, Reuters reported. CPPIB, which manages Canada's national pension fund and invests on behalf of 19 million Canadians, said it delivered gross investment returns of 4.83 percent in the second quarter, or 4.75 percent net of all costs. That compared with returns of 1.5 percent in the previous quarter.

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