Private Equity
U.S. private markets investment firm HarbourVest Partners has opened an office in Toronto and has appointed Senia Rapisarda as a principal to lead it. Rapisarda, who previously served at BDC Capital, has recently been working with HarbourVest on a consulting basis to explore a Canadian market opportunity and help develop plans for a local presence, the firm said. Update: As reported by peHUB Canada earlier this year, HarbourVest is expected to soon launch a new fund backed by the federal government’s Venture Capital Action Plan (VCAP). Canadian specialty pharmaceutical company Knight Therapeutics Inc recently announced that it made a commitment to the fund.
3 min read · 09 April 2015
One of the names creating buzz among limited partners is Anthos Capital, a California firm founded by former Goldman Sachs execs.
3 min read · 08 April 2015
McRock iNFund LP, a fund managed by Canadian venture capital firm McRock Capital, has secured undisclosed investments from Alberta Enterprise Corp and Kensington Venture Fund. The latest commitments, which follow those received from Cisco Investments, Teralys Capital Innovation Fund and BDC Capital in late 2014, helped the fund to exceed its target. McRock iNFund invests in the intersection of sensors and software in large industrial markets, a.k.a. the industrial Internet of things. Co-founded by Scott MacDonald and Whitney Rockley, McRock in February led the Series A financing of RtTech Software Inc, a solutions provider focused on enhancing industrial capabilities.
3 min read · 08 April 2015
Android co-founder Andy Rubin has raised a $300 million targeted Playground Ventures fund with four total managing directors.
2 min read · 07 April 2015
Growth equity firm Georgian Partners , a backer of e-commerce platform Shopify, has surpassed its target in a final close of its second applied analytics fund. The Toronto-based firm announced that Georgian Partners Growth Fund II has finished at an oversubscribed $200 million in committed capital. That’s roughly 67 percent more than the original target of $120 million.
2 min read · 07 April 2015
Canadian specialty pharmaceutical company Knight Therapeutics Inc (TSX: GUD) has committed $10 million to HarbourVest Canada Growth Fund LP, which is managed by U.S. private markets investor HarbourVest Partners. As reported by peHUB Canada in January, the HarbourVest vehicle is the fourth Canadian fund of funds affiliated with Ottawa's $400 million Venture Capital Action Plan. It is expected to raise about $300 million in total. The commitment from Knight Therapeutics is HarbourVest's first disclosed to date. Knight Therapeutics also invested in Teralys Capital Innovation Fund, which raised an initial $279 million last November.
3 min read · 06 April 2015
Freestyle Capital has raised a third fund and added new partner Jenny Lefcourt to its ranks, according to a blog post. The size of the new fund is $60 million, according to a news report.
1 min read · 03 April 2015
Index Ventures has raised $706.16 million for its third growth fund, according to a regulatory filing.
1 min read · 02 April 2015
Lux Capital said it has closed an oversubscribed $350 million fourth fund for early stage investing. The fund had an initial target of $245 million and brings the total capital under management at the firm to $700 million, according to a press release.
3 min read · 02 April 2015
XL Group plc said late Wednesday it created XL Innovate, a venture capital fund led by Tom Hutton. XL Group will back the new fund that will invest in companies developing new capabilities in the insurance space. Hutton was most recently CEO and founder of New Energy Risk Inc.
4 min read · 02 April 2015
