Private Equity
Avrio Capital and Clairvest Group are the 2015 recipients of the Canadian Venture Capital & Private Equity Association's (CVCA) “Deal of the Year” awards. Calgary-based Avrio won in the venture capital category for last year's sale of Wolf Trax Inc, an agricultural technology provider, to Compass Minerals. The deal gave Avrio 15.4 times its invested capital and an internal rate of return (cash and total) of 138 percent. Toronto-based Clairvest won in the private equity category for last year's sale of KUBRA Data Transfer Ltd, a provider of outsourced billing solutions, to Hearst Corp. The deal gave Clairvest 13.4 times its invested capital and an internal rate of return (cash and total) of 40 percent.
4 min read · 20 May 2015
Vistara Capital Partners, a newly formed growth investor in late-stage technology companies, has raised most of the capital targeted for its inaugural fund in an initial close. The Vancouver-based firm announced this week that Vistara Capital Partners Fund I LP has secured $80 million in committed capital, putting it within reach of an overall goal of $100 million.
3 min read · 20 May 2015
The index of publicly traded, VC-backed stocks fell slightly in April
2 min read · 20 May 2015
Graduates of Acceleprise include ZenPurchase
3 min read · 20 May 2015
Philadelphia area-based venture firm Osage University Partners has raised $215 million for its second fund, beating its $200 million target. OUP focuses on backing university research startups.
2 min read · 20 May 2015
Overall venture-backed M&A activity picks up some in April, led by a few life science deals
2 min read · 20 May 2015
The Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) has committed $3 million for Communitech Corp to establish the Open Data Exchange in Waterloo, Ontario. The project, which is expected to result in the incubation of 15 new data-driven companies, has a total of cost of about $6 million, with another $50 million to be leveraged from venture capital and other partners. Communitech, Desire2Learn Inc, OpenText Corp and the University of Waterloo have pledged to match FedDev Ontario's contribution.
4 min read · 19 May 2015
Opportunity funds have become a competitive tool for early-stage firms hunting for the next Uber. Expect more of them.
3 min read · 19 May 2015
Value of venture-backed M&A and IPOs also rise in the month, as deal activity slows
2 min read · 19 May 2015
A pair of Portfolio Advisors funds lead the venture portfolio of Houston Firefighters’ Relief & Retirement Fund.
1 min read · 19 May 2015
