Private Equity
Disruption Ventures has secured an undisclosed investment for its inaugural fund from Scotiabank, a Canadian banking institution. Scotiabank led commitments of $13 million for the $30 million Disruption Ventures I LP, according to the Globe and Mail. In a separate statement, Canadian wealth manager CI Financial Corp said it committed $2 million. Founded last year by Managing Partner Elaine Kunda, a Canadian digital and e-commerce entrepreneur, Toronto-based Disruption invests in early-stage companies founded or managed by women. It expects to close Fund I and make initial investments this year.
3 min read · 06 March 2019
Vistara Capital Partners has hired Kathleen Reaume as a senior associate. Reaume will be a member of the firm's investment team, assisting in deal origination and evaluation and supporting portfolio companies post-close. Reaume joins from MealPal, a U.S. food technology company, where she served as CSO. Before then, she was director of finance and strategy at U.S. healthcare technology provider Zocdoc and an investment banker at UBS. In October, Vistara, a Canadian provider of debt and equity financing to growth-stage technology companies, launched its third fund at a target of $130 million (US$100 million).
4 min read · 06 March 2019
WealthEngine, a Bethesda, Maryland-based provider of wealth intelligence and prospect research, has raised US$6.5 million of debt financing from CIBC Innovation Banking. The company will use the funds raised to expand its analytics tools, which help companies in the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors target, segment and engage with customers and donors. WealthEngine is backed by several U.S. venture capital firms, including Novak Biddle Venture Partners, Signatures Capital and Streamlined Ventures. CIBC Innovation Banking is the technology advisory and lending arm of Canadian banking institution CIBC.
2 min read · 05 March 2019
TIMIA Capital Corp has supplied a $2 million facility to BasicGov Systems Inc, a Vancouver-based government software solutions provider. The three-year investment facility was advanced in full to the company. Led by CEO Mike Togyi, BasicGov offers a cloud-based operations management platform that enables governments of all sizes to modernize licensing, inspection, planning, permitting, code enforcement, fund accounting and payment-billing systems. Vancouver-based TIMIA provides growth financing to technology companies in exchange for a royalty on revenue.
3 min read · 05 March 2019
Australian mining company BHP has invested $7.9 million (US$6 million) in Carbon Engineering Ltd (CE), a Squamish, British Columbia-based emissions reduction company. The investment comes two months after CE secured undisclosed financing from Occidental Petroleum Corp and Chevron Corp. The company told Reuters it expects to raise US$60 million by the end of Q1 2019. CE makes technologies that remove carbon dioxide from the air and convert it into clean transportation fuels. It emerged in 2009 from research conducted at the University of Calgary and Carnegie Mellon University. Led by CEO Steve Oldham, CE will use the funds raised for its global commercialization strategy.
4 min read · 05 March 2019
Wave has acquired Every, a Toronto-based financial technology company that provides accounts and debit cards to small businesses. No financial terms were disclosed. Every was founded in 2017 by CEO Jeremy Black, CTO Matt Collum and Head of Design Bryan Kerr. Wave, a Toronto-based provider of financial management software for small businesses, freelancers and consultants, said the deal advances plans to integrate more products and services into its platform. Wave has raised more than $100 million to date, including a $32 million round closed in 2017. Its backers include BDC Capital, CRV, Exhibition Capital, HarbourVest, OMERS Ventures, Portag3 Ventures and Social Capital.
2 min read · 04 March 2019
ClaroNav, a Toronto-based medical device company focused on surgical navigation for dentistry, has secured undisclosed quasi-equity financing from BDC Capital. BDC invested through its growth and transition capital group. The funds raised will be used to expand global marketing, training, sales and support activities for ClaroNav's flagship product Navident, a freehand guided system for dental implantation. ClaroNav was spun out as an independent business in 2015, when Lexmark Inc acquired Claron Technologies, which co-CEOs Doron Dekel and Claudio Gatti founded in 2001.
3 min read · 04 March 2019
GoJava, a Toronto-based sustainable office services provider, has raised more than $1 million in a second seed-stage financing. The round was led by Crux Capital Corp, which also led last year's $500,000 financing, and joined by Active Impact Investments and other investors. GoJava delivers coffee, other beverages and snacks to workplaces while removing and recycling materials like coffee pods, paper cups and organic waste. It reports doubling business in the past eight months to over 500 customers. Led by Founder and CEO Eugene Ace, GoJava will use the funds raised to further scale the business in Toronto and Ottawa and prepare for new Canadian markets in 2020.
2 min read · 04 March 2019
Cambridge, Ontario-based managed security services platform eSentire Inc has raised about $62 million (US$47 million) in follow-on financing. U.S. private equity firm Warburg Pincus, the company's majority investor since 2017, led the deal. It was joined by minority investors Georgian Partners and Edison Partners. The funds raised will allow eSentire to further develop its managed detection and response technology through the application of artificial intelligence methodology for threat hunting and advanced automation. The company said the innovation will enable its security experts to "operate at machine scale." ESentire is led by CEO Kerry Bailey and President and COO J. Paul Haynes.
4 min read · 04 March 2019
Emovi, a Montréal-based technology company offering medical solutions for joints assessments, has secured $15 million in a Series C financing. The round, which when combined with other capital brings total funding to $20 million, was led by TVM Capital Life Science. StandUp Ventures and Desjardins Capital also invested. The funds raised will support the North American and European clinical adoption for Emovi's core product, KneeKG, a tool that evaluates knee functional deficiencies linked to a patient's symptoms and pathology progression. President and CEO Michelle Laflamme said Emovi aims to become a "major player in the global orthopaedic and sports medicine field."
4 min read · 04 March 2019
