Private Equity
Sharebee Technologies Inc, a Montréal-based peer-to-peer platform for self-storage, has raised an undisclosed pre-seed financing. Toronto-based self-storage company All Canadian Self-Storage led the round, with participation from Broken Glass Angels, ex-Uber General Manager J-N Guillemette and angel investors. Launched in 2017, Sharebee connects people with unused space, such as basements, garages, lockers, vacant rooms and warehouses, with people who have storage needs. Led by CEO Max Villemure, the startup will use the funds raised to enter the Toronto market and hire new talent.
3 min read · 26 March 2019
InnerSpace, a Toronto-based turnkey indoor location platform, has secured about $4.3 million (US$3.2 million) in a seed-stage financing. The round was led by BDC Capital‘s Women in Technology Venture Fund. It was joined by MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund, 500 Startups, Industry Ventures, Zach Coelius’ AngelList syndicate and others. Founded in 2014 and led by CEO James Wu, InnerSpace provides an internet-of-things-based platform that automatically maps and deploys location services in indoor spaces. Its customers include technology businesses, airlines, food and service organizations, sporting and entertainment facilities, and property managers.
4 min read · 26 March 2019
Toronto-based insurance technology provider Finaeo has raised $5.35 million in a seed-stage financing. Luge Capital, a Canadian fintech venture capital firm, led the round. It was joined by RGAX, an affiliate of U.S. life reinsurance company RGA, Rising Tide Ventures, Inovia Capital and angels led by AngelList Partner Alex Norman. Backers of Finaeo's $2.25 million round two years ago, including Impression Ventures and iGan Partners, also invested. Founded in 2016 and led by CEO Aly Dhalla, Finaeo offers a digital platform of automated tools and concierge support that allows insurance advisors to shorten the "prospect-to-policy" timeline. It will use the funds raised for product development, customer acquisition and growth.
4 min read · 26 March 2019
Gerry Schwartz and Heather Reisman have given $100 million to the University of Toronto (U of T) to create a complex anchoring a cluster of artificial intelligence, biomedical and other technology researchers. The soon-to-be-built 750,000-square-foot Schwartz Reisman Innovation Centre will also support U of T's entrepreneurship network and student and faculty-led startups. U of T said the donation is the largest in its history and for Canada's innovation sector. Schwartz is the founder, chair and CEO of Canadian private equity firm Onex Corp. Reisman is the founder, chair and CEO of Canadian book retailer Indigo.
7 min read · 25 March 2019
Pure Alumina Ltd has agreed to acquire Polar Sapphire Ltd, a Toronto-based maker of high-purity alumina (HPA), according to a statement by the Australian company. Pure agreed to pay $25.75 million in cash and stock to Polar's private investors, which include ArcTern Ventures, Crux Capital Corp and MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund. Upon completion, three Polar representatives, including Founder and CEO Scott Nichol and ArcTern Managing Partner Tom Rand, will join Pure's six-member board. Founded in 2013, Polar’s low-cost HPA product is used in LED lighting, lithium batteries for electric vehicles, and other applications.
1 min read · 25 March 2019
OMERS Ventures has taken another step in its plan to create a global platform, launching a €300 million ($456 million) fund to invest in European startups. Capitalized by OV’s parent organization, OMERS, the fund will make life-cycle investments in companies in key European tech hubs, Head of Ventures Damien Steel told PE Hub Canada. To manage the London-based fund, OV is assembling a team of investment pros reflecting a mix of VC and operational skills, Steel said. They include Harry Briggs, formerly a senior investment pro with European venture firms BGF Ventures and Balderton Capital, who joined late last year as a managing partner.
3 min read · 25 March 2019
Kitchener, Ontario-based robotics company Avidbots has secured $23.6 million in a Series B financing. True Ventures, a U.S. venture capital firm, led the round, which brings Avidbots' total funding to $36 million. Joining the deal were existing investors, including GGV Capital, SOSV, Real Ventures and 500 Startups Canada, as well as new investors, including Next47, BDC Capital and KCPL. Founded in 2014 by CEO Faizan Sheikh and CTO Pablo Molina, Avidbots designs and makes autonomous connected robots. Its first product, Neo, is a robotic floor scrubber deployed in commercial locations worldwide. The funds raised will be used for global growth and to invest in talent acquisition, engineering, marketing and sales.
4 min read · 21 March 2019
Employee stock options have traditionally been used in companies to attract, reward and retain employees. In a PE Hub Canada feature article, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP Partners Dov Begun, Lynne Lacoursière, Hemant Tilak and Colena Der provide a deep-dive analysis and discussion of Budget 2019's proposed imposition of an annual cap on stock options granted to an employee that will be eligible for the stock option deduction. One key takeaway: employees of Canadian startups and other rapidly growing businesses are expressly excluded from the $200,000 annual cap.
4 min read · 21 March 2019
Scope AR, a San Francisco- and Edmonton-based provider of industrial augmented reality (AR) solutions, has raised about $13 million (US$9.7 million) in a Series A financing. The round, which brings total funding to $21 million (US$15.8 million), was led by Romulus Capital and joined by SignalFire, Susa Ventures, Haystack, New Stack Ventures, North American Corp and Angel List. Founded in 2011 by CEO-CTO Scott Montgomerie, President David Nedohin and Principal Graham Melley, Scope AR creates AR tools to help enterprises conduct remote tasks, training, product and equipment assembly, maintenance and repair, and field and customer support.
3 min read · 20 March 2019
When social-impact investing (SII) first surfaced as a concept in the early to mid-2000s, the general impression was that it was about charitable giving and not investment fundamentals. But an array of new investment products is demonstrating there is a growing appetite by investors of all kinds – pension funds, governments and retail investors – to use their investment dollars to target critical societal needs. In a PE Hub Canada feature article, Shahir Guindi and Dale Ponder, national co-chairs of Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, explore the rise of SII investing and highlight recent initiatives linking the pursuit of business and financial priorities with positive social-impact objectives.
4 min read · 20 March 2019
