Private Equity
U.S. technology debt financing firm Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) has been granted a licence to operate in Canada from the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OFSI). SVB, a Santa Clara, California-based affiliate of SVB Financial Group (Nasdaq: SIVB), said it will now begin lending to technology and life sciences companies and their investors across Canada from a new base in Toronto. The firm also provides cross-border banking services to Canadian companies that have or seek a U.S. presence. Last year, SVB hired Barbara Dirks to head its Canadian expansion and team. Dirks joined from Royal Bank of Canada.
4 min read · 04 March 2019
OMERS appointed Mark Shulgan to head the Canadian pension fund’s new growth-equity platform, PE Hub Canada has learned. OMERS announced Shulgan’s hire as a managing director in September, though at the time did not mention the new strategy. He will now run OMERS Growth Equity, recently set up for long-term investing in high-growth companies committed to innovation in sectors like healthcare and tech, according to OMERS’ site. Previously, Shulgan was a senior portfolio manager in Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s thematic investing group.
1 min read · 28 February 2019
Laval, Québec-based biopharmaceutical company Prometic Life Sciences Inc (TSX: PLI) has secured an additional $13.2 million tranche from an affiliate of Thomvest Asset Management. The funding is linked to a $100 million line of credit established in 2017 with Thomvest, an investment vehicle of Canadian billionaire Peter Thomson. Prometic has two drug discovery platforms, small molecule therapeutics and plasma-derived therapeutics, focused on unmet medical needs in the field of fibrosis and orphan diseases. It previously raised financing from Thomvest Seed Capital and California Capital Equity.
3 min read · 28 February 2019
Opsens Inc (TSX: OPS), a Québec City-based fibre optic sensing technology maker, has entered into an $8 million credit agreement with CIBC Innovation Banking. The deal's proceeds will support the company's growth and innovation activity and provide working capital. Founded in 2003 and led by President and CEO Louis Laflamme, Opsens is focused on the measure of fractional flow reserve and diastolic pressure ratio in interventional cardiology. Its solutions are also used in oil and gas and industrial applications. Opsens is backed by Canadian life sciences venture capital firm Lumira Ventures and other investors.
3 min read · 28 February 2019
Flashfood, a Toronto-based surplus food marketplace, has raised an undisclosed financing led by U.S. venture capital firm General Catalyst. The round saw participation from entrepreneurs Rob Gierkink, James McCann and Alex Moorhead, who will join the board. Existing backers Techstars Ventures and Matchstick Ventures also invested. Founded in 2016 by CEO Josh Domingues, Flashfood provides a mobile app that connects surplus food from grocers directly to consumers at a discount. The company reports sales of more than 75 percent of the products available through the app and consumer savings averaging 50 percent.
3 min read · 27 February 2019
Dozr, a Kitchener, Ontario-based online marketplace for heavy equipment, has secured $14 million in its latest financing. U.S. growth equity firm BaseCamp Equity Partners led the round. It was joined by FairVentures, the venture capital arm of Fairfax Financial Holdings, which led the company's $2.5 million seed round in 2016. BaseCamp's partner in the deal, construction executive Juan Carlos Mas, will join the board. Founded in 2015 by CEO Kevin Forestell, COO-CMO Erin Stephenson and Tim Forestell, Dozr uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to give platform users access to pricing and availability data from a range of equipment owners.
3 min read · 27 February 2019
Hortau, a Lévis, Québec-based provider of precision irrigation management services for agriculture, has closed a $20 million financing. The round was backed by Export Development Canada and Fonds de solidarité FTQ. These new investors and Fondaction join existing investors Aviro Capital, Advantage Capital Partners, BDC Capital and Capital régional et coopératif Desjardins. The funds raised will support product development and continued global growth. Founded in 2002 by CEO Jocelyn Boudreau and Jean Caron, Hortau helps growers manage irrigation scheduling and crop stress, optimize growth, and reduce water use, energy consumption and nutrient loss.
4 min read · 27 February 2019
MedStack, a Toronto-based privacy and security compliance solution for healthcare apps, has raised $2.4 million in a seed-stage financing. The round was led by Telus Ventures, the strategic investment arm of Telus Corp. It was joined by ScaleUP Ventures, Panache Ventures, Ontario Centres of Excellence and angel investors. Founded in 2015 by CEO Balaji Gopalan and CTO Simon Woodside, MedStack builds and manages healthcare privacy compliance in cloud hosting tools. To date, more than 50 companies have leveraged its platform. The funds raised will be used for the recently-launched MedStack Control, growing teams to enhance the platform’s capabilities, and other priorities.
4 min read · 26 February 2019
MVC Technologies Inc, operating as CB2 Insights, a Toronto-based medical cannabis data company, has raised $5.74 million in a private placement. Merida Capital Partners, a U.S. cannabis private equity firm, led the deal, investing $3.68 million. Founded in 2014, CB2 uses clinical management and data collection software at the point-of-care to create predictive analytics for the medical cannabis sector. The company, which is undertaking a reverse takeover to gain a public listing in Canada, will use the funds raised for a clinical acquisition strategy in the United States.
3 min read · 26 February 2019
Vancouver-based cybersecurity startup Cmd has raised nearly $20 million (US$15 million) in a Series B financing. The round, which brings total funding to $28.6 million (US$21.6 million), was led by GV, formerly Google Ventures. It was joined by Expa Capital, Amplify Partners and other investors. GV General Partner Karim Faris was appointed to the board. Founded in 2016 by CEO Jake King and Executive Chair Milun Tesovic, Cmd has created a security platform that helps organizations control and gain visibility into production workloads in the cloud and on-premise. The company will use the funds raised to grow product and engineering teams as it develops new defensive capabilities for its platform.
4 min read · 26 February 2019
