Private Equity
Rockaway Capital, a Prague-based venture firm focused on Internet companies in emerging markets, has opened an office in the South of Market Area (SoMA) of San Francisco. The firm also has an office in Sao Paolo. Rockaway joins a growing list of venture firms that maintain satellite offices or headquarters in San Francisco, a hotbed of startup tech activity. The firm also said it has invested in four U.S.-based companies that have yet to be announced.
2 min read · 27 May 2015
Social+Capital Partnership announced earlier this year it was raising a $450 million third fund. Apparently it closed the fund, but at $600 million instead.
1 min read · 26 May 2015
Capital régional et coopératif Desjardins (CRCD), a retail fund managed by Canadian private equity firm Desjardins Capital de risque, has received share reservations totaling $127 million from close to 44,000 individual investors. A total of $150 million is available for tax-supported subscription in the current fundraising period. Since 2002, CRCD has made commitments totaling $1.7 billion in 750 Québec companies. Among its recent transactions, the fund led an investment in Congebec Logistic Inc, a provider of refrigerated services headquartered in Québec City.
3 min read · 26 May 2015
Ev Williams' Obvious Ventures has raised $123.5 million for its inaugural fund. The firm, co-founded by Twitter's Williams, launched last December and in March closed on $77.7 million of the total.
1 min read · 26 May 2015
The federal Immigrant Investor Venture Capital (IIVC) pilot program, announced in December 2014, has reopened for applications for the period May 25 to December 20, 2015. The program, which invites skilled and wealthy business immigrants to contribute to an IIVC fund that will invest in high-growth technology companies based in Canada, was previously open for applications earlier this year. Citizenship and Immigration Canada will process the first 60 applications received, and place the next 60 on a waiting list. The IIVC fund will be managed by BDC Capital and is expected to raise $100 million or more in commitments.
3 min read · 26 May 2015
Kurma Partners has raised 33 million euros for its latest venture fund Kurma Diagnostics. The fund's backers are The European Investment Fund, Fonds National d’Amorçage, Institut Pasteur and BNP Paribas. KDx focuses on investing in early-stage European diagnostic companies and ventures.
3 min read · 26 May 2015
BDC Capital and the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD) have renewed their support for the Canadian Technology Accelerator (CTA) initiative, which helps Canadian high-growth, market-ready companies gain access to global markets and entrepreneurship services. Since the BDC-DFATD partnership began in 2013, the network of CTAs has grown from four to 12 located in the United States, France, the United Kingdom and India, and covering a variety of technology sectors. Since 2009, more than 350 companies have participated in the CTA initiative.
4 min read · 25 May 2015
The Fonds de solidarité FTQ has made a $14.3 million commitment to the third fund of Forbion Capital Partners, a Dutch venture capital firm that invests in life sciences and biomedical technology sectors. The investment completes a recent cycle of fund commitments by the Fonds, which includes its participation in January's $134 million initial close of CTI Life Sciences' second fund. In the years ahead, the Fonds said it will shift its market focus to direct investments in life sciences companies. In the first quarter of 2015, the Fonds was one of the backers of new financings of enGene, an intestinal gene delivery platform, and of Thrasos Therapeutics, a biotherapeutics company.
4 min read · 25 May 2015
According to an SEC filing, Obvious Ventures has closed its initial fund at $123,456,789. The San Francisco-based venture firm was co-founded by Ev Williams, a co-founder of Twitter.
1 min read · 22 May 2015
According to an SEC filing, Formation 8 Partners is seeking to raise $100 million for its initial hardware-focused fund. Last December, as reported by Reuters, the firm closed $500 million for its second fund.
1 min read · 21 May 2015
